Rodney undid the robe around his body and tossed it aside. With a flip of his palm, he produced a large handful of shuriken.
A dense swarm of shuriken flew toward Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine.
"Such a cheap trick, and you dare show off your skills before me?" Mr. 5 sneered. He picked out a lump of booger and flicked it at the incoming shuriken.
Boom!
As the Bomb Man who had eaten the Paramecia Explosion-Explosion Fruit, Mr. 5 could use his entire body as a bomb. The booger he flicked out could explode, and even the air he blew from his mouth could serve as an explosive. With such a terrifying ability, this guy actually used it to play with boogers? Wasn't he afraid of picking his nose until it bled?
Miss Valentine jumped up and floated in the air. Riding the wind as she looked down, she said with an exaggerated smile, "Mr. 5, that person is still standing there."
She was the Light-Light Woman who had eaten the Calm-Calm Fruit. She could freely alter her weight, controlling it from one kilogram to ten thousand kilograms. The explosion just now had allowed her to temporarily fly in the air.
"Big sis, you've got pretty good taste. Yellow and white stripes, huh?" Rodney looked up, taking in the scenery above without missing a thing.
Miss Valentine: "...Aaaah! I'm going to kill you! Take this! Ten-Thousand-Kilogram Press!!"
Rodney glanced at her and silently took one step back.
Boom!
The ten-thousand-kilogram Miss Valentine slammed into the ground, creating a huge crater. Sand continuously poured into the hole. Miss Valentine crawled out, her face full of indignation.
Under her control, her weight became as light as possible, allowing her to leap up and briefly fly through the air.
"As expected, you can't trust a woman's weight," Rodney muttered.
Mr. 5 had already charged over. He swung a fist at Rodney. If it touched him, it would injure him with an explosion—or rather, simply getting close would expose him to the blast.
Rodney stepped back to dodge and released a Vacuum Sphere!
Invisible bullets of air struck Mr. 5's body and triggered explosions, forcing him back again and again without injuring him. Mr. 5 exclaimed in surprise, "How?" Logically, the Vacuum Sphere, which could pierce stone, should have easily penetrated this man's body.
Mr. 5 dusted himself off and said, "I guessed you'd try to ambush me. The moment you touch me, my body explodes. No matter where you attack, it's all the same."
"So that's how it is. I thought you were just an idiot." Rodney chuckled.
That explained everything. The moment the Vacuum Sphere touched his body, it was canceled out by the explosion, resulting in what had just happened.
"Then... Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire!"
Fireballs flew out one after another as Rodney charged forward with them. They did not strike Mr. 5, but served as a feint, blasting up clouds of smoke and obscuring his vision.
Mr. 5 heard a voice. "Fish-Man Karate: 100 Brick Fist!"
A surging fist force pierced through the smoke and struck Mr. 5, sending him flying.
This time, no explosion was triggered, because Mr. 5 had not reacted in time. Such a fine Devil Fruit had been wasted on him.
Rodney shook his head. Relying on his Sharingan to move through the smoke, he quickly reached Mr. 5's back. His body spun, and a dragon-shaped whirlwind slammed Mr. 5 into the sky.
Leaf Dragon God!
Boom!
Mr. 5's body hit the ground, unconscious. Rodney turned to Miss Valentine and revealed a smile. Combined with his blood-red eyes, it terrified Miss Valentine and left her with a lasting psychological scar.
Still, she was relieved that she was flying in the air. As long as the wind carried her away now, she could survive.
Her ankle suddenly tightened. Looking down, she saw a steel wire wrapped around her ankle, attached to some weapon she could not identify. The other end was in Rodney's hand.
"Come down here!" Rodney yanked Miss Valentine out of the air.
"Ahhh!" Miss Valentine screamed as she crashed to the ground. An icy kunai was immediately pressed against her throat. The man who had defeated them with ease said with a smile, "I want to ask you something. Which high-ranking agents from Baroque Works are in Rainbase?" He slightly opened his eyes, and a cold light shone from his blood-colored pupils. Miss Valentine's hands and feet went cold. Despite the sweltering weather, she felt as though she had fallen into an ice cellar.
