Yo Yo Yo...
What's up my ninjas...
It's you Papa here, coming up with another banger chapter (In my perspective).
This time with 5000 words.
So, enjoy.
.
.
Thought of the day:
Life is like a door, never trust a cow because the sun can't swim.
.
.
Attendance Please:
--------------------
Luffy and the others immediately rushed to Nami's side.
"Nami… hey, Nami, wake up…" Luffy gently patted her cheek, his voice softer than usual.
"It's no use, Luffy. She fainted from the shock," Usopp said as he knelt beside him. "Waking her up now will only make her panic more. It's better to let her come to on her own."
"He's right," Yuji's voice came from behind them, calm and quiet. "Let's just take her somewhere else."
Genzo slowly stepped forward, each step heavy with guilt. The pinwheel on his hat had stopped turning in the still air. "It's my fault. If I hadn't told her everything, she wouldn't have—"
"Whether you meant to or not, the truth couldn't have stayed hidden from her for long," Zoro's voice cut through the man's downward spiral. "So stop blaming yourself and help us take her somewhere she can rest."
Genzo clenched his fist in shame but nodded anyway.
"Come with me."
With that, he turned toward the path leading into the forest. The trees here grew twisted and bent by years of salt-laden winds.
Luffy gently lifted Nami into his arms, holding her as carefully as if she were made of glass. Her head rested against his chest as he silently followed Genzo.
The others trailed behind, their footsteps soft on the damp earth.
--------------------
After several minutes on the forest path, the trees opened to reveal a farm. A weathered barn stood nearby, its wooden frame exposed where the paint had long since peeled away. The air smelled of hay.
Somber figures stood near the barn, a handful of villagers kept watch, gripping shovels like weapons. Their stances were tense and alert.
As the group approached, one man stepped forward. His eyes darted from Genzo to Nami, who was unconscious in Luffy's arms, and then to the rest of the crew behind them. A fresh bandage wrapped around his forearm bore a spreading pink stain.
"Genzo-san, what happened to Nami? Is she okay?"
Genzo raised a hand to calm the man, his gesture appearing exhausted.
"I told her everything that had happened… she fainted from the shock."
"I see…" The man's voice dropped to a sad, hollow tone. Then his gaze sharpened as it swept over Luffy and the others. "Who are they?"
"They're her friends," Genzo said, pausing as something flickered in his tired eyes. "They're here to help."
They went inside the barn, and Luffy laid Nami on one of the makeshift beds. The straw mattress rustled softly beneath her.
The rest of the villagers gathered around, their whispers rising like startled birds. They bombarded Genzo with questions, their voices overlapping, panic woven into every word.
Luffy and the crew stepped away from the crowd. In the barn's dim light, they could fully see the extent of the village's suffering. Most of the people were men, both young and old, with only a few elderly women gathered around Nami, tending to her.
Many of the villagers were severely injured. Bandages were wrapped around torsos, arms were supported by makeshift slings, and faces were marked with bruises that had faded from purple to a sickly yellow. One man sat in the corner, staring at his own hands as if they belonged to someone else.
But it was their eyes that weighed most heavily on the Straw Hats.
There was no light in their eyes. Not even a faint glimmer. It was as if they had lost all reason to live, their bodies moving and breathing, but their souls had long since given up.
They appeared broken.
"This is bad…" Usopp whispered, barely able to breathe the words. "This is really bad."
"Yeah…" Sanji muttered. "They look like they've completely lost hope."
"What do we do now?" Zoro asked, looking at Luffy.
Luffy stared at Nami's unconscious form, his expression blank and unreadable.
He remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he looked at the villagers in the barn, their broken faces and lifeless eyes. Something shifted behind his gaze.
He saw their faces blend into those he knew from home, his people. Makino smiled as she wiped down the bar. The old mayor grumbled about pirates but always left food out for him. Dadan was ugly crying as he told her he was finally leaving on his journey.
Everyone he loved was there.
His fist clenched so tightly that his nails bit into his palm.
"We are going to destroy Arlong and his crew for what they have done to them."
"Don't be stupid, boy." Genzo walked toward them, his boots scuffing the barn floor. "They're not human; they're fishmen, and they're far too strong for us."
