"CP9?"
"World Government deserters, are you trying to stop me from doing my job?"
Bartholomew Kuma took off his gloves atop the ruined castle, then lightly patted himself and sent himself straight down to the ground.
He made almost no sound.
Kaku and the others looked grim. This was nothing like they had expected. They had thought they would be dealing with Gekko Moria, but they hadn't expected a Shichibukai to show up.
"My goal is also to hand him over to the World Government. I just don't intend to kill him yet."
"The others don't matter, but this man is mine."
Uchiha Tamaharu continued.
He had activated his Sharingan as soon as he appeared. When he watched Bartholomew Kuma use his Devil Fruit ability to move himself, he could only catch a blur.
It wasn't teleportation. Kuma was simply moving too fast.
His speed was so great that it was almost like teleportation, but he still couldn't escape the Sharingan's gaze.
Besides, the ability had a brief pause: the moment Kuma used his hand to pat himself. That gave Uchiha Tamaharu enough time to react.
"Are they going to fight?"
"Should we take this chance to run?"
Usopp spoke in a very low voice.
Nami and Chopper beside him both agreed with the plan.
Sanji and Nico Robin, however, felt that things weren't so simple.
Only Zoro regretted that he couldn't fight. If he could, he wouldn't have to endure such humiliation!
"In that case, I'll just have to clear out a few more people."
It won't be much trouble anyway!
Bartholomew Kuma's tone remained cold, almost entirely without inflection.
"Leave those people to you. Just make sure they don't interfere with the battle."
"Straw Hat Luffy—I want him alive."
Uchiha Tamaharu spoke to the CP9 agents.
All he needed was for them to keep an eye on the Straw Hat crew.
"Are we not supposed to fight him?" Kaku asked, confused.
He had thought they were going to use them as cannon fodder.
But that didn't seem to be the case.
"You're too weak."
"And with him, it'll be no different. You'll only get in my way."
"Let's begin."
Uchiha Tamaharu sneered.
Kaku and the others flushed with anger at his response.
Rob Lucci, meanwhile, felt deeply humiliated.
He had never been treated this way before. Everyone had always taken him seriously, but now he was standing off to the side like a mere lackey.
The sense of rejection was hard for him to accept.
"Then let's begin, Bartholomew Kuma."
Zzzzt.
Uchiha Tamaharu stared at the monster who stood nearly three times as tall as he did.
But there wasn't a hint of fear in his eyes.
Electric arcs appeared across his body. Lightning Style was stimulating his cells, boosting his reaction speed and strength.
The reason Bartholomew Kuma hadn't attacked yet was that he was lost in thought.
Was the World Government suspicious of his true identity, and had it sent these Cipher Pol agents to test him?
Had he been exposed?
Were there more people lying in ambush nearby?
Should he take Dragon's son and flee, or keep pretending to be Qiu Hai, a member following the World Government's orders?
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique."
Uchiha Tamaharu spat out a torrent of flames.
At once, the CP9 agents charged toward the Straw Hat crew.
The Pirates whom the Straw Hat crew had rescued didn't abandon them, either. They chose to step in and help.
"A Devil Fruit User?" Bartholomew Kuma asked, puzzled.
But he raised his right hand and slapped away the nearly three-meter-wide fireball.
Uchiha Tamaharu had already vanished from his sight.
"What speed."
Bartholomew Kuma was surprised.
But he immediately sensed an attack coming his way.
Three shuriken shot toward him from the left, right, and behind.
Bartholomew Kuma patted himself, changing his position and reappearing atop the ruins he had just left, dodging the attack.
He thought he would have a better view from here and be able to locate where his opponent was hiding.
"On the wall!!!"
But he was shocked a moment later.
His target had somehow already appeared on the wall beneath the ruins where he stood.
Less than two meters away, those blood-red eyes stared straight at him.
He raised a hand to unleash a Pressure Cannon, but Uchiha Tamaharu's attack was faster.
"Chidori Sharp Spear!"
The Chidori formed in Uchiha Tamaharu's right palm changed shape and instantly extended outward.
Like a sharp spear, it shot straight at Bartholomew Kuma.
Kuma figured his Pressure Cannon wouldn't be able to stop the current rushing toward him. He abandoned the attack and swung his paw at the incoming strike instead.
He didn't know how the man who had just used Fire Style could suddenly switch tactics and wield lightning.
But he couldn't afford to take that attack head-on.
He swung the paw of his right hand—the hand he had been about to use for his attack—at the current.
The Chidori Sharp Spear struck his paw and was deflected, bouncing back at almost a ninety-degree angle.
"Rumble!"
The Chidori Sharp Spear slammed into the wall, blasting a hole straight through it.
"Can he reflect elemental attacks?"
"What an incredible ability."
As soon as the Chidori Sharp Spear was deflected, Uchiha Tamaharu realized what had happened and used Body Flicker to get away.
Tyrant Kuma was starting to get angry, too.
He was beginning to feel that these people hadn't been sent by the World Government to test him.
They were attacking in earnest. They weren't testing to see whether he was part of the Revolutionary Army at all.
"If you like hiding, let's see how long you can keep it up!"
"Pressure Cannon!"
Bartholomew Kuma lowered his body slightly, like a sumo wrestler.
Then he repeatedly thrust both hands forward, firing Pressure Cannons shaped like paw prints from his palms.
His target was every inch of ground beneath him.
That included the Pirates, CP9, and the Straw Hat crew.
He knew the shockwaves couldn't hurt Luffy, since Luffy was the Rubber Man. Only slashing attacks or attacks imbued with Busoshoku Haki would work directly against him.
So he could use his Pressure Cannons without holding back, blanketing the whole area and forcing his opponent to show himself.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Each Pressure Cannon was like a cannonball. The moment it struck something, it exploded.
The castle grounds were bombarded, leaving crater after crater.
The many Pirates Moria had gathered were caught in the attack and began fleeing.
The CP9 agents were frightened, too. Kaku hoisted Rob Lucci over his shoulder and ran.
"Lightning Sword Transformation."
But Uchiha Tamaharu wasn't just going to keep dodging.
Finding a suitable spot, he opened the concealed scroll on his wrist and continuously hurled concealed weapons at Bartholomew Kuma.
The weapons came from all directions, almost like machine-gun fire.
There was no way Kuma could block so many with just his two hands.
"Found you!"
But Bartholomew Kuma hadn't planned to block them at all.
He lightly patted himself and appeared right in front of Uchiha Tamaharu.
Then he raised his hand and swung it straight at him.
Thanks for all the recommendation tickets and monthly tickets.
Please support my new book.
Updates will be steady.
Don't leave the new book unread for too long. Click on it and keep up with the chapters—those reading stats are important for a new book. Thank you.
Before you continue