Chapter 150: The Mink Tribe — Carrot and Wanda
"What kind of attitude is that, you two?! Ryūnosuke worked SO HARD to get us up here!"
"That's right! SO HARD!" Usopp and Luffy raised their fists in unified outrage.
Zoro and Law had already flanked Itachi on both sides, each pointing a thumb in his direction.
"You could have just ridden the fast Black Fire Crow. Why'd you pick the stupid dragon instead?" Zoro's voice was flat.
"Consider the possibility—and I'm just suggesting this—that if Itachi-ya had carried all of us, we could have been here in ten minutes." Law's tone was clinically diplomatic.
Luffy and Usopp scratched their heads in perfect synchronization.
"...That makes sense."
"Look ahead. Pay attention." Zoro pointed toward the structure looming before them.
They had reached what appeared to be a fortified gate. Stone walls rose from the elephant's living skin, ancient and weathered. Watchtowers flanked the entrance, their wooden platforms empty. Defense points that should have been manned stood abandoned.
Itachi swept the fortifications with a single glance. "Watchtowers. Elevated defensive positions. But no guards. No sentries."
"For a country's defenses, this is remarkably lax." Law fell into step beside him.
"You three are way too harsh," Franky muttered, trailing behind.
At the rear of the group, Robin was still arranging wildflowers around Ryūnosuke's faded portrait. The ink dragon had long since returned to its original form—just a crude drawing on a scrap of paper, smeared and barely visible. But she treated it with the reverence of a grave.
"Alright! LET'S ENTER ZOU!"
Luffy's rubber arms stretched wide, and he catapulted himself onto the wall in a single bounce. The sight that greeted him stole the breath from his lungs.
"THIS is Zou?! The island on the elephant's back?!"
"Usopp! USOPP! GET UP HERE AND LOOK AT THIS!"
Before them stretched a civilization. Ancient stone buildings merged seamlessly with the living forest, as if the city had grown from the elephant itself rather than being built upon it. Spires of worn granite rose through canopies of leaves larger than ships' sails. Waterfalls cascaded from terraced gardens. And in the farthest distance, dominating the skyline like a cathedral carved by gods, stood a massive tree shaped exactly like a whale.
"It's incredible." Usopp's voice was hushed with genuine awe. "This place has the feeling of a civilization that's lasted for thousands of years."
"WAHOO! YAHOO!"
Luffy launched himself off the wall and plunged straight into the forest below.
Usopp turned back to the others. "Luffy already jumped."
"I expected nothing less." Itachi shook his head. With someone as impulsively mobile as Luffy charging ahead, any enemies in the forest would already be converging on their position.
"Hey, Usopp! Can you see Curly-brow anywhere?" Zoro called up.
Usopp squinted at the distant town. "Not at all. It looks like there's nobody down there. The whole place seems empty."
"Follow the idiot," Law said. "Before he triggers every trap on the island."
"Momonosuke!" Kin'emon bolted forward, only to have Kanjuro clamp a hand over his mouth.
"SHHH! We don't know if there are enemies nearby!"
At the front, Itachi had already reached the gate. It was a massive thing of rusted iron, pried open with enough force to bend the hinges inward. He knelt beside the mechanism.
"Broken by brute strength. Something forced its way through."
Zoro moved past him, scanning the damage ahead. Signs of destruction were everywhere—shattered barricades, torn banners, deep gouges in the earth. "This place has been attacked."
His hand drifted toward Enma's hilt. "Stay sharp."
Itachi's eyes had already found something else. A footprint. Enormous. Elephantine in shape, but far too large for any normal creature.
"A beast?"
Robin caught up as Itachi rose. "Luffy's already in the town. The road surface is strange—soft underfoot. It's the elephant's skin, I think. Difficult terrain."
In the distance, Luffy's voice echoed through the empty streets.
"SANJI! NAMI! BROOK! CHOPPER! ANNOYING MOMO! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?!"
A pause.
"Oh, and Caesar. Actually, forget Caesar. Don't call him."
In the dense forest behind Luffy, the rest of the crew had stopped dead.
"Feel that?" Itachi's Wind-Forest Fire was already drawn.
Law and Zoro raised their blades. Robin's hands crossed at the wrists, phantom limbs ready to bloom.
"Leave it to me." Zoro grinned. He had sensed the attack coming almost before it began—a presence in the trees, fast and fierce.
The figure exploded from the underbrush. Claws—sharp, gleaming, wickedly curved—slashed toward Zoro's throat. He caught them on Enma's edge and shoved, hurling the attacker backward. But the moment steel met claw, a jolt of electricity surged through the blade and into his arms.
