Gazing at Smoker on the execution platform, Ryuuto felt a growing eagerness to test his skills. He was a man of action.
"Moonwalk!"
Setting aside Yukibashiri and Sandai Kitetsu, Ryuuto let out a sharp cry. With several powerful kicks against the air itself, he shot toward the execution platform.
A few moments later, Ryuuto was hovering above the structure.
"Hahahahahaha! Ryuuto, you're here! Get me out of this!" Luffy yelled, his face lighting up at the sight of his ally.
"Reinforcements for Straw Hat?" Buggy watched from the side, his mind already scheming.
Seeing someone attack Captain Smoker, the Buggy Pirates below seized their chance. Led by their officers, they broke off in different directions, attempting to escape the encirclement.
As for Zoro and Sanji, they immediately broke free from the marines bogging them down and leaped to the base of the platform.
Zoro drew his swords for his Three-Sword Style: Tiger Hunt, preparing to slice the entire structure down.
Meanwhile, Sanji sprinted up the side of the platform, aiming to kick Smoker off and rescue Luffy.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
"Shave!"
Ignoring Luffy's shouts, Ryuuto fixed his gaze on Smoker. In an instant, he vanished and reappeared directly behind the marine captain.
"These pirates just don't know when to quit."
"Ryuuto, with a bounty of 30 million Berries!"
"And the 'Pirate Hunter,' Roronoa Zoro!"
Smoker took in the scene, his eyes filled with an infinite coldness. As someone familiar with every wanted poster in the East Blue, he recognized Ryuuto at a glance, and he was certainly no stranger to the infamous East Blue bounty hunter, Zoro.
The moment Ryuuto appeared, Smoker clenched the cigars in his mouth, exhaling a thick cloud as his own body dissolved into smoke.
"White Launcher!"
"White Vine!"
With two sharp commands, Smoker surged forward as a plume of white smoke, causing Ryuuto's extended Finger Pistol to stab through empty air. Not only that, but the smoke he'd become immediately morphed into a massive, twisting vine.
The white vine grew rapidly, splitting into three tendrils that shot toward Ryuuto, Zoro, and Sanji.
Buggy, however, had seized the moment Smoker turned to smoke to leap off the platform. He was now sprinting for his life toward a gap in the marine line.
"You bastards! Wait for me!" the clown pirate shrieked at his fleeing subordinates.
Back on the platform, the three smoke tendrils reached their targets.
Zoro and Sanji had no experience fighting a Logia user. In a flash, the smoke vines coiled around them, suspending them helplessly in mid-air.
As for Ryuuto…
He gripped a jitte in his hand and brought it down hard on the approaching vine.
Clang!
The white vine dissipated. A muffled grunt came from within the smoke, and Smoker's solid form suddenly reappeared.
"I was careless! Ryuuto, was it? You won't get another chance like that."
A trickle of blood escaped the corner of Smoker's mouth as he glared at Ryuuto.
"Ooh, I'm so scared," Ryuuto retorted, not backing down an inch as he started a verbal spat with the marine. "How could you be so clumsy? You even let your own weapon fall into my hands."
It turned out Ryuuto's initial attack had been a feint. As Smoker dissipated to dodge, Ryuuto had secretly unleashed a Tempest Kick, severing the smoke-arm that held the jitte. Then, with another use of Shave, he had instantly flashed over and snatched the weapon.
That was how he had managed to land a solid blow on Smoker.
As a veteran One Piece fan, Ryuuto knew full well that the tip of Smoker's jitte was made of Sea-Prism Stone—the ultimate weakness of all Logia-type Devil Fruit users.
With a casual flick, Smoker tossed the ensnared Zoro and Sanji toward Tashigi. "Tie them up," he commanded.
"Yes, Captain!"
Tashigi, though a bit slow on the uptake, recovered after a half-second of shock and, with the help of a few marines, quickly bound Zoro and Sanji.
"Zoro! Sanji!" Luffy yelled in a panic, watching his crewmates get captured.
"Captain Smoker, you're not paying very much attention to me."
Seeing Smoker's focus divided, Ryuuto immediately used Shave to close the distance, swinging the captured jitte in a wide arc.
But Smoker was clearly prepared.
With a soft poof, he dissolved into smoke and surged forward, easily evading the horizontal strike.
Ryuuto gave chase with another Shave, the jitte in his hand a blur of motion.
Smoker exhaled a massive cloud of smoke that instantly billowed out, filling the space around Ryuuto and completely obscuring his vision. Within the dense fog, Smoker transformed into a lithe white snake, slithering through the smoke as he waited for the perfect moment to strike.
Finding an opening outside Ryuuto's line of sight, Smoker materialized behind him. His right hand became a gigantic fist of smoke, which he brought down with crushing force.
The smoke fist whistled through the air.
Ryuuto knew he was in trouble. He stomped his foot, about to launch himself upward with Moonwalk. But propelled by the surrounding smoke, the fist was too fast. He had no time to dodge.
Smack!
The punch landed squarely on Ryuuto's back.
The blow was immensely powerful, slamming into him with brutal force. A single thought dominated Ryuuto's mind: Logia fruits really are invincible in the early game!
I got careless, way too careless!
Before he could even process the thought, he was sent hurtling toward the ground with a deafening crash.
Using the force of the impact, Ryuuto flipped himself upright the moment he hit the ground.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
He looked back to see a barrage of smoke fists hammering the spot where he had just landed.
"That really hurt! It's the first time I've ever been injured this badly."
Using Shave to create distance between himself and Smoker, Ryuuto wiped a smear of blood from his lips, his expression grim.
This is an impossible fight.
Even with the Sea-Prism Stone, he could barely land a hit on Smoker. The captain had turned the entire area into a smoke-filled battlefield where he could blend in seamlessly, making him impossible to track.
He couldn't win. He was completely on the defensive.
Fortunately, with his skills, if he truly wanted to escape, Smoker would have no way to stop him. That was the confidence that had allowed him to attempt this rescue in the first place. But if he ran now, his plan to save Luffy would go up in smoke.
"Ryuuto, for someone with your strength, a bounty of 30 million Berries is far too low," Smoker said, standing a short distance away. He pulled out four or five more cigars and stuffed them into his mouth.
"Where did you learn the Six Powers?"
Smoker had recognized the techniques the man before him was using—they were the signature martial arts of the marines.
"That's none of your business, Captain Smoker," Ryuuto replied with a dismissive smirk.