Seeing Second Lieutenant Jimmy get taken down, everyone froze, their attention fixed on Morito.
Before they could say anything, they heard Morito make his bold declaration.
"Leave it to you?"
"A reserve marine?"
"Did you drink fake liquor or something?"
Morito couldn't be bothered to waste words on them. If he dragged this out, they might all be wiped out. They'd failed to rescue anyone and ended up losing two hundred marines instead!
Sure, marines went into battle knowing they might die, but that didn't mean they had to throw their lives away!
"Gentle Fist: Ten Empty Palms!"
Morito struck with incredible speed, both hands becoming a blur. In an instant, he fired ten empty palms.
The air bullets, infused with chakra, were about the size of fingers.
They were as fast as bullets, and even more powerful.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!!
Ten pirates charging straight at him were hit by the air bullets. Their bodies stiffened at once, and they froze in place like puppets.
The pirates behind them had no idea what was going on. They kept charging at full speed, crashing into the men in front and knocking several down the slope.
Of course, that wasn't the extent of Morito's attack. There were a full hundred enemies!
Chakra gathered beneath his feet, combining with the explosive power of his body.
Shave!
Whoosh!
Morito vanished in an instant, leaving behind a series of nearly invisible afterimages as he darted and flashed wildly through the crowd.
All anyone could see was a white glow flickering across the battlefield.
Each time the light flashed, a group of pirates nearby fell, as if cursed, without the slightest chance to fight back.
The fifty marines of the Second Squad gaped in astonishment, each wearing the expression of someone who'd seen a ghost.
"Can a human really move like that?"
"Isn't that kid wearing a reserve marine uniform?"
Impossible. I don't believe it!
If reserve marines were all that strong, there wouldn't be any pirates left on these seas!
The marines were stunned.
Bathed in a white glow, Morito looked dazzling and magnificent.
In reality, every one of his attacks was plain and simple. He merely used Shave's speed to drive the chakra gathered at his fingertips into his enemies' vital points.
Close in, strike.
If an ordinary person repeated those movements at normal speed, there wouldn't be much to see. It might even seem dull and monotonous.
But what if it wasn't an ordinary person?
Like watching a movie at double speed, or triple speed?
That was how everyone saw Morito's movements now—as if they were watching a sped-up movie.
In a single exchange, more than thirty pirates had fallen. Morito's assault immediately drew the attention of the others.
How could it not?
He was practically a killing machine on the battlefield.
They hadn't even done anything yet, and they'd already lost a third of their men!
"What the hell is that freakish movement? Is he a Devil Fruit User?!"
"Idiot, that's Shave from the Marine Six Styles!"
The leader of the hundred pirates was the Bourne Pirates' combat captain.
August, with a bounty of 89 million Beli!
He was an elite pirate who had followed Bourne to the New World and had been exposed to the training of Observation Haki and Armament Haki.
He'd also witnessed the power of the Marine Six Styles!
August recognized Morito's technique at a glance. It was the Marine Six Styles, mastered by marine officers!
Why the hell was a strong marine officer dressed in a reserve marine uniform?
Trying to play the harmless little pig and eat the tiger?
Showing off?
August was only inwardly shaken.
Second Lieutenant Jimmy, however, had gone stiff. His heart pounded as his eyes bulged like a bull's, full of disbelief.
That single use of Shave was already beyond anything he could handle.
Too fast. Far too fast!
Even a captain—no, probably not even a rear admiral—could move that fast with Shave. Only certain vice admirals who had trained Shave to perfection could manage it, right?
At that speed, an ordinary person's body would be unable to withstand the strain of moving so quickly!
Second Lieutenant Jimmy wasn't sure himself. He was only guessing based on what he could remember.
Just think, he'd been mocking Morito moments ago!
And at first, he'd even thought Morito was holding them back!
Second Lieutenant Jimmy's face was the color of liver. He couldn't tell if it was from shame or from holding his breath.
Morito's movements didn't stop just because the others were shocked.
He continued flashing through the crowd, each strike light and casual.
His attacks seemed utterly lacking in force, like a playful tap—"just touching you"—yet they carried lethal danger.
With the Byakugan's view of the human body's meridians and pressure points, every strike sent chakra into a vital point.
One strike, one kill. Every attack was a killing blow.
Dangerous. This young reserve marine was extremely dangerous!
Every pirate Morito looked at felt as if a ferocious beast had fixed its gaze on them. His cold, vacant eyes seemed like a passage leading straight to the land of the dead.
At once, the pirates' hair stood on end.
What kind of monster had they provoked?
August, the Bourne Pirates' combat captain, had a grim look on his face. If he let that reserve marine keep killing, wouldn't all one hundred of his men end up dead?
August drew the two swords at his waist. In the pirate world, blades and guns were the main weapons.
A blade was a sword, and a sword was a blade; R-country's culture made no distinction between them.
The common firearm was the flintlock.
August was a Two-Sword Style swordsman with a bounty of 89 million Beli and the Bourne Pirates' combat captain. There was no question about his strength.
When the pirates saw their combat captain draw his swords, they scattered like prisoners released from captivity.
A path opened through the forest.
At either end of it stood August, combat captain of the Bourne Pirates, and a young man dressed in a reserve marine uniform.
"May I ask who you are?"
Seeing the enemy boss step forward, Morito paused his attack and didn't continue chasing the underlings.
"August, combat captain of the Bourne Pirates, with a bounty of 89 million Beli!"
August composed himself and confidently introduced himself.
Hearing that, Morito felt reassured.
A pirate's bounty didn't perfectly represent his strength, but it did offer some indication of his combat power.
"89 million? That's a relief."
The story of the pirate world had yet to begin. The Rocks Pirates had disbanded, and Roger had yet to ascend to the throne of Pirate King.
The seas were in utter chaos. Apart from a few famous Great Pirates, Morito didn't know many of them.
What if this guy in front of him had a bounty of hundreds of millions—or even over a billion?
Better to be safe and find out what he was dealing with first!
Fortunately, these men were pretty straightforward. A casual question was all it took for them to reveal everything.
The forest fell unusually quiet. Everyone's attention was fixed on Morito and August.
Morito thought he'd spoken too softly for anyone to hear, but in reality, every marine down the mountain and every pirate up on it had heard him!
August's face turned purple with rage!
"Are you looking down on me?"
"How did you know?"
Morito blurted out what he was thinking. Hadn't he already taken down Vulture, whose bounty was over a hundred million, in a single blow?
Could an 89-million-Beli pirate really compare to someone with a bounty of 102 million?
An unguarded remark was the most honest.
And that honesty was what made it hurt the most.
"Bastard!"
August lowered his body and charged forward, his two swords held before him in a cross-slash stance.
Sword Momentum gathered, and Sword Qi erupted.
"Die!"
Before you continue