He fixed Luffy with a sharp look. "Look, I really appreciate everything you've done for Nami. But please—don't throw your lives away for strangers like us." His voice cracked slightly. "To me, you kids are already brave just for stepping onto this island, knowing the danger. But you're Nami's friends, and I don't want anything to happen to you. It would break Nami's heart. As for our situation… we will find a way to get our people back… somehow."
Luffy looked at Genzo and shook his head slowly and deliberately.
"Don't worry, old man. We're much stronger than you think." His voice carried no arrogance, only truth. "And we promised Nami we'd defeat Arlong and free her village. We're going to keep that promise."
"But—" Genzo tried to protest, but Yuji stepped forward.
"Mister, we don't have time to argue," Yuji said, his sharp eyes holding Genzo in place. "You told us Arlong took all the women and children. Do you have any idea where they've taken everyone? Are they even still on this island?"
Genzo swallowed hard. Those eyes seemed capable of stripping away skin and seeing the bones beneath. Still, he nodded.
"Yes. They're still on the island." His voice was now steely. "And I'm absolutely certain those fishmen have taken our people to the underground bunker south of their base, Arlong Park."
Yuji nodded and looked back at Luffy, awaiting his orders.
"Yuji, I want you and Sanji to go free the villagers. Zoro, Usopp, and I will handle Arlong and the others."
Luffy then looked at Nami's unconscious body.
"Let's have a surprise ready for her when she wakes up."
--------------------
ARLONG PARK—
Arlong sat lazily in his chair, the newspaper crinkling in his grip. His razor-sharp teeth clicked together as he read a particular headline: Jinbe had helped a small kingdom fend off a pirate raid and then planted the Whitebeard Pirates' flag over the kingdom, a clear statement. Now, that kingdom rested under the protection of an Emperor.
The paper tore slightly in his grasp.
"You look like you bit into a lemon, Arlong! What's wrong?"
The voice came from a pink, octopus-like fishman with six tentacle-like arms crossed over his chest. Hachi leaned against the wall, his suction-cup-covered limbs leaving faint damp marks on the stone.
"It's that bastard Jinbe again, saving humans left and right like he's some kind of savior…" Arlong's voice dripped with venom. "Tch. Pathetic."
He threw the newspaper away. The pages scattered across the floor like dying birds. One page landed in a pool of seawater, and the ink began to bleed.
He then turned his glare to Hachi. "Hey, Hachi, is Kuroobi back yet?"
Hachi shook his head.
Arlong hummed, rubbing his chin with a webbed hand. "He's taking too long."
"Do you think that clown lied to us about knowing where Nami is?" Hachi asked, pointing toward the corner where Buggy's dismembered body parts were tied up like discarded luggage.
"Nah." Arlong leaned forward, elbows on his knees. The chair groaned under his weight. "That clown knows exactly what to do when things aren't going his way." He paused, his eyes narrowing. "I think there's something else…"
His gills flared slightly as he tasted the air.
"...and I don't like this feeling."
Just then—
BOOM.
The front gates of Arlong Park exploded inward. The two heavy iron doors, each three times the height of a man and reinforced with steel beams, flew open like leaves caught in a hurricane. They crashed into the gathered fishmen, crushing bones and sending bodies tumbling through the air. The impact shook the ground, causing cracks to spread like spiderwebs across the stone courtyard.
"What the—?"
Three figures emerged from the billowing dust cloud. The haze swirled around them like smoke rising from a funeral pyre.
Luffy surveyed the destruction with a flat, unimpressed stare. His flip-flops crunched over the broken stone as he clenched his fist.
"Which one is Arlong?"
"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"
A fishman rushed at Luffy, axe raised high, a war cry tearing from his throat. The blade caught the sunlight, gleaming with cruel intent.
But before he could take three steps—
Zoro moved.
His left hand held the sack containing Buggy's severed head, the clown's muffled protests faintly buzzing through the burlap. His right hand moved to the only sword at his hip: Wado Ichimonji. The white sheath seemed to glow for a split second as he drew the blade with blinding speed.
The fishman crumpled silently. His axe clattered to the ground, the blade wedging itself into the stone just an inch from his twitching fingers.
"I'll ask once more," Luffy said calmly, a vein pulsing at his temple. "Which one is Arlong?"
