Despicable Ninja!

Xi Yan's appearance made a trace of unease rise in Momonga's heart. Could this have been within his expectations too?

"The plan failed, huh~" Xi Yan said.

"Your expression says otherwise..." Momonga stared at Xi Yan solemnly. "What else did you do?"

Wah-la-la~

As Momonga's words fell, part of the Sea King corpse Onigumo had slain beneath the water floated to the surface, directly below them.

Xi Yan was lifted up by the Sea King just like that. He looked up at Momonga and said, "Take a guess~"

"If you guess right, I'll tell you."

While speaking, Xi Yan caught sight of Sanji and Zoro out of the corner of his eye. Clearly, the battle over at Judicial Island had already ended.

Momonga:...

What did he mean, if he guessed right, he'd tell him?

Hmm, that was true. The enemy had no obligation to tell him what exactly had happened.

He thought carefully, recalling what he might have overlooked.

Was it the Straw Hat Pirates?

Momonga glanced at Nico Robin and the others, who were nearly done wiping out the Marines around Spandam. He wondered whether they intended to use this method to create a delicate balance between both sides.

If the Marines did not attack the Straw Hat Pirates, the enemy would not continue killing ordinary soldiers.

If that was the case, he would have no objections.

After all, once this guy was killed, the Straw Hat Pirates would have no way of escaping from here. Their only fate would be death.

But... could things really be that simple?

Wasn't this kid afraid that they would rather lose some Marines than let those people live?

After all, a pure Hawk Faction member like Onigumo would not reason with him.

"Boom!!"

Suddenly, a deafening crash rang out. An enormous fist burst from the building at the end of the Long Bridge, punching straight through the side of the structure!

And at the very top of that fist, someone was sent flying while stuck to it.

"Rob Lucci?!"

Momonga recognized him at once. As Vice Admirals of Navy Headquarters, they knew quite a lot.

"Looks like this guy isn't Luffy's match," Xi Yan said with a faint smile.

"Hmph, not necessarily."

Watching Rob Lucci get blasted onto the wreckage of a warship, Momonga sneered. "He's known as CP9's greatest genius. Straw Hat cannot possibly be his opponent."

"Wait and see, then."

"You'll regret your arrogance."

After saying that, Momonga stopped paying attention to Xi Yan. This was only a clone; killing it would not mean much.

He might as well join Onigumo and the others and quickly kill this Ninja's real body in the waters!

"Let's go, Onigumo, Doberman."

"Hmm?"

When he received no response, Momonga turned around in confusion and immediately noticed that something was wrong with his two companions.

Doberman's eyes had rolled back, and quite a bit of foam was spilling from his mouth. He had clearly been poisoned!

Onigumo did not look much better. His legs trembled nonstop, and he seemed to be having an extremely hard time even maintaining Geppo.

Momonga's expression changed completely.

"Poison?!"

"Bastard, you poisoned them?"

As if those words had been a fuse, Onigumo's legs could no longer maintain Geppo, and he plunged headfirst toward the Sea King corpse below.

"Thud!"

"Thud!"

With two dull impacts, both men landed sprawled across the Sea King corpse.

"Well, that's a strange thing to say." Xi Yan said. "I'm a Ninja. Isn't poisoning people perfectly normal?"

"You didn't really think I'd take on all five of you head-on, did you?"

Robin had told him that Vice Admirals were the strongest fighting force below Admirals. How weak could people like that be?

Fighting five of them at once was not a rational choice.

Wouldn't it be better to deal with enemies using simpler methods?

"Cough... y-you... bastard... I... you..."

Onigumo forced out the words with great difficulty. Judging by his eyes, he was probably cursing Xi Yan.

"What poison is this?" Momonga asked in horror.

They were Vice Admirals of Navy Headquarters, yet they had been brought down by a Ninja's poison?

And in such a short time... just how terrifying was this poison?!

"Just a neurotoxin." Xi Yan crouched down and removed two Senbon from their bodies. "It can paralyze their bodies and leave them unable to fight."

"Of course, if it goes on too long... it can also cause their organs to fail and kill them!"

After casually tossing the Senbon into the sea, Xi Yan looked up at Momonga. "But... if you get them treated in time, they might survive~"

Neurotoxin!

The moment those two Vice Admirals had started attacking him, the idea had already formed in Xi Yan's mind.

Most of what he had done afterward had been for this very purpose.

Listening to Xi Yan, Onigumo's eyes widened in disbelief. When exactly had he been poisoned?

Had the other party poisoned the seawater?

Or had it been those two fine needles stuck in their bodies?

But either way, it seemed enough to poison them.

Both of them had swallowed seawater before, while Doberman's wounds had come into direct contact with it. Combined with the attacks from that special weapon... damn it!

Damn pirates!

"Don't look at me like that." Xi Yan glanced at Onigumo. "If you weren't still useful, I could kill you right now."

Onigumo stopped looking at Xi Yan and closed his eyes instead.

At that moment, he felt nothing but humiliation. He had not even been able to use his full strength before the enemy brought him down with all sorts of methods he had never seen before.

Bastard, if we fought head-on at close range, you wouldn't be my match at all!! Onigumo raged helplessly in his heart. Damn it, damn it!

Why should some brat who could not even use Haki be able to fight them?

Yet reality was this absurd. The enemy had brought them down so easily.

"All right, now it's my turn to ask you, Mohawk Head." Xi Yan looked up at Momonga with a very "kind" smile. "Now... are you still planning to use my companions to threaten me?"

"Of course, you can also try taking these two burdens with you and see whether you can escape my pursuit."

"Provided... you can take them away from me!"

Momonga said nothing. He merely stared at Xi Yan with an ugly expression.

At this distance...

Onigumo and Doberman were right at the other party's feet. If he made a move, who knew whether the other party would suddenly kill them both?

Then they would not even have a chance to detoxify them.

At that point, the loss would not merely be the Marines in the waters, but two Vice Admirals of Navy Headquarters as well!!

Damn it, this is suffocating!

What the hell had those two Hawk Faction idiots been doing with their Observation Haki? Why hadn't they avoided the damage in advance!

Momonga was furious!

He had thought the situation had already turned around, but it was still under the enemy's control... how could he not be angry?

After taking a deep breath and forcing himself to calm down, Momonga looked coldly at Xi Yan. "Remember what you said. Otherwise, prepare yourself for the Navy's endless pursuit!"

Then he said no more, turned around, and left using Geppo.

"Don't worry, I always keep my promises~" Xi Yan said with a smile. "Provided... you don't do anything unnecessary~"

Ninjas thrived on outsmarting people!