Marineford War: I Will Stand in the Sky

Sanji, who had quietly slipped out of his companions' sight and stood before Yone, asked with some surprise, "Hmm? Sir, what are you doing here?"

"Just passing by..."

Arn spoke gently, "What? You're leaving Baratie to become a pirate?"

"Ah."

Sanji nodded, making no attempt to hide anything, and said.

"After Reiju and I clashed with the Krieg Pirates, Judge will probably notice our presence soon. Staying in Baratie will only endanger the others, so we might as well try going to sea. Besides, Luffy and his crew are pretty good as crewmates."

"Is that so? It's just your strength..."

Ahn hesitated for a moment, his words and actions seemingly revealing his concern for Sanji and Reiju.

"Oh, right..."

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Yann took out two "bloodline factor drugs" that were the same as those that Sora and Ying had used before, and handed them to Sanji.

"This can awaken all the hidden power of your bloodline factors. Consider it payment for the meal you had earlier."

“Sir, I have… completely severed all ties with the Vinsmoke family,” Sanji politely declined.

"This is not a product of the Vinsmoke family, but a potion made by Luo based on the bloodline factor data he collected from you and Reiju."

After a pause, Yann continued, "Moreover, whether it's to protect Reiju or to protect our comrades, power is indispensable."

Sanji hesitated for a moment, but still took it.

Seeing this, Yann couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile. He could vaguely imagine the scene of Sanji and Zoro being brutally beaten by Sanji while holding three famous swords amidst the conflict between Sanji and Zoro.

Lustful?

Even a lecherous Sanji would easily defeat you!

[Chapter 725. Chaos in Loguetown]

Meanwhile, as Zoro emerged victorious in the sword duel, Ying bluntly pressed Tashigi for the location of the "famous sword, Yubashiri."

"Snow walks away..."

Tashigi's face slowly filled with defeat and resentment, but she also understood that this was the fate of the loser, unable to protect the famous sword she loved!

In the promise made between Yan and Tashigi, in order to pay an equal price, Tashigi promised that the price for being the loser would not only be losing the "Famous Sword Yubashiri", but even that she herself could be disposed of by the other party.

"Come with me."

Tashigi seemed to have lost all her power, and then walked towards the front of the kendo room, slowly opening a hidden compartment, her face full of guilt.

I'm sorry, boss, I've let you down...

Tashigi's eyes were filled with tears, and she bit her lower lip hard with her teeth.

Clearly... clearly the boss trusts me so much, he didn't even hide the location of the "Famous Sword Snow Walk" from me, all I need to do is prove myself to take it away.

No matter how unwilling Tashigi was, out of the last vestige of dignity as a swordsman, she could only abide by the agreement of the sword duel.

"Crack!"

As the hidden compartment was fully opened, it contained three knives.

"This is?"

At this moment, not only did Zoro and Ying show a hint of surprise on their faces, but Tashigi also snapped to attention and quickly recalled the list of famous swords in her mind.

"This...this is the 'Sandai Kitetsu' known as the 'Demon Sword'?! And...and...how is this possible? This is the legendary Wano Country National Treasure that once slew a flying dragon—'Shusui'."

"Yeah?!"

Upon hearing Tashigi's shocked words, Zoro's face immediately lit up with excitement, and he inexplicably felt the two swords in front of him drawing him in.

The next moment, Zoro drew Sandai Kitetsu and Shusui without hesitation, and an astonishing cold light flashed in the kendo room.

Zoro grinned with satisfaction and said, "That's a fine sword, it's mine!"

Immediately, Zoro sheathed the Sandai Kitetsu and Shusui, and tied them together with the Wado Ichimonji to his waist.

"not bad."

Ying, standing to the side, looked Zoro over and nodded with some satisfaction, saying...

"However, Zoro, you still need to master Haki as soon as possible. Otherwise, no matter how outstanding a sword is, it is easy to suffer irreversible damage without the protection and enhancement of Haki."

"is it?"

Zoro listened to Ying's reminder and nodded, his eagerness to master Haki growing even stronger.

However, under Sora's tutelage, Zoro realized that his physique was still far from sufficient to truly cover the blade with Armament Haki.

"It seems I need to double my efforts in physical training..."

As Zoro headed towards the weapon shop above, preparing to follow Sparkle back, he glanced at Tashigi's direction again out of the corner of his eye.

Tashigi's face was full of resentment at this moment. That familiar expression reminded Zoro of Kuina's anger at him under the moonlight, her resentment as a girl.

"Hey……"

Suddenly Zoro shouted something, and as Tashigi looked up in a daze, the last sword, "Yubashiri," which had been hidden in a secret compartment, was thrown into Tashigi's arms by Zoro.

"Wh...what?" Tashigi was stunned.

"It's yours," Zoro said.

"No, no..."

