Chapter 158: Blood Drenches Dock 1! Tatsuya's "Wanton Slaughter"
"SUPER!!"
Atop the ruins of the inn, Franky struck that embarrassing signature pose.
Immediately after, his steel-forged arms snapped open, palms facing each other.
"Taste this! The wrath of the Galley-La Company's strongest cyborg!!"
"Coup de Vent!!!!"
BOOM!!!!
A visible white air shockwave howled out, accompanied by a deafening boom.
This was no ordinary air cannon; its power was enough to rival heavy artillery.
"Whoa!!"
Luffy's body instinctively leaped upward, narrowly avoiding the direct impact.
But the scene behind him was jaw-dropping.
The wreckage of a massive pirate ship moored in the abandoned harbor disintegrated like paper under the shockwave, instantly shattering into a rain of sawdust.
"Wh-What incredible power!"
Luffy landed on a distant rooftop, looking at the pervert in speedos with a shocked expression:
"What is this old guy made of? Is he a robot? How can he blast air out of his body?"
"Whatever! He's not the target right now!"
Luffy remembered being framed, and his gaze turned firm once more.
Using the momentum of his fall, he kicked his right leg high into the sky, stretching it dozens of meters.
"Gomu Gomu no Battle Axe!!"
The massive sole of his foot crashed down like a meteorite, shattering the ground beneath Franky's feet and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
"Now's our chance! Let's go! To Dock 1 to see Iceburg!"
Taking advantage of Franky being obscured by the dust, Luffy called out to Zoro, Nami, and Tatsuya, and they dashed toward Dock 1 in the city center without looking back.
...
Water 7, Dock 1.
When the Straw Hat crew arrived panting at the main gate, what awaited them was not a chance to explain.
Instead, it was hundreds of angry shipwrights armed with saws, hammers, and muskets.
"It's them! The Straw Hat crew!"
"The murderers who attacked Mr. Iceburg dare to show their faces!"
Leading them were several foremen of the Galley-La Company Paulie, who manipulated ropes; Peepley Lulu, with his ever-standing hair; and the burly Tilestone.
"Surround them! Don't let them escape!"
Paulie let out a roar, and hundreds of sturdy shipwrights instantly formed a tight-knit circle, surrounding the four of them.
Their murderous glares looked as if they wanted to skin the pirates alive.
"Wait! Everyone, listen to me!"
Luffy stood in the center of the circle and argued loudly:
"We didn't kill Iceburg! We've been framed!"
"Whether it's for money or a grudge, we have no reason to do such a thing!"
"Let me see Iceburg! I have questions to ask him in person!"
However, the angry crowd couldn't hear any explanation.
Behind the crowd, in front of the luxurious office building.
Lucci, dressed in a black suit, stood expressionlessly before Luffy with his hands in his pockets.
On the roof behind him, the long-nosed Kaku crouched on a beam, looking down at the battlefield and blocking the airspace.
"Coo coo, a murderer is a murderer; there's no need to see Mr. Iceburg," Hattori, the pigeon on Lucci's shoulder, shrieked. "Just surrender quietly."
"Damn... since talking isn't working..."
Zoro drew his three swords, his eyes sharpening. "Then we'll just have to break through by force."
"Zoro! Don't hurt them!" Nami reminded him anxiously.
"I know!"
The melee broke out instantly.
"Two-Sword Style: Rhino Cycle!"
Zoro became a whirlwind, using the backs of his blades to strike the shipwrights' weapons with precision, repelling waves of the charging crowd.
Luffy was entangled by Paulie's lifelike ropes.
"Pipe Hitch!" The ropes in Paulie's hands coiled like venomous snakes, attempting to bind Luffy's limbs.
The scene was pure chaos.
Yet, amidst the noisy battlefield, one person was unusually quiet.
Tatsuya.
He didn't draw his sword, nor did he pay any mind to the shipwrights swinging hammers at him.
In his deep black eyes, a red glow quietly emerged, and three tomoe slowly rotated.
Under the insight of the Sharingan, the dynamics of the entire battlefield were slowed down countless times.
Tatsuya's gaze pierced through the layers of people, ignoring Paulie and Lucci.
Finally, it locked onto a seemingly non-threatening man at the very edge of the encirclement.
The bar owner with the bull-horn hairstyle Blueno.
At this moment, Blueno was blending into the crowd, pretending to be both angry and afraid.
But in Tatsuya's eyes, the level of threat this man posed even exceeded Lucci's.
'The Door-Door Fruit...'
A flash of decisive killing intent crossed Tatsuya's eyes.
