Mr. 1

Mr. 1's blades were blocked by Rodney's Huazhou. In an instant, Mr. 1 launched another attack, turning his fingers into blades with their edges fully exposed as he thrust them toward Rodney's heart.

"Six Powers: Iron Body!"

His muscles hardened like steel. Although his body could no longer move freely, as long as he could withstand this strike, that was enough.

A metallic clang rang out from his chest. Mr. 1's attack had missed, and he retreated again just as Mr. 4's baseball bomb came flying over.

He released Iron Body, tore free of Miss. Merry Christmas's claws around his feet, and used Soru to dodge away. He threw Huazhou at Mr. 4, who was holding a several-ton baseball bat, while his hands continued moving. "Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"

One fireball after another fell from the sky like a meteor shower. Mr. 1 swung both arms, slicing apart the fireballs attacking him.

Clang—

Mr. 4 knocked Huazhou away with his baseball bat, sending it into a sand dune nearby. Rodney used Shunpo to rush over and retrieve it. Then he struck a pose that immediately made Mr. 1 sense trouble.

"Get out of the way!" Mr. 1 shouted as he hardened his body like steel.

"Elbaf Spear: Ikoku!"

Spiraling sword energy tore through the desert, sending great clouds of sand into the air and plowing a long trench through the dunes.

Mr. 1 stood at the very center of the trench. Even his steel-like body was injured by this immature Ikoku. Mr. 4, Miss. Doublefinger, and several cannon fodder who had come along were already down and unable to rise. The stronger ones had lost consciousness, while the weaker ones had died outright.

"Terrifying. Is this man a monster?" Mr. 1 muttered.

The monster he spoke of was examining Huazhou in his hand. He grinned and said, "What a fine blade. It should hold out for a while longer. Hey, you there, shall we go again?"

Mr. 1: "..."

He forced himself to stand and said, "With strength like yours, are you really someone who just set out to sea?"

"Yeah. I've only been out at sea for about a month. I think it's been that long, anyway." Rodney smiled. "Mr. 1, Daz Bones, what do you say? Want to work for me? We can discuss the terms. I'm a lone wolf, but I wouldn't mind having one or two teammates who don't hold me back."

With a single sentence, he had taken a fancy to Mr. 1's abilities and wanted to recruit him under his command.

Mr. 1 remained silent and assumed a stance, clearly preparing to fight him to the death.

"Is that so? Then I'll give you a more pleasant way to die." A layer of lightning covered Huazhou. Even a crude tool like a kunai could be infused with Chakra, so how could Huazhou be any different?

"What kind of Devil Fruit did you eat?" Mr. 1 couldn't help asking. At first, he had thought Rodney possessed a fruit with a fire attribute, similar to the Flame-Flame Fruit. But now lightning had suddenly appeared as well, leaving him completely confused. What the hell is this guy?

"Who knows? I might be a magician, for all you know. What you're seeing could just be an illusion." Rodney shrugged and looked at Mr. 1 with a light laugh. "Come on. I'll give you a quick death!"

Mr. 1 turned all ten fingers into blades, crossed them before his chest, and swung them fiercely at Rodney.

"Dust Slash!"

Rodney sensed countless tiny streams of sword energy intertwining into an airtight sword net. If he were hit, he might be sliced into countless cubes. A chill ran through him as he swung Huazhou—truly dancing with it. The air filled with Huazhou's afterimages as he clashed with Mr. 1 dozens of times in an instant.

The Sharingan spun continuously in his eye sockets, capturing every one of Mr. 1's movements with perfect accuracy. Several times, Rodney caught openings, but unfortunately, Mr. 1's body was as hard as steel. Even lightning-attribute Chakra could not break through it in such a short time.

"Your swordsmanship is quite impressive. If it weren't a style unique to you, I'd be drooling over it." As the owner of the Sharingan, he would have been wasting these eyes if he didn't copy techniques. Whether they suited him or not, he would copy them first. Using the same moves against an enemy might not win the fight, but it could certainly annoy them.

Just look at Kakashi. He could clearly end a battle immediately, yet he refused to use his trump card and insisted on using the same techniques as his opponent. Wasn't that simply to annoy them? With his amount of Chakra, ending the battle quickly was obviously the best choice.

