"Uh... okay."
Kuro nodded a little awkwardly. He hadn't expected it to come to this, fighting this brat after all.
Looks like whatever their true goal was, it had nothing to do with him.
He was just collateral, used like a whetstone for someone else's trial.
Damn Warlords of the Sea!
Though Kuro remained outwardly calm, a fire of humiliation and anger burned inside him.
Unforgivable.
A ruthless glint surfaced deep in his eyes as a trace of killing intent rose from within.
But he didn't dare act recklessly.
Just thinking of Smoker's legendary strength, and how even he had reportedly been beaten down by one of the Warlords, was enough to extinguish his murderous aura.
Once again, Kuro composed himself, forced a friendly smile, and turned to Koby.
"Let's keep it as a friendly sparring match, alright? No need to go all out..."
"I will defeat you!"
Koby showed him no courtesy whatsoever, gripping the mop handle tightly and responding loudly and boldly.
This damn brat!!!
So ungrateful!!!
Kuro was livid.
That's it, he made up his mind.
He would use his full strength. Even if it killed the kid, so be it!
In that moment, Kuro returned to his mindset from three years ago...
If you're all going to look down on me, don't blame me for fighting back.
Today, he'd show them what made the Warlords so powerful!
"Spoon."
Under Koby's sharp gaze, Kuro slowly lowered his arms, his body beginning to sway rhythmically from side to side.
Spoon, Kuro's ultimate technique.
Its core was the seamless use of his Silent Steps to launch indiscriminate attacks.
He would blitz through the battlefield with lightning speed, slashing wildly with his cat-claw weapons, fast enough that not even he could tell where he would strike.
Naturally, Luffy and the others nearby were well within his attack range.
"What the...?"
Koby didn't let his guard down but looked on warily as Kuro began swaying in place.
Whoosh!
A puff of dust rose.
In a blink, Kuro vanished from Koby's sight.
Clang!
Koby barely managed to raise his mop in time to block the first sudden strike.
But before he could recover, the blade flashed again, and disappeared.
Shhk!
Blood suddenly spurted from a wound on Koby's back, staining his favorite white shirt red.
He turned, but Kuro had vanished once more.
Slice!
A stone on the path was suddenly and silently cleaved in half.
Crack!
A long fissure split the ground.
At that moment, the Spoon attack had completely lost control.
Bang!Shhk!Clang!,
A flurry of sharp sounds filled the air as blades cut indiscriminately through everything around them.
Until,
A glinting blade suddenly appeared right beside Nami's cheek, aiming straight for her face.
But just as it was about to strike,
Whoosh,
A sudden barrier of wind erupted, completely halting Kuro's attack and locking his body in place.
Dressed in a cute girl's outfit, Nami released a terrifying pressure that felt like it could crush Kuro's heart.
"Focus on the fight. No running."
Though her voice was soft and girlish, it struck him like iron chains binding his very soul. Kuro didn't dare hesitate, he instantly obeyed.
And the Spoon assault came to an abrupt halt.
"Hmph."
Nami snorted coldly, looking down at the trembling Kuro who had returned to the battlefield.
"Pathetic."
"If he weren't still useful, I'd have killed him already."
"Uh..."
Luffy couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.
Nami was usually kind to their own crew.
But when it came to anyone outside the Starry Sky Pirates, she acted like a cold, commanding queen, above all others, disdainful of everyone.
The once-greedy girl had turned into a proud princess.
As the crew grew, it was getting harder to manage...
Too many problem children...
─────────🏴☠️─────────
Koby gently touched the wound on his back, and a warm sensation spread to his brain.
Blood.
I'm bleeding...
How terrifying.
Fighting was really terrifying
He stared at the fresh blood on his fingers.
It was his first real battle, and he clearly wasn't used to the brutal, deadly rhythm.
But seeing Kuro walk back toward him, Koby quickly readied his stance.
Only, Kuro no longer had the heart to fight.
Too terrifying.
These people... are too terrifying.
Nami's pressure had shattered his mental state.
In that moment, the once-feared Black Cat Captain had become nothing more than a trembling little kitten, no longer daring to act out.
It had been so sudden, so overwhelming...
Maybe, to them, killing him was as easy as squashing a bug...
I should,
BAM!
Just as Kuro was trying to recover mentally, the mop head came out of nowhere and smacked him square on the head.
The immense force sent him flying into a stone wall, embedding him deep into it.
