"Alright, that's all I have to say. Nezumi, you can stay in Loguetown and wait for news. Smoker, you should be next to Captain Rat, right? Let's get going!"
"Wait, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
The Nezumi cried out anxiously, only to find that the phone had already been hung up by Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
"This..."
Captain Rat put down the Den Den Mushi, his eyes darted around, and a smile returned to his lewd face as he looked at Smoker.
The latter is the main person in charge of this investigation. If we can build a good relationship with him, we might be able to keep it a secret.
From this perspective, replacing Yumushiki with Smoker was indeed a good thing.
"Ahem, um, Captain Smoker..."
"Just tell me what it is, I'm in a hurry to leave!"
Smoker tossed away his cigarette butt, stood up, put on his justice cape, and prepared to go out.
Captain Rat has already spoken to Fleet Admiral Sengoku on the phone here; it's time to set off.
"Oh dear, Captain Smoker, don't be so cold. We're colleagues, after all. If you go to the Konome Islands, the Sixteenth Branch will surely present you with no less than this number of gifts."
Captain Rat held up three fingers at Smoker.
"Ten million Beli? Looks like your Sixteenth Branch is quite wealthy!"
Smoker frowned and spoke to Captain Rat.
Judging from the Nezumi's attitude, he already knew there was something fishy going on.
"Ten million? No, no, no, Captain Smoker, how could a mere ten million Beli match your worth? I'm talking about one hundred million!"
Smoker's face turned cold. He ignored Captain Rat and turned to leave.
The combined military expenditure and tax revenue of the Marine Branch 16 over the past few years is estimated to be barely 100 million yuan. The fact that Nezumi can eat 100 million yuan speaks volumes.
However, he still needs to investigate and collect evidence before he can catch the Nezumi, as long as the procedures are followed.
During this time, the Nezumi will no longer be able to leave Loguetown.
"This..."
Captain Rat Smoker leave with a dark expression, showing no respect for him.
It's over, it's completely over!
"No, I have to find a way to escape!"
As he stepped out of the base commander's office, he saw the female marine who had followed him to monitor him. Captain Rat knew that this was his last chance to escape.
Once Smoker confronts the 16th Marine Branch and learns the truth, he will meet a gruesome end!
Smoker has left, Loguetown branch shouldn't have any powerful figures. If we can muddy the waters and distract this female marine, we can leave Loguetown! With the wealth I've accumulated over the years, a change of identity will be enough to live a life of luxury in another kingdom!
Under the watchful eyes of Tashigi and several marines, Captain Rat stepped out of the branch base and onto the street, chatting casually with Tashigi along the way.
The latter was simply ordered by Smoker to follow Captain Rat closely and prevent him from leaving Loguetown.
Captain Rat, however, discerned this through subtle hints.
Captain Rat hasn't been caught yet. Even if he is, he will most likely be secretly executed by the Navy's high command. His existence won't affect the Navy's reputation. As a low-ranking sergeant, Tashigi isn't qualified to know those details.
Not long after walking down the street, Captain Rat soon spotted a target he could use. Under Tashigi's watchful eye, he bought a copy of the latest newspaper from a street-side newsstand.
Above it was a news panel belonging to the East Blue, which he had purchased through connections.
With the newspaper tucked under his arm, Meikyō left the newspaper and released his Observation Haki to search for Kuina and the other two.
Then he saw this scene.
"You, you, you, you! Captain Rat was right! You actually impersonated me to commit evil! It seems you're a pirate too!"
Tashigi pushed up her Glasses and pointed her knife at Kuina across the street.
"Huh? Me?"
Kuina pointed at herself in confusion, then looked at Tashigi was almost identical to her except for wearing Glasses.
"I'm not a pirate, am I? If I had to say, I should be a bounty hunter. I just wiped out two great pirate crews with my crew a while ago, didn't I?"
"It really was you guys!"
Hearing what Kuina said, and recalling the contents of the newspaper that the Captain Rat had just shown her, Tashigi became even more convinced of her judgment.
