Chapter - 42
East Blue – Conomi Isnds
Arlong Park
A few minutes before the building colpsed, specifically at the same time Zoro's fight began, Sanji exhaled smoke from a previous puff and, using Soru, darted at full speed toward Kuroobi.
As he got close, he leaped and, without holding on to anything, unleashed a flying knee strike coated with Armament Haki, aiming for Kuroobi's head.
With his Observation Haki, Kuroobi easily dodged to the side, causing Sanji to miss and fly past him. Sanji twisted his body in mid-air, flipping and nding on his hands.
Spreading his legs in that position, he twisted his torso, spinning his legs rapidly and nding a powerful kick coated with Armament Haki squarely on Kuroobi's torso. Kuroobi held firm, only grunting in response.
Kuroobi then grabbed Sanji's leg and smmed him hard into the ground. Without time to writhe in pain from hitting his back on the ground, Sanji began dodging Kuroobi’s constant stomps, aiming to crush him, using his Observation Haki.
Needing space to get up, Sanji kicked the air with both legs, using Geppo, and effectively slid away from Kuroobi.
Once he gained distance, Sanji pnted his hands on the ground and flipped backward. As he got to his feet, he found Kuroobi already right up on him, delivering a punch.
Sanji leaned his torso backward, dodging the punch just like Neo dodged bullets in The Matrix. While doing so, he banced on one leg and delivered a precise kick to Kuroobi's shin with the other, causing him to lose his bance and fall.
Sanji then gained more space by performing another backflip and, this time wasn't immediately pressured when he nded.
He rushed at Kuroobi, who had just gotten up, and when he got close, Sanji delivered a crescent kick with his right leg, aiming for Kuroobi’s head, swinging from the outside in.
With his Observation Haki, Kuroobi saw the kick coming and shielded the side of his head with his left arm.
But the kick went over Kuroobi's head without hitting him, as it was a feint. And after his leg passed in front of Kuroobi's face, Sanji jumped, spinning his body in the air and hitting a kick with the sole of his foot squarely in Kuroobi's chest with his left leg, making him slide on the ground.
The fight continued, with both exchanging blows and accumuting wounds.
Sanji, his forehead bleeding from a headbutt he had received, charged toward Kuroobi, whose forearms were completely bruised and bleeding after failing to cover them with Armament Haki several times during the fight, as Sanji had been too fast for him.
When Sanji got close, he turned his back and unleashed a powerful ‘Collier Frit’, aiming for Kuroobi’s neck. Kuroobi dodged to the side, closing in on Sanji’s personal space.
Kuroobi then delivered a powerful punch coated with Armament Haki to Sanji’s back, who couldn’t defend with his own Haki, instantly forming a rge purple bruise.
After the punch, Kuroobi spun his body, cutting deeply into the bruise with the fin on his elbow.
"Urghh", Sanji groaned in pain.
The force of the blow threw Sanji backward, with Kuroobi chasing after him to continue the assault.
As Kuroobi threw another punch, trying to hit Sanji on the ground, Sanji pnted his hands on the floor and flipped backward, effectively dodging the attack, which hit the ground, creating a massive crater.
Without stopping, Kuroobi charged again, raising his left leg above his head before forcefully bringing it down in a devastating axe kick, which Sanji blocked by raising his right leg, meeting the attack halfway.
After blocking the attack, Sanji shifted his support to his right leg and, with his left leg coated in Armament Haki, unleashed a powerful ‘Santen Decoupage’, striking Kuroobi's stomach, neck, and chest, sending him flying backward with the impact.
Quickly orienting himself in the air, Kuroobi nded on his feet and slid several more meters, cwing at the ground with his hands.
As soon as he came to a stop, Sanji suddenly appeared in front of him, jumping up and nding a knee strike directly to his head, breaking his nose with a nauseating crack.
Kuroobi’s body was thrown backward, but he quickly recovered mid-air, flipping backward. And upon nding on his feet, he swiftly made a motion as if grabbing the air with both hands. The water in the atmosphere condensed into droplets on the tips of his fingers, which he coated with Armament Haki and hurled at Sanji with all his strength, shouting, "Fish-Man Karate: Yabusame."
Seeing the massive barrage of water bullets coated in Armament Haki speeding toward him at supersonic speeds, Sanji pushed his Observation Haki, Armament Haki, Soru, and Geppo to the limit, trying to dodge the projectiles. Despite managing to avoid or block most of them, he was still hit by several, getting pierced in his shoulders, legs, ribs, and waist, with many more grazing him.
Wiping the blood from his broken nose and resetting it with a forceful snap, Kuroobi looked at the bloodied, panting Sanji and said, "You're strong for a human. You must have trained a long time to reach this level, but in the end, it’s not enough. Now you understand? This is the difference between our species. We Fish-Men are born superior to every other species in the world."
