Chapter 19: Struck Gold! Beating Buggy Up!
"Tatsuya!!"
Nami watched Tatsuya, who had bypassed her with the practiced ease of a repeat offender, and felt an inexplicable surge of annoyance.
"Hmph! You want to compare speeds? I'm a thief who specializes in stealing from pirates!"
Forcing herself to calm down, Nami pulled out her cloth bag, unwilling to be outdone, and dove into the pile of gold coins to start filling it frantically.
However, reality was cruel.
As a Ninja, Tatsuya's hand speed was so fast it left only afterimages.
In less than three minutes, the mountain of treasure had been divided and packed by the two of them.
But there were three full bags at Tatsuya's feet, stuffed with nearly seventy percent of the haul, while Nami held only one half-full bag.
"Done."
Tatsuya clapped his hands, ignoring Nami's murderous glare, and walked straight to the most prominent treasure chest.
"Hmm? It needs a key..."
He then ripped a key from the neck of the pirate he had just taken down and opened the lock with a click.
A parchment scroll lay quietly inside.
"Grand Line Sea Chart."
The corners of Tatsuya's mouth quirked up as he tucked it into his clothes for safekeeping.
Having finished all this, he turned around and extended his slender right hand toward Nami.
Nami blinked, startled.
Looking at the hand reaching out to her.
She hesitated, her cheeks flushing slightly, before awkwardly extending her own hand and turning her head away to whisper:
"Well, that... although I hate pirates, since you saved me, shaking hands to make peace isn't exactly..."
"Huh?"
Tatsuya looked at her strangely. "What are you doing? I mean—give me your treasure."
"..."
The air froze for three seconds.
Nami jerked her hand back as if she had been burned.
Then she tightly hugged the money bag in her arms, bared her teeth at Tatsuya, and roared through gritted teeth:
"This is mine!! Don't even think about it!!"
"Tsk, what a miser."
Tatsuya didn't force the issue, merely shaking his head with regret. "Fine, fine, Miss Navigator."
"I told you I—"
Nami was about to retort that she wasn't their Navigator when she saw Tatsuya's gaze sharpen as he made a move to snatch it away again.
"Ah! Ah! Fine, I get it!!"
Nami took a step back in fear, completely defeated by this shameless, red-eyed bandit.
"There's money to be made being with you guys, and you have the sea chart... I'll join you, alright!"
"But let's be clear, I will absolutely not become an official member of the pirate crew. We're just in a partnership! A partnership!"
"Deal."
Tatsuya withdrew his hand with a smile, picked up the three huge treasure bags, and walked outside as easily as if he were carrying feathers.
Just as he reached the door, he suddenly stopped and glanced back at Nami.
"Nami."
"Hmm? What?" Nami clutched her money bag warily.
"Including this time, I've saved you a total of three times."
Tatsuya held up three fingers, settling the score with a serious face.
"My appearance fee is very expensive. Hmm... if I give you a discount, let's say one hundred million Berries per time, so... you now owe me three hundred million Berries."
"Huh?!"
Hearing this astronomical figure, Nami's brow furrowed. What did he know?
She shook her head and shouted, "Three hundred million? Why don't you just rob someone?"
Tatsuya didn't explain, only offering a meaningful smile.
What did he know? He knew that on this girl's shoulders lay the burden of exactly one hundred million Berries in 'life-buying money'.
"Isn't that exactly what I'm doing? Please cooperate."
"Give it up! Then I'll just owe you forever!" Nami yelled at his back. "I don't have any money anyway! I'll never give it to you in this lifetime!"
...
The two of them walked out of the treasure vault to find the battlefield outside already in full swing.
Ahead, Luffy and Zoro were engaged in fierce battles with Buggy and Cabaji, respectively.
"Chop-Chop Flying Daggers!!"
With a strange cry from Buggy, his hands actually detached from his body. Holding eight sharp knives, they flew through the air like homing missiles, shooting toward Luffy from all angles.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! The hands are flying over!"
Luffy grabbed a nearby tree trunk in a panic, using his rubbery elasticity to flip up and down, dodging the lethal slashes one after another.
Nami watched this scene, then looked at Buggy nearby, whose body was constantly dismantling and reassembling in mid-air.
Her eyes widened like copper bells, and she couldn't help but cry out:
"What... what kind of monsters are these!!"
"Gomu Gomu no—"
Luffy found an opening after dodging a round of attacks.
