With a completely calm expression, Tom pulled a silvery-gray short rod, less than twenty centimeters long, from inside his clothes. Then both ends of the rod extended continuously until it became a three-meter-long silvery-gray pole.
"You think a stick like that can deal with me?" Kuro's voice echoed as he continued moving at extreme speed. His claw blades left more wounds on Tom's body every few seconds.
"And you call yourself 'of a Hundred Plans.' Your intelligence isn't much to speak of if you can't even recognize what I'm holding," Tom said. He pressed a button on the long pole. Immediately, a long, thin line shot out from its tip. At the end of the line was a dark golden hook that glittered in the sunlight.
The pirates below the slope and Nami, standing on the prow of the Black Cat Pirates' ship, watched in stunned silence as Tom ignored Kuro's attacks and calmly manipulated the three-meter-long pole.
"That thing he's holding... looks like a fishing rod."
"I think you're right. That's definitely a fishing rod."
The pirates below looked at each other, then burst into mocking laughter.
"That guy must have been driven insane by Captain Kuro's power!"
"He seemed tough earlier, but now that Captain Kuro is using 'Shakushi,' he pulls out a fishing rod to scare us? I'm so scared! Hahaha!"
Seeing Tom seemingly helpless against Kuro, the pirates mocked him without restraint, their words growing increasingly nasty.
"Hey! What exactly are you all laughing at?!" Tom swung the fishing rod to the right. With a clink, the dark golden hook embedded itself deep into a massive boulder.
This was the same boulder that had been dislodged from the cliff wall earlier when the hypnotized Buchi attacked Zoro.
Then, using just the fishing rod, Tom lifted the huge rock and hurled it down toward the pirates who were emitting those piercing laughs.
"He can throw a rock that big with a fishing rod?!"
"Why didn't the rod break?!"
"Don't just stand there! Dodge!"
The pitiful pirates went from mocking Tom one second to facing a massive flying rock the next. The shadow of death immediately fell over them. They crawled and scrambled, dragging their injured, exhausted bodies, desperately trying to avoid the boulder. They had no energy left to criticize Tom; in that instant, even the courage to laugh at him vanished.
BOOM!
The boulder crashed down right where the pirates had been standing. The ground shook. The Black Cat Pirates who had narrowly escaped were all pale. Surviving the ordeal brought them no joy, only fear that left their legs weak.
"This fishing rod is really something. It handles well," Tom said, quite satisfied. The rod he held was very different from an ordinary one. Its structure was simple—essentially a pole with a line and hook. At first glance, it looked extremely basic.
But it was a telescoping fishing rod, easy to carry and very durable. Tom had just tested it by easily lifting a rock that weighed at least a ton. Not only did the rod not bend, but the line didn't break either. It was incredibly useful.
The rod seemed to be made of extremely hard metal. Tom wasn't entirely sure. All he knew was that even using his full strength, he couldn't bend it one bit.
"You idiot! This is no time for leisurely fishing! What are you trying to do?!" Nami shouted, anxious. She couldn't understand how this man, covered in wounds, could so calmly handle a fishing rod.
"Woman, don't you know what I'm best at? Stop yelling. Don't you know impatience is the worst thing when fishing?" Tom said, glancing at Nami.
"You really have a death wish. You think that ridiculous thing in your hand can do anything to me?" Kuro's voice seemed to come from all directions. Moving so fast, he couldn't properly control his targets. While injuring Tom, his claw blades had also wounded several of his own crew members.
Even Jango, who had been cautiously advancing to the side, now had several new gashes, courtesy of Kuro.
"First, you go down," Tom said, ignoring Kuro's indiscriminate attacks. He quickly took several steps back, gauged the distance, and aimed his fishing rod at Jango. The hook caught Jango's clothing, and Tom flung him down the slope just as he reached the midpoint.
"Next, I'm going to reel in the big fish who only knows how to attack by running around wildly." Tom leaped backward repeatedly until he reached the top of the slope. Then, as casually as if fishing, he cast the hook. It hung suspended in the air about fifty centimeters above the ground, swaying gently in the breeze.