"One week", Sanji said, straightening up and lighting another cigarette.
"What?", Kuroobi asked, confused.
"I trained for one week to reach this level, and I haven’t even given it my all. You need to understand that a few scratches won't take me down so easily", Sanji said, exhaling smoke from the corner of his mouth.
"You filthy worm", Kuroobi spat, enraged by the presumption of the dying human before him.
The fight resumed, this time even more brutal than before, with the environment around them being completely destroyed with every blow exchanged.
The climax of the battle arrived when both unleashed their most powerful attacks, shouting, "Diable Jambe: Brochette de Barbecue!" and "Fish-Man Karate: Vagabond Drill!"
Sanji ignited his leg in fmes, delivering a powerful flying sidekick coated in Armament Haki, aimed at Kuroobi’s chest.
Meanwhile, Kuroobi gathered a ball of water around his fist, delivering a powerful punch coated in Armament Haki, colliding with Sanji’s fming kick.
The impact of Sanji’s kick caused a massive explosion of fmes, engulfing Kuroobi entirely before unching him backward in a trail of searing fmes. Kuroobi crashed unconscious into a rge rock that was part of an artificial waterfall in Arlong Park's pool, with the dust cloud from the impact extinguishing the fmes that had been voraciously consuming his body.
Meanwhile, Sanji, though still conscious, didn’t escape unscathed from the previous collision. The ball of water around Kuroobi’s fist had vibrated through his body via his leg, causing internal damage all the way until it exited through the deep cut on his back, already crimson red and aggravating the wound even further.
Colpsing to the ground, Sanji y there for a few seconds before slowly getting up, gncing at where Kuroobi y, confirming that he had won the fight.
Suddenly, he heard Luffy's voice shouting from the sky, "Gomu Gomu no Atomic Punch."
And a moment ter, for just a second, the sound of a loud “Ziummmmmm” was heard across the entire isnd, followed by a massive explosion of something colliding with the ground, shaking the whole isnd.
---
(AN: 1,235 Words)
Chapter - 43
East Blue – Conomi Isnds
Arlong Park
Out of all the fights happening simultaneously, the one that ended the fastest was definitely Chouchou’s, simply because all of his opponents were basically cannon fodder who didn’t even know how to use Haki.
So, Chouchou beat them up at will, barely getting a scratch, and the few scratches he did receive healed quickly due to his regeneration.
And most likely after this day, Chouchou would be known by the ‘Ball Crusher’ title, as he almost certainly castrated most of his opponents today.
As soon as his fight ends, Chouchou turns his gaze to the area where Nami and Kaya were fighting with their group.
He then sees a Fishman about to attack Nami, who was standing still, her staff emitting a bunch of dark clouds from its tip.
Without hesitation, he charges at the Fishman who was trying to hurt his friend.
=Scene Break=
Going back a few minutes in time to when the fights began, Nami and Kaya were back to back, surrounded by a group of thirty armed fishmen who were shouting furiously at Nami.
“Screw you, Nami, you damn traitor!”
“I always knew we couldn’t trust you.”
“What did you expect? You kill my mother and a bunch of other people, ensve the isnd I was born on, and still expect me not to rebel?”, Nami asks, looking at them as if they were idiots.
“That’s what you should have done. Now, to teach you a lesson, your friends will die, the citizens of Cocoyasi Vilge will die, and it’s all your fault”, one of the Fishmen says, mocking Nami.
“No, I’m tired of running. I’d rather die fighting”, Nami says, tightening her grip on her Clima-Tact.
“Fine, if you’re so eager to die.”
The Fishmen then charge at the two women, who quickly engage in combat.
While Kaya takes on her first opponent, Nami taps the tip of her Clima-Tact on the ground, using her ‘Fog Tempo’ and creating a thick fog that envelops her and the area around her, blocking her enemies’ vision.
Using her Observation Haki, Nami moves through the fog, striking enemy after enemy with her Clima-Tact.
As the fog begins to disperse, Nami taps the ground with her Clima-Tact again, releasing several cold bubbles into the air and then using her ‘Mirage Tempo: Fata Morgana’, creating several mirage clones of herself in different forms.
When the fog completely dissipates, it’s clear that several of the Fishmen have bruises all over their bodies.
Looking at the different versions of Nami in front of them, one Fishman comments, “What the hell? There are five Namis, and why are they all so different from each other? Which one is the real one?”
“It’s obviously the normal-looking one, you idiot!”, another Fishman says before attacking the Nami that seemed normal.
His attack passes right through her, showing that she is just a mirage, but as he turns to attack another Nami, the one he initially struck electrocutes him with her Clima-Tact, delivering a high-voltage shock.
