Are We Going to Be Wanted?

At the sound of their boss's voice, their eyes gleamed viciously, and they charged at Kuta and the others, snarling and brandishing their weapons.

Watching the fish-men charge, Kuta was about to move when Kuina spoke.

"Kuta, we agreed. Leave this to me."

She could barely contain her killing intent now.

Kuta hurriedly stopped and rubbed his head, apologizing repeatedly to Kuina.

"Sorry, Kuina. Look at me—I nearly forgot."

The sight of these fish-men had made his hands itch. It had been ages since he last fought. Sure, each of them would only take one strike, but even if they couldn't satisfy his hunger, they could quench his thirst!

Kuina's

eyes had been fixed on Captain Nezumi from the very start. Standing atop the wall, she looked like a god of death, her eyes utterly cold.

The first person she wanted to kill was Nezumi.

The boundless killing intent in Kuina's eyes made Nezumi ache all over, as though needles were pricking his skin.

Alarm bells blared in his mind.

Danger, danger, danger...

Nezumi froze in place, cold sweat pouring down his body.

He looked up at Kuina, screaming inwardly.

What's wrong with this woman?!

I don't even know her! Why has she been staring at me ever since she arrived?!

Only when the fish-men were almost at the foot of the wall did Kuina withdraw her gaze and jump down.

Ignoring the charging fish-men, she fixed her eyes on Nezumi again and walked toward him at an unhurried pace.

Kuta squatted on the wall, looking thoroughly bored. He yawned and unhooked the Wine Gourd from his waist.

Time for a drink and a show.

The two fish-men leading the charge grew even more vicious at the sight of Kuina.

One came from her left, the other from her right. One raised a fist and the other a blade, both aiming savage blows at her head.

Just then—

Shing!

The instant the fish-man on the left threw his punch, a flash of steel swept across his throat first.

Then a red glint flashed through her eyes. She leaned slightly to the left and stepped forward, evading the other fish-man's blade.

She paused, twirled her sword into a reverse grip, then stabbed to the right and withdrew it.

Without sparing either fish-man another glance, she walked calmly between them and continued forward.

Only then did the two fish-men, still standing stiffly in place, fall to the ground with a thud.

Seeing their two comrades twitching on the ground, the fish-men behind them skidded to a halt and froze.

In a single exchange, two of their comrades had been killed with brutal efficiency.

"Aah...!"

Then their fury erupted. Their eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and they roared as they charged savagely at Kuina.

Kuina continued toward Nezumi at the same unhurried pace, entirely unaffected by the fish-men.

She turned her right hand, shifting back to a normal grip. A cold, dazzling gleam flashed along her blade as she delivered a simple horizontal cut at the charging fish-man.

Steel flashed, and the fish-man's charging body stopped dead.

Splat!

Kuina stepped to the right, avoiding the blood spraying from the fish-man's chest.

She swept a cold glance over the fish-men behind him and flicked the blood from her blade.

The blood splashed across the ground in one long stroke, gleaming a blinding red in the sunlight.

Kuina's icy stare made the remaining fish-men ache all over.

They had completely forgotten that the way they looked at humans was exactly the same as the way Kuina was looking at them now!

Only now did these fish-men learn fear.

They all halted their charge. Staring at Kuina with constricted pupils, they backed away involuntarily.

This human couldn't be an ordinary human. She was a mighty god of death.

Three cuts.

Three comrades.

They couldn't even see her blade, only a flash of steel.

Were they going to be wanted?

Watching his fellow fish-men retreat in terror,

Arlong abruptly stood. His eyes bloodshot, he opened his great mouth and roared furiously at those ahead of him, "Everyone, get out of my way!"

At the sound of their boss's voice, the fish-men all breathed sighs of relief and hurriedly ran back.

In their sorry state, none of their usual arrogance remained.

Kuina ignored both the fleeing fish-men and Arlong. She turned her gaze back to Nezumi.

That single look made Nezumi shudder in fright.

As Kuina approached, his legs gave out, and he fell backward onto his backside.

Then he shouted in terror.

"What's wrong with you, woman?! I've never done anything to you! Why are you so determined to come after me?!"

He was terrified now, and felt deeply wronged.

Why me?!

I'm human too!

Why do you keep staring at me instead of the fish-men?!

