Chapter 166: History — Laugh Tale
"Hey! Raizo!"
Kin'emon and Kanjuro worked together to pry their comrade off the wall. The shurikens that had pinned him clattered to the ground, and Raizo slumped between them like a puppet with cut strings. His enormous eyes stared at nothing. His mouth hung open, frozen in an expression of absolute, soul-shattered disbelief.
"Raizo? What's wrong with you?"
"Raizo! Snap out of it!"
"RAIZO!"
Kin'emon shook him violently. After several seconds of vigorous rattling, the ninja's eyes finally regained focus.
Luffy and the others had already lost all interest in Raizo. Their earlier excitement had curdled into something between disappointment and vindication.
"See? If you want to learn real ninjutsu, you still have to ask Big Brother Itachi." Luffy crossed his arms with the sage wisdom of someone who had reached an unshakeable conclusion.
"Big Brother Itachi is the STRONGEST ninja! THE STRONGEST!"
"Absolutely the strongest!"
Chopper and Usopp had positioned themselves on either side of Itachi, helping him strike ninja poses that he was very clearly not participating in. His arms hung limp. His expression was stone.
Law wiped cold sweat from his forehead. "I honestly didn't expect this. I don't think there's a single ninja in this world who could compare to Itachi-ya. That guy over there..." He gestured at Raizo. "He's just juggling."
On the ground, Raizo had begun to crawl. He dragged himself across the hollow floor, inch by agonizing inch, until he reached Itachi's feet.
"My lord... you... you... WHO ARE YOU?!"
"I am not a lord. Please step away from me." Itachi retreated.
"No, NO! My lord! Who ARE you?! My ninjutsu... it's completely incomparable to yours! It's as if we exist in entirely different dimensions! What school do you belong to?! What lineage?! What—"
Itachi relocated to Robin's side in a blur of motion that Raizo's eyes couldn't follow.
"HONORED LORD!!!"
Raizo's anguished cry echoed through the Whale Tree.
Kin'emon and Kanjuro seized him under the arms and began dragging him toward the exit.
"Stop embarrassing yourself."
"Indeed. Let's go outside. Get some fresh air."
"Even I feel sorry for you at this point. This is just degrading."
Luffy and the others were laughing so hard they could barely stand.
Itachi found Robin and Nami huddled over a large sheet of paper. Nami was sketching, her navigator's precision evident in every line, while Robin guided her hand.
"This red Poneglyph is called a Road Poneglyph," Inuarashi explained from beside them. "What it guides toward... is the final destination that countless pirates across the seas have sought."
The laughter stopped.
Luffy turned. His crew turned. Every eye in the hollow fixed on the red stone.
"The Whale Forest is sacred ground precisely because of its existence," Nekomamushi added. "The duty of our Guardians—the reason we have protected this forest for centuries—is to guard this Poneglyph."
"The end..." Robin breathed the word like a prayer. "You mean... Laugh Tale?"
"That's right."
"WHAT?!"
The collective shout shook the tree.
"This leads to our final destination?!" Itachi's eyes had sharpened with intense focus.
Luffy's grin stretched so wide it threatened to split his face. "THAT'S IT! THE END! I'LL BE THE PIRATE KING WHEN I GET THERE!"
"IT'S FINALLY HERE! THE FINAL ISLAND!" Usopp threw his arms wide, tears and snot streaming freely. "THE PLACE THAT OLD GUY MENTIONED!"
Luffy's mind flashed back—to the Red Line, to the whale, to the old man who had guarded the entrance to the Grand Line. Crocus. The promise made at Reverse Mountain.
"So what's written on it?! Is it the coordinates to the final island?!"
"Wait, wait—I wasn't finished." Inuarashi waved his paws. He held up four fingers. "This Road Poneglyph is not unique. In this world, there are four of these red stones."
"HUH?! So there are FOUR Laugh Tales?!" Luffy's head inflated to twice its normal size.
"THAT'S OBVIOUSLY NOT WHAT HE MEANS!" Usopp smacked him back to normal proportions. "Listen to the explanation first!"
"This stone records a specific location. But it is not the endpoint. The other three Road Poneglyphs each record their own locations as well. When all four are found and their coordinates deciphered... you connect the four points on a map. The intersection at the center..." Inuarashi's voice dropped. "That center point is the place that only one man has reached in eight hundred years. The final island. Laugh Tale."
"YOSH! I GET IT!"
Luffy nodded decisively and sprinted toward the exit.
"WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?! LET'S FIND THE OTHER THREE!"
"WAIT!" Usopp tackled him. "The world is ENORMOUS! Where would you even START looking?!"
"It doesn't matter." Luffy's voice was suddenly serious. "The most important thing right now is bringing Sanji back."
Something flickered in Itachi's eyes.
Across the hollow, Law met his gaze. Both of them nodded—a silent acknowledgment of decisions already made.
"Hold on! HOLD ON!" Usopp was still wrestling with Luffy.
The Cat Viper cleared his throat. "If you intend to travel to Whole Cake Island with Pekoms... that would be acceptable. But you should know the status of the four Road Poneglyphs. One is here. The location of another is unknown. The remaining two..."
His voice hardened.
"Are in the hands of two Emperors. BIG MOM. And KAIDO of the Beasts."
Usopp and Chopper began running in circles, clutching their heads and screaming.
Luffy's eyes blazed. "YOSH! THAT SETTLES IT!"
"I'll send them BOTH flying and take the Poneglyphs!"
"No matter who stands in our way," Zoro's hand moved to Enma, "we'll cut them down."
Nami curled into a corner, weeping silently. "I just felt the future go dark."
Franky slammed his iron fists together. "Looks like we're taking them by force!"
"WHAT ARE YOU ALL THINKING?! THOSE ARE THE FOUR EMPERORS!" Usopp wailed. "I thought this was still far away! If we really fight them, I'll piss myself!"
"YEAH! PISS HIMSELF!" Chopper echoed.
"Wait." The Cat Viper raised a paw. "Generally speaking, there is no need to steal the Poneglyph itself. You only need to apply a layer of ink to the surface and make a rubbing. After all, no one wants to carry around something that massive."
Usopp froze. His eyes widened. His terrified expression transformed into one of cunning brilliance.
"That's RIGHT! We just sneak in, secretly make the rubbing, and sneak out! Luffy can secretly become the Pirate King! NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW!"
Luffy's face contorted. He looked like he had just bitten into something deeply unpleasant.
"That feels cowardly. At least fight them a little bit. Take it openly."
"FIGHT THEM?! THOSE ARE EMPERORS! EMPERORS!"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT! If I'm going to be Pirate King, I'm not doing it by sneaking around!"
"YOU STUBBORN—WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN TO REASON?!"
"SECRET PIRATE KING IS NOT A THING!"
"IT COULD BE!"
The two locked horns, forehead to forehead, each refusing to yield an inch.
Nekomamushi had turned to Robin while the others bickered. "In this world, many powerful figures already possess these rubbings. But no one has yet been able to decipher them. However..." His single eye was grave. "Once they decide to seriously pursue the interpretation... they will stop at nothing to take you."
Silence fell.
Luffy and Usopp stopped fighting. Chopper's antlers drooped. Nami's tears dried on her cheeks.
Everyone looked at Robin.
Itachi smiled.
"Don't worry."
His voice was quiet. Calm. Absolutely certain.
"I will kill anyone who tries to take Robin from us."
"No one is taking her anywhere."
(End of Chapter)
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