Pirates: Invincible from the Start

"And ordinary pirates couldn't afford the price. Raise it, and nobody would buy it. We couldn't exactly give it away! So it ended up tossed in here."

"Fair enough. Compared to other fruits that boost your strength several times over, even dozens of times, this thing is trash."

Kuta nodded and looked at the black fruit in his hand.

"An ant?"

He didn't believe ants were really that weak. Maybe nobody had properly developed the power. Ants were hardly at the bottom of the insect world!

"What about this one?"

Kuta raised the other fruit, a white one, and asked. "That one? Same story as the Ant Devil Fruit. It's the Rabbit Devil Fruit. The boost to physical strength is too small, so it wouldn't sell."

"Hm. A rabbit?"

Kuta stared at the white fruit, curiosity flickering in his eyes.

What would happen if a beautiful woman ate it?

He shook his head, hurriedly banishing the terrible thought that had popped into his mind.

Rabbit ears and bunny girls? He wasn't interested in anything like that!

Apart from being cute, rabbits only had decent jumping power in their hind legs.

This wasn't like an ant. With ants, he could at least imagine training that power until it became unbeatable.

And there might be other surprises, too.

But with a rabbit, he couldn't think of any way to train its power.

Wait. Can't rabbits go berserk?

He suddenly remembered the saying about rabbits having red eyes. If the fruit granted a berserk state...

Kuta looked at the white Rabbit Devil Fruit, his eyes lighting up.

"Then this thing might not be trash after all."

But that depended on luck. If it had no berserk state or other abilities, it really was a trash fruit.

Then he imagined Ahua or A-Tao eating it and shuddered.

Forget a bunny girl. He'd end up with a fat rabbit instead.

"Let's go! The Marines should be here soon."

He tossed the fruits to Indigo and told him to find a box for them.

Once Indigo had packed away both fruits, Kuta swung his blade twice at the treasure vault.

With that many weapons and cannonballs inside, there was no way it wouldn't blow sky-high!

Then he spread out his Space Domain, took control of a door panel, and flew away with Indigo.

The Ship's Doctor Joins Up

East Blue.

A massive fleet from Marine Headquarters was racing toward Prothius Island.

Before leaving, Bearded Man had used the warship's Den Den Mushi to contact Marine Headquarters.

The moment Marine Headquarters received the news, it dispatched Admiral Kizaru's fleet. The ships crossed the Calm Belt and headed for East Blue at top speed.

Garp was still in the New World, Aokiji wasn't at headquarters, and Akainu had to stay behind to defend it and remain ready for a summons from Mary Geoise.

That left only Kizaru of the Science Division free to go to East Blue.

His fleet was also the only one that could get there so quickly.

Alongside Admiral Kizaru's flagship sailed one Vice Admiral and five Rear Admirals.

Seven enormous warships advanced in a line, pushing through the huge waves raised by the falling islands.

By now, the outlines of the two giant islands were visible ahead. Prothius Island itself had vanished completely beneath the sea.

At the bow of the largest warship stood a tall, lean figure in a yellow-and-white striped suit, purple tie, dark green shirt, and white leather shoes, with a Marine Justice Coat draped over his shoulders. His hands were in his pockets as he gazed ahead.

This was Borsalino, one of Marine Headquarters' Admirals and among the Marines' strongest fighters. His Marine codename was Kizaru.

His short black hair curled naturally, stubble lined his face, and brown-tinted sunglasses covered his eyes. Since he also looked rather old, the Science Division called him the Old Man.

And those of us from the world of anime liked to call him Yellow Pikachu, or the Seafood Admiral SpongeBob.

With the way he talked, perhaps this Light Man had eaten the Creepy-Creepy Fruit instead.

Kizaru watched wave after wave roll toward them and uttered his catchphrase. "How scary."

Beside him, a man in an extremely tall hat, an indigo suit, and a Marine Justice Coat stared toward the islands. A long black beard hung from his chin.

"It looks like the fighting's over," he said gravely.

This was Vice Admiral Strawberry, the Vice Admiral accompanying the fleet. He served under Admiral Borsalino at Marine Headquarters.

"Yes. And it seems the Golden Lion lost."

Kizaru gazed ahead and drawled, "How scary. Silver Hair Kuta."

"Huh?"

At that moment, an earth-shaking explosion erupted on the island ahead.

Strawberry stared at the island in surprise. "Could it still be going? Are those two still fighting?"

Kizaru turned to Strawberry and the five Rear Admirals behind him. "I'll go take a look. Follow as fast as you can."

