Moria stared in confusion at Barn, the absurdly young-looking man who claimed to be the legendary pirate Asura, then turned to Rayleigh behind him. To Moria, that handsome, somewhat older man fit his idea of a powerful fighter far better.
But Rayleigh was wearing a wry smile too. He shook his head helplessly at Moria and said,
"Sorry, but he really is the Asura you know. He just looks a little young because he ate the Life Fruit."
Rayleigh had barely finished speaking, and Moria had yet to process it, when Barn's blade came down again. This time, though, he put no real strength behind it. It was merely a "greeting."
Countless bats gathered before Barn once more, forming the figure of Moria, who had just been struck again.
"How long are you going to keep dawdling? Do you want to fight or not, brat?"
Barn gave Moria a mocking look.
"Damn it..."
Moria slowly rose to his feet. By now, he was seething. Buzzby had already irritated him enough at the start, and now this ridiculously young-looking "big shot" kept calling him a brat.
"I'm the strongest pirate in the West Blue!"
Back then, Moria had a chin and a lean figure. His demonic face practically radiated menace, making him seem like an entirely different person from the bloated man he would later become.
Before his defeat by Kaido, who would later become one of the Four Emperors, he had been a great pirate with both ability and ambition. Otherwise, he would never have had the chance to face Kaido in battle. But after his defeat, his crew was killed and his fighting spirit crushed, leaving him holed up on an island as one of the Shichibukai. Right now, however, he still possessed the pride of a powerful fighter!