Arlong gritted his razor-sharp teeth, producing a sound like knives scraping together. He rose from his chair, his full height casting a long shadow across the courtyard. The tattoo on his chest, the sun brand of the Fish-Man Pirates, seemed to twist in the light.
"That would be me."
Luffy looked at Arlong.
Then, he started walking.
A few fishmen stepped forward to block his path, hardened fighters, their bodies scarred from countless hunts. One carried a spiked club, while another cracked his knuckles, grinning with jagged teeth. Luffy backhanded them without slowing down; his arm didn't even stretch. The impact sent them spinning into the walls like discarded toys. Bones cracked, and blood sprayed. He didn't even look.
"Why you…" Arlong snarled, his voice dropping into something primal. "You're messing with the wrong person, human. I am—"
He never finished it.
Luffy was in front of him.
His fist connected with Arlong's face. The crunch of cartilage and the shattering of shark teeth was deafening. Blood erupted from the fishman's saw-like nose in a dark spray. Arlong's eyes widened in shock before his body shot backward, crashing through the wall of the main building, then the next wall, and then the one after that. Masonry collapsed in his wake. A support beam splintered, and the ceiling sagged dangerously.
"ARLONG! / BOSS!"
The remaining fishmen cried out in disbelief. Their captain, the unbeatable Arlong, who had ruled these waters with an iron fist, was sent flying with a single punch.
Chuu stepped forward, his lips curling back to reveal pointed teeth. His cheeks bulged with stored water, ready to fire.
THWACK!
A projectile struck his face. He stumbled, more shocked than injured, and looked toward the source.
Usopp stood there, his slingshot still raised. A smirk played on his lips.
He gestured with a single finger, signaling, "Come here."
"AHHHHHH—"
Chuu screamed in rage and rushed toward the sniper. Usopp immediately spun on his heel and sprinted out of Arlong Park, with an angry fishman crashing through the underbrush behind him. Leaves exploded in their wake.
Zoro watched them leave, then turned to the remaining fishmen. He pointed Wado Ichimonji at them. The blade caught the light, pure white and deadly sharp.
"So," he tilted his head, "who's next?"
They looked at him. Then they charged, shouts tearing from their throats, weapons raised, and feet pounding against the broken stone.
Zoro moved through them like water flowing over rocks.
He flowed, one moment here, the next there. Each step carried the whisper of a blade. Every cut was precise, never wasting an inch of steel or an ounce of effort. Fishmen fell in waves around him, their blood mixing with the seawater in the courtyard pool, staining it red.
Then Hachi stepped forward, six swords gleaming in his six tentacled hands.
"I know that green hair of yours," Hachi said steadily, though his suction cups trembled slightly. "You're the famous bounty hunter, Roronoa Zoro. If you're here for our bounties, you'll have to go through me first." He aimed all six swords at Zoro, the tips forming a perfect hexagon of death. "I'm the second-best swordsman on Fish-Man Island! They call me Hachi of the Six-Sword Style! Did you know that? No mere human could ever beat me, even if—"
Zoro moved.
He appeared behind Hachi, the blade already angled to flick the blood away. The droplets scattered across the stone like a painter's brushstrokes.
"You talk too much."
A massive gash tore open across Hachi's chest, and blood poured out, hot and dark. The six swords tumbled from his grip, clanging against the ground one by one. The octopus fishman's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed face-first onto the stone. His body twitched once, then went still.
"H-he beat Hachi..."
"Impossible..."
"What do we do now?"
The few remaining fishmen stumbled backward, their weapons trembling in their hands. They stared at Zoro as if he were death incarnate, and in that moment, with blood pooling around his feet and the cold gleam of Wado in his hand, he truly was.
Zoro looked at their frightened faces. A slow, fierce grin spread across his face, full of teeth.
"None of you are going anywhere," his voice was low, almost gentle. "Not after everything you did to the innocent people of this village."
He stepped forward, and the fishmen screamed.
--------------------
Usopp ran through the forest, his lungs burning and his heart pounding against his ribs like a trapped animal. The trees blurred past him, green, brown, green, brown. He ducked, weaved, and leaped over a fallen log slick with moss.
Behind him, Chuu fired another volley of water bullets. They pierced the undergrowth with deadly precision, shredding leaves, splintering bark, and gouging chunks out of tree trunks. One shot grazed Usopp's shoulder, a stinging brush with death that sent him stumbling.