Golden light flashed across his body. He scattered into photons and shot toward the island.

He was a Logia user of the Glint-Glint Fruit.

Commonly known as a Light Man, he could turn any part of his body into light. He could move and attack at light speed.

He could deliver crushing blows at that speed, and the brilliant flashes from his body could temporarily blind his enemies.

Among the coolest and strongest Devil Fruits in the Pirate King world, his easily ranked in the top five.

Kuta and Indigo had just flown out of the palace when they ran straight into Kizaru.

Kuta stopped in midair and glared at the yellow figure taking shape from photons on the rooftop ahead. What rotten luck.

I shouldn't have stopped to eat.

But he'd had no choice. After fighting for two days with nothing to drink but wine, he'd been starving.

So after striking the treasure vault twice, he'd had Indigo take him to the kitchen, where he'd quickly

eaten a meal.

Who would have thought those few minutes would bring him face-to-face with the one Marine he least wanted to meet?

Even Garp would have been better!

But no, it had to be this yellow monkey.

At the thought, he turned his head and spat to the side.

"Just my damn luck."

He really didn't want to fight this guy.

He glanced at Indigo beside him.

With Indigo along, he couldn't use Teleportation, and flying wouldn't let him outrun Kizaru. It looked like a fight was unavoidable. At the very least, he had to make Kizaru realize there was no point chasing him.

Having made up his mind, he looked at Kizaru on the rooftop. The man somehow looked like he was mocking everyone he saw.

Kuta pursed his lips and called out slowly, imitating him.

"How scary! If it isn't Marine Admiral Yellow Pikachu!"

"Oh, no, no. Force of habit."

Kuta waved his hands and composed his expression.

"Well, if it isn't Marine Admiral Kizaru. How scary!"

Kizaru watched Kuta's performance, baffled. "Pikachu" in particular felt like an insult.

But he couldn't prove it.

That only made it more irritating.

He shook his head and fixed his gaze on Kuta. A red gleam flashed in his eyes, but he sensed no other powerful presence.

It seemed the Golden Lion had truly been defeated.

Whether he was dead or had escaped was another matter.

A trace of caution passed through Kizaru's eyes, though his face kept its usual maddeningly carefree expression.

He leaned his chin forward and puckered his lips as he teased Kuta. "How scary. Silver Hair Kuta, you even defeated the Golden Lion. What a monster."

Kuta withdrew his domain and lowered the door panel.

He looked up at Kizaru on the roof and activated Teleportation, appearing in front of him in an instant. He even borrowed Kizaru's catchphrase.

"Speed is weight. Have you ever been kicked at light speed?"

Armament Haki coated his right foot. He twisted and whipped it through the air at Kizaru's head as though kicking a ball.

Kizaru's pupils contracted as Kuta appeared before him without warning.

What was that?

It wasn't speed. If Kuta had moved that fast, Kizaru would have sensed it.

Hearing Kuta repeat one of his own favorite lines nearly broke Kizaru's leering expression. His mouth twitched.

What's with this guy? He's copying the way I talk and my moves, too.

As the kick came at him, he turned only his head into light and easily avoided it.

Then his whole body dissolved into photons and reformed above Kuta in an instant. Golden light flashed around his right foot as he drew it back to kick.

"So, have you ever experienced a Flash Kick?"

He sent his foot toward Kuta's head while Kuta was still holding his kicking pose.

He intended to repay him in kind.

His foot passed straight through Kuta.

A yellow laser punched through the roof, and an explosion sounded below.

But the kick hadn't struck Kuta at all. It had hit nothing but an afterimage.

The instant Kizaru's foot came at him, Kuta had used Teleportation again and appeared above him.

He repeated the same motion, bringing the same Armament Haki-coated foot down toward Kizaru's head.

And just as before, it was like kicking empty air.

He felt nothing.

Kizaru's photon form reassembled less than a meter from Kuta.

The languid, mocking look he always wore vanished. For once, his expression turned serious.

If it came down to speed alone, he was definitely faster than Kuta.

But Kuta could teleport, and that made him troublesome.

Kuta couldn't land a hit on him, and he couldn't land one on Kuta.

He fixed Kuta with a wary gaze and spoke in a serious tone.

"Silver Hair Kuta, it seems everyone underestimated you."

His eyes swept over the sword at Kuta's waist. "You're not just a Great Swordsman. You've eaten a spatial Devil Fruit, too. How scary."

Apart from a Devil Fruit ability, he couldn't think of anything that would let a person teleport.

Kuta offered no explanation. He merely pulled the Wine Gourd from his waist, raised it, and took a swig.