Chapter 37: The Sovereigns' Dialogue
The silence that followed Luffy's declaration was absolute, broken only by the crackling of blue embers and the distant, rhythmic hissing of steam from the North. On the pier, the air felt physically heavy, as if the atmosphere itself had been replaced by lead.
Ashina Uzumaki struggled to his feet, using a jagged piece of the wooden dome for support. He looked at the boy in the straw hat, then at the sprawling, colorful ship that defied every law of naval architecture he knew.
"You..." Ashina's voice was a dry rasp. "Who are you? I've studied the summoning scrolls of the Sage himself... there is no record of a contract that brings forth a fortress of wood and a King of the Sea."
Luffy tilted his head, his sandals crunching on the debris. He didn't look at Ashina; his eyes were on the unconscious Nawaki and the bloodied Rimon. "I don't know about scrolls, old man. Red-hair over there used a coin to call for help. He said he was the 'Sovereign,' so I came to see if he was lying."
Luffy looked back at Rimon, who was being held up by two trembling Uzumaki guards. "You're not a liar. You've got the eyes of someone who doesn't like losing."
Rimon let out a weak, rattling laugh. "I'm an engineer, Luffy. I just... calculated the odds. And the odds said we needed a miracle." He looked toward the eastern cliffs where the Two-Tails was regathering its strength, and then toward the North Flats where a massive silhouette was emerging from the steam. "That's Han... the Five-Tails. He's the one who did this to me. He's a monster."
"Monster?" Zoro stepped forward, his hand resting on the hilt of Wado Ichimonji. He glanced at the Three-Tails lurking in the harbor's depths. "Looks like overgrown garden pests to me. Hey, Cook. You ever served turtle soup the size of a mountain?"
Sanji exhaled a long cloud of smoke, his eyes narrowing as he watched the Cloud and Mist ships attempting to reposition. "I prefer delicate flavors, but for a crowd this big? I'll make an exception. Although..." He paused, his gaze drifting toward the village ruins. "There are children and women bleeding in those bunkers. My 'Heart' is telling me this isn't just a battle. It's a massacre."
The Enemy's Confusion
Up on the cliffs, the Cloud Jinchuriki was losing her patience. The fear from the Haki was being replaced by a desperate, cornered aggression. "Enough of this! I don't care what sea you came from! You're standing on Cloud property now! Matatabi, erase them!"
The Two-Tails roared, but the sound was laced with hesitation. The beast could feel that these newcomers didn't have a drop of chakra. To the Jinchuriki, they were "ghosts"—beings that shouldn't exist.
"Property?" Nami shouted from the deck of the Sunny, her Clima-Tact spinning. "We just got here, and I can already tell you guys are the worst! Look at this village! You're all just bullies!"
"Bullies get kicked," Luffy said simply.
The Pledge
Rimon grabbed Luffy's vest with his one good hand, his knuckles white. "Luffy... don't just beat them. If they leave now, they'll come back with thousands more. The three nations... they want our blood. They want the secrets of the Vortex."
Luffy's expression darkened. He looked at the flag of the Whirlpool—the red spiral—torn and burning on a nearby mast. Then he looked at his own Straw Hat.
"I don't care about secrets," Luffy said. "But you called me. That makes us nakama for today. And nobody touches my nakama's home."
He turned to his crew, his voice suddenly sharp and commanding, the voice of a Captain.
"Everyone! We're not just guarding the ship! We're guarding this whole island! Don't let a single one of those 'Tails' things reach the center!"
"Understood, Captain!" the crew roared in unison, a sound that vibrated through the stones of Uzushiogakure.
Ashina watched them, a spark of hope finally igniting in his tired eyes. He realized then that Rimon hadn't just summoned reinforcements. He had summoned a force of nature that the Shinobi world's "Logic" could never contain.