His once-pristine suit was now wrinkled and torn, his glasses shattered.
A huge bump formed on his forehead, blood oozing from it as he lost consciousness.
What just happened?!
Koby swore, he hadn't taken advantage of anything!
He'd simply seen Kuro standing still and attacked with all his might. Who knew that one full-powered strike would end like this?
"Sigh..."
Luffy let out a helpless breath.
What a mess.
Better to let Koby train properly first. With their protection, no one really dared to fight him seriously.
Worst case, he could spar with Whitebeard in the future!
That could work.
With a somewhat awkward smile, Luffy walked over to Koby and patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't just stand there. Let's pause the fight here, we'll find another chance later."
"Go test out your Nen weapon now."
"Uh, oh!" Koby finally snapped out of it, remembering his second goal.
He walked over to Kuro, grabbed his leg, and pulled him out of the wall.
Usopp's eyes widened in shock. He gestured silently to Kaya and the kids to stay put.
Then, stomping the ground lightly to steady his nerves, he cautiously stepped toward Luffy and the others.
Trembling as he looked at the skeleton Brook, he stammered:
"W-Who are you people?!"
"Oh?"
Luffy glanced at the nervous Usopp but didn't respond.
He simply smiled, pointed to Koby who was now using his Nen ability, and then held a finger to his lips, shhh.
Usopp froze in place, barely breathing, as he turned to look at Koby with the rest of the group.
Koby gently laid Kuro flat on the ground, then raised his mop, the Hero Mop, with a solemn expression.
The mop head was aimed squarely at Kuro's torso.
"O hidden power of darkness, reveal your true form before me!"
"Abandon your old shape, transform anew!"
"In the name of the Hero, I command you!"
"Contract! Purify!"
Flash,
A dazzling white light burst from the mop head's cloth strips, shining like a powerful spotlight.
Bathed in its glow, a strange black substance began to rise slowly from Kuro's body, it felt wicked and otherworldly.
It had no solid form, appearing fluid yet airy.
This black substance was Kuro's evil thoughts, transformed into Nen.
After completing the ritual-like incantation, Koby returned to his roots.
With the mop in hand, he became a cleaner once more, scrubbing at Kuro's body.
Scrub scrub, scrub scrub,
Bit by bit, the black aura was absorbed into the mop, purifying into clean Nen and flowing into Koby's body, enhancing his strength.
"Ah~"
Koby let out a refreshed sigh when it was done.
Meanwhile, Kuro slowly regained consciousness.
"Wh-where am I...?"
Groggily, he looked around, until his eyes locked onto Koby.
In that moment, he looked up at Koby as if he were divine light, and dropped to his knees.
To Kuro, Koby's head was now radiating sacred rainbow light, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet...
He suddenly remembered all his past thoughts, and a deep sense of regret filled his heart.
How could I have been so vile?!
What was the point of all the evil I'd done?!
Everything suddenly felt meaningless.
Money, power, fame, status, none of it compared to a kind heart that loved the world.
"I... I'm a monster!!!"
Bang!
Kuro smashed his head to the ground and shouted:
"I tried to steal someone else's fortune!"
"I'm, I'm disgusting!!!"
"Ahhh! What's the point of someone so filthy like me living in this world?!"
Clang!
A cold blade suddenly appeared in his hand, he raised it toward his own throat.
Shhk,
The sharp edge sliced into flesh, blood trickling along the blade.
"You... why...?"
Kuro stared in shock at the hand that had blocked the blade, Koby's hand, pierced clean through by the sword.
"Heh..."
Koby winced, half his face twitching from pain, but still smiled as he looked at the wide-eyed Kuro.
"No one lives a life without hurting a bug or picking a flower."
"No one is perfect."
"Everyone has desires, even the kindest person might do something wrong without meaning to."
"Even the purest soul must sometimes kill to survive, eat meat or fish, pick flowers, squash bugs..."
"We all hate hurting others, but life makes us do it sometimes."
"This is life. This is humanity."
"Because we're flawed, we have to help each other."
"Let go of the past, embrace the future, and life gets better."
"As long as the song of life continues, never give up hope."
With blood still dripping from his injured hand, Koby trembled slightly and pulled it free from the blade.
Blood gushed out like a fountain.
But Koby still smiled, extending his uninjured hand to the kneeling Kuro.
"Let's keep moving forward, for love."
At that moment...
The holy light redeemed Kuro.
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