The fishman laughed.
"What's wrong, human? Running away like the coward you are?"
Usopp dove behind a massive tree trunk, its ancient bark rough against his back. He pressed himself flat, chest heaving, sweat dripping into his eyes. His hand moved to his right hip and pulled out a pistol. He turned it over in his palm, studied the modifications he had made, and nodded with firm resolve that steadied his trembling fingers.
"GET OUT HERE, YOU COWARDLY HUMAN!" Chuu's voice tore through the forest. Another water bullet shattered a bush three feet from Usopp's hiding spot. "FIRST YOU ATTACK MY PEOPLE, AND NOW YOU RUN?! IS THIS ALL YOU HUMANS KNOW?! TRICKERY?!"
Usopp listened. He heard the rage, yes, but beneath it, something else: impatience. The fishman was accustomed to easy prey, victims who couldn't fight back, who had no hope.
He pulled out several smoke pellets, small, plain, and packed with a special mixture of his own design. He calculated the angle, the trajectory, and the wind direction. Then he tossed them back toward the fishman.
Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.
Thick smoke billowed out, rolling through the forest in gray-white waves. It engulfed Chuu completely, clinging to his damp skin and filling his gills with grit.
Usopp burst from his hiding spot. His feet found grip on moss, stone, and root. He moved through the smoke like a ghost, pistol raised, closing the distance—
A palm slammed into his chest.
The blow drove the air from his lungs. He flew backward, weightless for a dreadful moment, before crashing hard onto the forest floor. The pistol slipped from his grip and landed in a patch of ferns.
"How pathetic."
Chuu stepped out of the thinning smoke, his grin a slash of jagged teeth. His bulging eyes gleamed with cruel amusement as he stood over Usopp's prone form, casting a shadow that swallowed the sniper whole.
"Did you really think you could fool me with that trick?" He bent down and picked up the fallen pistol, turning it over with casual contempt. His webbed fingers made the weapon look like a child's toy. "I am a fishman. We're not only stronger, but our senses are also far sharper than you could possibly imagine."
He aimed the pistol directly at Usopp's face. The barrel gaped like a dark tunnel.
"Now, isn't it ironic?" he laughed, a wet, gurgling sound. "Dying by your own weapon!"
He pulled the trigger.
BOOM.
But instead of a bullet being fired—
The pistol exploded.
The blast was devastating. Fire and metal fragments tore through Chuu's right hand, shredding flesh, shattering bone, and vaporizing two fingers completely. The shockwave sent him stumbling backward, and his scream sounded like that of a wounded animal.
"AAAHHHHHHH—"
He collapsed to his knees, clutching the mangled remains of his arm. Blood pulsed thickly and darkly between his remaining fingers. Splinters of metal were embedded in his forearm. One piece had lodged in his cheek, and when he screamed again, air whistled through the new wound.
Usopp slowly stood up, his chest aching where he had been hit. He rubbed the bruise through his overalls and winced at the tenderness.
Then he looked at the screaming fishman, watched him thrash, bleed, and suffer.
His expression remained unchanged.
"That was never my pistol to begin with."
--------------------
FLASHBACK—
Before leaving the barn with his crew, Usopp approached Genzo. The dim light illuminated the sniper's face.
"Genzo-san, may I borrow your pistol?"
Genzo blinked, confused, but silently unholstered the weapon and handed it over. The metal was warm from being pressed against his side all day.
Usopp nodded, thanked him, and walked out to join the waiting crew.
"Why did you ask for his pistol when you already have one?" Sanji asked, pointing to Usopp's left hip, where his father's pistol was holstered.
"This one still needs work," Usopp said, patting his father's gun with something close to reverence. "I was only able to make it fire a single shot. As for this borrowed one…" He held up Genzo's pistol. "It's bait. I'm going to put one of my explosive pellets inside and connect it to the trigger. When anyone pulls it—" He mimed an explosion with his free hand, fingers spreading outward. "—the pistol blows up in their hand, taking the whole arm with it."
"That's impressive," Yuji said, raising an eyebrow. "But are you sure it will work?"
"Oh, it will," Usopp said, his voice filled with the certainty of an inventor. "I may be physically weaker than all of you, but my mind is strong." He tapped his temple with the barrel of Genzo's pistol. "And even if it fails, I already have a backup plan for that, too."
