Chapter 51: Landing on Punk Hazard
The voice on the other end of the Transponder Snail was desperate, sobbing between words.
"Help us! Please, save us!"
"What happened to you?" Luffy's voice carried genuine concern.
"It's so cold... are you the boss?"
Luffy tilted his head. "Boss? I'm not your boss."
"Please hurry! There's a samurai chasing us! He's—he's—AHHH!"
The snail's face contorted, mimicking the expression of someone vomiting blood. The line went dead.
Usopp and Chopper, already trembling, clutched each other in terror.
"What a scary New World..."
"Samurai are chasing them?" Itachi glanced at Zoro.
Zoro met his gaze, then looked at Brook. Both of them recalled Thriller Bark—the samurai Ryoma, whose corpse had been animated by Moria's shadow powers. A warrior from Wano, even in death.
Luffy's extremely rigorous thought process concluded with:
"I don't know what's happening, but something definitely happened!"
He ran toward the deck.
"I'm going to check it out!"
"IT'S TOO DANGEROUS!" Usopp and Chopper screamed in unison.
But Luffy was already determined, and once Luffy was determined, no power in the world could change his mind.
"You can't go alone." Nami's voice cut through the chaos. "If you run off by yourself, who knows what trouble you'll cause?"
Zoro crossed his arms, studying the island ahead. They were drawing closer now, close enough to see flames licking at the very surface of the sea.
"I'm going with Luffy."
His eye narrowed.
"A samurai, huh? I want to see for myself."
He glanced at Itachi.
"Come to think of it, you called me a samurai too."
Itachi nodded. "In my impression, samurai dress and fight much like you do."
Nami clapped her hands, assuming command.
"Alright! With Luffy and Zoro going, that's two. No need to send the whole crew."
She held up a hand before anyone could protest.
"But to make sure these two—one idiot and one complete directionless disaster—don't get lost, we need at least two more."
She produced several small slips of paper.
"We'll draw lots."
Itachi raised his hand immediately.
"I'll go with Luffy."
His internal reasoning was simple: Someone needs to prevent the captain from doing something catastrophically stupid.
"Two more, then." Nami held out the lots. "The rest stay on the Sunny."
Usopp's hand trembled as he reached for a slip.
"Don't pick me, don't pick me, don't pick me..."
He opened it.
GO
"I'M GOING TO DIE!"
He collapsed on the spot.
Chopper, who hadn't drawn a "go" lot, exhaled in relief.
"Thank goodness. I hate heat anyway."
Robin held up her slip calmly.
"I'll be joining as well."
Franky gave a thumbs up. "Five-person landing party! I'll deploy the Mini Merry!"
He paused, looking at the flames still burning in the distance.
"But uh... how exactly are you getting through that?"
Nami produced her weather stick confidently.
"Leave it to me—"
Itachi raised a hand.
"That won't be necessary."
His hands moved through seals.
"Katon: Karasu Bubun!" —Fire Release: Black Fire Crow!
A massive crow constructed of black flames materialized before them. Itachi gestured to the massive wooden reel Usopp had been using for fishing.
"That reel can serve as a seat. It may catch fire, so hurry."
Luffy was already airborne, landing on the crow's back with a thud.
"THIS IS GREAT! Last time I rode this, I thought it was the coolest fire bird ever!"
Zoro followed, dragging the still-sobbing Usopp behind him.
Itachi offered Robin his hand, helping her up before joining them.
Sanji rushed over, thrusting a large bento box into Luffy's hands.
"Hey Luffy! The Fishman Island people gave us provisions! Take this in case you're gone long!"
"Ah! Thanks, Sanji!"
Luffy immediately opened the box and began eating.
"YOU—!" Sanji's protest was cut short as the Black Fire Crow launched into the air, carrying its passengers toward the burning island.
Luffy, true to form, immediately began distributing the bento contents to everyone.
Itachi accepted his portion with a nod of thanks, but instead of eating, he tucked the box into a small bag Chopper had given him earlier—a basic supply pack the little doctor had insisted he carry.
"You're not eating?" Robin asked, picking at shell meat with her chopsticks. Around them, the temperature climbed steadily. Flames danced across the sea's surface.
"I'll save it. I'm not hungry yet."
Itachi's hands moved continuously, maintaining the jutsu that carried them.
"Here." Robin picked up a piece of scallop meat and held it toward him. "The bento from Fishman Island really is delicious. You should try it."
Itachi turned—
Luffy's arm shot past him, snatching the morsel and stuffing it into his own mouth.
"SO GOOD!" Luffy proclaimed, already licking his empty bento box clean.
Itachi watched the grinning captain, then shook his head with a small smile.
"What an appetite."
He stood, looking ahead. Land was visible now—a stretch of coastline bisected by a massive gate topped with barbed wire.
He angled the Black Fire Crow to clear the gate, but the flames had begun consuming the wooden reel beneath them. They would have to land.
The crow descended, touching down just before the gate.
"A shame." Luffy hopped off, still smiling. "Almost made it over."
Usopp stumbled forward, squinting at a sign posted beside the gate.
"NO ADMITTANCE"
He brightened considerably.
"Good thing we didn't make it over! There's a warning sign!"
Zoro examined the gate briefly—then drew his sword.
One swing. The gate clattered to the ground in pieces.
"Alright!" Luffy bounded through the opening. "Gate's open!"
"ZORO! That's destroying public property!" Usopp's eyes bugged out.
Zoro sheathed his sword without a backward glance.
"Destroying public property? Are you confused?"
He glanced over his shoulder.
"We're pirates."
Robin laughed softly. The heat was oppressive, and she'd removed her coat, tying it around her waist. Now she stood in only her undershirt, seemingly unbothered by either the temperature or her state of undress.
Itachi averted his gaze politely.
At the opposite end of Punk Hazard, where the island's climate shifted from burning heat to freezing cold, a Marine warship sat anchored.
Inside, a bespectacled woman with a sword at her hip—Tashigi—listened to a recorded transmission.
"That voice... it's definitely the Straw Hats!"
She turned to report to her superior, but the man behind her was already rising from his seat, two cigars clenched between his teeth, smoke wreathing his scarred face.
Smoker.
"I know."
Behind him, suspended in chains, hung a massive group of pirates—dozens of them, captured near the Sabaody Archipelago when they'd emerged from the deep sea.
Through interrogation, Smoker had learned the truth: the reason no pirates had been entering the New World recently was because they'd all been captured by Hody Jones of Fishman Island. Enslaved. Forced into labor.
And then—someone had freed them.
The pirates refused to say more. Even under G5's notoriously brutal interrogation methods, they'd kept silent about what happened beneath the sea.
All they would say was this: a god had liberated them. They would never betray that god.
Smoker's fists clenched. His Seastone-tipped jitte gleamed in the cold light.
"I don't know how they got to a government-restricted island."
His jaw tightened.
"I don't know why they're being called gods."
He stepped toward the door, smoke trailing behind him.
"But this time—I won't let them escape."
(End of Chapter)
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