Ochoku the Traitor

Ron froze. He wanted to say something, his mouth opening and closing, but it felt as though something had lodged in his throat, and for a long while, he could not get a single word out.

What the hell was this?

A grown man saying something so goosebump-inducing in a situation like this.

Of course, it would have been a lie to say he was not moved.

Someone he had not even known that well was willing to stand by his side at any cost, even in the face of powerful enemies, while he was in such dire straits.

That kind of "gesture," especially under circumstances like these, hit unbelievably hard.

Ron let out a long breath. He... had someone he could trust completely now, didn't he?

"Little brother?" Roger's shock was barely concealed after hearing Whitebeard's words. "Newgate... are you serious?"

Based on what Roger knew of Whitebeard, he could not understand it. Shouldn't Whitebeard have deliberately kept his distance from someone like Ron? Why was he willing to lend a hand?

There was no visible ripple on Whitebeard's face as he stared directly at Roger. "Do you think I'm joking with you, Roger?"

"Newgate, do you even know what this guy did?" Roger's voice rose sharply.

"Who cares what he did?" Whitebeard's tone was calm. "As long as I like the look of him, there's no problem."

At this point, Roger took a deep breath and slowly let it out. His hand tightened around his sword hilt again, and his voice sank. "What if I insist on making a move, Newgate?"

Whoosh—

Whitebeard raised the naginata in his hand, drawing a chilling arc through the air. Its blade pointed steadily at the ground. "Then go ahead and try."

The air suddenly tightened as well.

"Roger." Rayleigh spoke softly from the side. "Calm down first."

In Dadan's memories from the original story, Garp had once said that Roger became extremely impatient and willful whenever he was provoked.

And the current situation fit that description perfectly. Ron's verbal jabs were like poisoned daggers, stabbing straight into Roger's sore spots again and again, pushing his anger to its limit.

Even with Whitebeard interfering, Roger did not want to stop just like that.

At that moment, Gaban placed a hand on Roger's shoulder and said quietly, "That guy already said it. We don't have much time. If we wait for Rocks and the others to return, we'll be at a disadvantage."

Gaban's words were like a bucket of cold water dumped over Roger's head.

Roger stood where he was, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Ron and Whitebeard twice as he rapidly weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

Ron had made him furious, but... he did not want to put his companions at a disadvantage just because he stubbornly insisted on his own way.

Then Roger sheathed his sword. The long blade slid into its scabbard with a soft click.

"Newgate, we'll meet again." Roger slowly put on his straw hat, pulling the brim low enough to cover most of his face. Then he turned and walked away into the distance.

Rayleigh and Gaban exchanged a glance. Their eyes lingered on Whitebeard for a moment before they followed after Roger.

Once Roger and the others had gone far away, Whitebeard slowly turned his gaze toward Ron. "What happened? How did you manage to make Roger so furious, kid?"

Ron shrugged and brushed the dust off his clothes. After thinking for a moment, he guessed in a tone that said I'm just as speechless as you are, "Probably because of the terms of our cooperation with the Kuja Pirates. I only saved Annika. The others... I told them to save themselves."

"What kind of lunatic comes after you over that?" Kaido cut in from the side, his face full of disbelief.

"And then," Ron continued, "those people who tried to save themselves probably didn't survive. So they said I ignored the Kuja Pirates' terms and came here to demand an explanation."

Whitebeard's gaze darkened slightly. Then he suddenly asked a question that silenced everyone. "How did Roger know about it?"

That question made Ron freeze instantly.

He had been too busy getting angry and fighting earlier to notice the issue at all.

But now that he thought about it carefully, yeah, how did Roger know what had happened back then?

The people who had acted alongside Ron were Stussy and Kaido.

But those two could basically be ruled out. If Ron was really at fault, then neither of them could escape blame either.

Suddenly, a figure flashed through Ron's mind.

Ochoku.

But Ochoku had not been at the scene. How did he know what had happened?

Wait?

Ron began recalling what Roger and the others had said earlier.

"You didn't have to save them, but why did you drag them into this?"

Drag them into this?

What did that mean?

Could it be... they had been talking on completely different wavelengths?

Ron's mind raced, and his suspicions fell on Ochoku.

In the original story, it was Ochoku, that traitor, who had stabbed the Rocks Pirates in the back for profit.

And Ochoku had only returned two days ago.

Not long after he returned, Roger appeared here.

Even more coincidentally, this little road was the only route leading to the shore.

In other words, Roger had not run into Ron by chance. He had been given the exact location.

By now, Ron basically had his answer.

"Heh..." Ron let out a low, cold laugh, the corner of his mouth curling upward. "What a clever scheme."

Then Ron turned and ran toward where the ship was docked. He felt it was necessary to have a friendly spar with Ochoku.

"Where are you going?" Kaido and Whitebeard spoke at the same time.

"I'm going to settle something with Ochoku." Ron did not look back.

"Ochoku? Did Ochoku go back?" Kaido pressed.

Ron halted, then abruptly turned around. "Ochoku... went out?"

"Yeah, he came out with us," Whitebeard said slowly.

"With you?" Ron frowned, a trace of suspicion flashing through his eyes. "That doesn't sound like his usual style."

"We only went out together. But that guy didn't go drinking," Whitebeard added.

Ron fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "When you went out, did Annika leave too?"

"She left not long ago." Whitebeard thought for a moment. "Why?"

Ron's brow furrowed even more deeply. "Nothing... I just hope I'm overthinking it."

Ron said nothing else. Golden chakra instantly covered his entire body. The moment Nine-Tails Mode activated, his figure flashed as he moved at high speed.

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