Bang!
The ground rumbled.
A chain hidden underground soon emerged beneath Carina's feet and instantly wound around her.
Zoro's expression changed, and Wado Ichimonji flashed out of its sheath at his waist.
"One Sword Style: Fierce Tiger!"
Clang!
Sparks flew, and the blade was instantly knocked away.
Seeing the chain completely unscathed, Zoro turned pale.
"Hahaha! Just as I thought, you sword-wielders can't do a thing to my chains! And that child's toy of a wooden sword of yours certainly can't kill me!"
A trace of wild delight appeared on Treasure's face as he spoke.
"This woman will serve as my hostage for now. If you don't want her to die, obey my orders, and I'll return her once I've left safely!"
"Otherwise, I'll strangle her!"
"Before that, you can stay right here, wrapped up like an iron rice dumpling!"
The chains hidden on the ground suddenly pulled taut.
Like venomous snakes, they swiftly coiled toward Bai Yu.
Watching from the side, Captain Domon's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly shouted.
"Bai Yu, don't listen to Treasure! If you get trapped, all of us will die!"
As a branch colonel, he had long since grown accustomed to lies like these from pirates.
All the more so with a pirate like Treasure, who had come from the Grand Line-he was even less worthy of trust.
"Too late! At this distance, he can't possibly dodge!"
Treasure's face lit up with wild delight.
The chains he controlled suddenly wound forward much faster.
Faced with Bai Yu's powerful, heavy attacks, he knew perfectly well that as long as he completely restrained him...
Victory would belong to him.
"Who said a toy sword couldn't kill?"
Bai Yu abruptly raised his head, and the bloodthirsty smile on his face made Treasure freeze.
The instant he saw Bai Yu grip the sword with both hands, an indescribable chill swept through his entire body.
At that moment, his instincts told him he had to flee!
Hum!
A sword's hum suddenly rang out from the wooden blade.
The bizarre sight changed everyone's expression.
The overwhelming spiritual pressure radiating from Bai Yu's entire body abruptly stopped, then poured madly into the wooden sword in his hands.
In an instant, the wooden sword seemed to shed all its color, becoming plain and unadorned.
Bai Yu's intent and momentum rapidly melded together.
He looked at the chains coiling toward him from every direction.
With both hands gripping tightly, he met them head-on with a slash.
"Kendo: Bisection!"
Boom!
Golden light flashed, and a hundred-meter blade aura swept past as though tearing heaven and earth apart.
The mass of chains hurtling toward him was like paper at that moment, severed in two with a single slash.
It crossed the mere dozens of meters in the blink of an eye, closing in on Treasure.
Feeling that attack bearing down like the Grim Reaper demanding his life...
Only then did Treasure abruptly realize that the young man before him had merely been toying with him from the start.
This was the iron-cutting realm!
A level that few reached even in the Grand Line, or the New World.
If his opponent had used his full strength and the iron-cutting realm from the start...
Treasure believed he probably could not have withstood even a single slash.
At that moment, Treasure began to feel some regret. Of all the places he could have gone, why had he insisted on coming to the East Blue to stir up trouble?
"No... don't!"
Treasure roared hysterically, winding great masses of chains around both hands in an attempt to block the incomparably fierce slash.
Unfortunately, it all seemed pale and powerless before two-handed kendo and the iron-cutting realm.
The hundred-meter blade aura flashed, sweeping through Treasure and swallowing the pirates hiding behind him, along with Naolai.
Boom!
The sea ten thousand meters away exploded.
Vast quantities of seawater surged into the sky, shrouding the entire dock like a rainstorm.
As they looked at Bai Yu, who had carved a vacuum through the dock and the sea with a single slash...
No one spared a thought for the torrents of seawater pouring down.
They merely swallowed hard.
Only when the two halves of Treasure's corpse fell separately to the ground...
Did the dazed crowd come to their senses, their faces filled with terror.
"He did it! He actually grasped the true essence of cutting iron after seeing it just once!"
Shock covered Koshiro's face.
Zoro, standing beside him, was no exception.
At that moment, as he looked at Bai Yu's slender back, his ambition to pursue the title of World's Greatest Swordsman suddenly seemed so distant.
Competing with a monster for the top spot...
Wasn't that probably a flight of fancy?
"Zoro, as your teacher, I know what you're thinking. But with some things, if you don't even dare pursue them, that's what truly makes others look down on you."
Koshiro let out a long, stale breath as he spoke.
"Go ahead and chase after Bai Yu. Become the opponent he fights to the death at the very end."
Zoro fell silent.
Looking at the bloodthirsty fighting spirit on Bai Yu's face, he quietly clenched his fists.
His dream of becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman had grown distant.
But becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman's final opponent in a fight to the death would be pretty good, too.
"Phew..."
Bai Yu let out a long, stale breath.
This battle fell far short of his fight with Koshiro.
If he hadn't just put everything into crippling Koshiro with his slash...
Someone of Treasure's caliber, facing Koshiro...
Probably wouldn't have lasted many slashes either.
Still, Bai Yu had put so much thought into dragging things out with Treasure because he was trying every possible way to unlock more of Kenpachi Zaraki's character template, faster.
"Ding! Congratulations, host, on slaying Treasure Hunter Treasure. Reward: 1.5% template unlock progress..." "Ding! Congratulations, host, on receiving an additional reward of 300 system points..." "Ding! Congratulations, host, on receiving one free shop refresh..."
The ethereal notifications rang out one after another.
Looking at that 1.5% template unlock progress, Bai Yu nearly started cursing.
He had spent so much time playing around with Treasure.
Was the system playing around with him now?
No matter what, the man had been a major pirate from the Grand Line!
Yet it only gave him 1.5% unlock progress.
Wasn't that life a little too cheap?
Still, seeing the three hundred shop points afterward, along with a chance to refresh the shop...
The resentment in Bai Yu's heart eased a little.
"You're Captain Domon, aren't you?"
Bai Yu exited the system and glanced at the tightly wound Domon nearby.
"I'll leave this mess for you to clean up. As for Treasure's bounty, transfer it to this card's account. No problems with any of that, right?"
"N-no problems! Rest assured, Lord Bai Yu!"
Domon took the card and hurriedly gave a military salute.
He was so nervous that he was treating Bai Yu entirely like a longtime superior.
Bai Yu helplessly rubbed the tip of his nose and couldn't be bothered to correct him.
This was a world where the weak were meat for the strong.
Only the strong earned respect.
It also made things more convenient for Bai Yu.
Now that he had left this mess for Domon to resolve...
Bai Yu had saved himself quite a bit of effort and could first clear up the matter with Nami.
If his guess was right, that Cat Burglar really had thought he had no chance of winning and slipped away early.
Still, that was a good thing. Let her experience the cruelty of the sea first.
Then he would properly win her over.
Bai Yu really wasn't capable of handling the navigator's job!