He simply could not understand why the thing in front of him had failed completely at this precise moment.
The Fat Man still had his finger pressed against the switch, nearly pushing the button into the panel, but the Gatling gun remained utterly motionless. There were no gunshots, no sparks; even the barrels could not be bothered to turn. It sat there as quietly as a decoration put on display specifically to crush his confidence.
Naruto strolled over, looked down at the complicated metal structure, and curled his lips into a mocking smile.
"That trump card you went to so much trouble to prepare-is this all it amounts to?"
"Forget a Gatling gun. I don't think it's even as good as a fire poker. At least a fire poker can give off a little smoke. This thing has absolutely no offensive power beyond embarrassing you."
Luffy crouched nearby, studying the row of barrels intently for quite a while before obligingly nodding.
"Naruto's right. It really does seem broken."
Those words cut deeper than any mockery.
The Fat Man's face alternated between livid and pale. He had thought that opening the armory and revealing this secret weapon would instantly turn the situation around. Who could have known that the mechanism would open and the weapon would indeed appear, only for its most important function-firing-to seem as though someone had killed it in advance?
"Don't get so full of yourselves!" he roared through gritted teeth. "Even if there's a little problem with this weapon, I still have other ways!"
Naruto turned toward Luffy.
"Since he's said that, let's not give him time to keep experimenting. Luffy, you're up."
"You got it!"
Luffy answered without hesitation, kicked off the ground, and shot forward like a cannonball. Before the Fat Man could even fumble