Chapter 9: Susano'o
"WHAT?!"
Everyone except Robin and Usopp stared with eyes wide enough to pop from their sockets.
Nami's voice trembled. "There really IS a rope tied to that bald sea monster! That means..."
"Exactly what you're thinking." Itachi folded his arms, his gaze steady on Nami. "This 'ghost ship' operates exactly like the vessel that attacked us earlier—it's pulled by monsters. The only difference is scale."
He nodded toward the enormous vessel. "A ship that size requires creatures of that magnitude to move it."
His eyes narrowed. "And there are people on board."
On the bow of the Flying Dutchman, a shadowy figure extended a webbed hand—unmistakably fish-man—pointing at the bald sea monster.
"Koukorou! Sea God! You were right not to eat that ship—treasure would be lost!"
He gestured toward the Thousand Sunny. "Look at those foolish humans sailing such a fine vessel. They must have mountains of treasure aboard!"
"SINK THEM!"
Koukorou raised his massive fist with a roar: "WAAAAH!"
The Straw Hats were still studying the rope when they realized—this time, the fist was aimed directly at THEM.
"FRANKY! COUP DE BURST! NOW!" Nami's panic was absolute.
"Can't! Need to recharge with Cola! Too late!"
Franky's eyes darted to Itachi—but Itachi wasn't looking at the approaching giant. He was staring elsewhere.
"That's... the Kraken. It's attacking the sea giant. And..."
Before Itachi could finish, the Kraken surged forward with impossible speed, its tentacle cocked back like a fist, and slammed it into Koukorou's face.
The Straw Hats stared.
"The sea monster?! Why?!"
Koukorou crashed to the seabed, sending shockwaves through the water. On the ghost ship, the fish-man shadow muttered in confusion:
"Kraken? Why attack Koukorou?"
"HEY, SEA GOD! FIGHT BACK!"
Koukorou struggled upright, fist raised—and the Kraken unloaded a machine-gun barrage of tentacle punches directly into his face. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Usopp shrieked.
Itachi pointed above the Kraken's head. "They're back."
On the Kraken's massive skull, a small bubble clung—and inside it, Luffy extended his arm.
"Enough. Stop."
The Kraken's tentacles immediately went limp. Koukorou, his face swollen beyond recognition, crashed to the seabed like a felled tree.
"Hey! Look on the sea monster's head—it's Luffy!" Brook's skeletal finger pointed skyward.
There they were—Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji, all crammed into a single bubble perched atop the Kraken. Luffy waved excitedly, then slid down the Kraken's head and back to the Thousand Sunny.
"I'M BACK!"
Luffy's arms spread wide in greeting.
"LUFFY! ZORO! SANJI!"
"YOU'RE ALIVE!" Chopper's tears and snot flowed freely as he embraced them.
"Where HAVE you been?! We thought you were dead!" Nami's relief immediately transformed into anger.
Zoro scowled. "These idiots got separated from us."
Sanji's eyes found Nami and Robin—and immediately erupted in a fountain of blood. "NAMI-SWAAAAN! ROBIN-SWAAAAN!"
"Here we go again..." Usopp sighed.
Chopper pulled out his photos of Nami and Robin. "Sanji's condition hasn't improved. He clearly needs continued stimulus therapy."
As the crew reunited, Itachi noticed the Kraken had positioned itself beneath the Sunny, carefully supporting the ship on its head.
"Ahhh, nothing beats being home!" Luffy sprawled on the grass, stretching like a contented cat.
"Sanji and my bubbles popped, so we both squeezed into Zoro's. Almost died."
"THEN STOP DOING SUCH WORRYING THINGS!" Nami's fist connected with his skull.
"Ah, it's fine, it's fine! Everyone's safe, that's what matters!" Luffy's grin was undimmed.
"Un!" Chopper nodded vigorously, then turned to Itachi. "We're all safe thanks to Itachi-brother!"
"So true! Itachi-brother!" Usopp and Chopper immediately latched onto Itachi's legs again.
Itachi's expression remained calm, but a faint air of helplessness surrounded him.
"Itachi?" Zoro's hand drifted toward his swords, suspicion still lingering.
Nami quickly recounted everything that had happened during their absence.
When she finished, Luffy bounded to Itachi's side with characteristic energy. "Tear-Stripe Guy! You're seriously reliable!"
"It was nothing. Only what needed to be done."
The contrast between Luffy's explosive enthusiasm and Itachi's quiet calm couldn't have been starker.
Luffy opened his mouth—but before he could speak, Itachi asked: "You actually tamed that sea monster?"
He indicated the Kraken below, now carrying the Sunny steadily through the depths.
"Yeah! I'm going to use this squid to pull the ship! He's our new senior diving navigator!" Luffy's grin split his face.
"Squid? He's clearly an octopus!" Usopp peered over the railing.
"Clever decision," Itachi observed. "Using him to return was intelligent."