He then colpses, unconscious, with foam coming out of his mouth and the area where he was electrocuted charred.
Seeing their comrade fall like that, the Fishmen near Nami attack her together, deciding to use their numbers to overwhelm her.
Meanwhile, Kaya moves between the Fishmen trying to attack her, stabbing or sshing at their shoulders, chest, arms, legs, tendons, and groins whenever the opportunity arises.
And so she kept taking them down one by one, receiving some injuries in the process, but not caring too much as she felt alive. In reality, she was more worried about Usopp than herself.
Back to Nami, she and her mirages coordinated their attacks on the Fishmen. Of course, only the real Nami was nding blows, but in the end, the Fishmen had no idea which one was the real Nami, as each moment a different one struck, and when they attacked the one that had nded the blow, it turned out to be just another mirage.
And so she also kept taking them down one by one until she reached a count of ten, which was when the mirage effect wore off, revealing her position.
She then rushed forward, reaching the first Fishman and striking him multiple times with her Clima-Tact, coated in Armament Haki and emitting high-voltage lightning from its tip.
The Fishman colpsed unconscious, with several deep, charred stab wounds on his body.
Nami then faced four more Fishmen who attacked her together, taking them down one by one and receiving a few more injuries in the process.
Surveying the battlefield, Nami saw that only six Fishmen remained. She had dealt with sixteen of them, and Kaya had taken down eight and was dealing with her ninth at that moment.
Seeing that the five remaining Fishmen surrounding her were cautious and not attacking, Nami held her Clima-Tact and struck the ground again, releasing dark clouds from its tip, which soon gathered above, covering the sky with lightning dancing between them.
Sensing that Nami was up to something, one of the Fishmen took the initiative and attacked her while she was occupied with whatever it was she was doing.
And that brings us to the moment when Chouchou finishes his fight and sees this Fishman attacking Nami.
He then charged at the Fishman and sshed him with his cws, sending him flying away, where he crashed into the wall of Arlong Park and fell to the ground, unconscious.
Nami then raised her Clima-Tact vertically toward the sky, with a ball of thunder crackling at its tip.
She then struck the ground forcefully with her Clima-Tact and said, “Thunderbolt Rain Tempo.”
Four thick bolts of lightning descended from the charged clouds in a straight line, striking the remaining four Fishmen and knocking them out instantly.
After finishing off her opponents, Nami turned her attention to Kaya, who was still fighting her ninth opponent.
Nami then took her Clima-Tact, activated the shock at the tip, and threw it like a spear in Kaya’s direction.
Sensing an attack coming from behind with her Observation Haki, Kaya quickly dodged, allowing Nami’s Clima-Tact to pass by and hit the opponent she was fighting, electrocuting him and knocking him unconscious.
=Scene Break=
A few minutes earlier, in the forest near Arlong Park, Usopp and the thirty Fishmen chasing him had just entered the woods.
Usopp ran desperately between the trees, trying to dodge the water bullets Chew was spitting at him like a machine gun.
As soon as he passed behind some trees, Usopp disappeared completely from the Fishmen’s sight.
Realizing the human had vanished, Chew gave orders, “Spread out and find that bastard.”
“Can’t you use your Haki to find him, big bro?”, one of the Fishmen asked.
“I already did. The human just disappeared, but he’s got to be around here somewhere. It must be a trick”, Chew said, looking around.
It’s important to note that Chew wasn’t very proficient with Observation Haki, so he couldn’t detect something smaller than an ant, which was the case with Usopp, who was literally right next to them, his back pressed against the root of a tree, peeking through the giant bdes of grass at the colossal titans searching for him, hungry for blood.
‘Shit, how the hell am I going to defeat thirty people?’, Usopp thought, scared out of his mind.
---
(AN: 1,230 Words)
Chapter - 44
East Blue – Conomi Isnds
Forest Near Arlong Park
'Come on, you coward, do you really want to disappoint everyone who's counting on you?', Usopp thought, spping his own face to motivate himself.
'But there are thirty of them. No one will mind if I run away. They know I can't handle it', Usopp's fear argued, trying to convince him that running was the best option.
'Are you going to run forever? It's you who thinks you can't do it. The crew trusts you and knows you're capable of handling this. How do you expect to become a brave warrior of the sea if you keep running? Courage isn't the absence of fear; it's being afraid and acting anyway, Usopp spped his face again, trying to encourage himself.
"That's right. I took down Kuro, this is just another Monday in the life of God Usopp", Usopp said, gathering courage and checking his equipment to make sure everything was in order.
"A leap of faith, right? So let's dive in", Usopp said to himself, taking a deep breath.
Still shrunken, Usopp began running toward one of the Fish-Men, only to come face to face with a bunch of ants rger than him, now staring at him curiously.
