Chapter 17: Zoro Suppressed Underwater—Itachi Appears
"Itachi, the entrance is ahead."
Robin pointed toward the open passage in Ryugu Palace's collapsed wall—the same passage the human pirates had forced open for Hody's invasion.
"I see."
Itachi's hands moved through seals, and the black fire crow beneath them blazed brighter, accelerating toward the palace entrance.
Robin studied the construct carrying them—a crow-shaped platform of fire and earth, somehow solid enough to support their weight while propelling them at extreme speed. Itachi's abilities continued to defy her understanding.
"How exactly IS this done?" she asked, genuine curiosity in her voice.
Itachi glanced down at the crow. The technique combined Fire Release with a simple earth platform—using Fire Release chakra to heat the air and create rapid thrust. He'd developed it during his final months, when illness had already begun consuming him. He'd never had the chance to use it against Sasuke.
"It's—"
"Complicated?" Robin finished for him, smiling.
Itachi paused, then returned the smile.
Robin laughed softly.
Inside Ryugu Palace
Zoro had struck fast and hard.
ONE SWORD STYLE: LION'S SONG!
His blade carved through the water and through Hody Jones in one devastating arc. The fish-man leader's body went limp, sinking.
The murlocs watching froze in shock.
"How... HOW?!"
"A human—faster than a FISH-MAN in WATER?!"
"And that cutting power!"
Zoro didn't wait. He kicked toward the surface, lungs burning, vision darkening at the edges. He needed air—NOW.
The murlocs recovered.
"Don't panic! He's just a human—he CAN'T breathe underwater!"
"KILL THAT SWORDSMAN! HE KILLED HODY-ANIKI!"
They grabbed Energy Steroids, swallowing them greedily. Eyes turned blood-red. Muscles bulged. The murlocs of Fishman District transformed into monsters of pure aggression.
"AFTER HIM!"
"And the Neptune army—take them ALL out!"
A murloc's hand clamped around Zoro's ankle. Zoro spun, blades flashing, fighting even as his oxygen depleted. He managed to break free, unleashed 36 POUND PHOENIX to scatter them, and kicked desperately for the surface.
Usopp, watching from above, saw Zoro break through.
"ZORO!"
Neptune's eyes narrowed at the scene below. "What incredible fighting spirit... but what power ARE those murlocs using?"
Below, his soldiers were falling, one by one, pierced by water bullets or dragged under.
Neptune made his decision. "Then this old whale will fight with everything he has!"
He tossed Bubble Coral to Usopp. "Take this—it will let you breathe! Hold onto me—I'm getting everyone out!"
He dove.
Zoro reached Usopp and Brook as Neptune submerged. They grabbed his hair as he surged forward.
"Soldiers! Don't fight—I've cleared a path! ESCAPE WITH ME!"
Neptune's massive body created a current that scattered the murlocs in his path. Usopp hastily formed a bubble for himself and tossed coral toward Zoro—
But Neptune's violent movement sent the coral spinning away. Zoro's hand missed it by inches.
Neptune's soldiers fled through the current he'd created.
Neptune tried to follow—and screamed. Pain lanced through his body. Poison. Wounds. Age. He couldn't move.
"UNCLE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Usopp screamed as murlocs closed in.
"I'm afraid... this is it." Neptune's massive form went limp, floating belly-up, Usopp, Brook, and Zoro clinging to him.
"Don't JOKE, UNCLE!"
The murlocs converged, grinning—
FWOOOOOSH!
A whale—Hall, Neptune's trusted mount—burst from the depths, slamming into the murlocs and clearing space.
Neptune grabbed Hall with renewed hope. The whale swam desperately for the exit.
They were almost there—almost free—
A hand clamped around Neptune's tail.
He looked back.
Hody Jones hung there, eyes blazing crimson, Energy Steroids coursing through his veins. The wound Zoro had given him was already closing.
"Going somewhere, King?"
