Chương 14: 2/2
"Ummm. Yeah. She did," Zoro plainly lied. "This morning she wandered off to look around, but I haven't seen her since sunrise. She usually goes to look out at the sea whenever we're away from home. Kinda gets homesick."
"Hmmm. I see. I can understand that a little bit. I haven't been at my own home for over nearly 12 years now, nyu," Hatchi confessed.
"Yeah. Hey, could you tell me how to find my way to the coastline? If I walk along it, finding her shouldn't be much of a problem." Zoro suggested.
"Oh! Well, I can't let humans wander around these islands to do as they want. But missing family can still be important. Nyuu!"
The fishman grabbed a large pot nearby on the ground, lifting it to his shoulder before walking forwards, passed Zoro and grasping his hand on the way.
"Come with me. I'll head to the coastline and give you a ride in this barrel through the water. And if she isn't there, the only other place would be in the forest. Can't leave a little girl like her out on her own! ~nyu."
As the fishman dragged Zoro towards the water, Kakashi had snuck into Arlong Park. Hidden carefully, the Jonin had been watching Arlong's crew with exceptional care, along with spying on the various rooms inside of Arlong Park.
'They certainly have been there for a long time. There was quite the collection of weapons, supplies, medical resources and money stored in here. This Arlong is certainly a miser, but there was far too much in there to just be solely from a single village. He's running quite the protection-racket around here. Hm?'
The Jonin continued to explore the fortress, taking care not to be noticed by anyone. By then it was approaching mid-day, when something unexpected happened.
"Hey boss! Boss! That Marine Nezumi and his scummy crew finally got here!" a voice came from the courtyard.
"Oh, finally. What kept that man a full day late? Hatchi, you and Chew go out to meet him. Shioyaki, Mashuru, Rokoro, Itakami, Riesten! I want the five of you to hide below the waves and keep your eyes open for any funny business."
"Chew…boss, is that really necessary? We can overpower them without a sweat. You know that-chew," a familiar voice came in response.
"I don't want to take any chances, brother. He is a full-day off schedule. I would not put it passed the rat to consider turning us in somewhere and bringing more trouble down on himself Should that happen, it will be bothersome to find and negotiate with another Marine captain."
As the fishmen departed, Kakashi slipped down to the outdoors. A quick shunshin, and he was outside the walls, just far enough to still listen in on the meeting between this new arrival and Arlong.
Several minutes later, the sounds of their approach travelled over the water, and new footsteps were heard inside.
"What kept you so long, Nezumi?" Arlong opened the discussion.
"Chi. A troublesome and insolent crew decided to attack us out of the blue. They were a group of only five total, and moving to close to this island, so I decided to remove them. One had devil-fruit powers though and got a lucky shot in. Still, he is quite gone by now, so nothing should concern you at all."
Silence came for a while, before Kakahsi heard a few beings approach the table, placing stacks of paper nearby.
"Here is this month's take. I hope you enjoy it," Arlong's voice rose.
"Chi chi chi chi chi chi! I must save, those scum we ran into could certainly take lessons in their intellect from you, Arlong. You know how the world works, and how many doors can open with the right persuasion."
"Shahahahaha! Indeed! And you as well. Few Marines know that befriending me would mean they can milk the East Blue for all eternity. You and I are alike of mind in that regard."
'So, it's a pay-off to this marine captian,' Kakashi realized. 'He simply takes easy money and leaves these people to suffer. Including my comrade, Nami-san. Well, it seems I will be paying this Marine a visit as he leaves.'
Hatake Kakashi promised to himself, before listening to Arlong's rising voice.
"As a rule I hate all humans. But you are the one tolerable exception that I found. But on to more pressing matters. I have a favour that solely you can resolve. One that will bring a far larger payout than usual."
"Hm? More money," the shrilly voice, laced with greed, of the Marine came.
"Yes," Arlong spoke up. "You see, one of the people here in the village has been saving-up quite a lot of money for a while. Their plans were to buy the freedom for their people, per an agreement made between her and myself. Still, doing that would cost me a valuable crewmate, so that really isn't an option for me. Should I raise the price, things may become ugly, and their trust in my good will may decline. Plus, as one of my few flaws, I am the kind of fish-man who would never break a deal related to money."