Zoro's muscles seized. Just for an instant. Just long enough for the enemy to use the collision's momentum and vault into the air.
"Light on their feet." Zoro shook out his tingling hands.
"Right side. In the trees." Itachi's voice was calm. "Something else is coming."
The bushes exploded.
A crocodile—massive, scaled, and moving far faster than any crocodile had a right to move—burst into the clearing. And on its back, riding like a cavalry officer, was a creature out of legend.
Humanoid. Canine. Fur the color of sand, ears pricked forward, sharp teeth bared. She wore armor that had seen recent combat and a expression that spoke of urgent purpose.
The Mink Tribe.
"Zoro. Law. Handle this." Itachi was already moving.
"Don't worry about us!" Zoro flexed his numb fingers and readied his stance.
"WAIT! There's someone on the crocodile!" Franky pointed.
The canine mink shouted toward the treetops. "CARROT! STAND DOWN! Now's not the time!"
"Someone's invaded the Whale Forest!"
Usopp's eyes were not on the mink's face, but on her clothing. Specifically, her undergarments. "Wait. Is that...?"
The mink was wearing Nami's underwear.
"THAT'S NAMI'S CLOTHES!!!" Usopp's snot-rocket of shock nearly propelled him backward.
The one called Carrot—a rabbit mink, white-furred and long-eared—landed on a branch high above. She had already leaped a hundred meters straight up, her powerful legs coiling beneath her. "I know. I think we might already be too late."
"From Kurau City onward... there's been fighting."
"Then hurry!" The dog mink wheeled her crocodile around. "I don't have time to escort you properly. Follow my directions exactly. Enter the forest to your right. When you reach the dark swamp, turn left. Head to the forest on the right. That's where your companions' bodies are."
The words hit like a physical blow.
"We'll meet you there shortly."
"NAMI AND THE OTHERS... ARE DEAD?!"
Robin's face had gone cold. "If the bodies are still there... that means they haven't been eaten."
"THAT'S NOT THE IMPORTANT PART, ROBIN! THEY'RE DEAD! DEAD!"
"Calm down." Zoro's voice was steady. "Curly-brow's with them. There's no way he'd let them die that easily."
"He's right. They're not the type to go down without a fight." Franky's mechanical jaw was set.
On the crocodile's back, Carrot's long ears drooped. "Are those few going to be okay?"
Her partner—Wanda, the dog mink—shook her head grimly. "They're all members of the Straw Hat Pirates."
"The Straw Hats? Then they're definitely going to get caught up in this."
"Yes. It's unfortunate... but it's already a fact." Wanda urged the crocodile faster. "The one invading the Whale Forest right now—that's probably their captain. Straw Hat Luffy."
"And another crew member just went rushing in after him."
"We need to save who we can. Even if they're Straw Hats, the Guardians won't show any mercy."
Carrot's sharp eyes scanned the forest ahead. "Wait. That person—the one who just passed us... he's gone."
Wanda's brow furrowed. "He's fast. Very fast. We need to hurry—if we're even a little late, the Guardians might kill them by mistake."
The Whale Forest — Moments Earlier
Itachi moved through the alien jungle like a shadow through smoke.
His Sharingan had already mapped the terrain ahead—every tree, every root, every potential ambush point. The sounds of combat echoed from deeper within: Luffy's distinctive battle cries, the crack of splintering wood, the clash of weapons.
He crested a ridge and saw them.
Luffy was squared off against two enormous minks—a bull and a gorilla, both bristling with muscle and fury. And behind them, barely visible in the chaos, were familiar faces.
Nami. Chopper. Brook. Sanji. Momonosuke.
Alive. Wounded, but alive.
The dog mink's directions had been a lie. Or a mistake. Either way, it didn't matter now.
"Luffy." Itachi landed beside his captain, the Black Fire Crow dissolving behind him. "Status."
"Itachi! These guys are REALLY strong! And they keep shocking me!"
"I see."
His Sharingan swept the scene. The two minks were already moving to flank. The bull's horns crackled with electricity. The gorilla's fists were wreathed in sparks.
Itachi's hands moved through seals.
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall."
The earth erupted. A semicircle of interlocking wooden pillars surged upward, separating the minks from their targets. The bull's charge slammed against the barrier and stopped cold.
"Luffy. We're regrouping. Now."
"Aww, but I was just getting—"
"NOW."
"FINE."
(End of Chapter)
✨ If you're enjoying this story, please consider supporting me on Patreon:
Patreon.com/TofuChan
Get Access to Bonus Chapters