Bang, bang, bang!
A string of cannon blasts rang out.
A dark mass of cannonballs rapidly rained down over the distant boat.
A man wearing a gray-white short-sleeved shirt and black shorts, sporting a moss head and holding three swords, glanced back and began panting heavily.
He had only meant to head out and find a few bounties to fill his belly.
He had never expected to run into a tough nut to crack.
Still, thoughts were thoughts. Zoro slipped Wado Ichimonji into his mouth with a reverse grip, watched the cannonballs raining through the sky, and struck.
Three Sword Style: Oni Giri!
Bang, bang, bang!
Cold light flashed, and the falling cannonballs were knocked away.
Zoro landed back on his boat. After several hurried breaths, his face took on a livid tinge.
The pirate behind him had been pursuing him for a full day and night: Black Axe, with a bounty of eight million.
Zoro had originally targeted only Black Axe's subordinate, Iron Spear, who had a bounty of three million. Destroying his detachment's ship had already drained a good deal of Zoro's stamina.
He had never imagined he would run into Black Axe, who suddenly came calling.
Over the course of the pursuit, the other side had indeed suffered considerable losses too.
But if this battle of attrition, already a day and night long, dragged on...
He would be the only one to die in the end.
Thinking of the promise he had once made with Kuina, Zoro quietly clenched his fists.
Having ventured out to sea this time, whether he lived or died, all he could do now was stake everything on one last fight.
"Hahaha, Roronoa Zoro, I've heard your name. You're a bounty hunter who only recently set out to sea. Too bad you set your sights on the head on my shoulders. Your luck has truly hit rock bottom."
At the front of the pirate ship's deck, a burly man carrying a black axe on his shoulder laughed without restraint.
"In these waters, where there's hardly another soul, no one will save you even if you scream your throat raw!"
"Boss Black Axe, there's a little boat heading this way."
A pirate suddenly spoke up.
A little boat?
The muscles in Black Axe's cheeks twitched. He had barely finished boasting before a little boat appeared to slap him in the face.
As a pirate, there was no way he could swallow that.
Peering into the distance, he soon spotted a little boat approaching with the wind. Standing right at its bow was a youth holding a wooden sword.
Yes!
Black Axe had not seen wrong.
None of them had seen wrong.
On this sea fraught with countless dangers, the newcomer was indeed holding a wooden sword.
Black Axe froze at first, then burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, Roronoa Zoro, I thought you were going to be saved. Who would've thought it'd be a brat with a wooden sword!"
"Boys, ready the cannons! Tell this little fellow that the sea is dangerous. It's no place to wander around with a toy sword."
"Sink him!"
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
The cannons roared once more.
Zoro's expression changed, and he hurriedly shouted.
"Get out of the way, then find a chance to escape! This dangerous sea isn't for you!"
Escape?
Bai Yu smiled cruelly.
After waiting so long, he had finally found some signs of human life.
There was no chance he would flee now.
Most importantly, after unlocking Kenpachi Zaraki as his base template...
Bai Yu's personality had long since been influenced.
Going a single day without cutting someone down left him uncomfortable all over.
"Sorry, I'm more dangerous than this sea!"
Bai Yu abruptly raised his head, his cruel smile growing ever broader. His bloodthirsty fighting spirit seemed to have seeped into his very bones.
Watching the cannonballs descend from the sky, he kicked off hard with both feet and shot forward like a cannonball.
Every time he brushed past one of the cannonballs filling the sky, the wooden sword in Bai Yu's hand flicked.
Only when Bai Yu had passed over Zoro's little boat and landed aboard the pirate ship...
Did the sky full of cannonballs burst apart.
Bang, bang, bang!
The blasts' shock waves whipped up waves across the sea.
Everyone present was stunned, Zoro included.
Especially upon seeing that the wooden sword in Bai Yu's hand could actually split cannonballs apart.
The wrist strength and skill that required...
Surely they were beyond what the powerless youth they had imagined could possess?
Zoro in particular had felt an extremely dangerous presence rushing straight at him in that instant.
At that moment, it was as though a vicious ghost were struggling free from the slender youth before him.
Chaotic thoughts flashed through Zoro's mind.
When he looked at Bai Yu again, the cruel, bloodthirsty grin stretching across his profile was almost spellbinding.
At this very moment, Bai Yu had once again immersed himself in Kenpachi Zaraki's template.
"Come on. Let's start killing each other!"
His affected, raspy voice carried an intensely penetrating quality.
It jolted the entire ship of pirates, Black Axe included, back to their senses.
They had actually been frightened by a brat holding a wooden sword.
If word got out, the Black Axe Pirates, with their eight-million-Beli bounty, would utterly lose their reputation in the East Blue.
"You brat who doesn't know how high the heavens are or how deep the earth is! I don't know what damned trick you used to shatter those cannonballs just now, but I'm Black Axe, with a bounty of eight million Beli!"
"You dare wander the seas with a wooden sword? I've got over a hundred men here! Kill him!"
Black Axe roared furiously.
The hundred-odd pirates also came back to their senses.
Looking at Bai Yu's savage smile, they finally charged.
In their eyes, no matter how powerful the brat before them was, two fists could rival four hands.
"Kill!"
Their cries for blood instantly pierced the sky.
Over a hundred pirates became a human tide, surging madly toward Bai Yu.
Standing on his little boat, Zoro's expression tightened, and he was about to help.
Unfortunately, Bai Yu charged straight in like a demon of battle.
The wooden sword in his hand unleashed an incomparably fierce edge.
His sword rose and fell, sending blood splashing.
Bang!
A slash fell, heavy with tremendous force.
Whether swords clashed against it or iron shields blocked its path...
Before Bai Yu, not a single opponent could last even one exchange.
The simplest cuts and chops made Bai Yu seem like a god of slaughter, a vicious ghost.
He swept unchecked through the human tide.
Together with the cruel, bloodthirsty smile covering his face...
There was only one immediate impression he gave them.
He was enjoying the slaughter.
Bang!
A pirate wielding a gleaming broadsword slashed at Bai Yu from behind.
Even Zoro's pupils contracted at that tricky angle, and he was about to call out a warning.
But like a phantom, Bai Yu shifted slightly sideways, letting the attack brush past his shoulder.
At the same time, he brought the wooden sword in his hand down on the head of the pirate whose sneak attack had missed.
Bang!
The head burst apart. As red and white matter splattered, the surrounding pirates were stunned, standing frozen in place.
The exchange had lasted only a dozen or so breaths.
Of the hundred-odd pirates there had originally been, more than half now lay on the ground.
Looking at their companions with twisted limbs, caved-in chests, and shattered heads...
Endless fear welled up in every pirate's heart.
When they became pirates, they had long since hung their heads from their belts, prepared to die at any moment.
But they had never imagined that the person who brought them death would be so terrifying and brutal.
Especially with that cruel, bloodthirsty smile on his face.
It filled them with an inexplicable fear all the more.
It could be said that only one thought remained in their minds now.
This brat was more dangerous than this sea!