He forced a dry laugh, offering his best "I'm the reasonable guy here" face. "Look, I'm not a grave robber. You guys are jumping to conclusions."
Great, he thought. This is a textbook 'guilty until proven innocent' disaster.
Unless someone had lived through it like he just did, nobody in their right mind would believe a guy who'd been dead for centuries had suddenly dragged himself back to life.
Ryuma took a deep breath. Since talking his way out was clearly a dead end, running seemed like a pretty solid backup plan.
"Hah! Not a grave robber?" the samurai sneered. "Hand over the Black Blade Shusui!"
"Quick! We found the grave robber! Someone get Shogun Orochi!"
The main samurai blocked Ryuma's path, while the rest took off like panicked chickens, no doubt sprinting straight toward Wano's central headquarters.
Ryuma rubbed his temples, his patience wearing razor-thin. "Do you guys ever give it a rest? Keep pushing it, and I won't be so nice."
Having merged with the legendary Swordmaster, he possessed all his ancient memories. Deep down, he considered these Wano samurai his juniors—his fellow countrymen. Unless forced into a corner, he really didn't want to chop up the locals.
"Stealing the sacred Shusui and thinking you can just waltz away? You'll die by my—" The samurai's brave speech cut off mid-sentence. His eyes rolled back, his body twitched uncontrollably, and he hit the dirt with a heavy thud.
After a few brief, pathetic shudders, his breathing stopped completely.
"Wait, what?" Ryuma blinked, stepping back.
A gaping, bloody hole had been punched clean through the man's chest, surrounded by wisps of dark, writhing shadow.
Ryuma looked up into the sky. A swarm of black bats hovered overhead—and it didn't take a genius to realize those weren't natural creatures.
He scanned the perimeter, instantly connecting the dots.
In this world, who else commanded shadow bats?
Only one terrified Wano samurai remained alive, cold sweat pouring down his numb, pale face.
A second later, the survivor lost his mind, screaming at the top of his lungs, "MURDER! HE'S MURDERING US ALL!"
"Hey! Are you blind?!" Ryuma yelled back, thoroughly exasperated. "I didn't even touch the guy! Shut your mouth!"
He spun around, and sure enough, Gecko Moria was towering right behind him.
Swish!
Before Ryuma could even react, a swirling ring of shadow bats lunged directly at his face!
Ryuma gritted his teeth, his eyes narrowing as he pivoted cleanly on his heel, dodging the surprise attack by a hair's breadth.
He might lack actual modern combat practice, but with ancient Ryuma's combat instincts hardwired into his brain, dodging basic projectile attacks was purely automatic. It wasn't Observation Haki—just the raw result of a lifetime spent on the battlefield.
"Moria," Ryuma growled, his hand tightening on his hilt. "You've got some nerve."
Moria recoiled slightly, taken aback. "Kishishishishi... You know who I am?"
Ryuma's mouth twitched into a cold, sarcastic smirk. "Do us all a favor and stop that creepy laugh. It sounds like a dying hyena."
Know him? As a former die-hard One Piece fan, he knew Moria inside out.
Gecko Moria: Shadow-Shadow Fruit user, a shadow man who stole souls for a living.
On the surface, Ryuma played it cool, but his pulse was racing.
In the original series, the Straw Hats struggled immensely against this freak even near the New World. Battling him head-on right now was definitely no walk in the park.
Wait a minute...
A sudden thought clicked in Ryuma's head.
Moria was only near-invincible inside Thriller Bark because he relied heavily on pre-assembled zombie armies and home-turf traps. Out here in Wano, without his personal hoard of shadows, his overall combat effectiveness took a massive nosedive!
"Tch, typical Wano samurai—always a nuisance," Moria muttered, his jaw twitching. "Where the hell are Absalom and Hogback? What's taking them so long?!"
Ryuma grinned, tossing out the news casually. "Oh, those two? I sliced 'em into confetti."
"You bastard!" Moria's eyes burst with bloodshot rage.
Those two were the backbone of his entire crew!
Not giving him room to process the grief, Ryuma drew Shusui and decided to bet everything on a single strike.
"God Slaying Hundred Dragon Slash!"
Ryuma bellowed, thrusting Shusui forward in a motion that looked almost effortless.
Yet that deceptively simple thrust sent a shockwave ripping through the atmosphere.
Within seconds, the flying slash erupted, fragmenting and recombining into a hundred roaring, spectral dragons that tore through the air with deafening roars!
Moria's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. In a blind panic, he snatched his own shadow and hoisted it in front of his face like a makeshift shield!
The dragon-shaped slashes slammed directly into the shadow barrier. The surrounding air trembled violent as the shadow shield shattered under the pressure. Dozens of remaining dragon slashes burst right past the defense, soaring straight toward the horizon!
Moria stumbled backward, his face pale with terror.
Crap, Ryuma thought, biting his inner lip. That was literally my only super move!
Still, Moria took a brutal beating. A horrifying, jagged slash mark ran all the way from his neck down to his feet, leaking blood.
Trembling, Moria stared at Ryuma in sheer disbelief. "Who... who the hell are you?!"
He racked his brain—before Kaido wiped out his crew, he had never heard of a powerhouse like this in Wano.
"I am Swordmaster Ryuma!"
Moria froze, his brain failing to compute.
Swordmaster? The legendary dragon-slaying samurai?
A second later, Moria exploded in anger. "Are you pulling my leg?! Ryuma's been dead for hundreds of years! How could he be a smooth-skinned kid like you?!"
Ryuma scoffed. "Don't believe it? Feel free to step up and test it yourself."
"Fine! Let's see what you've got, brat!"
Ryuma forced his racing heart to slow down.
Moria was dangerous, sure, but without his massive vessel and stolen shadow reservoir, the giant was essentially operating on empty.
If Moria had no shadows left for defense, paired with Ryuma's own Armament Haki...
He could turn this oversized onion into chopped salad!
"Honestly, you look like a moldy, expired ear of corn," Ryuma said, casually turning his back and walking away with a mocking grin. "Who'd waste time fighting a eyesore like you? I'm out."
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME, YOU LITTLE BRAT?!" Moria roared, his blood boiling.
Damn it, I need to wrap this up fast, Moria thought, frantically scanning the area. This is Wano—Kaido's turf. If this racket draws the All-Stars here, I'm dead meat!