Luffy laughed, then stomped on the Kraken's head. "YOSH! LITTLE SQUID! START PULLING! LET'S GO!"
The Kraken responded instantly, beginning to move across the seabed with the Sunny balanced on its head.
"Wait—won't pulling like that pop the bubble?" Usopp worried.
But everyone's attention was fixed on Luffy's newest conquest—and they'd completely forgotten about the ghost ship.
On the Flying Dutchman, Vander Decken IX roared: "DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE! AFTER THEM!"
But his crew was staring at something else.
"CAPTAIN! THE VOLCANO!"
Vander Decken looked—and saw the submarine volcano beginning to erupt.
"DAMN IT! EVERYONE RETREAT!"
"KOUKOROU! SEA GOD! PULL THE SHIP!"
Koukorou, still dazed from his beating, grabbed the rope and began running—dragging the ghost ship behind him.
Usopp watched the bald giant race past. "He REALLY pulls that ship!"
But new danger was already upon them. "The volcano's erupting!" Itachi warned.
"We're too close! We need to escape NOW!" Nami calculated distances frantically.
"Luffy! Tell the Kraken—MOVE!"
"YOSH! HEY SQUID! GET US OUT OF HERE!"
Itachi stood at the bow, watching the Kraken's desperate sprint. "We appear to be in the middle of an escape."
Robin joined him, observing the octopus's frantic locomotion. "That running style is remarkably unattractive."
"Psychic connection?" Usopp wondered.
"No connection needed—it knows exactly how terrifying a volcanic eruption is!" Franky pointed behind them, where lava and superheated plumes were beginning to surge.
Another volcano beside them erupted without warning. Lava and pyroclastic flows surged toward the hull.
The Kraken's eyes went wide with terror. Its tentacles transformed into spinning wheels of motion as it FLED.
"WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" Chopper bounced around the deck, alternating between heatstroke and terror.
"Nami! Where's Fishman Island?!" Usopp demanded.
"Almost there! Just a little further!" Nami watched her Log Pose.
Usopp looked forward—and his eyes widened to match his nose. "THERE'S A BOTTOMLESS ABYSS AHEAD!"
"Luffy! We CAN'T go down there! That's HELL! Literally HELL!"
"THAT'S IT! LITTLE SQUID—GO!"
Luffy leaped onto the bow, arms spread wide as if welcoming death itself.
Behind them, the eruption intensified. Magma reached for the ship like hungry fingers.
Everyone held their breath.
At the last possible moment—as lava was about to consume them—the Kraken leaped. It launched itself and the Sunny into the abyss, escaping the inferno by inches.
"WE'RE ALIVE!" Chopper nearly wet himself with relief.
"Wait!" Franky pointed UPWARD. "WHAT'S THAT?!"
Above the abyss, the eruption had dislodged countless boulders—each larger than the Sunny—and they were falling directly toward them.
"Rocks that size... if one hits us, we're DONE." Usopp rubbed his face in despair.
"LITTLE SQUID! DODGE!"
The Kraken weaved and jumped, but the rocks were too numerous. Too dense.
"Oi, Luffy." Zoro's hand found Enma's hilt. "Grab my leg. I'll go out and cut them."
"YOSH! Great idea!" Luffy's arms stretched toward Zoro.
But Robin's arms wrapped around Zoro before he could move. "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
"WHY, ROBIN?!"
"THIS IS 7,000 METERS DEEP! You'll be crushed instantly!"
"Then WHAT do we do?! Let the rocks crush us?!" Zoro's teeth ground together.
"If we could buy just a little time—get out of this trench—" Nami started.
A splash from above cut her off.
"WHO WENT OUT?!" Luffy craned his neck.
"THAT'S... UCHIHA ITACHI!" Zoro stared at the figure plunging through the bubble.
"At this depth... he'll be crushed!"
"ITACHI-SAN!"
"ITACHI! Is he going to use that water dragon again?!" Nami couldn't see how that would help against falling boulders this size.
"ITACHI-BROTHER! COME BACK! YOU'LL DIE!" Chopper prepared to transform.
Zoro watched in horror as the pressure immediately took its toll—Itachi's veins bulging, his body compressing.
But those crimson eyes were already spinning.
Mangekyō Sharingan.
"This is overkill," Itachi thought, "but there's no other choice."
Susano'o!
Fiery red bones erupted around him—growing, expanding, forming the upper body of a colossal skeletal warrior. Ribs became a torso. Arms materialized. And in one hand, a blade formed—the Totsuka Blade, wreathed in ethereal flame.
On the Sunny, jaws dropped.
"THAT'S—!"
Itachi—or rather, Susano'o—swung.
A crescent wave of crimson energy erupted from the Totsuka Blade, sweeping upward. It met the falling boulders and cut through them like paper. In an instant, every stone above them split cleanly in half, the pieces tumbling harmlessly past the ship.
Silence reigned on the Thousand Sunny.
Then Luffy's voice broke it: "THAT WAS SO COOL!"
(End of Chapter)
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