Seeing that his plan had succeeded, Captain Rat chuckled wickedly, then stepped forward and said loudly:
"Gentlemen! I am Marine Branch Captain Nezumi! This group of people over there are the pirates who destroyed the Tsugikuni Yoriichi in Suna Town! If you can help us capture these three pirates, the Marines will definitely reward you handsomely!"
Upon hearing the Nezumi's words, most of the onlookers immediately fled.
They dared not get involved in the clash between the navy and pirates.
Several bounty hunters who had read the newspaper, boasting of their abilities, took the initiative to surround Kuina and her companions with the marines.
Captain Rat stroked his long, narrow mustache and chuckled.
Now is the time to take advantage of this chaos and extricate ourselves.
The battle was about to break out, but it crumbled just as quickly.
Sabo and his companions defeated all of them without even taking it seriously, and Tashigi even had her long sword knocked out of her hand by Kuina in three moves.
Captain Rat's smile froze.
Just then, a steady sound of footsteps slowly approached.
"You're Captain Rat? That Captain Rat who slandered me Tsugikuni Yoriichi?"
Meikyō, holding the Ninja Blade upside down, walked up to Captain Rat, his face ashen.
"Teacher Yuan Yi!"
"Captain Yuan Yi!"
Kuina, Sabo, and Koala shouted joyfully at the Meikyō.
"I... I... I am Captain Rat."
Under Meikyō's imposing aura, Captain Rat trembled and spoke to Meikyō.
"As expected, his name reflects his personality. He's like Nezumi, both timid and bold. He's so timid that he trembles when he sees me, yet so bold that as a naval officer, he dares to do such a thing, even trying to frame me. Human nature is indeed very contradictory."
Meikyō twirled his sword and then placed the Ama-no-Ohabari in front of Captain Rat.
Captain Rat wisely raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"I surrender! Don't kill me!"
"Captain Rat! How could you surrender to pirates!"
Tashigi, kneeling on the ground, stared in disbelief at Captain Rat.
"Shut up! We're not pirates!"
Koala casually took out a handkerchief and stuffed it into Tashigi's mouth.
"Yes, yes! You're not pirates! Don't kill me! I, I'm a Marine Captain! Tsugikuni Yoriichi, if you really kill me, then whatever I've done will be dealt with by Marine Headquarters. If you really kill me, you'll definitely become a pirate with a bounty on your head!"
The Captain Rat's lewd face was filled with fear.
"If you had known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?"
Meikyō patted the Nezumi's face with the cold blade of the Ama-no-Ohabari sword, then took out a projection Den Den Mushi from her bosom.
"Come on, tell me everything about the Konome Islands and the Suna Town there. If I'm in a good mood, I might let you go."
Seeing this, Captain Rat had no choice but to try to seize the last glimmer of hope and begin to tell the truth.
"I am Captain Rat, the base commander of the Marine Branch 16, in the Konome Islands, I..."
Meikyō's fingers trembled slightly as she activated the Genjutsu.
He learned this technique from Uchiha Yu when he was a teenager.
In this way, even if Captain Rat still had some ideas to hide, he couldn't do it and had no choice but to obediently hand over all his secrets.
"I... I..."
The Nezumi, awakened from the Genjutsu, stared at Meikyō with a look of terror on its face.
"What... what did you do to me?!"
"It's nothing. By the way, since you're so keen to frame us as pirates, then let's become pirates. I wonder how much bounty the Navy will give me for killing you?"
A flash of cold light, a head fell to the ground, and blood splattered everywhere.
Ignoring Tashigi, who was lying on the ground with a dazed look in her eyes, Meikyō used Captain Rat's body to wipe the blood off the sword and walked away.
"Let's go, Kuina, Sabo, and Koala. We'll probably have to go through Reverse Mountain to reach the Grand Line this time."
The vast and narrow Red Line and the Grand Line form two crosses, dividing the Pirate World into four seas: east, west, south, and north.
The Reverse Mountain is the intersection of one of those two crosses.
There are five waterways running from the top of the Reverse Mountain to the foot of the mountain, forming an X-shaped pattern. The X represents four sea lanes formed by ocean currents from the Four Seas, flowing against the current to the top of the mountain, and finally entering the Grand Line through the only waterway from high to low at the top.