Nami, watching from the ship's prow, saw Tom's posture. He really did look like he was fishing—holding the rod steadily, not moving an inch, as steady as a mountain. Only the blood still flowing from his wounds betrayed the situation.
He can't really believe a fishing rod can defeat Captain Kuro, who was so famous in the East Blue three years ago, can he?
Nami was skeptical, but seeing Tom's utterly confident expression, she found herself believing it a little. Maybe Kuro really could lose to Tom's fishing rod.
SWOOSH!
When Tom saw the suspended hook suddenly jerk to the right, he took a large step back. Simultaneously using the Silent Step, he moved rapidly to the right and swung the rod forcefully to the left. "Got a bite, you stinky fish!"
SHINK!
Kuro, who had been charging toward Tom at high speed, found his body caught by the hook. His movements slowed for a split second. Seizing this chance, Tom used the rod to yank him closer and delivered a heavy punch to Kuro's chest.
BOOM!
Kuro was sent flying down the slope by Tom's punch, cratering the ground where he landed.
"Ah! Captain Kuro was sent flying even while using Shakushi!"
"He used a fishing rod to break Captain Kuro's strongest move!"
"Three years ago, Captain Kuro used that move to wipe out an entire Marine warship. How can that guy turn the situation around with just a fishing rod?!"
The pirates below were so shocked their faces contorted. The man who had had Tom completely on the defensive just moments ago, offering no chance to fight back, had now been punched flying by Tom. Kuro lay on the ground, coughing up blood.
So that's it. When Kuro moves at high speed, he disturbs the air currents around him, which moves the hook on the line. That's how he can tell which direction Kuro is coming from. He actually thought of that method.
Though she still wondered where Tom got that fishing rod, Nami finally felt a slight sense of relief. She stopped worrying about Tom for the moment, put down the sack of treasure she was carrying, and began counting the loot she had stolen from the Black Cat Pirates' ship.
"Dammit! That woman has some nerve, sneaking onto our ship to steal!"
"Forget it. You want to die? That woman and that guy are obviously together. If we bother her and anger him, we'll be the ones who suffer. Better pretend we didn't see anything."
Some pirates, seeing Nami openly counting their stolen treasure right on their ship's prow, were furious. Their faces looked as if they'd swallowed flies. But remembering how Tom had made even the fearsome Captain Kuro cough up blood, fear filled their hearts. They could only selectively turn a blind eye to Nami's actions.
"You're not from this village. You're just an outsider. Why are you going so far to stop my plan?" Kuro sat up from the ground, looking up at Tom standing atop the slope, a shadow over his face.
"Me? I'm really just a fisherman. I don't much like sticking my nose in other people's business. But the Captain promised to help Usopp. And I did receive a... benefit from someone. Most importantly, you pissed me off. I don't care about your damned plan. I just want to beat the hell out of you!" Tom said, tugging on the fishing line. The golden light around his dark crimson pupils had dimmed somewhat.
"Did you hear that? He's a fisherman."
"No wonder he uses a fishing rod as a weapon."
The pirates' expressions turned strange upon hearing Tom was a fisherman. It was hard to accept that a mere fisherman had stopped them all.
"Beat the hell out of me?" Kuro sneered. "Your punches aren't that powerful. If that's your full strength, then prepare to die."
But as soon as Kuro said this, he froze. He saw Tom tear off the bandages soaked bright red with blood from his body. He also unwound the bandages on his right arm, revealing the right hand that had been severely injured during his clash with Luffy back in Orange Town.
The several almost bone-deep wounds between Tom's fingers were seared into Kuro's mind, shocking him.
Kuro finally understood why Tom's punch to his chest earlier felt lacking in power. Tom's right hand had already been badly injured.
After over twenty days of rest, new flesh had begun to grow over the wounds between Tom's fingers. It was infinitely better than when the bone was vaguely visible initially, but it still affected the power of his punches.
Especially since he had just traded a full-force punch with Luffy on the slope using that same right hand. That was definitely not good for wounds that hadn't fully healed.
"You're such an idiot. If one punch won't put you down, then I'll just hit you a few hundred more times. Problem solved," Tom said, holding the fishing rod in his left hand and clenching his right fist. His blood-moon eyes fixed on Kuro below as he spoke each word deliberately.