Kakashi's single eye widened at Arlong's predicament. While Nezumi clearly caught-on fast.
"Chi chi chi chi chi chi chi chi! So, you want me to seize this treasure-hoard and confiscate it? Well, how can I say no to that? After all, it is stolen property and thereby has no business being kept by such petty thieves. Otherwise, order would collapse, and thing would get out of hand."
"Hmm," Arlong's smirk was easy to hear.
"Glad to see you are so amicable. Kuroobi?"
"Yeah. Right here, Along," another officer spoke up, followed by a ruffle anyway less than a Shinobi would have missed.
"The treasure should be held somewhere near a tangerine orchard I have marked on that map. Keep the lot of it as you want. With it away…shahahahahahaha! Then that feisty little kitten will stay with my crew forever, drawing maps and sea-charts for the rise of the Arlong Empire!"
Kakashi had heard enough. Running through the new priorities in his mind, he left Arlong Park with a careful body-flicker.
'I need to warn Nami, Sakura and Sasuke of what is going on."
Elsewhere, Zoro and Hatchan were cruising along the coastline, one of them standing inside the barrel, while the octopus fish-man was paddling through the water, making small-talk.
"So, what do ya think? Piracy is a full-time job and I definitely am loyal to my captain. But once I find that missing sauce for my takoyaki recipe, I'll open a restaurant somewhere and cook day until night! ~nyu." the fish-man proudly described.
"Hmm. It sounds like a decent plan. Not sure about going for fried-octopus, though. You said yourself that you're an octopus fish-man, didn't you?" Zoro responded.
"Oh? There's no problem there from where I'm concerned, ~nyu. Humans and fishman are of different species, but we actually have the same blood-types. A few I heard of even become couples and can have kids together. If it comes to genetics, I'm closer to humans like you than any fish. It's no different than one of your kind cooking up those creatures called monkeys, another primate, to eat,"[3]Hatchan explained. Before crossed two arms under his chin, taking up a pondering air.
"At least, I think that's what it's like. I don't really know a lot about these kinds of things, ~nyu."
Zoro shrugged, "Well, I'm not someone to throw around accusations or call someone's thoughts right or wrong. If that's what you want to do, then I wish you good luck."
"Why thank you! You're a real stand-up guy, you know that? Now, it seems we still haven't run into your sister yet, even after crossing the coastline twice, nyu," Hatchan commented.
Zoro frowned, trying to come up with a fresh excuse.
'Staying here might bring more questions. And I'm two swords short for a fight. Sakura-san and Kakashi-san also mentioned not bring problems down until the others get here.'
'This guy is a little of an air-head. Maybe I can trick him in the forest, then slip back to the coast and leave him to get lost.'
"You're right. She might have gone back to the village by now. Think we can move to the beach then walk back?" he suggested.
"No problem! Let's go there. You're pretty good company anyways, nyu," Hatchan agreed. Minutes later he was moving towards the beach. Once they were close enough, Zoro leapt for the sand while his guide stood up from the water.
"Follow me, I'll show you the way through."
"Okay," Zoro agreed. Letting Hatchi walk ahead while he stayed behind 'If he's out front, then I might have an easier time slipping away—'-"Oomph!"
"Huh? Something wrong up there?" Zoro had walked into Hatchan's back after one minute of walking through the tree-line. The octopus was not moving and dropped his ferry-pot.
"RRR..RRrr-rrr—rrr-WH-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what happened here to you?!" The octopus-man exclaimed. Zoro watched as he ran on ahead, into clearing filled with wounded fishmen. The same ones Zoro had fought with little over an hour before. Some were groaning in pain, have regained consciousness.
'Oh, boy,' the swordsman began to sweat. 'Better go now,' he turned to his right, while Hatchan was running ahead, looking over his crewmates.
"Men!? Wh-what..no! Who did this to you? How could this have happened to each of you? It's terrible!" he was kneeled down by two of them, trying to ease their suffering.