His arms suddenly stretched back dozens of meters, and using the massive recoil, his entire body launched toward Buggy like a cannonball.
Buggy sneered and dodged easily. "Gyahahaha! Too slow!"
But his target wasn't Buggy; instead, he grabbed a pillar in the ruins behind Buggy, his body tracing a massive arc in the air.
"Gum-Gum Scythe!!"
Luffy swept across using centrifugal force, a strike powerful enough to snap an ordinary person in half.
"Too naive! Rubber man!"
Buggy gave a cruel laugh.
Just as Luffy was about to hit.
His head actually separated directly from his neck, flying high, while his body also split into several pieces.
Swish!
Luffy's attack hit nothing but air, crashing into the collapsed buildings behind and kicking up a cloud of dust.
"I'm not... I'm not dreaming, am I..."
Nami rubbed her eyes; this scene had dealt a massive blow to her common sense.
Tatsuya tossed the treasure bags to Nami: "Hold these and watch closely. This is a real battle."
With that, his figure blurred and he disappeared from the spot.
On the battlefield.
"Gyahahaha! You can't hit me! You can't hit me at all!"
Buggy laughed triumphantly as he looked at Luffy, who was stuck in the ruins.
Then, his hands gripped the flying daggers again, circling in the air. "Die! Chop-Chop Flying Daggers!"
Just as his hands were about to stab the immobilized Luffy.
A dark shadow appeared like a ghost in front of his defenseless lower body.
"Who?!" Buggy was shocked.
Tatsuya didn't waste words, taking advantage of Buggy's total focus on Luffy.
He raised his knee, gripped Buggy's shoulders tightly, and then, with an explosion of Chakra, delivered a vicious knee strike that slammed precisely into Buggy's most vulnerable abdominal area.
Pfft!!
The blow was heavy and powerful.
Buggy felt as if his internal organs had shifted; his eyes bulged, and he spat out a mouthful of bile.
Due to the intense pain, his hands flying in the air instantly lost control and fell limply to the ground.
"It's not over yet."
With cold eyes, Tatsuya took advantage of Buggy's daze and followed up with a roundhouse kick that slammed hard into the side of Buggy's face.
Bang!
Buggy was sent flying like he'd been hit by a truck, screaming as he tumbled through the air.
He rolled at least a dozen times on the ground before stopping, wailing in pain: "Damn it... damn red-eyed brat..."
Before he could finish, his pupils were filled with an orange-red glow.
Tatsuya had already finished his hand signs, his chest swelling high.
If he could take down this future member of the Four Emperors here, how many Ninja Points would the system give him?
He didn't dare imagine!
Tatsuya didn't dare imagine!
So, he used his full strength without hesitation!
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!!"
Whoosh—!!!
The massive fireball, like an all-consuming sun, roared toward the fallen Buggy.
"Fire?! No!!"
Buggy was terrified and instinctively wanted to split his body to escape.
With the power of the Chop-Chop Fruit, as long as he scattered, it would be hard for the flames to deal a fatal blow.
However.
When he met Tatsuya's crimson eyes, it was already too late.
"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique."
Hum—!
Buggy's movements instantly froze.
In his field of vision, the massive fireball transformed into a red-haired man holding the treasure map he hated most, pointing at him and laughing mockingly.
Fear, anger, and memories intertwined, causing a fatal lapse in his mental state.
It was during this one-second pause.
"Boom—!!"
The Fireball Jutsu slammed squarely into Buggy!
The flames exploded, completely engulfing Buggy.
"Aaaaaaagh—!!!"
A piercing scream echoed through the sky.
Buggy was blasted deep into the nearby ruins by this smooth combo, his fate unknown.
The pirate lackeys nearby, who had been cheering for their Captain, were now all scared witless.
They looked at the red-eyed youth standing before the fire with an indifferent expression, and their weapons dropped to the ground one after another.
"Who... what is that guy's background..."
"Even Captain Buggy didn't have a chance to fight back..."
"Too terrifying... is he a demon?"
"Shut up! Idiot!"
A clever pirate immediately lay on the ground pretending to be dead, whispering tremulously.
"If he notices us, we're dead! Quick, pass out! As long as we're corpses, he won't kill us!"
In an instant, the pirates on the edge of the battlefield seemed to be hit by some mass spell, collapsing one by one with loud snoring.