During this time, Kozuki Oden also encountered quite a few scattered pirates and engaged in battles. Every time the captains of those pirate crews stood at the bow and shouted the order to attack, he felt his blood boil.
He had been wanting to try this for a long time.
"Intruders!" The pirates guarding the harbor shouted, triggering the alarm. The entire harbor instantly went into combat mode. However, speaking of which, the last time someone attacked Hachinosu was quite a few years ago.
"Is it the Marines?"
A few pirates, dressed slightly more neatly, yelled up with their necks craned to ask the lookout in the crow's nest. However, they also knew in their hearts that even with Boss Rocks absent, the Marines mostly wouldn't dare attack this pirate island.
On the contrary, some rookie pirates from Paradise often came up to provoke them, not knowing the meaning of death.
"It's not the Marines, but... it doesn't seem to be pirates either?" The lookout said rather uncertainly. On the constantly approaching ship, there were purple patterns printed on it, looking like several commas forming a circle. "A mark I haven't seen before."
"Hah?" The pirate who looked to be of slightly higher status let out a strange sound. He was puzzled for a moment, but his barren brain quickly gave up thinking. "Who cares who they are, sink them directly!"
He immediately issued the order to bombard, then turned towards the town. It was also chaotic there; quite a few pirates were firing guns wildly into the city. Looking from a distance, one could see the figures of two strange guys constantly leaping over the rooftops.
"Haven't taken them down yet? What a bunch of trash. If we annoy Lord Shiki, that would be terrible!" Just thinking about the destruction that might occur if Shiki were to act personally, he couldn't help but shiver. He hurriedly urged, "I leave this side to you. You must sink that pirate ship!"
Then his body changed, his face becoming hideous, and his entire body grew hair. His powerful legs bent, and then sprang open like a spring. The immense force caused the surface of the ground to crack, and he shot out, leaping over fifty meters in a single step. His legs stepped on a house, instantly stomping through the walls!
This guy was a user of the Kangaroo Fruit; his leg strength was very strong. In almost an instant, he overtook Raizo and Denjiro. He leaped high, the air beneath his feet suddenly exploding, allowing him to adjust his direction freely in mid-air.
He twisted his body, and his legs wrapped in Haki smashed toward Denjiro and Raizo.
To be precise, his target was Raizo, whose face was bigger than his actual person.
"Smashing Kick!"
Boom!
This kick landed precisely on Raizo's forehead, knocking him flying in one go.
"Raizo!" Denjiro widened his eyes and shouted worriedly toward Raizo, then immediately realized that now was not the time to worry about others. He quickly shifted his gaze, only to see that kangaroo's kick was already coming toward him. He immediately positioned his sword horizontally, barely blocking the strike.
The two of them then fell to the ground in different directions.
"A ninja? Truly troublesome..." Denjiro frowned.
"This is, Haki? It seems you aren't rookies from Paradise!" The pirate said strangely. Since they weren't hot-headed kids from Paradise, how dare they come here to provoke us? Are they tired of living?
Denjiro patted the dust off his body and looked down at the sword in his hand. The blade showed no damage whatsoever. This wasn't a famous sword, but at the crucial moment, he had used Ryuo to block the opponent's attack.
Having followed Oden for over two years, although he hadn't systematically studied swordsmanship, he had already gotten started with Ryuo.
It wasn't just him; even Raizo and the very young Izou and Kikunojo had learned a little bit. At this moment, Raizo stood up from the ruins of a house, rubbing his forehead which had nearly been kicked in.
There were already many pirates surrounding him.
"How strange. I was clearly in disguise, yet I was still discovered." Raizo couldn't figure it out. It was supposed to be a perfect disguise, yet he was found out.
On the other side, Kozuki Oden watched the cannonballs raining down from the sky. He casually slashed out sword energy, cutting all of them apart, then shouted: "Kin'emon, I'll leave this side to you. I'm going ahead!"
Saying this, he bent his legs and launched himself directly across the sea toward the coast.
"Wait, Lord Oden!" Kin'emon tried to call him back, but Oden was already mid-air. Kin'emon couldn't chase after him and could only clumsily defend against the cannonball attacks.
Most of the cannonballs falling on the deck could be intercepted, but those hitting the ship's hull were difficult to reach. The sailors turned the cannons around to return fire.
The Oden was not a large ship, and the number of gun platforms on board was limited. In terms of firepower, they quickly fell into a disadvantage. If not for Kanjuro and Kin'emon constantly intercepting the cannonballs, the ship would likely have sunk soon.
Fortunately, Oden's actions changed this situation.
He leaped across the sea, crashing onto the coast like a gorilla swinging down from the forest on vines. Upon landing, he held two swords and charged toward the gun platforms by the shore. Between the casual swings of Enma and Ame no Habakiri, intense sword energy was released, instantly cutting off dozens of gun platforms in one clean sweep.
"Damn it, a swordsman?"
"Kill him!"
The pirates immediately swarmed toward him. No one could imagine just how many pirates were there. Kozuki Oden felt as if the pirates holding swords were surging toward him like a tide, dense as a swarm of insects.
"Hahahah! You've come at just the right time!" He cheered excitedly, his hands waving constantly. His dual swords generated powerful wind, and every swing sent dozens of people flying into the air.
Kozuki Oden was in his element. Out on the open sea before, he had only seen a few scattered small pirate crews; he had never seen such a grand scene. Now, he was as excited as a Husky out for a walk that couldn't be held back.
He instantly knocked down a large swath of the lackeys at the port, then sprinted inside. These peripheral small fry couldn't satisfy him.
"The strongest pirate remaining on this island is called Shiki, right!" He recalled the information mentioned by the sailors back on the ship. "I wonder who is stronger compared to the Daimyo of Kuri? I can't wait to find out!"
He looked toward a towering building in the distance. His Observation Haki sensed the aura of a powerful warrior. It felt just like a fierce lion!
Feeling this aura, his hands and the swords in them trembled involuntarily.
"You're looking forward to it too, aren't you, Enma, Ame no Habakiri!"
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