'That's the most troublesome ability in CP9. As long as he's around, Robin can be moved through a door at any time.'
'I must... close this door forever, right here.'
Without any warning.
"Whoosh!!"
Tatsuya's figure vanished from the spot, leaving only an afterimage torn by a gust of wind.
Like a bolt of black lightning, he broke straight through the crowd, his chilling killing intent already locked onto Blueno.
Blueno was startled as he saw Tatsuya suddenly charging at him.
But on the surface, he still feigned terror, stumbling backward:
"Whoa!! Help! A pirate is coming for me!!"
He tried to use his "civilian" status to get the surrounding shipwrights to block Tatsuya.
"Stop! Don't hurt Blueno!" Seeing this, several nearby shipwrights immediately tried to pounce and protect this "kind bar owner."
But Tatsuya was too fast.
Clang!
The black blade was unsheathed.
Pitch-black Armament Haki instantly coiled around the blade, turning it into a lethal black light.
This strike was aimed directly at Blueno's heart.
It was an absolutely fatal move, without any hesitation or holding back.
'This man... really intends to kill me!'
Blueno's pupils contracted violently.
In that instant, his instincts as an agent told him: if he continued to feign, this blade would absolutely pierce his heart!
In this split second between life and death.
Blueno's feet slammed into the ground, shattering it; his muscles tensed to the absolute limit, and his blood flow accelerated.
"Iron Body!!!"
CLANG!!!
A deafening roar exploded in the noisy shipyard.
It wasn't the sound of a blade piercing flesh, but the metallic ring of steel violently clashing against steel!
This loud bang caused the chaotic crowd around them to fall silent instantly.
Everyone's eyes widened, staring at the scene before them in disbelief.
Tatsuya's black blade, capable of cutting through steel, was thrust hard against Blueno's left chest.
The apron and clothes on Blueno's body instantly shattered, revealing the solid muscles underneath.
"This..."
Paulie, who was fighting Luffy, froze, and the shipwrights around them were also dumbfounded.
A normally kind and amiable bar owner.
How could he block a full-force strike from a great pirate with a bounty of over a hundred million using only his chest?
"How is this possible..."
"Blueno... is his body made of steel?"
Tatsuya maintained his thrusting posture, his lips curling into a cold, mocking sneer:
"This is the 'innocent civilian' you were talking about?"
"Would an ordinary bar owner have a body harder than steel?"
Red light flickered in Tatsuya's eyes as he stared at Blueno's somber face:
"Or is this... the 'Six Powers' that the World Government's lapdogs are so proud of?"
Since he had been exposed, Blueno no longer feigned his simple and honest face.
His gaze instantly became cold and dark, the eyes of a killing machine.
"I didn't expect... to be seen through by a rookie like you."
Blueno's voice grew deep:
"Shave!"
Swish!
Blueno's figure vanished instantly, moving so fast that not even an afterimage could be seen.
The next second, he appeared out of thin air behind Tatsuya, his fingers pressed together like a gun, thrusting straight at the back of Tatsuya's head:
"Since I've been discovered, there's no other way. For Justice, die."
"Finger Pistol!!"
"Too slow."
Tatsuya didn't even turn his head; the dynamic vision of his Sharingan had already captured the trajectory.
He held his scabbard vertically behind him with a backhand grip.
Ding!!
Blueno's finger, capable of piercing a human body, jabbed hard against the Haki-covered scabbard, sending sparks flying.
The two engaged in a high-speed clash in the center of the shipyard.
For a moment, there were only the "clink-clank" sounds of collisions and the afterimages produced by their high-speed movements.
The ordinary shipwrights couldn't see their movements at all; they could only see the airwaves constantly exploding in the air.
"Damn... this guy's swordsmanship and Haki..."
After a few rounds of exchange, Blueno was horrified.
He found that he couldn't gain any advantage in physical techniques at all; those red eyes seemed to anticipate all his moves.
'I can't get bogged down; I must get the intel out first.'
Blueno feinted a move, leaped backward, and pulled hard at the air with both hands.
"Door-Door: Air Door!"
A green door to another dimension slowly opened in the air.
Once inside, no one would be able to catch him.
"Thinking of running?"
Tatsuya's eyes sharpened. "Too late."
Just as Blueno was about to step into the Air Door, Tatsuya's left hand suddenly formed several complex signs, and his chest swelled.
Chakra was highly compressed at his throat, turning into an extremely fine high-pressure water line.
"Water Style: Water Severing Wave!!"
Shoooo!!
An incredibly sharp water blade shot from Tatsuya's mouth, instantly slicing through the edge of the "Air Door" Blueno was about to open.