=Scene Break=
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!", Usopp was running desperately from the ants, who only looked curiously at the strange creature running away and screaming.
"The small world is terrifying", Usopp said, tears streaming from his eyes.
Through the leaves of the grass, he saw that he was close to a Fish-Man, so he quickly returned to his normal size, jumped, and shrank again, shooting like a bullet at the Fish-Man and nding a punch infused with Armament Haki directly on his cheek, sending him flying like a bullet through several trees before nding unconscious.
Naturally, this caused noise, which drew the attention of the other Fish-Men, who came to see what was happening.
As soon as they arrived and saw one of their comrades knocked out with a swollen purple cheek, they all began to look around, trying to find the culprit.
"Stay sharp; he's around here somewhere", Chew said, staying vigint.
Just as he said that, one of the Fish-Men screamed in pain, quickly clutching his foot, which now had a bleeding bullet hole.
What had happened was that Usopp had gotten close to him, drawn his pistol, and shot him in the foot, coating the bullet with Armament Haki.
And just as the projectile was fired, Usopp, with his Observation Haki, managed to release the shrinking effect on the bullet at the right moment, making it return to its normal size and causing more damage to his opponent.
"What the hell is happening?", Chew asked the Fish-Man who had been hit.
"Urghhhh, something put a hole in my foot. Damn, it hurts so much!", the Fish-Man shouted, hopping on one foot while clutching his injured one.
Meanwhile, Usopp ran desperately to avoid being crushed by the titan who was hopping around.
Chew then watched in astonishment as the human blinked around, growing and shrinking rapidly while his men were sent flying and knocked out.
"Fuck, this son of a bitch is changing size", Chew said, realizing what was happening, before dashing forward using Soru, running towards one of his men after spotting something tiny running on his shoulder.
As Chew ran, Usopp jumped and slid down the Fish-Man's shoulder before grabbing his shirt and, spinning his own body, returned to his normal size and threw the opponent over his shoulders, smming him into the ground.
As his opponent gasped for air after the impact, Usopp quickly drew his slingshot and shot a 'Tabasco Star' straight into the Fish-Man's open mouth before dodging a punch from Chew, then using Soru to distance himself.
While the Fish-Man was writhing on the ground, choking and holding his throat as he spit fire from his mouth, his face red and sweating, Usopp, now at his normal size, ran toward another Fish-Man.
When Usopp got close, the Fish-Man swung his sword, trying to cut him.
Seeing the bde coming, Usopp jumped and shrank, nding on the sword's bde. He then ran its length to the hilt and used Geppo to shoot himself toward his opponent's face, nding a powerful punch infused with Armament Haki on his chin.
Usopp continued repeating the same process until it was just him and Chew left. Chew had managed to nd some hits on Usopp when he returned to his normal size for brief moments during the fight.
Not wanting to prolong the battle any further, Usopp quickly aimed his slingshot, loading it with a bckish-red projectile. After coating it with Armament Haki, he fired the projectile with all his strength, shouting, "Supernova Star."
The projectile tore through the air, breaking the sound barrier before growing back to its original size just a few meters from the Fish-Man, resembling a cannonball.
It struck Chew dead-on, causing a massive explosion on impact, engulfing a rge portion of the forest in scorching fmes and sending the Fish-Man flying like a bullet, toppling tree after tree in his wake.
This projectile was the culmination of Usopp's research and testing with the Buggy Ball, resulting in this upgraded version.
Meanwhile, Chew finally stopped his trajectory after crashing into a tree that was practically split in half from the impact.
The Fish-Man was completely unconscious and in a deplorable state, covered in blood and with some parts of his body burned. Even though he managed to coat his arms with Armament Haki at the st second, reducing the damage significantly, it was just enough to keep him from dying.
"Ah, shit", Usopp muttered, realizing he had just set the forest on fire.
He then ran as fast as he could to get all the Fish-Men out of the forest before the fire could spread and engulf them.
After dragging all thirty Fish-Men out of the forest, Usopp started wracking his brain, trying to think of a way to put out the fire.
Suddenly, a torrent of water fell from the sky, completely extinguishing the fire. It should be noted that the sky was clear, and this was definitely not rain; it was too quick and sudden to be rain.
Shrugging off the strange phenomenon that had just occurred, Usopp pulled a shrunken rope from his pouch and returned it to its normal size.
He then tied up all thirty Fish-Men and began dragging them back to Arlong Park.
On the way, he heard a gigantic crash followed by an earthquake that momentarily knocked him off bance.
When he arrived at Arlong Park, he saw Kaya treating Sanji’s wounds while Zoro y next to him, wrapped in bandages from head to toe.
Looking around, Usopp saw that the giant building from earlier was now completely colpsed on the ground.
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(AN: 1,134 Words)
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