Locked Up? No, He'd Locked Treasure Up!

"Damn... Those treasures... I haven't... I can't... fall here!"

Fortunately, Treasure's obsession was strong enough.

It kept him from passing out completely. His arms twitched slightly, as if he still intended to do something.

But Will's assault still hadn't stopped.

The next second.

Will quickly lowered his raised, fully extended right leg. Like a dancer, he smoothly lifted his left leg and swept it toward Treasure's side.

Iron Body: Waist Slash!

As his left leg kicked out, Will instantly hardened his leg muscles. Moving as fast as lightning, he struck the gap in the side of Treasure's Chain Armor.

Bang!!

Treasure had been hit squarely in the waist. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he spat out another mouthful of blood.

Then the force sent him flying.

Thud—thud—thud!!

After snapping several trees,

Treasure crashed to the ground and rolled several times, kicking up a cloud of dust. He lay motionless.

Seeing this, Will, standing on one leg, slowly lowered his outstretched left leg and put his hands back in his pockets.

It was as if that swift, fluid assault had been nothing more than his daily workout.

He still looked completely relaxed, without a single drop of sweat.

Just as Nami and Carina, standing nearby, were letting out a sigh of relief,

suddenly!

Treasure, who had been lying still, sprang up from the ground.

Two chains shot rapidly from his hands. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he viciously lashed them at Will!

Watching the two thick chains come hurtling toward him like raging serpents,

Will remained calm and composed, as if he'd expected this.

Kami-e!

Sensing the shifting currents of air around him,

at the very moment the chains were about to strike, Will began swaying and dodging in place.

The chains repeatedly lashed at Will's afterimages.

But they couldn't touch him at all. His movements were always a step too slow.

"Damn you... Die!"

Seeing this, Treasure clenched his teeth, his expression growing even more savage. He roared, and his hands suddenly moved differently.

Next,

the two chains flying through the air swiftly drew together and wound around each other.

They formed a single, thicker, straighter chain.

As Treasure's arms bulged with taut muscles, he swung them down with all his strength.

The enormous straight chain came crashing down!

This left Will no choice but to stop dodging in place.

Kami-e: Fire Walk!

Sensing the air currents above his head shift sharply,

Will didn't even look up. He gradually faded from where he stood.

His whole body drifted forward like a flickering flame, moving swiftly ahead.

In almost the blink of an eye,

Will had appeared in front of Treasure, moving along the chain.

Treasure reacted at once, swinging the chain sideways with both hands in an attempt to knock Will away.

Just as the chain was about to touch him,

Will once again drifted like a dancing flame, slipping "through" the chain and evading the attack as he appeared at Treasure's other side.

Rankyaku: Spin Kick!

Before his opponent could attack again, Will turned from his side-on stance and kicked out with an ultra-fast strike!

Speed and power combined,

instantly whipping up a vacuum that formed a pale blue, crescent-shaped slash.

"Damn... I'm too late!" Treasure's eyes widened in despair.

At such close range,

he had no time to dodge. All he could do was watch the slash come at him.

Fortunately, his past battle experience made him instinctively raise an arm to block.

Clang—!

A metallic scraping sound rang out.

The vacuum slash, sharper than any blade, cleaved viciously into the chains wrapped around Treasure's arm.

It carved out a huge gash and sent a shower of sparks flying.

"No!"

"If this keeps up, I'll die!"

Realizing the enormous gap between his strength and his opponent's, Treasure knew he couldn't let things continue this way.

He made a snap decision. Once he'd steadied himself, he released the chain in his hands and turned to face Will, ready to fight to the death.

Treasure charged forward with his arms spread, trying to grab Will.

But Will easily dodged him and instead wrapped his arms around Treasure's waist.

Treasure immediately changed tactics, rapidly extending several chains from his hands and wrapping them around both of them.

He tried to use the chains to lock Will up instead!

Nami's face filled with alarm.

"Oh no! Treasure's got him locked up!"

In her eyes, being caught by someone with Treasure's abilities left Will no room to dodge and could put him in great danger.

But after calmly watching for a moment, Carina immediately disagreed.

"No, look closely. He's actually the one who's got Treasure locked up!"

"Huh?!" Hearing this, Nami hurriedly looked more closely.

She realized that Treasure's expression really did look more twisted with pain.

Will, on the other hand, looked completely calm, even though the chains were wrapped tightly around him.

And his arms, still locked around Treasure, kept tightening.

Treasure's waist was being squeezed harder and harder, and blood once again trickled from the corner of his mouth.

But his eyes still looked fierce, and his hands continued to clench tightly.

Feeling the chains around them tighten further, a cold glint flashed in Will's eyes.

Then he lifted Treasure by the waist and slammed him hard into the ground behind him!

Bang!!

The violent impact of Treasure's back against the ground

made his eyes bulge. He couldn't help spitting out a large amount of blood. Dizziness swept over him, and his pupils trembled wildly!

After landing the blow,

Will saw that the chains wrapped around him had loosened.

He let go and stood up, silently watching Treasure struggle to rise from the ground.

Treasure stood up again, his eyes bloodshot and blood still trickling from his mouth and nose.

But Will didn't take advantage of the moment to attack.

Treasure wasn't a good person, but his fighting spirit still earned him a measure of respect.

Treasure struggled to his feet, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

Looking at the terrifying man before him, whose strength far exceeded his own, his lips trembled slightly. His voice was full of confusion and disbelief.

"Your Iron Body... How can you use it... while moving?"

The Commodore he'd once encountered had to stand still every time he used Iron Body to defend himself.

He simply couldn't use it while moving, let alone while attacking.

Otherwise, Treasure could never have escaped that Commodore's pursuit so easily.

But Will didn't explain. Instead, he looked somewhat surprised.

"You can't use Iron Body while moving? What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Iron Body isn't supposed to be so inconvenient."

Of course, he understood why Treasure was confused.

Most people in the pirate world couldn't move while using Iron Body to defend themselves.

But Will clearly wasn't one of them. He'd long since mastered Iron Body to perfection.

He'd even dare to say that no one in this world understood Iron Body better than he did!