The sea wind howled. Under a sky dense with dark clouds, a massive warship rocked violently in the rough waves. The deck was thick with the smell of blood. Amidst flashing blades, a brutal slaughter was underway.
Raizo keenly detected a gap in Morris's moves. His hands swiftly formed seals as he chanted quietly, "Ninja Art: Body Binding Technique!" In an instant, Morris's body seemed bound by invisible chains; his limbs stiffened and froze in place.
A cold glint flashed in Raizo's eyes. With a flick of his wrist, a poisoned shuriken cut through the air, heading straight for Morris's throat.
At that critical moment, a dark red sword light flashed. With a crisp clang, the shuriken was precisely deflected.
Raizo's pupils constricted sharply. Staring at the bizarre long sword that had suddenly appeared, he cried out in disbelief, "This is...? Enma?!"
Indeed. At the brink of life and death, King, wielding the famous blade Enma, had appeared just in time to save Morris. His tall figure cast a long shadow on the deck. His black wings were slightly spread, radiating a suffocating sense of oppression. King had been flying high in the air, monitoring Ashura Doji's group to prevent any unexpected developments. That was how he had the opportunity to save Morris.
"So it's you, King!" Raizo gnashed his teeth, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. "This was all your conspiracy! Where is Lord Oden? What is your ultimate goal?!"
King's voice was bone-chillingly cold. "Want to see him? Go look for him in hell." Before his words had faded, his figure flashed like a ghost behind Raizo. A flash of the blade, and a hair-thin red line appeared on Raizo's neck. His head rolled onto the deck, blood spurting forth.
"Raizo!" Seeing this, Ashura Doji roared in fury. He forcibly created distance by taking a punch from Bullet. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, but he paid it no mind. He gripped his long sword tightly, his knuckles white from the force.
"Lord Raizo!" "Raizo!" The other samurai let out cries of grief, but they were soon overwhelmed by the swarming pirates.
The deck was filled with the sounds of clashing swords and agonized moans.
"King! How dare you, the Beasts Pirates!" Ashura Doji's eyes were wide with fury, his long sword pointed directly at King, his voice trembling with rage.
King sneered, a cold voice coming from behind the black mask. "So what if we did? None of you will leave here alive today." He turned to Bullet. "If you can't finish him, I'll take over."
"Heheh, this is my prey," Bullet sneered, flexing his muscles, veins bulging on his thick arms. He lunged at Ashura Doji again, each fist carrying the power to split mountains and shatter rocks.
"Kin'emon! Kikunojo! Kanjuro!" Ashura Doji bellowed orders while fending off Bullet's storm-like assault. His voice sounded especially tragic amidst the chaotic battlefield. "Find a way to break through! Lord Oden may have already been killed! You must inform Lord Sukiyaki of Kaido's plot!"
"Damn it!" Kikunojo, hearing Ashura Doji's words, had been looking for an opportunity, but the opponent before him wouldn't let him leave easily. Suddenly, his gaze fell upon Kanjuro, who was fighting several pirate grunts.
Kikunojo gritted his teeth, enduring two slashes from Gavin, and used the momentum to rush to Kurozumi Kanjuro's side. His tachi traced a graceful arc, cutting several pirates in half at the waist.
"Kanjuro, run! You're the only one who can break through now!" He stood with his back to Kanjuro, assuming a defensive stance, blood continuously seeping from his wounds.
Strangely, Gavin did not press his advantage. Instead, he stood with arms crossed, a cold sneer on his face, a strange light flickering in his eyes.
Just as Kikunojo was puzzled, he heard a chilling voice from behind. "Ink Arrow!" Dozens of droplets of ink transformed into sharp arrows, instantly piercing through his back. Kikunojo's body shuddered violently. He turned his head in disbelief. "Kanjuro... you..."
"Kiku?!" Kin'emon caught a glimpse of this from the corner of his eye, a mix of shock and fury surging within him. "Kanjuro, what are you doing?!" His voice was distorted with astonishment.
Before his words had fully faded, a pale, ghastly sword light flashed before his eyes. Kin'emon felt a sudden chill at his neck before heavily collapsing into a pool of blood. Moria twirled his blood-dripping naginata, letting out a shrill laugh. "Yeehihihihi, it's not good to get distracted during a fight~"
BOOM! A tremendous crash echoed as Ashura Doji was sent flying by a punch from Bullet, crashing through three layers of cabins before stopping. Wood splinters flew everywhere, dust filled the air. By now, there were no living samurai left on the deck. Even those who had jumped into the sea to escape were torn to shreds by the埋伏 Fish-Man unit.
Severed limbs and torsos floated on the sea surface, dyeing the water a dark crimson.
"Cough... cough..." Ashura Doji painfully crawled out from the wreckage, covered in blood. His armor was shattered, revealing the gruesome wounds beneath. He stared fixedly at Kurozumi Kanjuro, his voice hoarse. "So that's it. Kanjuro. It was you, the traitor, all along!"
"Hahahahaha!" Kurozumi Kanjuro suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, his face contorted, a frenzied light gleaming in his eyes. "Correct! All of this is for revenge!"
"Revenge?" Ashura Doji coughed up a mouthful of blood, his eyes full of confusion. He tried to support his body, to stand up, but his legs no longer obeyed him.
"Yes! The Kurozumi family's revenge!" Kurozumi Kanjuro's voice echoed across the deck. "My true name is—Kurozumi Kanjuro!"
"So that's how it is..." Ashura Doji gave a bitter laugh, finally understanding everything. He lifted his head to look at the gloomy sky. Rain mixed with blood slid down his face. However, before he could speak another word, Bullet's heavy fist came crashing down!
Crunch!
Blood splattered. Ashura Doji's skull shattered under the immense force, his headless corpse slowly collapsing. Bullet shook the blood from his hand, a cruel smile on his face.
Kurozumi Kanjuro stood in the pool of blood, a twisted smile on his face, blood dripping down the front of his clothes. He looked up at King, his voice rasping as he asked, "What do we do next? Destroy the ship and return directly to Wano Country?"
"There's still unfinished business," King answered coldly, his right hand already resting on Enma's hilt.
Kurozumi Kanjuro was about to speak when he suddenly felt the world spin violently. His vision tumbled through the air. The final image he saw was his own headless body slowly falling. Blood gushed like a fountain from his neck, staining the deck.
"Now destroy the ship. We return to Wano Country," King said, flicking the blood droplets from Enma's blade. His voice was terrifyingly calm.
"Yes, sir!" the surrounding pirates responded in unison, their voices filled with awe.
King sheathed Enma, his black wings swaying gently in the wind. He cast a cold, sweeping gaze over the corpses littering the ground, then turned and returned to the pirate ship. Afterwards, he set fire to the Wano vessel, burning it to cinders.
***
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