"H…He..Hatchi. I…I'm sorry….this guy…he!" one began to moan.
"Stop talking, Gamakento. I'll help you all back to Arlong Park, then we'll find out who did this!" The Octopus fishman began piling his brothers over his shoulders. Hatchan was exceptionally strong even on Fishman standards. Carrying ten other fishman only took effort and was far from impossible. Two of them were able to stand with help and began walking together back to their base.
But, after only a handful of stepped, Zoro dashed out from the bushing in front of him.
"Huh?! Mr. Swordsman?! I thought you were behind me."
Hatchan was surprised. And grew suspicious as Zoro's face showed a hint of panic at the sight of him carry the other fishmen.
"You! What brought you back here, human filthy! You're the one who attacked us!" a Fishman on Hatchi's right.
"What!? Fusazane, are you sure it can be him? I was helping this guy look for his lost sister earlier," Hatchan looked around in confusion.
"Yeah, that's him. He cut all of us down, Hatchi. We were just walking around, and this damn human ran out form the bushed and attacked us!"
"Hey, I was just walking around when you started that fight, dumb-ass!" Zoro growled back. For a moment, his mouth hung agape, before whacking his own forward.
'Damn. That was just stupid.'
His confession caused the Six-armed officer to freeze, while Zoro's eyes began darting around, looking for spare weapons.
"NYUUUUU! YOU BASTARD! YOU TRICKED ME AFTER HURTING MY BROTHERS LIKE THAT EVEN AFTER THE HELP YOU GOT YESTERDAY!?" The Octopus-fishman was shaking a fist at Zoro, steam with pouring from his ears.
"Fusazane! Run and find help for our brothers and get Arlong while you're at it! Ryuya! Take our brothers from my arms! If he beat all of you, then I'm the best one to take down this disgusting man, with my own six-sword-style!"
Quickly, the fishman complied with Hatchi's orders. Once his burden was gone, the Octopus reached for his back.
"Huh!?" his arms grasped for the pot he carried earlier.
"Uh-oh! I dropped my load!? It had my swords in it!" Six paired of hands grasped Hatchan's face. Quickly the octopus began spinning around, darting hither and thither, trying to find his giant gourd while shaking his head all the while.
"Uh? Of all the times?"—swish—"I was that distracted"--swish-"Need my swords to fight him!"-swisch-"OH, oh, oh, oh, where did I leave them?!"
"Hey! You…looking for this thing?"
Zoro's voice called over. The swordsman, now wearing a green bandana, was now holding two spare swords in his hands, standing behind Hatchan, and pointing at the clay barrel to his side.
"Huh?" Hatchan questioned, his head cocked in confusion. "Where did you find that!? And why did you tell me where it was?!"
On his part, Zoro shrugged. "Well, I needed two spare swords, so while you were distracted, I snuck past and picked up these ones off the ground," gesturing across the pathway, littered with weapons from the earlier fight.
"Plus, you said you were a swordsman. And I believe that scars on the back on a swordsman's shame," he continued. Before pushing the gourd at Hatchan with his foot.
"Here. If we're going to have a sword-duel, take 'em out and let's get started."
Several fishmen blinked, once…twice…three times. Before Hatchan remembered why he was angry and drew six cutlasses from his pot.
"Grrrrr. Don't patronize me you human! First you hurt my brothers, then you beguiled me into helping you, and now you have the gall to insult my skill by thinking yourself equal to my six-sword-style! Let's go!"
Hatchan's rage left his eyes plain white, while Zoro smirked. Drawing Wado Ichimonjo from its sheath and placing the hilt in his jaw.
"You asked for my name before. I am Roronoa Zoro. Let's see how my Santoryu can do against your Rukotoryu."[4]
He raised the pilfered Fishman swords, adapting the face of a wolf, hungry, cunning, lithe and focused.
Hatchan was a raging bull. Forceful, determined, and all too eager to lock-horns.
"Takoashi Kiken!" Hatchan charged forwards, his swords appearing to flail around him. Zoro knew better, his eyes noting how the Fishman remained upright and balanced with every step, and traced the narrow spaces between each strike. A wild hurricane of slashes, chops and stabs moving in a rhythmic flow, incredible wild yet intrinsic and efficient.
