Chapter 6: Itachi-san, So Sweet
Seeing the situation deteriorating, Zoro shouted urgently to Luffy and Sanji: "This is bad! Luffy, we need to get back to the ship—NOW!"
"Yosh! Everyone, retreat!"
Luffy had initially wanted to tame the Kraken—to force the massive creature to pull the Sunny like the manatee had pulled Caribou's ship—but that dream was rapidly sinking along with the unconscious sea monster.
The three of them began swimming toward the Sunny with everything they had.
They didn't move an inch.
The current had them completely. The vortex created by the Kraken's massive body plunging into the abyss was expanding, its pull becoming inescapable.
"No! They've been caught in the downward current!" Robin's voice carried genuine fear as she watched the three disappear into the darkness below.
Franky immediately grabbed the helm. "We're going after them!" Usopp shouted, clinging to the mast. "If we're going down, we're ALL going down together!"
But before Franky could adjust their course, Itachi moved.
He burst through the bubble without hesitation.
"THAT GUY—he went out AGAIN?!" Caribou's eyes nearly escaped their sockets as he tumbled across the deck. "Does he have a death wish?!"
"Listen, you idiot! Being able to dive into the sea as a strong person is one thing, but we're heading into the DEEP SEA now! Without the bubble's reaction with seawater to equalize pressure, he'll be CRUSHED!"
Caribou was drenched in cold sweat despite the freezing depths. "What kind of lunatics ARE the Straw Hat Pirates?!"
"Itachi! Come back! It's too dangerous!"
Robin, closest to the edge, screamed his name through the bubble—but Itachi couldn't hear her. The roaring current drowned out all sound.
"OI! TEAR-STRIPE BROTHER! DON'T DIE!" Franky fired a flash bomb in desperation, hoping the light would somehow reach him.
Nami forced herself upright against the violent shaking, pressing close to the bubble. "ITACHI! We can find Luffy and the others FROM THE SUNNY! Don't take such risks!"
Itachi heard none of it.
The pressure was immense—far greater than he'd anticipated. His lungs compressed. His veins bulged against his skin. The darkness pressed in from all sides, threatening to collapse him into nothing.
Mangekyō.
His eyes spun, the familiar pattern emerging.
Susano'o!
In an instant, ethereal ribs materialized around him—a skeletal structure glowing with deep crimson light. The pressure eased immediately. He could breathe again within its protective embrace.
"WHAT IS THAT?! It looks like a SKELETON!" Usopp had grabbed the sail and was pointing frantically.
"A skeleton? That's MY thing!" Brook wailed as he bounced across the deck. "My skeleton is going to shatter into pieces!"
"Could this be another Devil Fruit ability?" Robin whispered. The man calling himself a shinobi became more incomprehensible with each passing moment.
Within Susano'o's protection, Itachi could breathe and move freely. He concentrated chakra to his feet, fighting against the current, and began swimming—not down, but TOWARD the Sunny's stern.
"What's Little Brother Tear-Stripe doing?!" Franky's eyes widened.
The crew watched in the violent turbulence as Itachi positioned himself behind the ship. His hands moved—that strange sequence of gestures they'd seen before.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!
A dragon of water erupted from him, slamming into the Sunny's stern. The bubble held. Itachi moved to the starboard side and fired again. Then port side. Then at angles—each water dragon striking the ship with precision.
And slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, the Sunny's uncontrolled tumble began to stabilize.
Nami's eyes widened with understanding. "He's protecting us! He's using those water attacks to counteract the current's force—to keep the Sunny from crashing!"
"The hull—it's leveling out!" Franky grabbed the helm, now able to actually steer as Itachi's water dragons created windows of stability. "Brother Tear-Stripe is AMAZING!"
"Itachi-san..."
"Itachi!"
Brook and Chopper hugged each other, tears streaming (or in Brook's case, simulated) down their faces.
Caribou slumped against the railing. "Dear God... that's what he was doing. He risked his life just to stabilize the SHIP."
