Chapter 27: All-Out War
The fist descended.
CRASH!
The impact drove Itachi deep into the earth, cracks spiderwebbing across the plaza floor.
"CAPTAIN HODY!"
"HE DID IT!!!"
The murlocs erupted in cheers.
The Straw Hats stared in horror.
Hody didn't stop. His hand formed a claw and sank into Itachi's abdomen.
"ITACHI!"
"ITACHI-BROTHER!"
"ITACHI-SAN!"
Luffy launched himself forward—too far, too slow. Hody's foot connected with Itachi's chest, and the ground shattered further from the force.
"BOSS HODY! KILL HIM!"
"BOSS HODY IS INVINCIBLE!"
The murlocs celebrated.
Luffy's teeth ground together. His hand found his arm, ready for Gear Second—
Crows.
A murder of crows erupted from beneath Hody's feet, swirling around him in a black cyclone.
Hody's triumphant expression froze. His eyes went glassy. For a moment, he existed in a world of nothingness.
Then—impact.
Itachi's blade passed clean through him.
The crows scattered and vanished. Itachi stood behind Hody, blade already sheathed.
Hody's upper body exploded with blood—a wound so deep his intestines were visible.
He crumpled.
Silence.
The murlocs who'd been celebrating found themselves transported from fiery purgatory to frozen hell.
"B-BOSS HODY?!"
Those nearest Hody started forward—then met Itachi's gaze. They stopped. Trembled.
"WHO... WHO IS THIS GUY?!" The nearest murloc's hands shook uncontrollably. Tears threatened.
On the Straw Hat side, shock rippled through the ranks.
"That move—that's the same iai slash Zoro uses!" Sanji exclaimed.
"Crows! I saw crows AGAIN!" Chopper bounced excitedly.
Zoro's teeth bared in a fierce grin. "You call THIS 'a little knowledge of swordsmanship,' Itachi?"
He'd known from that first slash in the deep sea—Itachi could definitely wield a blade.
Jinbe's mind raced, struggling to process everything he'd witnessed. He seized the moment.
"EVERYONE! STRIKE NOW! DESTROY THEM ALL!"
"YOSH!" Nami's lightning arced across the plaza, dropping a cluster of murlocs.
Zoro leaped into the fray, blades singing. 108 POUND PHOENIX! A dozen murlocs flew.
Chopper transformed, fists flying.
Usopp's slingshot sang—seeds becoming carnivorous plants that devoured murlocs whole.
Jeo rallied his troops. "NO RETREAT! WE FIGHT TO THE DEATH!"
"YEAH! WE'RE KINGS OF THIS SEA!"
They charged—straight at Itachi.
Itachi's Sharingan spun. He drew.
And moved.
Where Zoro's style was overwhelming power, Itachi's was precision—a dancer among enemies. Every dodge flowed into an attack. Every attack found a throat. Blood painted the plaza in arterial arcs.
"Still so graceful—and so lethal." Robin's Thousand Flowers snapped necks.
Brook's cane sword sang as he joined the dance. "Itachi-san! Let my music accompany your blade!"
"His swordsmanship's better than that moss-head's!" Sanji kicked a murloc through the air.
"SUPER!" Franky's laser carved a trench through enemy lines.
Luffy, who'd frozen at Itachi's apparent death, now laughed.
"Shishishishi! Worrying about that guy was stupid."
He surveyed the battlefield—tens of thousands still standing.
"Time to work."
His expression sobered. The straw hat shaded his eyes as he walked calmly toward the enemy.
"Look! The Straw Hat's coming!"
"Why isn't he attacking?"
"Who cares?! His head's worth 400 million!"
Blades raised—and stopped.
Luffy's Conqueror's Haki exploded outward, washing over the plaza like a wave. Murlocs collapsed by the thousand, unconscious before they hit the ground.
The Straw Hats and Jinbe stared.
"Luffy's grown THIS much in two years?!"
"Conqueror's..." Jinbe flashed back to Marineford. "Just like at the war..."
Zoro scanned the suddenly thinned enemy ranks. "Well, that's convenient."
"Convenient?! It's PERFECT!" Usopp shouted.
Itachi paused mid-swing, glancing back at Luffy.
What WAS that?
Behind the surviving murloc lines, the officers huddled.
Dosun broke the silence. "What do we do NOW?"
"The Straw Hats are terrifying! TWO of them are especially terrifying!"
The flames had finally died. Muushi recovered enough to speak. "What do we do?! WE KILL THEM! TRAMPLE THEM!"
Jeo was already moving. "The officers must take the field."
Elsewhere, Hody's younger brother dragged his wounded captain to safety.
"Boss Hody! You can't die! Not like this!"
"The wound's too deep... he's barely breathing..."
"That FIRE MAN is TERRIFYING!"
"Shut up!" another murloc snapped. "Help me with these!"
He produced the remaining Energy Steroids—dozens of pills.
"Screw the side effects! Only Hody standing gives us a chance!"
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