Tashigi shook her head and said, "The loser has no right to win the spoils."

"Before our sword duel just now, didn't you say that if I won, I would have the right to dispose of everything in this weapon shop? So, I'm giving you this 'Snow Walk'."

Zoro reiterated his statement, then continued speaking as he followed in the direction of Luminous.

"I lost 2001 times to a woman who looks a lot like you. To win, I tried everything. If one knife couldn't win, I'd use two; if two knives couldn't win, I'd use three..."

"It's all for the sake of doing everything I can to bridge the gap between me and that woman. So I think that instead of constantly being resentful of my weakness and shortcomings, I should use my unyielding heart that always pursues victory to keep making up for the gap."

Finally, under Tashigi's somewhat dazed gaze, Zoro's figure disappeared towards the entrance of this underground kendo room, leaving only a few indistinct sentences of conversation to continue.

"Hey, Zoro, haven't you said enough of your cool stuff?"

"No……"

"You're really generous, giving 'Snow Walk' to that Tashigi just like that."

"It's alright, three knives are enough for me."

"Why don't you just invite that woman onto the ship? That way, it'll be easier for you to continue guiding her... Wait, Chopper, stop right there..."

……

Inside the weapon shop, just as Ying was picking up Chopper, who looked terrified, a sudden commotion broke out on the street as large crowds scattered and fled.

"Hmm? Did something happen?"

Ying and Zoro quickly walked outside the weapon shop and were shocked to find that the Marines in Loguetown had begun to mobilize and seemed to be preparing to blockade the entire town.

"Could it be that Luffy has gotten into some trouble?" Zoro had this inexplicable intuition.

"possible!"

Ying's expression also turned slightly serious. After releasing her Observation Haki, she quickly located Luffy's position, threw Chopper towards Zoro, and then swiftly dashed towards Luffy's direction.

"Zoro, you take Chopper and go meet up with the other crew members. I'm going to find Luffy."

Zoro nodded, and just as he was about to move, he suddenly felt that every road seemed so unfamiliar.

"The port...which direction is the port in again?"

Zoro's lips twitched slightly, then he looked down at Chopper in his arms, a fierce expression on his face, and said, "Hey, little thing, tell me the way, or I'll kill you."

In an instant, Chopper's face turned completely white, and then he looked up and pointed tremblingly in a certain direction.

……

Meanwhile, due to the riots caused by Luffy stepping onto Roger's execution platform and publicly declaring, "I'm going to be the Pirate King!", almost the entire Marine force in Loguetown has been mobilized, and an enraged Smoker has personally begun to hunt down Luffy.

For the Navy, the purpose of keeping Roger's execution platform is to deter pirates, not to allow rampant pirates to stand on the platform and make such statements.

It is conceivable that if such a thing were to be publicized, the navy would become a laughing stock of the sea.

[Chapter 726. The Storm Begins]

and so……

"Pirates! Stop right there!!!"

With half of his body transformed into white smoke and flying through the air, Smoker headed straight for Luffy, who was running wildly in the distance. His angry shouts echoed throughout almost half of Loguetown.

Luffy turned to look at Smoker and realized that this guy was the Logia-type Devil Fruit user that Sora had mentioned before. Without Seastone weapons, Armament Haki, or substances with opposing attributes, he was a troublesome opponent who was almost impossible to harm.

"Only an idiot would stop!"

Luffy shouted and laughed, increasing his speed once again.

"Damn it!"

Seeing this, Smoker grew even angrier amidst Luffy's cheerful laughter, which seemed to be on an adventure. He went all out and caught up to Luffy in the blink of an eye.

"You arrogant pirate, do you think you can escape Loguetown?"

Centered on Smoker, a large amount of white smoke suddenly erupted from his body and spread outwards, instantly engulfing Luffy.

"White Gale!"

Luffy, who was trapped in the white smoke, suddenly felt that the smoke was binding him, as if he were trapped in a swamp with countless invisible tentacles. The smoke was also constantly pouring into his mouth and nose, causing Luffy to cough incessantly and completely lose his strength.

On a rooftop not far away, Dorrag frowned slightly upon seeing this. An invisible gust of wind rose into the sky, instantly gathering large swaths of dark clouds, and heavy rain began to fall towards Roguetown.

The dripping rain also made Smoker, who was about to completely trap Luffy, pause in his actions.

Rain is a kind of nemesis to smoke, making it so heavy that Smoker can hardly maintain or control it freely. This is not a problem with Smoker's Devil Fruit development, but a specific defect of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit itself.

"What a coincidence!!"

Smoker looked up and saw that the sky was now covered with dark clouds.

but……

Smoker abandoned his plan to use the "Smoke-Smoke Fruit" ability on a large scale. In a swift movement, his jitte, inlaid with seastone, suddenly stabbed towards Luffy's back.