Sanji and Yuji exchanged a glance. Neither spoke, but an unspoken understanding passed between them, a newfound respect for their sniper.
--------------------
FLASHBACK ENDS—
Usopp reached to his left hip and drew his father's pistol.
"This is my pistol."
He walked toward Chuu, who was still on his knees, clutching his injured arm and making those wet, keening sounds. Blood and mucus dripped from his face.
Usopp stopped in front of him, raised the pistol, and pressed the barrel right against Chuu's right eye.
The fishman tried to speak, perhaps to beg, perhaps to curse. The words emerged as bubbles of blood and spit.
"And this…" Usopp's voice dropped to a whisper. The forest seemed to hold its breath. "…is for all the pain you've caused Nami."
He pulled the trigger.
BANG.
The bullet punched cleanly through Chuu's eye and into his brain. The fishman's body seized once, then slumped sideways into the ferns, dead before he hit the ground. A single curl of smoke rose from the pistol barrel, and Usopp stood there for a long moment, watching it fades into the air.
"It's done," he muttered softly.
He looked up at the clear sky.
He holstered his father's pistol and walked back.
--------------------
WITH YUJI AND SANJI—
South of Arlong Park, the forest grew denser. The canopy overhead blocked most of the afternoon sun, allowing only scattered beams of light to pierce the gloom. The air smelled of damp earth and salt, and somewhere in the distance, waves crashed against the island's rocky shore.
Yuji and Sanji ran together, weaving through the trees. Neither spoke. Their footsteps fell into a shared rhythm, Sanji's polished shoes and Yuji's quiet steps formed a purposeful duet.
It didn't take them long to locate the bunker.
The entrance was carved into a hillside, partially concealed by hanging vines and a deliberate arrangement of dead brush. Four fishmen stood guard outside, hulking figures with their weapons resting casually on their shoulders. They clearly were not expecting visitors.
They never knew what hit them.
Sanji's kick sent the first opponent flying into a tree trunk with enough force to crack the bark. Yuji took down the second with sharp precision, a strike to the throat that silenced him instantly. The remaining two barely had time to raise their weapons before they joined their comrades in the dirt.
"Pathetic security," Sanji muttered, brushing dust off his trouser leg.
Yuji was already at the door, pulling it open. The hinges screeched in protest.
They went down into the bunker.
The air inside was thick and stale. Dim lanterns lined the stone walls, their flames flickering weakly, as if the darkness itself were slowly smothering them. And then, they saw them—
The women. The children. All of them are in chains.
They huddled together like frightened animals, their eyes wide and hollow in the flickering light. Some of the children had stopped crying days ago, their faces tear-streaked but dry, their eyes vacant and unseeing. One little girl clutched a rag doll with a missing button eye. A mother pressed her baby to her chest, her arms trembling from the constant effort to remain silent.
Sanji's jaw tightened.
"Those bastards…" His voice was a low growl. His hands shook with a rage so pure it felt like white fire coursing through his veins. "To treat women and children like this…"
"Save it." Yuji's hand landed on his shoulder. "Get them out first. Then we can be angry."
They moved quickly. Keys were taken from the unconscious guards. Chains were unlocked. Ankles were freed. One by one, the captives stumbled to their feet, wobbly and unsure, as if they had forgotten how to stand.
"We're here to save you," Sanji said. When he smiled at the women, it lacked his usual showmanship, only warmth and comfort. "We're taking you back to your families."
Tears began to flow, accompanied by heaving, gasping sobs of relief. One woman collapsed into Sanji's arms, her entire body trembling. A boy, perhaps seven years old, clung to Yuji's pant leg and refused to let go.
But Yuji's eyes were scanning the crowd.
Something was wrong.
"Where's Nojiko?" he asked.
"Huh?" Sanji looked up from comforting a young mother. "Wait—she's not here?"
"Nojiko was not with us," one of the freed women stepped forward. Her voice was hoarse from disuse. "They separated her the moment we were captured."
"But Genzo-san told us she was taken along with all of you," Yuji said, his tone sharpening.
"Yes," the woman's eyes darkened. "But those fishmen never brought her here with us. They took her somewhere else."