Zoro pivoted back, his blades deflected each strike, rather than becoming locked in-place to block them. The force behind each strike was incredible, pushing against the Straw-Hat's own strength. Hatchan's strike were honed by great dexterity, though his precision had room for improvement.
Zoro ducted beneath four for the blades, parried two low thrusts, and twisted his body, sending the blade of Wado Ichimonji to slip through the Octopus' guard. A cut tore through Hatchan's shirt, missing his body, while Zoro flowed with his rotation. Spinning some meters away from his opponent.
Hatchan ended his six-sword barrage, pivoting around before raising his swords. Each one pointed straight ahead, their tips meeting together, resembling a drill as he charged Zoro again.
"Nyu~Tentacle Sword: Overload!"
Meters from his target, each of the swords were drawn back, set at different angles. Zoro could barely follow them, left with only a second to choose evasion or defense.
The swordsman took a third one, counter. Crouching to push-off the ground, the green-haired combatant struck outwards, angling each his own blades to parry two of Hatchan's. The attack was thrown off, but Zoro's momentum carried further, maneuvering himself around to Hatchan's right, and cutting through his body with the blade in his left hand.
Zoro twisted himself around, to recover his footing before looking back at his opponent, panting deeply.
'Damn…feels like…that attack…ripped by st-…stitches open. And this guy…he is no joke.'
Zoro pushed his mind away from the pain searing in his chest, and rose to his full height.
'There's no mistaking it. He's definitely a swordsman, not some idiot flailing around.'
"Nyuu~~! Don't think that one cut means this is OVER." Hatchan had taken the same stance as before, barreling towards Zoro with all swords pointed forward.
"Rukotoryu: Octopus Pot Stance!"
Zoro dove aside, while Hatchan continued forwards, drilling through multiple trees, until he hit a solid rock wall head-on.
Zoro blinked at the display, then sweat-dropped.
"Orrrr…. I might have been wrong and this guy is a just a big, pink, fool."
"Damn you!" Hatchan's voice called back towards him. "You are certainly a slippery enemy! I'll need to use all of my blades to cut off your angles to slide through, then cut you apart!"
Before he charged in again.
Zoro dashed forwards to meet him. Both swordsman deciding to measure their foes before more committed attacks. Sparks were flying as they bore down on one another. The hulking fishman pressing into his dwarfed enemy, while Zoro was spinning about, following instinct and skill. The human was constantly moving to shift out of one strike or build momentum to parry another. Zoro worked to give his own attacks, but the fishman's skill closed any openings before a blade could pierce them.
Soon, both combatants looked their blades together, four of Hatchan's pressing against those is Zoro's arms, while Wado Ichimonji was blocked by the remained two inches from Hatchan's neck.
"Strength!"
"Huh! What was that!?" Hatchan demanded. "Speak up further, but no words from you can distract me!"
Zoro glared up at the Six-limbed swordsman.
"Strength. That's what this style capitalizes on. But I've sparred with a crewmate whose attacks were faster. Plus…your reasons. They are different from mine," the santoryu master declared.
"Hm. Don't think for a moment that you've measured my skills, swordsman! I'm fast enough, especially since each sword I carry weighs 300 kilograms![5] And I am fighting to avenge my crewmates you hurt beforehand! How can you say that reason is weak, foolish human?"
Hatchan pressed further into their blade-lock as he spoke. Zoro's muscles could barely hold against this stronger opponent.[6]
"That's…not what I meant," the Straw Hat swordsman groaned.
"My swords, will always carry more weight than any you carry. Not in their mass, but in the burden I carry."
Zoro's posture softened, recalling words from his rival, and other that had spoken the day before.
'Kuina. 'One day, one of us will become the best swordsman across the world.' Sasuke, 'Zoro, you have to defeat him and fulfill your goal!' Luffy, 'The King of the Pirates wouldn't have anything less than the best on his crew!' and my own vow to him, 'Until the day comes that I can take his title! I…will never…never be defeated again! Is that ok, King of the Pirates!?'
