Chapter 39: The Arrival of the Sea Kings
"That slash just now... was that Itachi's doing?"
Robin murmured, her gaze fixed on the sky above.
"Without a doubt." Zoro had recovered from his initial astonishment, his hand still resting on Enma's hilt. "What a terrifying slash."
"Itachi-san..." Brook's skeletal frame trembled as he clutched his cane sword. "Ah, though I have no sweat glands to sweat with, I feel the cold dread nonetheless! SKULL JOKE!"
"That ship was nearly the size of Fishman Island itself!" Usopp's jaw worked uselessly. "Brother Itachi, how in the world did you—"
"The ship... it's stopped falling." Nami's sharp eyes caught what others hadn't. Noah's descent had halted mid-plunge.
Jinbe's expression grew heavy with contemplation. "Uchiha Itachi... has his power reached the level of an Emperor?"
He had witnessed Big Mom's strength firsthand as a member of her crew. He had seen what her slash could do. And now—
The Den Den Mushi speakers crackled to life once more, the observation tower soldier's voice barely controlled.
"The situation I am about to describe... words cannot adequately express it."
He paused, collecting himself. When he spoke again, his voice trembled with barely contained awe.
"First, Straw Hat Luffy attempted to destroy Noah with his bare fists."
"Then—the man in black from the Straw Hat crew. The citizens must have seen it. He unleashed a colossal slash that split Noah clean in two!"
Below, every resident of Fishman Island stared skyward. To them, Itachi's Susano'o appeared as nothing more than a tiny crimson dot. The slash itself was visible only as a flicker of red energy. But Noah—Noah breaking in half—that they could see with their own eyes.
"But just as the man in black prepared another slash—" The soldier's voice cracked. "—Sea Kings! Multiple Sea Kings suddenly appeared!"
"Currently, the Sea Kings have caught both halves of Noah! They're preventing it from falling!"
At High Harbor, King Neptune's ancient eyes widened.
"Could it be... has Shirahoshi's power finally awakened?"
Above Fishman Island, in the crushing depths, Fukaboshi stood frozen.
First, a god-like giant had appeared and split the ancient ark with a single slash. Now Sea Kings—legendary creatures that even the strongest pirates avoided—had materialized to catch the falling wreckage.
"What... what IS all this?!"
While Fukaboshi struggled to process the impossible, Shirahoshi had already acted. She surged through the water toward Noah's remains, diving into the broken hull. Inside, she found Luffy—choking, eyes rolling back, drowning in the flooded interior.
She caught him gently, forming a bubble around his head so he could breathe.
Across from Fukaboshi, Itachi's Susano'o flickered and faded. His chakra was spent, his pupil power exhausted. But his Sharingan remained active, studying the creatures before him with clinical curiosity.
Massive forms surrounded Noah's wreckage. Sea Kings—dozens of them, their shapes defying categorization. Fish that were not fish. Leviathans that dwarfed the ship they'd come to save.
They're communicating, Itachi realized. But how can I hear them?
The central Sea King—a creature with a duck-like head atop a massive fish body—spoke in a voice that resonated through the water itself.
"We finally made it in time."
Both Shirahoshi and Itachi started.
"Who... who's speaking?" Shirahoshi looked around wildly.
"Princess Shirahoshi. Our king."
Shirahoshi's eyes went impossibly wide. "You... how do you know me?"
Beside the duck-headed Sea King, a whale-shaped leviathan nodded gently.
"Of course we know you. You are our king."
"That's right. Our king."
Inside Shirahoshi's bubble, Luffy coughed seawater and opened his eyes.
"Who's talking...?" He blinked groggily, then his eyes went wide. "WHOA! GIANT FISH! SO MANY GIANT FISH!"
The duck-headed Sea King continued, its voice remarkably gentle for something so massive.
"It fills us with joy that you can call us, Princess Shirahoshi."
"Call you?" Shirahoshi tilted her head. "But I didn't do anything. I was just... sad."