Yuji and Sanji locked eyes, the unspoken weight between them feeling almost tangible.
"Take them back to the barn," Yuji said, already turning toward the exit. "I'll go tell Luffy."
Sanji nodded and began guiding the freed villagers up the stairs, his voice gentle as he comforted them, one hand hovering protectively near the children.
Yuji had already left.
He ran through the forest faster than before, the trees blurring past him. His mind was racing.
"What in the name of Gege is going on here?" he muttered to himself, leaping over a fallen log without slowing down.
--------------------
He arrived at Arlong Park and came to a stop.
The place looked like a war zone, or rather, the aftermath of one.
Rubble was everywhere. Huge chunks of stone lay scattered like a giant's discarded building blocks. The main building had completely collapsed, its roof caved in, and its walls were nothing but jagged stumps pointing toward the sky. The courtyard was littered with unconscious, and some very conscious but severely broken, bodies of fishmen. Blood had mixed with seawater in the shattered pool, creating swirling patterns of pink and red.
'Looks like they're already done here.'
He stepped over a fallen fishman and entered the ruined park. The crunch of his boots on the debris announced his arrival.
Zoro and Luffy stood over a badly beaten Arlong, who lay sprawled on the broken stone. The fishman's face was barely recognizable, his nose shattered, teeth scattered around him like discarded pearls, and one eye swollen completely shut. His gills fluttered weakly as he struggled to draw breath.
Luffy looked up at Yuji and grinned. His expression was bright and almost childlike, a sharp contrast to the destruction surrounding them. "Yo, Yuji! You're here!"
Zoro nodded in greeting, flicking the blood from Wado Ichimonji before sheathing it with a soft click. "Did you find the kidnapped people?"
Yuji nodded. "We did. Sanji is taking them back to the barn."
"Good, good…" Luffy stretched his arms overhead, cracking his shoulders. "That means we finally beat Arlong and freed Nami's home." His grin widened. "Alright! Let's go tell Nami—she's going to be really happy."
However, Yuji's expression remained unchanged.
"Yeah…" His voice was measured. "There's a problem. Nami's sister, Nojiko—she wasn't with the captured women and children. They told us the fishmen never brought her to the bunker."
"What?" Luffy's grin vanished. His brow furrowed, and the dark look from earlier returned to his eyes.
Zoro scowled.
Just then, a wet, hacking laugh bubbled up from the ground.
"Hehehe… cough… cough… hehehe…"
Arlong, broken, bleeding, dying. His one good eye cracked open, gleaming with cruel triumph despite his ruined state. Blood bubbled between his remaining teeth, and his laugh sounded like gravel grinding underwater.
"You… will never find her… hehe…" His chest rattled with the effort of speaking. "She's already gone…"
Luffy grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up. The fishman's body hung limply like a ragdoll. Another punch landed on his already mangled face, producing a wet, ugly sound.
"What have you done?!" Luffy's voice cracked with fury. "Where is she?!"
Arlong spat blood directly into Luffy's face. The glob hit his cheek and dripped down his chin. The fishman's grin widened, bloodstained and defiant.
"Even if you kill me, I won't tell you anything."
Luffy punched him again and again. Each blow sent shockwaves through the ruined courtyard, causing the remaining stone walls to tremble.
"TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!"
But Arlong laughed through the pain. It was the laugh of someone with nothing left to lose, someone who had found one last way to hurt his enemy, even in defeat.
Zoro watched, his jaw tight. "Should I kill him?" His thumb pushed Wado Ichimonji partly out of its sheath. An inch of gleaming steel caught the light. "Make it quick?"
"No."
Zoro turned around. Yuji was staring at Arlong with an unreadable expression.
"Then what?"
"I think I have a way to make him talk," Yuji said as he stepped forward. His footsteps were eerily quiet despite the rubble. "Luffy, step back. Let me handle this."
Luffy looked up, noticed something in Yuji's eyes, and nodded. He released Arlong's collar, allowing the fishman to slump back to the ground. The captain stepped back silently, wiping Arlong's blood from his cheek with the back of his hand.
Arlong turned his swollen gaze toward the pink-haired man. Even through his battered face, he managed a sneer. "And what… can you do to me… that hasn't already been done?"
Yuji knelt before him, saying nothing.
