Assassination, the Terrifying Defense of a Top-Tier Powerhouse!

Assassination, the Terrifying Defense of a Top-Tier Powerhouse!

A crimson blade wreathed in flames swiftly slashed toward Bullet's neck.

Seeing Tsugikuni Yoriichi suddenly appear at Bullet's side, Aokiji could not help complaining. He and Yoriichi had agreed to attack together. Aokiji would enter first to draw attention and use his powers to clear out the small fry aboard the Roger Pirates' ship.

Tsugikuni Yoriichi was supposed to enter after him and use the long sword in his hand to harvest the pirates frozen in ice.

Who would have thought that just after he froze two pirates, someone would step in to stop him? And Yoriichi had only arrived late after Bullet shattered the ice and counterattacked, making Aokiji inwardly curse him as unreliable.

However, Yoriichi had no interest in responding to Aokiji at that moment. All his attention was on Bullet. Until he took the man's head, Yoriichi would not relax in the slightest.

The instant he saw him, Tsugikuni Yoriichi recognized him. He knew that Bullet's head would not be easy to take!

"A brat?!"

"That was quite an extraordinary slash!"

With the blade about to reach him, Bullet calmly glanced sideways at Tsugikuni Yoriichi. He abruptly withdrew the hand reaching for Aokiji and instead grabbed directly at Yoriichi's blade.

Noticing his movement, Tsugikuni Yoriichi's pupils contracted slightly. Was this man planning to catch his blade with his bare hand?!

Yoriichi had experienced the same thing with Zephyr. He had experienced it with Garp as well.

Could this Bullet also possess Haki powerful enough to take his slash head-on with bare hands?!

I can't gamble on exposing an opening!

In an instant, Tsugikuni Yoriichi made his decision. The blade slashing horizontally at Bullet's neck abruptly changed direction and cut sideways toward Bullet's waist and abdomen.

"Hmm?!" Bullet's hand grasped at empty air. The next second, a searing pain erupted from his abdomen, making him let out a surprised sound.

When he looked toward Tsugikuni Yoriichi, Yoriichi had already retreated several meters after landing his strike. He stood beside Aokiji, who had also left his original position, and both watched Bullet warily.

Though Bullet was not very old, his strength was terrifyingly formidable. Aokiji and Yoriichi worked together seamlessly, yet they had failed to take Bullet down immediately.

There were still other Roger Pirates members on the ice. Yoriichi and Aokiji silently agreed to withdraw from the battlefield for the moment rather than get tangled up with Bullet.

"The cut was too shallow. This guy's Haki is incredibly strong. His defense is terrifying."

Yoriichi glanced from afar at Bullet's wound, his heart sinking. That strike had already been a full-power attack, yet it had merely wounded the man. The injury was not even serious enough to affect Bullet's fighting ability.

Bullet's Haki was truly terrifyingly strong.

"That brat wounded me?!"

Feeling the pain in his waist and abdomen, Bullet lowered his head and saw a blade wound more than ten centimeters long across his waist. The skin around it was slightly charred, while the surrounding flesh was bright red, as if it had been scorched by fire.

The wound was not deep, having only cut into the muscle, and it was not bleeding much. It would not affect Bullet's combat ability.

Although the injury was minor, Bullet's gaze toward Tsugikuni Yoriichi and Aokiji was filled with fury.

At the same time, it brimmed with surging fighting spirit.

He had been injured!

Ever since boarding the Oro Jackson, no one besides Captain Roger had ever managed to cut him. And the one who had wounded him was actually a brat.

Judging by his age, he was just a little kid about the same age as Shanks and the others!

"Bullet! Are you all right?!"

"You're hurt! Is it serious?!"

At that moment, the other Roger Pirates members finally reacted. Aokiji and Tsugikuni Yoriichi's attack had been too swift and sudden. Aside from a small number of crew members with particularly powerful Observation Haki, most had only just caught on.

Seeing the bleeding wound at Bullet's waist, Shanks could not help asking in concern.

Though Bullet was not particularly easy to get along with, he was still a fellow member of the Roger Pirates. The crew shared deep bonds.

"I'm fine."

"This kind of injury is nothing!"

"Come to think of it, Shanks, that kid looks about your age."

"To have such formidable strength at so young an age, he's as strong as I was when I was young!"

Though Bullet was not even twenty, he spoke with the air of an old man, even praising Tsugikuni Yoriichi, his enemy.

His tone was also utterly relaxed, as if he did not take Aokiji and Tsugikuni Yoriichi seriously at all.

As Bullet spoke, the other Roger Pirates members also noticed Tsugikuni Yoriichi standing beside Aokiji.

As for Aokiji, while it was Bullet and the others' first time seeing him, they had heard more or less about him. A Marine Supernova, a Logia Devil Fruit user, and the youngest colonel in Marine history.

But the red-haired youth standing beside Aokiji with a long sword in hand was unfamiliar.

At such a young age, with red hair, such great strength, and as a Marine aboard Garp's ship—he was so distinctive, yet they had never heard of him.

"Who is that brat? That kid was the one who wounded Bullet just now!"

"He's really strong. Is he a new recruit on Garp's ship?"

"Huh? Wasn't his sword red just now? Why is it black now?"

The Roger Pirates crew focused on different things as they sized up Tsugikuni Yoriichi and offered their comments, their tones remarkably relaxed.

The two people frozen by Aokiji were carried before Bullet. Using his Devil Fruit power, Bullet absorbed the ice covering them into his body before expelling it.

The Merge-Merge Fruit was truly convenient at times.

Elio and Amon had not been frozen for long. After Bullet removed the ice, they were only somewhat stiff and otherwise unharmed. Once they recovered, they joined the other crew members, all of them glaring fiercely at Aokiji and Tsugikuni Yoriichi in the distance.

At that moment, the Marines from the Dog-head Warship also gathered behind Aokiji and Tsugikuni Yoriichi.

The Marines who could withstand the aftershocks of Garp and Roger's Conqueror's Haki clash were all elites among elites. Led by Bogard, once they gathered around Aokiji and Yoriichi, the Marines' momentum did not lose to that of the Roger Pirates.

"Hoho?!"

"When did Garp's ship gain so many young Marines?"

"Looks like the Marines are quite good at training youngsters!"

Just then, Rayleigh's voice came from behind the Roger Pirates crew. The group looked over in delight and saw Rayleigh, Oden, and the others walking toward them.

Oden had been successfully pulled aboard by Rayleigh. After coughing up a few mouthfuls of seawater, he immediately recovered. Aside from his slightly crooked jaw, he looked completely fine.

After taking a punch from Garp, this Wano Country samurai could still remain conscious. It was clear just how terrifying his endurance was.

As expected of Kozuki Oden, who took Whitebeard's punch with his face and Roger's Divine Departure with his body.

"Vice Captain!"

"Rayleigh-san, Oden-san!"

Seeing Rayleigh and Oden return to the group, everyone cried out happily.

Rayleigh smiled as he walked before the crew. He glanced somewhat unexpectedly at the wound on Bullet's waist and abdomen, then drew his long sword and said to the Marines:

"Now then, Marines!"

"Prepare yourselves!"

"Since you've provoked the Roger Pirates, don't think you'll be leaving unscathed!"

(End of Chapter)