Neptune's soldiers saw their king captured and turned to fight—
"GO!" Neptune roared. "LEAVE ME! GET SHARKSTAR AND THE OTHERS! BRING REINFORCEMENTS!"
The soldiers hesitated.
The Left Minister's voice cut through: "MOVE! FOLLOW YOUR KING'S ORDER! IT'S THE ONLY CHANCE!"
They swam. They fled.
Hody's murlocs looked to him. "Boss Hody! Should we chase?!"
Hody smiled—a thin, cruel expression. "Let them go. What can soldiers do without their king?"
He gestured lazily. "Tie up this idiot king first. And those three idiots with him."
The murlocs descended.
They went for Zoro first—nearly unconscious, hypoxia stealing his remaining strength. A murloc's hand closed around his throat, squeezing.
"Swordsman! Not so tough NOW, are you?! Where's your slash?! DO IT AGAIN!"
Zoro choked, water filling his lungs, darkness closing in.
Usopp found himself surrounded by javelins and blades.
"YOU TWO—DIE FIRST!"
Hody stood atop Neptune's prone body, laughing wildly.
"Phase one—COMPLETE!"
Then—a dragon erupted through the palace entrance.
A WATER dragon. Massive, majestic, and moving with deadly precision. It struck the murloc holding Zoro, hurling him away.
Usopp, hands raised in surrender, caught the movement from the corner of his eye.
Water dragon... that's... ITACHI!
Through the entrance, wrapped in Susano'o's skeletal glow, Itachi Uchiha entered Ryugu Palace.
His hands moved. Another water dragon formed. It swept through the murlocs surrounding Usopp, scattering them like leaves.
"ITACHI-BROTHER! MY SAVIOR!" Usopp's tears flowed freely.
Itachi couldn't hear him. His Sharingan swept the battlefield, cataloging threats and allies.
Dozens of murlocs. The swordsman and Usopp trapped. A massive wounded fish-man—the king, presumably—collapsed with them. And standing atop that king, what appeared to be the enemy leader.
Understood.
His assessment took less than a second.
Confined space. Friendlies in the engagement zone. The swordsman appears to be suffering severe oxygen deprivation—brain damage imminent. No time for subtlety.
Clear the field. Extract the allies.
His hands moved through seals.
Water Release: Water Spout!
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!
A spiraling water column and a roaring fire dragon—combined—erupted through the chamber. A dozen murlocs vanished in the chaos.
Hody's eyes went wide.
"FIRE?! UNDERWATER?!"
"WHO IS THAT?!"
The murlocs panicked.
Hody's teeth ground together. "WHO CARES WHO HE IS!"
He pointed at Itachi. "WHAT ARE YOU STANDING AROUND FOR?! HE'S ANOTHER STRAW HAT! KILL HIM!"
He grabbed a murloc subordinate. "DON'T FORGET—THIS IS WATER! OUR WORLD!"
The reminder reignited their courage.
"HODY-ANIKI'S RIGHT! WE'RE FISH-MEN! THIS IS OUR TERRITORY!"
"KILL HIM!"
They charged.
Itachi's Mangekyō spun.
Behind him, a murloc who'd been hiding near the door lunged, blade raised.
"GOT HIM! DIE!"
Itachi didn't turn.
The blade struck Susano'o's ribs—and shattered. The murloc stared at his broken weapon, incomprehension on his face.
Around Itachi, more murlocs attacked. Their weapons met Susano'o. Their weapons broke.
Then Itachi's left eye shifted.
Blood trickled from the corner.
Amaterasu.
Black flames erupted across the battlefield—not on the murlocs themselves, but on the water around them, creating barriers of impossible fire that cut off escape routes, isolated groups, sowed chaos.
The murlocs screamed.
Itachi moved forward, through the black flames that didn't touch him, toward the fallen swordsman.
Phase two: extract the ally.
(End of Chapter)
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