Unfortunately, Mr. 1's techniques had been developed by himself after eating his Devil Fruit. Even if Rodney copied them, they would not suit him.

Having no idea what Rodney was talking about, Mr. 1 changed his attack. Rings of horizontal blades grew from his arms, then began spinning rapidly like saw teeth. He swung both arms, trying to cut Rodney in half with the blades.

Clang, clang, clang, clang—

The blades on the saw teeth collided violently with Huazhou, sending sparks flying everywhere.

"This guy is ridiculously tough... Wait, I might be able to do this." An idea occurred to him. Wanting to end the battle quickly and get rid of Mr. 1, he dove straight into the ground.

"Miss. Merry Christmas, where did that guy go?" Mr. 1 asked.

"I don't know, I don't know! I can't find him, I can't find him!" Miss. Merry Christmas said from underground. "I see him! Aaaaaah!"

Mr. 1 knew that Miss. Merry Christmas would not live much longer, so he could only focus on searching for Rodney.

Behind a sand dune, Rodney used blood obtained from Miss. Merry Christmas to draw on his hand. "Summoning Technique!"

Bang!

A slug the size of a palm appeared before him.

"Lord Rodney," Big Slug Sister asked, "why did you summon me so small?"

"Because I have a use for you, of course." Rodney smiled as he tucked Big Slug Sister into his sleeve. "Big Slug Sister, seize the opportunity later and help me deal with an enemy."

"Understood." Big Slug Sister moved her tentacles and stuck herself to his sleeve so she would not be thrown off.

"Then..." Rodney waved Huazhou and took a step forward, bringing it down from above.

Mr. 1 hurriedly crossed his arms and caught Huazhou between them. His arms throbbed with pain—he had actually felt it. He swung his blades and forced Rodney back temporarily. Then he raised his right arm and saw several small holes corroded into it by an unknown slime, causing him unbearable pain.

"Coward!" So much for giving him a quick death!

"Sorry, but as far as I'm concerned, winning is all that matters. Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't die too quickly." Rodney had no scruples when it came to fighting. As long as he could win, any method was acceptable. This was a battle to the death. If he could stay alive, why should he care what techniques he used?

"Mr. 1, I'll try not to make you suffer. How about you kill yourself?"

"Dream on!" Mr. 1 was a tough man. How could he choose such a humiliating way to die? It would be an insult to him. He was disgusted by this slippery bastard before him, who was doing nothing but provoking him.

"I'll tear you into a thousand pieces! Bubble Daisy Slash!"

His palms and fingers turned into blades, and then he lunged at Rodney like a tiger pouncing on its prey, his momentum as fierce as thunder.

Clink!

"Six Powers: Iron Body!"

The tip of Huazhou pressed against Mr. 1's hand. Petal-like radial slashes burst forth and shot toward Rodney in a concentrated barrage.

Shhk!

The sand dune behind him was shattered into several smaller dunes by the slashes. The clothes on Rodney's upper body were sliced apart, reduced to strips of cloth hanging from him. Several wounds deep enough to expose bone opened across his body.

"Impressive!" Rodney endured the pain and took Mr. 1's attack head-on. He abandoned Huazhou and poured his monstrous strength into his fist.

"Fish-Man Karate: Monster Strength: 200 Million Volt Vigor Punch!"

Boom!

Without the slightest hesitation, his fist slammed into Mr. 1's chest. It was a punch capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks. The body Huazhou could not break was shattered by his fist instead.

Mr. 1's body flew away like a drifting plume. Rodney followed close behind, choosing to press his advantage and giving Mr. 1 no chance to catch his breath.

"Sky-Wrath Leg!"

He concentrated Chakra in his foot and kicked Mr. 1's body.

Boom!

A sandpit appeared with Mr. 1 at its center. Even a body as powerful as Mr. 1's could not withstand Rodney's successive heavy blows.

Mr. 1 was defeated!

"Hiss, that really hurts. If I hadn't been wary of his blades, I wouldn't have used Huazhou." His swordsmanship was simply too poor. Without Haki, his fists could not block blades. There was no escaping Bubble Daisy Slash, and the Substitution Technique had only been used when he had a chance to flee, to confuse his enemy. It was not an infallible technique.

Taking that attack head-on had really hurt.