Seeing Kuina ignore him completely only enraged Arlong further.

"You human woman! Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish."

He turned and pulled a huge, sharp-toothed saw blade from behind a pillar.

Then he turned back, fixed a vicious stare on Kuina, kicked the table out of his way, and rushed at her.

This human woman might be skilled with a sword, but he believed that no matter how strong she was, she couldn't possibly beat him.

After all, he was Arlong the fish-man, captain of the Arlong Pirates, the pirate with the highest bounty in the East Blue!

Arlong charged up to Kuina, raised the huge saw blade overhead with both hands, and brought it down viciously.

"Die!"

Arlong was confident that no one in the entire East Blue could withstand his slash.

At that moment, Kuina looked at Arlong for the first time. A cold gleam flashed in her eyes, and though her blade moved later, it reached his first, blocking the saw blade from below.

Clang!

A blast of wind swept outward from where the two blades met.

"Huh?!"

Arlong froze for a moment, staring at the blade in his hands as he felt a force beneath it that matched his own.

Impossible! How could a human in the East Blue withstand my slash?

He lifted his gaze to meet Kuina's cold eyes. For the first time, his voice grew grave.

"You aren't from the East Blue. You came from the Grand Line."

That was the only explanation he could accept for this human woman's strength rivaling his.

Kuina looked up at Arlong, her eyes as cold and unchanging as ever.

"You talk too much."

Then she brought her left hand to the hilt and, gripping it with both hands, pushed Arlong's blade upward with force.

Veins bulged on Arlong's forehead and arms. His whole body flushed red as he gritted his teeth, dug his feet into the ground, and roared at Kuina.

"How could a mere lowly human be stronger than the great fish-man race?!"

Kuina paid little attention to Arlong's roar. She drew a deep breath, eased her blade back slightly, then drove upward with even greater force, lifting Arlong and his saw blade clean off the ground.

Clang!!

An even louder crash and stronger blast of air erupted from the clashing blades.

Nezumi sat stunned on the ground, unable to open his eyes against the wind. He wanted to flee, but his body felt utterly drained of strength and refused to obey him.

Arlong tried desperately to dig his feet into the ground, but it was useless. That force lifted him straight up.

The moment his feet left the ground, he lost any means of holding his own against Kuina.

Then an irresistible force slammed into his massive body, sending him hurtling backward.

Bang!!

His back bowed as he crashed hard into the wall behind him, smashing a deep crater into it.

Then, with a crash, the wall behind him suddenly collapsed, burying his entire body beneath it.

The surrounding fish-men stared blankly at the small mound of rubble.

How could this human's strength surpass even Arlong's?

They shook their heads in disbelief.

This creature couldn't be human.

Just then, Kuta suddenly turned to glance at the pool behind Kuina.

"Isn't that Hachi?"

He had just been wondering whether something was missing. So it was that six-armed Octopus Bro!

If Hachi had stayed hidden deep in the sea, Kuta really would have had trouble finding him.

After all, he could disguise himself as an actual fish.

Judging by his movements, he was planning to ambush Kuina in the instant after she had expended her strength, before she could muster it again.

Unfortunately, Kuta wasn't going to give him that chance.

He certainly wasn't going to spare Hachi just because he had saved Rayleigh's life or anything like that.

The fellow might seem like a good person in the anime, but he was really no different from the other fish-men in the Arlong Pirates. He just acted a little goofy.

If, when the time came, Rayleigh

really did come looking for revenge, Kuta would simply kill him too.

Just as Hachi was about to break the surface, Kuta quickly drew Zankū and casually slashed toward the patch of water where he was hiding.

A silver-gray slash flew swiftly toward the pool behind Kuina.

It struck Hachi head-on just as he emerged from the water.

Clang!

The silver-gray slash didn't pause for an instant. It sliced through the two swords Hachi held before him, cut through his body, then sped along the water channel toward the distant sea and vanished.

Hachi froze in place, his two swords still raised. A wave washed over him, and with a sudden clink, the blades in his hands broke in two.

Then a line of blood appeared down the center of his body, starting between his brows. It rapidly widened, and with a splat, his body split into two halves, staining the seawater around him red.

Of course, his body wasn't the only thing that had split. A crack had also silently appeared in the water channel behind him.