Fire vs. Smoke / The Pirate Hunter Is Back in Action

Tashigi took him for a kindhearted townsman and cried, "Get out of the way! They have weapons—"

Before she could finish, the man blocking the road gripped his sword and gave it a light swing right before her eyes...

A hideous, bloodied head flew straight toward her!

Tashigi shrieked and stumbled back. Still shaken, she stared at the pirate's severed head on the ground. He had been breathing just a second ago...

Noil walked over with the child the pirate had snatched in his arms. With a soft ring, the Skillful Grade Blade slid back into its sheath.

He smiled at Tashigi's stunned face. "Miss Marine, you can give me the bounty for this pirate now."

"Um... cash or credit card?"

Flames vs. Smoke

Tashigi came to her senses. She rested a hand on her sword and eyed the man warily. "Who are you?!"

The marines behind her watched Noil with equal suspicion, but he seemed oblivious. He grinned. "I'm a cold-blooded killer!"

Tashigi drew her Famous Sword, Kashu, and the soldiers raised their rifles at Noil.

Noil's mouth twitched. "All right, I'm just an ordinary Pirate Hunter. You're not going to stiff me, are you?"

Tashigi relaxed a little at that and answered solemnly, "Of course not. The Marines will pay what they owe you!"

"By the way, what's your name?"

"My name's Noil."

Tashigi tightened her grip on her sword again. Behind her, the marines cocked their rifles, seconds from opening fire!

Noil hastily raised his hands. "Wait! What's this about?"

Behind her glasses, Tashigi fixed him with a sharp, accusing stare. "Pirate Hunter Noil, didn't you join the pirate Ace and his crew?!"

"No, I didn't," Noil denied flatly. "Why would I join pirates?"

"Ace? What's that... What a stupid name. Is it a sword?"

Far away, at a port on the other side of the island, Ace was picking out a pirate ship when he suddenly sneezed several times in rapid succession.

He rubbed his nose and grumbled, "Damn it! Luffy must be bad-mouthing me behind my back again!"

Seeing Noil's innocent, baffled expression, Tashigi began to doubt herself.

She hesitated. "Captain Smoker gave us orders. You have to come with us!"

Noil shrugged. "Let's go, then. I still haven't gotten my money."

Tashigi sheathed Kashu, and the marines lowered their rifles. But to keep Noil from escaping, she held his arm in a death grip.

Well...

Tashigi had meant to grab his shoulder, but he was too tall...

From a distance, they looked less like a soldier arresting a criminal and more like a gang boss out for a stroll with his young wife on his arm.

Noil walked ahead with his hands in his pockets, while Tashigi followed at his side, stern-faced and clinging to his arm.

The townspeople along the street stared at the pair in amazement and whispered among themselves:

"Is Sergeant Tashigi dating someone?"

"My goddess! My heart's broken!"

"That guy's pretty good-looking, though!"

They spoke quietly, but with his powerful Observation Haki, Noil heard every word.

He turned to her, exasperated. "Could you give me some space? This looks way too intimate."

Tashigi shot him a fierce glare. "We haven't established whether you're a criminal. I can't let go of you!"

Fine.

Why was this girl so dense?

The host has met an important figure. Distributing rewards: Color-Changing Holographic Sunglasses ×1, White Talent Copy Card ×10.

Huh?

At the familiar system notification, Noil raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Getting arrested counted as meeting someone?

And what were those Color-Changing Holographic Sunglasses? They sounded pretty cool.

Noil eagerly inspected the sunglasses in his system storage, while harboring serious doubts about the White Copy Cards the system had given him.

What the hell were these White Talent Copy Cards good for?

At his current strength, Noil had no use for white talents.

As if sensing his dissatisfaction, the system fell silent for a long while before speaking again. "The system has detected that its functions cannot assist the host. Initiating automatic upgrade!"

"The system upgrade will take 72 hours. Copying functions will be unavailable during this period."

Huh?!

Had his complaining made the system upgrade?

Noil's spirits rose. The system was a major aid in making him stronger. Surely an upgrade would bring more features?

It was only three days. No big deal.

The news of the upgrade put Noil in such a good mood that even the bespectacled girl beside him looked prettier.

While Noil was successfully being "arrested" by the Marines, things had hit a snag for Ace.

Everything had been going smoothly. The three of them had picked out a ready-made ship and even paid for it. It only needed a few changes to its appearance before they could set sail.

But Ace had insisted on going out for a meal while the ship was being prepared, and then...

His wanted poster had finally been distributed to the Marines that very day!

The bounty was a full forty million Beli, and the information on it was from before Ace had eaten the Flame-Flame Fruit.