'I failed back at the Baratie against Mihawk. And right here, this fishman is at the least a part of the suffering that Nami has put up with for eight years now.'
"I…am Roronoa Zoro. Vice-Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Under Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will become the King of the Pirates," he declared, proudly.
"The burden of his trust, in the promise I swore years ago, and for the sake of my crew. That is what I carry in these swords."
Zoro lowered his body, prepared for a new attack, while Hatchan blinked at his speech.
"Huh? Zoro? I thought he was a green-haired swordsman who carried three swords. Your hair is dark as the night sky. Are you really him, or just spewing hot air?"
Zoro blinked. "No. I dyed it before coming to the village so it would be harder to recognize me."
Hatchan's eyes narrowed, before widening with shock.
"Hey! If you are him, then you're a bounty-hunter, not a pirate! You must be trying to take Arlong's bounty! There's no way I can let you near my captain! Take this!
Instead of his swords, the Octopus fishman raised his head skywards.
'Good target!' Zoro thought, leaping forward to slice at his throat. But Hatchan attacked first.
"Hachi-ink jet!"
From his mouth, the octopus-fishman spewed a geyser of dark black ink. Zoro threw his head low, driving to the ground and avoiding the stream of ink, though his hair was given a fresh coat of black colour. Hatchan spun around, covering the entire forest with ink, before dousing himself.
Once he was dripping black, the Fishman began to tip-toe, carefully.
"Hahahahaha! One benefit a fishman has over a human, I can use this to escape or to hide anywhere I wish. Now you can never-GHUKKKKTH!"
"Santoryu: Oni Giri!" Zoro whispered. Dashing past Hatchan, leaving three fresh cuts in the fishman's torso. Hatchan clenched his teeth, fighting past the pain as stripes of red covered his ink-black body.
"Just because you covered yourself with ink, doesn't mean nobody can spot you. That monologue also gave you away to me immediately, idiot," the swordsman declared. As Hatchan spun around, fury now clear in his eyes.
"Damn you! I underestimated such a cunning enemy. No holding back now!" the fishman exclaimed, spinning his blades above his head.
"Rokutoryu Ogi: Six-Sword Waltz, Twister!" A fan appeared over Hatchan's head, cutting-down any trees surrounding himself, and drawing small pebbles into the air-stream. Zoro grimaced as he duck and wove around flying trunks, thrown around by the vortex from the Octopus' blades.
"Roronoa! This vortez will box you in, while I stay safe here in the eye of my twister-attack. The only save place around here is right where I'm standing and coming here will bring you right where my six swords can dice you apart!" Hatchan roared.
"Don't count on it!" Zoro threw back in reply. Dropping low to avoid another flying tree, then spinning in-place. "Santoryu: Tatsumaki!"
Zoro strained to overpower his foe with his own twister, but Hatchan ramped-up the rotation of his own blades. It overpowered the smaller tornado quickly, and Zoro was nearly pinned down beneath the pressure of this attack.
'Damn…I can't over-power this guy. And my wounds are slowly me down, slightly,' Zoro noted, as a slippery sensation trickled down his chest. 'Maybe fighting harder will….wait-'
The swordsman mind turned back to his sparring matches with Kakashi.
'The Jonin was pivoting around the deck of the Merry. Evading every strike from Zoro as the younger man pressed harder into him. No matter how high Zoro increased his rhythm, the JOnin remained one step beyond him. It was deeply aggravating, until a kunai deflect one sword, and Kakashi was inside his guard, resting his knife across Zoro's throat.'
'"You're a skilled swordsman, Zoro-san, no questioning that," the grey-haired man complemented. Met with a growl of humiliation from Zro, at the ease he was beaten with. "But, predictable," Kakahsi continued. "Overpowering someone by surpassing them with one attribute, whether, strength, speed, or reflex to press home your own techniques might not always meet success. If you want, try looking for different avenues to attack from, opposed to only the most direct way."'
Looking his opponent over, Zoro weighed Kakashi's advice in his mind.
'Okay. Head-on won't work unless I avoid getting swept-up. Going low might work, or…'
Hatchan grinned as his tornado sent another tree slamming towards Zoro. This time, the swordsman didn't evade it, struck head-on by its truck.