"No." The Sea King's enormous eyes softened. "Princess Shirahoshi was guided by the boy in the straw hat. He led you to hope."
A frog-shaped Sea King beside it nodded.
"Princess Shirahoshi wished with all her heart to protect Fishman Island."
"She wished to be his strength."
"We were called by that wish. We became your strength."
As the frog Sea King spoke, the whale-shaped one turned its house-sized eyes toward Itachi.
"You should go to that one's side quickly. He is also at his limit."
Itachi met the creature's gaze without flinching, though Susano'o had completely dissolved around him.
"Master Itachi!" Shirahoshi clutched Luffy and swam toward him. The Sea Kings gently nudged Itachi closer until Shirahoshi could encase him in a bubble as well.
"Mermaid Princess..." Itachi exhaled slowly, his body finally acknowledging what his will had refused to accept. His chakra was gone. His eyes throbbed with the strain of overuse. He had nothing left.
"Ah, he's safe too."
The duck-headed Sea King regarded Itachi with obvious respect.
"This one possesses terrifying power. To think he could cut Noah in half."
"Yes," agreed an eel-shaped Sea King. "Princess Shirahoshi, we have waited centuries for you to be born."
"This ship—Noah—was built for us to pull."
"Wait." Shirahoshi pointed at herself. "For me to be born?"
The duck-headed Sea King nodded.
"This inheritance began long ago. Every few hundred years, our king is born in the form of a mermaid princess."
"From the moment you entered this world, you became our king."
On Fishman Island, King Neptune received the observation tower's report and finally allowed himself to breathe. He leaned back against the rocks of High Harbor, centuries of tension slowly releasing from his massive frame.
"So the Sea Kings have finally awakened."
His eyes grew sharp, ancient knowledge surfacing in his gaze.
"The power that can shake the very world itself."
Above, Noah's severed halves drifted within the island's protective bubble. The bubble's membrane was already absorbing and merging with the remnants of the ship's own protection.
"Go now, Princess Shirahoshi."
The duck-headed Sea King spoke with gentle urgency.
"Humans cannot survive beneath the sea for long. Both of these warriors are injured. They need healing."
"As for Noah—we will take it."
Shirahoshi looked down at Luffy, at his torn shoulder and exhausted face. Then at Itachi, whose eyes, though calm, could not hide his utter depletion.
"Shirahoshi!" Fukaboshi's voice carried across the water as he finally reached them. "You're speaking with the Sea Kings?!"
He could barely process what he was seeing.
"It seems the Sea Kings will take Noah's remains," he managed. "We should capture Hody."
With that, he swam toward the broken ship, muttering to himself. "The ancient ark Noah... the Sea Kings... Shirahoshi... is there some connection between them all?"
The Sea Kings had already taken the chains attached to Noah into their mouths. They turned slowly, preparing to pull the broken halves away.
"This way, Noah can be repaired over time," the frog Sea King sighed.
As they moved, the whale Sea King glanced back.
"Is it my imagination?" It studied Luffy and Itachi, now descending toward Fishman Island within Shirahoshi's bubbles. "Why do I feel that the straw hat boy and the man in black can hear us?"
When its massive eyes met Itachi's—even through the bubble, even through the distance—it saw recognition there. Understanding.
"How is that possible?" the eel Sea King shook its head. "Our voices can only be heard by Princess Shirahoshi."
"Hasn't it happened before?" the duck-headed one mused.
The Sea Kings fell silent, memories surfacing.
Centuries ago—no, mere decades—before Princess Shirahoshi was born. A pirate ship had sailed to Fishman Island. Aboard it, a man who had looked at them and understood.
"Why?"
"Why?"
The Sea Kings questioned each other without answers.
"Will Noah still serve its purpose, broken as it is?"
"Who knows. It requires the power of that family."
"Can it be repaired?"
"Can it be repaired?"
"If it can be repaired before the promised day..." The duck-headed Sea King's voice trailed off.
Together, the Sea Kings carried Noah's remains toward the Sea Forest, there to rest until the world was ready for what was to come.
(End of Chapter)
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