Chapter 38: Susano'o, Cut
"GOMU GOMU NO—ELEPHANT GATLING!"
"URGHHHH!!!"
"HAH!"
Luffy's fists rained down like cannon fire, each impact sending splinters flying. His roars echoed through Noah's crumbling decks.
But Itachi's Sharingan saw what others couldn't—the way Luffy's eyes had gone wild, the way his body trembled at the edge of collapse. Like a bowstring pulled past its limit, ready to snap.
"Luffy. Your body is overdrawn. Stop."
Itachi moved closer, studying the massive black fists with clinical interest. He'd never seen anything quite like this—a rubber man who could inflate his limbs to giant proportions and coat them in Armament Haki.
"If I stop, Fishman Island gets crushed!" Luffy yelled, never pausing his assault. "I can't let that happen!"
"Do you have some bond with this island?" Itachi asked, genuinely puzzled.
"No! Hey, Tear-trough Itachi, what are you trying to say!?"
Itachi was silent for a moment.
"Didn't you say before that you don't like being a hero?"
Before he could continue, Luffy roared again.
"Why are you being so wordy about everything!"
"Shirahoshi is my friend! Fukaboshi too! And Keimi and the others!"
"So I can't just watch their hometown get destroyed!"
He paused just long enough to glare at Itachi.
"Tear-trough Itachi, you talk too much! How did you even get up here anyway?!"
"I'm going to destroy this ship, so hurry up! I don't know what'll happen to you once it breaks apart!"
Luffy suddenly blinked.
"Oh yeah—Itachi!"
He kept punching as he spoke.
"Go check on Usopp and Nami for me!"
"There are tons of enemies down there. It's dangerous."
"And you?" Itachi asked.
Luffy grinned through the blood and exhaustion.
"Me? I'm gonna be the Pirate King. I'm not dying that easy!"
"No time, Itachi! Please!"
He resumed his assault, roaring with each impact.
Itachi watched this desperate display—and smiled.
Luffy noticed immediately.
"TEAR-TROUGH ITACHI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! I SAID PLEASE—"
"The enemies below are already dealt with," Itachi said quietly.
Luffy's eyes went wide.
"Dealt with?"
"Yes."
Itachi moved closer, taking a deep breath.
"Luffy, you're at your limit. Leave the rest to me."
"Eh?"
"You've only destroyed one-third of this ship. It's too big. You'll collapse before you finish."
He met Luffy's confused gaze directly.
"Stop. I'll handle it."
Luffy's walnut-sized brain processed this slowly. All he really understood was "stop" and "I'll handle it."
"TEAR-TROUGH ITACHI!!!"
"Why won't you listen?! I told you to watch Nami and the others! I'LL destroy Noah!!!"
But as he screamed, his eyes met Itachi's Sharingan—
And the world went red.
Luffy found himself in an endless crimson void.
"What...?"
His body wouldn't move. His giant arm, which should have been pounding Noah into splinters, began to shrink uncontrollably. The Armament Haki coating it faded.
Itachi had caught him in genjutsu—just for a moment. Just long enough to make him stop.
When Luffy's vision cleared, he was on his knees. Itachi had already jumped clear of Noah's bubble, the skeletal form of Susano'o manifesting around him once more.
"TEAR-TROUGH ITACHI! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?!"
Luffy tried to stand, but his body refused. He could only kneel on the broken deck, watching.
"You say you don't want to be a hero," Itachi's voice came through the water, calm as ever. "Yet you'd sacrifice your life for friends you just met?"
A pause.
"What strange values you have."
Standing in the sea, looking up at Noah, the corners of Itachi's mouth curved upward.
"A captain with strange values. A strange crew."
He chuckled softly.
"Speaking of which... I suppose I'm strange too."
In his memory, every mission, every battle had served a purpose. But now—
Just now, talking with Luffy, Itachi had realized something.
He was fighting for people he'd just met. For a world that wasn't his. For mermaids and fishmen and a rubber captain who refused to let anyone die.
It's interesting, he thought. Very interesting.
Itachi closed his eyes. Every last drop of remaining chakra in his body began to converge toward them.
He wasn't a man with enormous reserves. From Ryugu Palace to the plaza battle, he'd burned through most of his power already. His eyes—his Mangekyō—had been strained to their limit.
But...
His eyes opened.
Consider this thanks. For giving me a ride to such an interesting place.
For showing me things I never thought I'd see.
The skeletal Susano'o around him began to grow. Ribs expanded. Arms formed. Armor manifested—layer upon layer of ethereal protection.
"Susano'o—Perfect Body!"
His pupil power drained like water from a broken dam. The transformation accelerated.
Soon, a fiery red giant stood in the deep sea. In one hand, the Totsuka Blade. In the other, the Yata Mirror.
"THAT'S—!" Fukaboshi's jaw dropped. The aftermath of Susano'o's manifestation forced him back dozens of meters. "A god?! What IS that?!"
Shirahoshi covered her mouth with both hands, her enormous eyes fixed on the crimson giant. "Itachi-sama..."
Luffy stared from his knees, utterly speechless. "Ah... no..."
But inside Susano'o, Itachi frowned.
Still can't manifest the complete body.
His remaining pupil power wouldn't allow it. And even if it could, forcing Susano'o to this extent was already damaging his eyes.
But there's no time.
The crimson giant raised the Totsuka Blade.
Inside, Itachi raised his arm in unison. Every remaining shred of chakra gathered on Susano'o.
His pupils contracted.
CUT!
The Totsuka Blade swept forward—and an immeasurably sharp slash shot toward Noah.
BOOM!!!
The sword energy struck the ancient ark dead center. Noah, the ship larger than Fishman Island itself, split cleanly in two.
The shockwave hurled Fukaboshi and Shirahoshi hundreds of meters backward.
"WHAT POWER IS THIS?!" Fukaboshi screamed, struggling to keep his footing in the turbulent current.
On Noah's remains, Luffy's jaw had literally dropped to the deck.
"SHIT!"
But Itachi wasn't finished.
Not enough.
He forced himself upright, raising the Totsuka Blade again. If he could split Noah into four pieces, the fragments would land around Fishman Island's edges. Casualties could be minimized.
He searched his body for any remaining chakra, any expendable pupil power—even knowing he'd already surpassed his limits.
One more time.
The crimson energy began to gather on the blade once more.
But then—
Itachi stopped.
His Sharingan caught movement. Multiple massive shapes, emerging from the darkness around Noah's wreckage.
Fish.
Fish larger than any he'd seen on the journey to Fishman Island. Larger than sea kings. Larger than anything that should exist at this depth.
And they were swimming directly toward the falling pieces of Noah.
(End of Chapter)
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