"There! You see! Now watch as my Awesome Six-Sword Style slices you into tiny sushimi!"
Yet, the human he was fighting disappeared from his sight. Hatchi started glancing around, unsure of what was happening.
"Hohhh!...Where'd that bastard go?!"
He combed the entire surroundings, while reflexes honed from thousands of hours kept his spinning blades moving, and the tornado surrounding him alive. Drawing a single figure with his sword anchored into a tree closer to his target.
'Now!'
"Sentoryu: Falling Streaming Wolf Swords!" As Zoro pulled his blade free and pushed off downwards, Hatchan only had time to notice the shadow below him. Falling through the eye of the hurricane, Zoro shifted around the blades, slicing through arms and hands as he twisted around, to find a graceful landing to his savage attack.
"AAAHHHHH! OW, ow, my hands!" A clamor followed as Hatchan dropped his swords, his arms and hands littered with clean gashes.
"My mistake," Zoro admitted. Rising to his feet. "I was aiming for you head."
Hatchan was about to shout, until he noticed the red stains through Zoro's bandages. The man's humiliation and fury were growing to an all-time high, stoked further by the disarmament Zoro had give to him.
While on the opposite side, Zoro's posture faltered. An angry blaze was searing through him, from the wound on his chest. 'It feels like…that cut from Hawkeyes…the last of my stitches…were lost in that attack.'
'No matter. I am not…allowed…..to fail," he stoically promised. Before his ears pricked at the sound of charging feet.
Raising his borrowed blade and the one in his mouth, Zoro met and countered those of his enemy. Only four swords struck out, while two were held-back. Another exchange followed as Zoro threw his own counters at Hatchi, using each sword equally. Sparks flew as the blades met one another, mixed with Zoro twisted away from thrusts the Hatchan used as pot-shots.
Blood flew over the clearing with each clash, Either from Hatchan's wounded arms, or the few strikes that pierced through Zoro's guard and left shallow cuts across his chest and face. The Human pressed further, determined not to lose or back-down from his enemy. While Hatchan was waiting for the right opening.
"Octopus Open-guard!" two blades crossed over Wado Ichimonji, while the other two forced Zoro's hands upwards. "Body-butt!" A solid head-butt battered into Zoro's chest, sending him flying backwards, and tearing all of Mihawk's tokens clean open.
Zoro tumbled through the brush, until he landed by the shoreline. Struggling to drive air into his lungs, he pushed up from the ground, forcing himself to rise to his knees. One foot came up, before his body screamed in protest.
"You aren't getting away from me, Roronoa!" a voice came some meters away.
"Get up," Zoro cursed himself. "None of these…can keep me down. How can…I challenge Mihawk again…or call myself the Vice-Captain…to Luffy….if I fall here!"
Forcing himself higher, Zoro stood tall and ready as his opponents closed in.
"Rukotoryu: Pot Stance!"
"So, that move again, huh?" Zoro remarked as the points of Six blades moved in towards him. The swordsman brace low again, this time, he could read Hatchi's moves and rhythm, with another piece of Kakashi's advice in his ears.
'"I know that, Kakashi-san. And I know about studying someone throughout a fight as well. My techniques are my bedrock. Building my physical might on top of them has never failed me before."'
'Yet, the lazy ninja merely cocked his head. "Perhaps. But physical might can be circumvented. Try looking for more openings to exploit, or creating one by learning more and more as the fight goes on"'
Zoro had found the patterns to Hatchi's Rukotoryu, planning to use another head-butt comb and force Zoro into the water, where he could dominate the fight.
As he drew close, Zoro eyed the swords that were carried by Hatchi's most wounded arms. The moment before they struck, the Human twisted his body; moving Wado and his right blade across towards them. The weakened arms dropped their blades at the clash, while the other four were deflected.
Hatchan tried to stop, as Zoro's left sword came around, opening another wound across his enemy, from hip on shoulder. An ironic reversal of the same cut Mihawk had given Zoro the day before.
Hatchan gasped in agony, clutched his chest with two arms, while the other four held his swords up to guard himself.
