Kuina's Battle

"No, no, how could he possibly do something like that? He wouldn't dare even if you gave him ten times the courage."

The other man gave an awkward smile and tried to explain for him.

But how could a Fish-man believe such an explanation? He flipped the man over in an instant. "Did I let you speak? What, do you want to die in his place?"

"If you want something, come at me!"

The man struggled to his feet. They had been oppressed by these Fish-men for far too long. This couldn't go on.

The Fish-man didn't care about their so-called friendship. Anyone who provoked a Fish-man deserved to die!

"Why is it so noisy here? What happened?"

Captain Nezumi approached with his men. He seemed to be in a pretty good mood, and the Marines behind him were carrying a large Box.

Yet no one in the crowd spoke. Everyone in this town knew that Arlong and the Marine captain were in cahoots. No one was coming to save them.

"So it's the captain. These people offended me and didn't even apologize. I was teaching them a lesson."

The Fish-man spoke carelessly.

"I see. You rioters should accept your punishment properly."

"Captain Nezumi, what's that behind you?"

Moyun approached with two others, smiling pleasantly. The Fish-man looked the silver-haired youth up and down.

"Who are you? Why have I never seen you before?"

A dark glint flashed through the Fish-man's eyes. He would have to report this to Captain Arlong later. Outsiders had actually entered this place. What the hell was Moo-Moo doing?

"I'm just here sightseeing. And while I'm at it, I came to teach someone a lesson."

"Who?"

Captain Nezumi asked in return. Why did he keep feeling that this brat was hostile toward him?

"You."

"Me? Hahaha, are you crazy, kid? You want to teach me a lesson? Do you even know who I am?!"

Captain Nezumi burst into laughter at Moyun's words. This little brat wanted to teach him a lesson? He didn't know his place!

Besides, this was Arlong's territory. Arlong would never allow anyone to cause trouble here.

"What's with you, brat? Do you need me to teach you a lesson?"

The Fish-man roared. He knew Captain Nezumi and his boss were partners.

"Teach me a lesson? You can certainly try."

Moyun walked up to the Fish-man without the slightest fear of his massive build, even though he looked tiny in comparison.

He also gave the two men a meaningful look.

Why were these two unlucky fools still standing around watching? Why weren't they leaving already?

"You..."

The man still hesitated. Were they really supposed to leave a young boy here to deal with these two vicious men?

"Get out of here already. Are you planning to stay and get beaten up?"

Moyun spoke coldly.

"I never gave those two permission to leave!"

The Fish-man roared and swung his enormous palm at the men.

Moyun narrowed his eyes. A ball of white energy swiftly gathered in his palm, and he met the Fish-man's strike head-on.

The two men closed their eyes. When the anticipated pain never came, they slowly opened them and saw that the once-aggressive Fish-man was now attacking everything around him.

Even Captain Nezumi, who had been standing nearby, wasn't spared.

"Damn it, what's going on? Are you a Devil Fruit user? Why can't I control my body?!"

The Fish-man smashed a fruit stall to pieces with one slap. Fruit scattered across the ground, juice flowing everywhere.

"Hey, calm down! What the hell is going on?!"

Captain Nezumi was beginning to panic as well. The Fish-man was about to charge at them, but they couldn't shoot at him.

If Arlong blamed him for it, he wouldn't be able to bear the consequences!

The Marines' formation was scattered by the rampaging Fish-man, and the Box they had been carrying slipped to the ground.

A large amount of gold coins and Beli spilled out from the Box, drawing cries of shock from the surrounding crowd.

"Where did all that money come from?!"

"Probably from Arlong."

"I knew it. Arlong and these Marines definitely have some kind of deal."

The moment Moyun saw the Beli scattered across the ground, he understood. This was probably what Captain Nezumi had taken from Tangerine Grove.

It seemed Arlong could no longer sit still. He knew Nami had saved up one hundred million Beli, so he had Captain Nezumi steal it.

The Fish-man was still rampaging through the streets. Moyun didn't want him to hurt any innocent people, so he said to Kuina, "Go deal with that Fish-man. I'll take this chance to see how much you've improved lately."

Kuina nodded and drew her sword from its sheath.

It was a fine-quality sword that she had brought with her when she left her hometown. Though it couldn't compare to Wado Ichimonji, it was still quite handy to use.

The Fish-man watched Kuina walk toward him step by step, but he still couldn't control his own movements.

"What are you doing?! If you dare hurt me, Big Brother Arlong will never let you go!"

A tall, powerful Fish-man was actually afraid of a woman. If the other Fish-men found out, they would laugh their teeth out.

But he couldn't worry about that now. Staying alive was what mattered!

"Captain, I want to fight him fairly. I can't bring myself to strike him while he's like this."

Kuina stopped when she was about a meter away from the Fish-man.

Moyun considered it for a moment, then snapped his fingers.

"Fine. As expected of the swordswoman I chose. Go ahead and give it your all. If you can't beat him, I'll help you."

"That probably won't be necessary."

Kuina said calmly. Seeing that the Fish-man seemed to have returned to normal, she raised her sword and slashed at him.

"Damn brat, you're courting death!"

The Fish-man had just regained control of his body when he saw Kuina swinging her sword at him, and his anger flared even hotter.

He had actually been toyed with by a bunch of children. He would definitely teach them a lesson today!

A Fish-man's skin was incredibly tough. Kuina's sword left not even a mark on him.

"What? How is that possible?!"

"Haha, now you know how strong I am!"

Seeing Kuina's composed mask finally crack, the Fish-man grew arrogant.

"I won't let you off!"

The Fish-man gave a vicious grin and held his palms facing each other. The juice on the ground slowly vanished, gathering between his palms and forming several droplets of water.

"Go ahead and have a taste of this move!"

This was Fish-man Karate, unique to Fish-men and capable of controlling water to a certain extent. Though his technique wasn't as powerful as Big Brother Arlong's, it would be more than enough to deal with a little girl.