Kuro didn't respond. His face just twisted into a ferocious, terrifying expression. He assumed the stance for 'Shakushi' again, arms hanging loose, swaying left and right.
"That trick will fail every time. You're just going to get beaten." Tom cast the hook on the line just as Kuro vanished from his spot.
But this time, as soon as Tom hooked Kuro and before he could reel him in, Kuro shouted, "Jango! How long are you going to lie there? Go kill that woman who stole our treasure!"
What?!
Distracted, the speed and power of Tom's punch aimed at Kuro's face dropped sharply. Though it still sent Kuro crashing into the rocky wall, it didn't inflict serious damage.
"If you dare steal from pirates, be prepared to die!" Jango shouted, hurling his sharpened rings at Nami, who had just descended from the Black Cat Pirates ship. "I'll cut you in half!"
Nami had come down from the ship because she saw the pirates below ignoring her. She had planned to check on Luffy, who was pinned under the huge black cat prow, to see if she could wake him. That would make things much easier for Tom. She never expected to be attacked by Jango the moment she stepped off the ship.
I'm going to die!
Nami turned and saw the rings spinning rapidly toward her. Instinct told her to call for Tom's help, but she immediately thought that if she yelled, she might distract him while he was fighting Kuro.
In that moment of hesitation, Nami couldn't bring herself to cry out. The rings tore through the air with a hissing sound, arriving before her. Seeing she couldn't avoid them, she thought she was done for.
But then a familiar figure stepped in front of her, catching the incredibly sharp rings bare-handed. Recognizing the back, Nami felt a surge of relief, then alarm. "Tom! Your hand...!"
CRUNCH!
Tom crushed the rings he had caught in his hand. Blood flowed from between his fingers, dripping to the ground. The sight made Nami feel terrible and filled with self-reproach. If she had stayed on the Black Cat Pirates' ship, Tom wouldn't have gotten hurt saving her.
"Woman, if you cause me any more trouble, I'll beat you up myself!" Tom tossed the crushed metal fragments aside. Then, with the fishing rod in his left hand, he hooked Jango, who stood ten meters away with a stunned expression, and yanked him over. His bloody right fist smashed into Jango's face with such force it seemed to deform. The heart-shaped sunglasses shattered. "You're in the way. Get lost!"
BOOM!
Jango was sent flying by Tom's punch, landing over twenty meters away and smashing into some rocks by the shoreline.
But as Tom punched Jango away, his body lurched forward unnaturally, almost falling over.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't think this would happen," Nami said hurriedly, supporting Tom. She noticed Tom's left foot seemed sprained.
In fact, Tom's left foot was sprained. To save Nami in time, he had used the movement technique he learned from Kuro—the one even faster than the Silent Step, the technique Kuro called 'Shakushi.' He had wanted to avoid using it because he knew his current body couldn't fully adapt to such high-speed movement, and he didn't want to lose control of his attacks like Kuro did. That's why he had chosen to use the fishing rod instead.
But Kuro had clearly anticipated this. By using Jango to attack Nami, he forced Tom to use 'Shakushi' unprepared, successfully causing Tom to sprain his ankle.
"There are lots of things you don't think about. If you want to live, don't leave my side for a second starting now. If there's a next time, I won't save you," Tom said irritably, spitting on the ground. A sprained foot was a real inconvenience, especially against a speed-type enemy like Kuro. It was adding insult to injury.
"You saved that woman by using 'Shakushi,' then forced yourself to stop abruptly without being able to skillfully control the speed. Injuring your foot is only natural," Kuro said with a sinister laugh, standing on the slope. "So, how does a sprained ankle feel?"
"You really only know useless, dirty tricks. Even with one foot sprained, dealing with you is more than enough!" Tom flexed the fingers of his right hand. He then wrapped an arm around Nami's slender waist. Before she could react, he aimed his fishing rod at a high point on the cliff face of the slope and cast the hook.
The hook caught on the cliff wall above. Tom quickly retracted the rod back to about twenty centimeters. Holding the short rod, he used the long line to swing, carrying Nami through the air up to the top of the slope, landing right in front of Kuro.
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T/N :
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