"Everyone, we're not safe yet!" Nami shouted over the chaos. "Itachi bought us time, but we still need to ride this out!"
Robin's expression shifted. "Wait—Itachi's no longer near the Sunny!"
The crew scanned the darkness below.
"There!" Usopp pointed. "He's going DOWN the current!"
A tiny crimson spark—Susano'o's glow—was descending into the abyss, growing smaller and smaller as it pursued Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji into the depths.
Time passed—how much, none could say.
Finally, mercifully, the Thousand Sunny reached the end of the downward current. Itachi's water dragon corrections had done their work; Franky was able to use the Coup de Burst to land the ship safely on the seabed.
"Oh God, oh God, oh GOD..." Usopp collapsed against the mast. "I thought we were going to be smashed into pieces!"
Caribou dropped to his knees in genuine prayer. "Thank you, thank you, thank you that crazy Tear-Stripe guy was here, otherwise I'd be buried at the bottom of the sea with these lunatic Straw Hats..."
"SHUT UP!" Franky's iron fist connected with Caribou's skull, producing a comical DOING sound. "Complain again and I'll sink you myself!"
"Speaking of which," Nami looked around worriedly, "Luffy's gone, Zoro's gone, Sanji's gone... and now Itachi's gone too."
"They must have been eaten by a sea creature," Robin said matter-of-factly.
"ROBIN! That's a TERRIBLE thing to say!" Chopper burst into tears.
The seabed was dark—oppressively so. Visibility extended mere meters beyond the bubble. Robin stood at the bow, scanning the void, when a crimson glow caught her eye.
"There! It's Itachi!"
Everyone rushed to look. A tiny figure wrapped in that skeletal glow was swimming toward them, moving against the current with obvious effort.
Itachi reached the bubble and passed through, releasing Susano'o the moment he was safely inside.
Before anyone could speak, he shook his head. "I couldn't find them."
"Find who?" Brook asked.
"The straw hat captain. The samurai. The blond." Itachi's voice carried the slightest edge of frustration—an emotional tell so subtle most would miss it.
"You mean... after protecting the ship, you went looking for them?!" Nami's jaw dropped.
Itachi simply acknowledged this with a soft "Ah," then moved to the bow. His eyes shifted—those crimson patterns appearing again—as he scanned the darkness.
"Itachi-san!"
"Itachi-brother!"
"GOD! TEAR-STRIPE BROTHER!"
Brook and Chopper embraced once more, tears flowing freely.
"Itachi-san... you're SO sweet!"
"So sweet! So sweet! Brother Itachi cares about us SO much!"
"God, I love Tear-Stripe Brother!"
Suddenly Brook and Chopper realized a third person was hugging them—Caribou, also weeping dramatically.
They paused for exactly one second, then WHAM—a Cane Sword beatdown and Kung-Fu point barrage sent Caribou crashing to the deck, lumps rising from his head.
"Disgusting! Who said YOU could touch us?!"
"So disgusting! Yeah!"
Usopp's face suddenly went pale. "Wait a minute... if Itachi couldn't find them... then LUFFY, ZORO, AND SANJI ARE GONE!"
"Their bodies are too small," Itachi explained calmly. "No light source. I searched extensively around the current but couldn't locate them."
Franky gritted his teeth. "At this depth, we can't send the Shark Submerge—it'd be crushed instantly."
"Speaking of which, Itachi," Nami asked, "what WAS that thing wrapped around you? That skeleton?"
Itachi turned toward her, and even in the darkness, Nami could see his eyes—blood-red patterns spinning slowly. The sight sent a chill through her.
"Ah, that was—"
He stopped mid-sentence. His head snapped to the side.
In the darkness beyond the bubble, something massive was moving. A silhouette so enormous it blocked out what little light existed—passing directly beside the hull.
Itachi raised a hand, gesturing for silence and stillness. "We'll discuss this later. There's something outside the ship."
(End of Chapter)
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