Zoro himself began to waver, his spirit fighting the temptation put forth by his body…to fall.
'My body…must endure…this pain…to face Hawkeye as an equal…I must be extraordinary!'
Both swordsmen were in a near-equal state. A clear winner was still not decided to their duel.
After some moments, Hatchan rose to his feet again, barreling towards the water, and diving in head-first. Zoro watch him curiously, still panting from his wounds and feeling a slight fever tug at his mind.
SPLOOOOOM! "Water Driven: Takoyaki Punch!" Hatchan shot forth out of the water, driving six arms forward for Zoro. Yet, the swordsman dropped into a backwards role, his eyes widening in shock, missing the assault by centimeters.
Another splash told him that Hatchan had returned to the water. Yet Zoro's face now carried a confident grin.
Dropping the blades, he sheathed Wado, before assuming a classic Drawing-stance. His form completely as ease, mind blank and ready for the coming strike. The tension sent his adrenaline to full throttle, as odds with the patience demanded for this tactic to work.
"Nyu~ You'll never cut me down, Roronao!" Hatchan refused, shouting out to his enemy. Only for Zoro to cock an eyebrow.
Twenty-five seconds passed, before Hatchan shot out again. "Water Driven: Takoyaki Pun—GKHAAA!"
"Ittoryu Iai: draw!" In a single move, it was over. Zoro's blade cut clean through his mark as the figure's body shot passed him. Hatchan tumbled over the grass before a tree stopped him, his consciousness lost to oblivion.
Zoro cleaned his blade, before clicking it back to its sheath. They eyed the dark stains in the waters below. 'All the movement through the water. It caused the freak's wounds to open wider than before. That second try did him in and left a perfect target for me to strike down.'
The man took a calming breath, fighting to stay on his feet as the adrenaline of his fight began to drain away.
"Well, might as well stick around here and wait for the others to arrive."
End.
There was a lot to cover in this chapter. And I needed to constantly find some reorientation to focus on how different events or perspectives of the characters would shape-up. From Sasuke's opinions towards betrayal, to Sakura's ignorance of Jinchuriki and widespread suffering, and Hatchi's character.
I especially wanted to give Hatchi some credit, as many author's do going into much detail for his fight against Zoro, and he is truly one of the more complex characters in the series. Comic-relief aside, learning more about his life in the Sabahoady Archipelago and Fishman Island arcs really gave him a lot of depth.
Additionally, one topic that I got stuck on was Zoro's fighting-style; I needed to keep him within the confines of the East-Blue Arc, where his repertoire, strength, skill, mentality while fighting, and more were all drastically less than he currently is elsewhere in the series.
I hope all the readers enjoyed this chapter, and have some strong opinions over different scenes. Especially relating to Sakura and Sasuke with Nami, Zoro's early fight with Hatchi, and the impending losses to Nami.
Bonus= I sneaked a reference to Firefly into this chapter, one of the most amazing and endearing sci-fi. Shows ever made And challenge readers to find it!
[1]-One Piece, episode 41. Arlong proclaimed that Nami did try to kill him just before Luffy jumped back into the fight. I'm actually surprised this detail doesn't come up in other fanfics.
[2]-Zoro is still wearing the black hair-dye. Sakura took time to wash her's out.
[3]-Critical. A lot of people in different online chat-rooms call Hatchan a cannibal for being an octopus in the series and cooking takoyaki, or octopus-fritters. Personally, I've had the latter and they can be delicious, but coming back to One Piece. Humans and Fishmen do share the same blood-types, and as Charlotte Praline can reflect, they are genetically compatible with each other. This would make fish-men taxonomically closer to humans, rather than fish or octopuses. That's like calling Humans' cannibals for eating pigs, which physiologically have close parallels with human flesh and bone.
[4]-Rukotoryu= literally "six sword style."
[5]-Imperial equivalent=661.4 lbs
[6]-This is Zoro during the East-Blue Arc. He is a long, long, long way from the kind of strength he gained across the Alabasta Saga, Water Seven Saga and beyond. And fighting with a remarkable strong Fishman.
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