Without even thinking, she said, "Mr. 2, Miss Merry Christmas, and Mr. 4. I saw them a few days ago. I don't know about the others. They should be on missions."
"Oh, is that so? If you're lying to me, this will be your fate." Smiling, he threw the kunai in his hand toward the sand dune on the right.
A scream rang out. Miss Valentine stiffly turned her head and looked over. A vulture carrying a machine gun and an otter wearing sunglasses and a ridiculous spotted outfit had been pierced through at the same time by the kunai. They had lost their lives, and their blood dyed the sand red.
They were mid-ranking officers of Baroque Works, known as the Unlucky Combination. Their job was to gather and report intelligence and monitor the other members of Baroque Works. If they discovered anyone shirking their duties, they would use explosives to deal with the offender. This time was no exception, but Rodney took care of them first.
Rodney smiled and said, "I'm not some kind of devil, either. There may have been some omissions just now, right?"
Miss Valentine nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, there were omissions! There's also the vice president, Miss All Sunday, Mr. 1, and Mr. 2. I don't know about the others, really! I'm not lying! Believe me, believe me!"
"All right, I'll believe you." Rodney's smile and those rotating blood-red eyes were the last things Miss Valentine saw. Something seemed to spray from her neck, and her strength gradually drained away. Yet she felt no pain. Her whole body was warm and comfortable...
"But I never said I wouldn't kill you," Rodney whispered. He buried Miss Valentine's corpse in the yellow sand, then turned to look at Mr. 5.
He walked over to the seriously injured and unconscious Mr. 5 and took a banana from his waist pouch.
When a Devil Fruit Ability user died, there was a high chance that the ability would choose a nearby fruit to inhabit, turning that fruit into a Devil Fruit with the same power.
Of course, it depended on chance. Success was not guaranteed.
If he killed Mr. 5 now, there was no guarantee that he would obtain his ability.
It was just like Schrödinger's cat. Rodney's fruit was also in an unknown state. He might obtain Mr. 5's ability, or he might not.
Still, in the hands of a master of Taijutsu, it would definitely be put to better use than by Mr. 5. For example, if Garp ate the Explosion-Explosion Fruit, setting aside the power of his fists, he would only need to strike an enemy's body for it to explode. The resulting power would be absolutely overwhelming. Being able to use one's body as a bomb was no joke.
Playing with boogers was merely a side trick. Since it was suited to close combat, he should use it in close combat! Train his Taijutsu, and make every punch a high-explosive grenade. Wouldn't that be great? Why insist on playing with boogers?
"Whatever. Let's do it."
With the kunai in his hand, he stabbed down and ended Mr. 5's life.
Then Rodney noticed that the banana in his hand had begun to change.
Its yellow skin gradually turned red, and vine-like spiral patterns appeared across it.
The Paramecia Explosion-Explosion Fruit had appeared!
However, Rodney did not choose to eat it. Instead, he decided to keep it and use it later. The Explosion-Explosion Fruit was somewhat redundant for him, because there was a Kekkei Genkai in Naruto called Explosion Release.
Leaving aside the artist Deidara, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Kabuto Yakushi's Impure World Reincarnation brought out the Explosion Release user Gari. His Landmine Fist was just like the Explosion-Explosion Fruit. Although it could only make the target he struck explode, that was already enough.
Besides, didn't he still have Explosive Tags?
Sigh. Thinking about it now, the ability of some office worker was still the most useful. Anything he touched could become a bomb. It was incredibly convenient.
Killer Queen: Third Bomb, Bites the Dust!
Time rewound one hour...
Heheh...
Ending his impractical fantasies, Rodney buried Mr. 5's corpse and went to the Water-Road Transport Turtle they had been using. After looking at it, he controlled the creature with genjutsu, jumped onto its back, and said, "Let's go! To Yuba."
The Water-Road Transport Turtle kicked up a cloud of dust across the sand. It was slightly faster than the sand skiff had been before.
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