One can imagine how difficult this route must have been to navigate, preventing Four Seas pirates from entering the Grand Line.
However, the Reverse Mountain did not pose a challenge to Meikyō and the others.
The presence of the Moo Moo the Sea Cow allowed the boats to pass smoothly through the Reverse Mountain.
But...
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
As the ships passed through the Reverse Mountain waterway and entered the sea, approaching Twin Capes, a series of muffled, deafening roars, accompanied by the mournful cries of whales, resounded continuously.
The Moo Moo the Sea Cow dared not go any further, staring at a pair of big eyes, cowering timidly on the shore.
"What... what's going on?!"
Kuina gripped the railing, trying to steady herself on the swaying deck, and exclaimed in surprise.
"I've heard that at the entrance to the Grand Line, there's a whale the size of an island that crashes into the Red Line every now and then. This might be the work of that whale!"
Koala slumped to the ground, clutching the little hat that was about to fall off her head.
Meikyō silently placed her hand on the Ama-no-Ohabari at her waist.
"Stand firm."
After saying this casually, a magnificent sword aura unfolded on the sea surface and slashed towards the seabed.
"Stop!!!"
A fist wreathed in Armament Haki shattered the sword energy.
At that moment, the whale Laboon below stopped crashing into the Red Line and raised an enormous head—its head alone was larger than that of the Moo Moo the Sea Cow.
"What an amazing swordsman! Over the years, you are still the most powerful navigator I have ever seen who has sailed to the Grand Line. But you are really ruthless!"
An old man with a saffron-like hairstyle, wearing shorts and slippers, rubbed his fist, which had a newly appeared wound, and complained.
"Given the size of this whale, this is just a minor injury. I just wanted to make him feel the pain so that he would back down on his own."
Meikyō sheathed the Ama-no-Ohabari Feather and spoke to the former ship doctor on the Pirate King's ship.
"This old man... he's incredibly strong!"
Sabo looked at Crocus with some apprehension and said.
Among the high-ranking members of the Revolutionary Army, apart from Dragon and Meikyō, most others would not be his match.
"I just gave Laboon a sedative, he won't riot for a while. If there's nothing else, you can leave."
Crocus gave Meikyō a deep look, then waved his hand.
Of all the sword masters he had ever seen, only Roger, Golden Lion, and Shanks, who later grew up, could rival this red-haired swordsman to some extent.
Those people were all among the strongest warriors on the high seas.
"A swordsman of your caliber should be able to reach the New World through Paradise soon. Only there can you reach the pinnacle of this sea. Because of the island's magnetic field, the Log Pose of the Four Seas does not work on the Grand Line. If you want a new one, you can come and buy it from me."
"No need, I have one, but I would be interested in Laugh Tale's Log Pose."
"It seems you know something, but a voyage with a known outcome isn't very interesting, young man. You should enjoy the unknown process."
Crocus glanced at Meikyō with surprise, then left on his own.
"Let's go, Koala, next stop, Cactus Island."
Meikyō glanced at Crocus and spoke up.
In the Pirate World, Meikyō still left behind Shadow Clone, leading Kuina and the other two on their journey along the Grand Line.
Because in the Naruto World, there is an extremely important matter that requires his physical presence.
The plaza in front of the Hokage Building was now packed with people and filled with noise.
On the rooftop balcony of the Hokage Building, Tsunade, Meikyō, Orochimaru, Uchiha Fugaku, Torifu Akimichi, Minato Namikaze, and others stood in a row.
They will be members of the new leadership team of Konoha after the Fourth Hokage takes office.
Besides them, Jiraiya and Kushina were also standing among them.
As the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina was one of Konoha's core fighting forces and was qualified to stand here.
Jiraiya strength and achievements, was even more qualified. However, he did not intend to serve as an advisor or high-ranking official because he did not care much about such things and believed that with intelligent people like Dan Katō, Orochimaru, and Minato Namikaze, they could definitely handle it well.
Thank you to "Isn't living just for Mai?" for the 500 Qidian coins, and thank you everyone for your monthly tickets and recommendation votes!