"What?!"
Blueno was forced to pull back his hand; if he didn't, his arm would have been sliced clean off by the water blade.
In that split second of hesitation.
Tatsuya was already upon him.
His right hand wasn't holding a sword; instead, his palm was open, and a blinding blue-white lightning erupted from it.
Chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp!!!
It was a shrill sound, as if a thousand birds were chirping at once.
"Chidori!!!!"
Tatsuya's figure turned into a bolt of lightning, piercing through space in that instant.
Blueno didn't even have time to activate Iron Body again.
Or rather, in the face of Lightning Release's high penetration power, ordinary Iron Body offered no defense at all.
The two crossed paths.
Time seemed to freeze.
Tatsuya stood with his back to Blueno, the lightning in his hand slowly fading; those red Sharingan eyes looked exceptionally eerie amidst the dust.
"Ugh..."
Blueno stood in place, his eyes wide, as if he still wanted to say something.
But in the next second.
A thin line of blood appeared on his neck.
Splurt
Blood gushed out like a fountain.
Blueno's head, with its bull-horn hairstyle, slowly slid off his neck, and his body collapsed heavily into a pool of blood with a dull thud.
CP9 member, Door-Door Fruit user, Blueno
Confirmed dead.
[Significant deviation detected in a key plot point]
[Killed core CP9 member: Blueno]
[Reward obtained: 4,000 Ninja Points]
A deathly silence enveloped Dock 1.
In front of the office building.
Rob Lucci, who had remained expressionless, suddenly clenched his hand inside his pocket.
On the roof.
Kaku's half-closed eyes snapped open, and beneath his long, square nose, the corner of his mouth twitched.
A thick killing intent radiated from him.
They never imagined that their always-honest comrade Blueno would be instantly slain by a rookie pirate.
And it was such a clean, decisive instant kill.
However, to the thousands of unknowing shipwrights around them, they saw a completely different scene.
They didn't understand "Iron Body" or "Shave," nor did they know what CP9 was.
They only saw that the pirate had brutally murdered a "warm and kind bar owner."
"AAAAAHHHHH!!"
Paulie, looking at Blueno lying in a pool of blood, let out a heart-wrenching roar:
"Blueno!!!"
His eyes instantly became bloodshot as he pointed at Tatsuya, his voice trembling with rage:
"You bastards!!! You actually killed Blueno!!! He was our comrade!!"
"Murderers!! Unforgivable!!"
"Kill them!! Avenge Blueno!!"
The angry crowd completely lost control; what was originally an attempt to capture had now turned into a relentless quest for revenge.
This time, the Straw Hat Pirates truly had no way to clear their names.
Facing the thousands of shipwrights charging in a rage, Tatsuya expressionlessly flicked the blood off his blade and sheathed it.
He turned around and grabbed Luffy, who was still completely bewildered by the situation:
"Let's go, Luffy!"
"The goal has been achieved."
"But..." Luffy wanted to say something more.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Tatsuya didn't give him any chance to explain, pulling several specialized smoke bombs from his coat and smashing them onto the ground.
Thick purple smoke instantly filled the area, obscuring everyone's vision.
"Cough, cough, cough! I can't see!"
"Stop them!"
Amidst the chaos, Tatsuya forcibly dragged Luffy along, called out to Zoro and Nami, and used the Body Flicker Technique to smash through the shipyard wall, vanishing into the labyrinthine alleys.
...
During their escape.
The four of them sprinted through an empty back alley.
"Huff... huff..."
Luffy stopped and shook off Tatsuya's hand.
He lowered the brim of his hat, his voice filled with deep confusion and accusation:
"Tatsuya!!"
"Why did you kill that bull-horn old guy?!"
Luffy looked up, his gaze complex:
"Even if he was an enemy... was it necessary to kill him?
"Everyone said he was a good person... we've really become murderers now!"
Tatsuya stopped and turned around.
He looked at Luffy, the red Sharingan slowly fading and returning to a deep black.
"Luffy."
"He was a member of CP9, the World Government's lapdogs."
"That man was a 'Door-Door Fruit' user. He could open doors anywhere, even in the air."
"If we didn't kill him... when we go to save Robin, he would only need to open a door to whisk her away."
Tatsuya stepped forward, placed both hands on Luffy's shoulders, and looked directly into his Captain's eyes:
"For Robin's safety, I don't care if I'm branded a murderer."
"Besides, look at reality, Luffy."
"The real enemies... are those 'foremen' who have been lurking around us all along."
"The upcoming battle... will be even more perilous than facing an Admiral."
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