"Gah!" Uchiha Hikaru's reaction thoroughly enraged the pirate. The humiliation of being ignored felt as though his dignity were being sliced to pieces by Hikaru, and that contemptuous disregard filled him with fury.
"Die, you nobody!" The man clenched his fist and lunged forward in a flash. Armament Haki already coiled around his fist as he threw a punch through the air, its fierce wind making the cargo around the merchant ship sway violently.
"Pfft!"
The raging wind suddenly stopped, followed by the crisp sound of flesh tearing. The pirate opened his mouth and whimpered, trying to say something, but the words turned in his throat and never emerged. At last, all strength left his body, and he crashed to the ground dead. A kunai was embedded in his throat, blood continuously pouring out.
Everyone was stunned. The pirate had clearly struck first, yet no one had seen when Uchiha Hikaru had counterattacked and killed him in one blow. The attack had been too fast; only after the pirate was dead did they realize that Hikaru had already made his move.
Hikaru slowly lowered the arm that had thrown the kunai. He did not even glance at the pirate he had killed with a single strike, instead sweeping his gaze toward Bege and Tamago, who were likewise frozen in shock in the distance.
It was impossible for Bege and Tamago not to be shocked. Even though bounties of a hundred million were common in the New World, neither of them could casually kill a pirate worth over a hundred million with a single blow.
This was an expert. Bege and Tamago were deeply shaken. A truly formidable expert!
"I don't support your desire to court death," Hikaru said coldly, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on Bege. His empty hand held nothing,