Slowly, he raised his palm. The others watched as a small cut appeared across the skin, clean and deliberate. Blood welled up from the wound, but instead of dripping down his wrist, it began to float. Droplets rose into the air like rain in reverse, gathering into a perfect sphere the size of a marble. It hovered above Yuji's palm, swirling slowly.
Then Yuji forced the blood sphere into Arlong's face.
He pushed it past the fishman's broken teeth, down his throat, and into his body. Arlong thrashed, but Yuji's hand clamped over his mouth, holding it shut until the swallowing reflex took over.
Then the screaming began.
"AAAAHHHHHHHH—"
Arlong's body convulsed violently. His back arched off the ground. His remaining eye bulged so wide that the veins around it burst, staining the white with red webs. His hands clawed at his stomach, tearing through his own skin, as if he could rip out whatever was consuming him from the inside.
Because something was eating at him.
Yuji's blood, highly concentrated and impossibly toxic, flowed through Arlong's system, attacking his organs as if it were alive. It spread through his stomach lining, seeped into his intestinal walls, and caused the flesh to begin dying. Cell by cell, layer by layer, the process of necrosis unfolded, and Arlong felt every agonizing second of it.
The fishman's screams echoed through Arlong Park, bouncing off the ruined walls before fading into the forest beyond, where even the birds fell silent.
"Tell me, Arlong…" Yuji's voice was very calm. "Where is Nojiko? Tell me, and I will stop this pain."
"AAAAHHHHH—" Arlong screamed, his vocal cords shredding.
Yuji paused the effect of his blood, just for a moment. The fishman's screams faded into ragged, desperate gasps. His body still twitched, but the active necrosis ceased, a blade held an inch from the final cut.
"Arlong," Yuji said, leaning closer. His eyes caught the light in an unnatural way. "Where is she?"
"Huff… huff…" Arlong's voice was hoarse. "N-Nezumi… h-he took her… t-to his Marine b-base…" Each word was a struggle. His remaining teeth chattered. "P-please… stop this… it hurts… it hurts…"
Yuji stood up.
He looked down at the writhing fishman for a long moment.
Luffy and Zoro watched him, waiting. The silence stretched taut, like a wire about to snap.
Then Yuji snapped his fingers.
A small, audible blip sounded from inside Arlong's stomach, soft, almost anticlimactic, like a bubble popping in still water.
Then Arlong's stomach burst open.
The explosion was internal. Blood and liquefied tissue spilled across the broken stone, steaming faintly in the afternoon air. Arlong's body convulsed once, a full-body spasm that briefly lifted him off the ground, then went completely still. His remaining eye stared at the sky, seeing nothing.
He died in a pool of his own blood and dissolved organs.
Silence.
Zoro broke the silence first. His voice was steady, but his hand hadn't left his sword. "You're a Devil Fruit user too?"
"No." Yuji turned to face them. His eyes were tired now, the terrifying calm replaced by something more human: weariness, perhaps. "I'm not a Devil Fruit user. But I'll tell you everything after we rescue Nojiko."
Luffy looked at him for a moment, then nodded, no questions asked.
Zoro did the same. His thumb slid off Wado's hilt. Whatever secrets Yuji carried could wait. Complete trust required no prior explanations.
But now—
"It's time," Luffy said, cracking his knuckles, "to go get Nami's sister back."
--------------------
OMAKE (Buggy missing his buddy)--
Buggy was finally free. He got his body back by those racist fishmen and now, it's time for to take care those brats.
He looked at Zoro as he massacred the fishmen like it was his normal Tuesday.
Buggy gulped as saw a shadow of his childhood buddy in Zoro.
"Damn, he reminds me of V when we used to raid other pirates under captain Roger."
Buggy then shook his head out of those thoughts.
"Nah, this brat can never be like him. V is different breed of his own. Even Rayleigh-san said that his talent is unmatched."
He then rubbed his chin in thought.
"Come to think of it, he was the only one how genuinely cared for me as a brother. Even that bastard Shanks left me alone. Looks like it's time for reunion. Last time I heard, the World Government is scared shitless of V. Hehehehe... now that's my buddy. Showing those bastards what a Roger pirate truly is."
--------------------
Like the chapter, then please share your powerstones with me.
See you in next chapter....
Peace out.