Who knew what Ace had done before this...

The moment Ace entered town and stepped into a restaurant, someone recognized his face. A large squad of marines came charging after him.

With a crowd of marines in pursuit, Deuce nearly wept. "Why did Ace's wanted poster have to come out now of all times?!"

Skull ducked a hail of bullets by a hair and cried out in despair, "These marines have way too much firepower!"

Bullet holes kept opening through the flames of Ace's body, but he grinned. "Seems fine to me."

"Because they can't hit you!" the other two roared at him.

As the three fled, they suddenly spotted a man on a flashy, smoke-belching motorcycle blocking their path.

He raised an oddly shaped weapon and charged straight at Ace.

Ace watched him come without budging. In his elemental form, he had nothing to fear from a physical attack like that.

But something happened that Ace couldn't believe: the marine's weapon didn't pass through his body as expected.

The cold head of the Jitte slammed into Ace's chest. The blow shook him to his core.

Blood surged into his mouth, but Ace forced it back down.

He wiped his mouth and held a hand to his chest. His smile vanished as he stared coldly at the cigar-smoking man before him.

White smoke streamed from Smoker's mouth, and his casual gaze held open contempt. "Pirate Ace. I didn't expect you to have eaten a Logia Devil Fruit too."

"But it won't help you. No pirate from the East Blue gets past me!"

Scorching flames burst across Ace's body. A sunny grin spread over his face, but his eyes were those of a hunter watching his prey.

"Is that so? I'm getting past you anyway!!"

The flames surged higher. Ace's body seemed to swell and explode outward, sending a sky full of fire at Smoker like a demon's fangs.

Smoker snorted. White smoke engulfed his body and swept forward to meet the flames.

Smoke and fire tangled together like two savage beasts, each determined to tear a chunk from the other.

The storm of fire and smoke grew larger and larger until it reached the sky. Everyone in town could see it overhead.

Noil, who had been teasing Tashigi, saw the spectacle too. He suddenly remembered that Ace and Smoker had fought in the Original Story.

But hadn't that happened three years later?

"Did I get transported through time again?"

The Pirate Hunter Is Back

The battle between flame and smoke grew fiercer.

Tashigi slapped a hand to her forehead in alarm. "Damn it! Captain Smoker's fighting a powerful enemy!"

She waved the soldiers forward. "Get over there! Support the captain!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The marines broke into a run, and Tashigi followed.

After a couple of steps, she suddenly remembered Noil and turned back to grab him again.

Noil admired her dedication, but she didn't really think she could hold him there, did she?

He slipped easily out of her grasp, darted up onto a rooftop, and vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye.

His faint voice drifted back. "I'll go check out what's happening. Hurry and catch up..."

Tashigi stamped her foot in frustration and shouted through gritted teeth, "Move it!"

Noil moved fast. Before long, he found the battlefield where Ace and Smoker were fighting.

The two had just separated from their tangled elements. Smoke wreathed Smoker's body, while Ace held up a burning fist.

Smoker's eyes shifted. He spotted Noil at once. "East Blue hunter Noil. Are you here to help the pirate Ace?"

Ace called out excitedly, "Noil! We bought a ship! We can set sail!"

Noil covered his forehead with a hand. Come on, man, I'm a hunter!

Shouting that makes it sound like I'm one of you!

Sure enough, after hearing Ace, Smoker fixed Noil with a stern stare. "So you did join the pirates."

Noil spread his hands. "Actually, I didn't—"

He wanted to explain, but Smoker wouldn't listen. His lower body turned to smoke, propelling him straight at Noil.

"Smoke Launcher!" Smoker raised his Jitte, its tip concealing Seastone, and brought it down hard toward Noil's head.

The world's such a beautiful place, and you're this hotheaded...

Noil raised his sword to block, then shoved the Jitte aside with both arms. He twisted sharply backward and swung his blade.

"Rising Dragon Flash!"

The force of his spin combined with the strength of his arms, driving the Qingxing Blade straight toward Smoker's exposed chest.

Like Ace, Smoker assumed a mere Pirate Hunter couldn't hurt him.

He made no attempt to defend himself and kept attacking.

What he didn't know was that Noil's blade was already coated in Armament Haki!

In that instant between life and death, Smoker seemed to sense death approaching. He instinctively twisted away and pulled back his attack.

That movement saved his life.

A shallow cut opened on his chest, not far from his heart, and blood seeped out.

Cold sweat broke out over Smoker's body.

If he hadn't pulled back just then, the blade might have pierced straight through him.

Pirate Hunter Noil could use Haki?

Why was someone this strong in the East Blue?