Everyone present froze at the sight. No one had expected Luffy to be so agile. Smoker's expression immediately darkened, and his body dissolved into a mass of smoke in midair, pursuing him up the wall.
"White Snake!"
The smoke abruptly gathered, like an enormous white snake baring its fangs, and lunged viciously at Luffy's back. Sensing the danger, Luffy kicked off the wall with both feet, using the recoil to propel himself sideways and narrowly dodge the attack.
Smoker gave him no chance to catch his breath. Smoke closed in again from every direction.
"Straw Hat Boy, why did you suddenly appear in this city?" Smoker's voice came from within the smoke, filled with undisguised anger. "What exactly did you come here for? You're going to explain yourself today, or I won't let you leave!"
Luffy raced across the rooftops and glanced back at him, innocence written all over his face.
"I really didn't come here for anything complicated."
"I just want to beat someone called Kuro."
He spoke with complete conviction, as though he had only come to do something perfectly ordinary. Before he had even finished speaking, the roof tiles slipped beneath his feet, and he fell straight down.
"Luffy!"
Smoker seized the opportunity, sending smoke coiling down like ropes. But the moment Luffy hit the ground, he rolled over and scrambled to his feet. Without even brushing off the dust, he turned and kept running.
"Stop right there!"
"No! If I stop, you'll catch me!"
One chased while the other fled, and they charged past the end of the street in the blink of an eye. Elsewhere, Naruto and the others had been watching the situation. When he saw Luffy rushing toward them like the wind, Naruto's expression turned somewhat helpless.
"He really hasn't changed at all."