Chapter 27: The Crumbling "hundred plans", The Wounded Beast
Kuro's eyes widened to their limit in an instant, his pupils filled with disbelief and horror.
How is this possible?!
That name... how could he know it?!
This was a past he had spent three years completely erasing!
But he was, after all, a battle-hardened master of Taijutsu; at such a critical moment of life and death, instinct drove his reaction.
"Silent Step!"
Kuro endured the sharp pain in his chest, stomped his foot, and his figure retreated several meters.
He clutched his bleeding wound, the blood staining his white gloves red.
Those eyes hidden behind his glasses instantly shed all refinement, transforming from a disguised gentle butler into a bloodthirsty beast ready to devour its prey.
"Who... exactly are you!!" Kuro roared, his voice distorted by pain.
*Clang—*
Tatsuya leisurely drew his longsword, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground, and looked at him with a smile.
"Ah, sorry about that. My hand slipped just now; you shouldn't mind, right?"
Tatsuya tilted his head, his red Sharingan appearing exceptionally eerie in the shadows.
"As for who I am? I'm that... 'filthy, low-class pirate' you mentioned."
Before the words had even faded, the smile on Tatsuya's face instantly turned sinister.
"Body Flicker Technique!"
"Swoosh!"
Only an afterimage remained in the air.
In the next second, Tatsuya had appeared out of thin air in front of Kuro.
The longsword in his hand carried a sharp whistling wind as it thrust mercilessly toward his throat!
"What?!"
Kuro's eyes widened behind his glasses. This speed?!
How is it possible?!
"Shakushi!!"
Kuro didn't dare take it head-on and immediately activated his ultimate technique.
His figure instantly vanished from the spot, moving at high speeds difficult for the naked eye to track, attempting to circle to Tatsuya's blind spot for a counter-kill.
But under the dynamic vision of the Sharingan, Kuro's movement trajectory was like a movie in slow motion.
"Too slow."
Tatsuya didn't even turn his head; he just flicked his wrist, and the longsword slashed fiercely toward the air behind him to his left!
"Splurt!!"
The sound of the blade entering flesh was clearly audible.
"Argh!!!"
A shrill cry of pain rang out.
Tatsuya turned his body, increasing his strength.
The blade fell!
A left arm wearing a black suit jacket was tossed high into the air along with a spray of blood, before landing heavily on the grass.
Kuro's figure stumbled out, clutching the stump of his arm, his face as pale as paper.
At this moment, there wasn't a trace of the "hundred plans" ferocity left on his face.
Looking at Tatsuya's red eyes, his heart was filled with nothing but endless fear.
"You... how can you see through my movements..."
Kuro retreated tremblingly. "Is it because of... those red eyes?"
"It's because you're too slow."
Tatsuya said coldly, having no intention of wasting words.
He put away his longsword and quickly formed hand seals, Chakra condensing frantically in his throat, preparing to end the battle in one fell swoop.
"Fire Release..."
"AAAAAH!!!!"
Just then, an earth-shattering scream echoed from ahead.
It was Kaya.
The hand seals Tatsuya was forming couldn't help but pause.
He had specifically chosen this secluded blind spot to deal with Kuro quietly and avoid frightening the young lady.
He didn't expect her to find her way here.
"A chance!"
Although Kuro had lost an arm, the cunning of a veteran pirate allowed him to instantly seize this sole chance of survival.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
With his remaining right hand, he fiercely threw several throwing knives straight at Tatsuya's face.
Then, enduring the intense pain, he activated "Shakushi" once more, turning into a black shadow and frantically darting into the nearby dense forest.
"Trying to run?"
Tatsuya was about to give chase, but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Kaya.
This frail and sickly young lady had witnessed the bloody scene of her usually gentle butler's arm being severed, and her eyes were wide with terror.
Then her body went limp, and she was about to collapse onto the ground.
"Tsk. Next time, then."
Tatsuya had no choice but to give up the pursuit. He swung his sword—ting ting ting—knocking the throwing knives away, and then activated the Body Flicker Technique.
"Shua."
A second before Kaya hit the ground, he caught her steadily.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for defeating the target: "hundred plans"—Kuro.]
[Combat Evaluation: A (Clean and efficient, but failed to deliver the finishing blow).]
[Obtained Ninja Points: 400.]
"Hey! What are you doing!!"
Usopp's angry shout came from the distance.
Soon after, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami also came running over in a hurry.
Nami stepped forward quickly and took the unconscious Kaya from Tatsuya's arms.
She glanced at the severed arm on the grass, then at Tatsuya holding his sword, her eyes widening in shock.
"Tatsuya! Why did you suddenly slash someone?! That's the butler!"
Tatsuya flicked the blood off his sword and sighed.
"He's no butler.
"If I'm not mistaken, he's a famous pirate, the former Captain of the Black Cat Pirates, "hundred plans"—Kuro."
Tatsuya pointed toward the forest. "He disguised himself as a butler and lurked here for three years; he must have had ulterior motives.
"Just now, when I exposed him, he tried to kill me to silence me."
Luffy pressed down on his straw hat, looked at Tatsuya, and a bright smile suddenly appeared on his face.
"Ah, I see. Tatsuya, I believe you."
No suspicion at all, only absolute trust.
Beside them, Zoro crossed his arms and immediately began to think.
"Ah... I remember now. Three years ago, there did seem to be a great pirate in the East Sea named Kuro with a bounty of 16 million Berries."
"But I recall the news saying he had already been captured and executed by the Marines?"
"16 million?! That's amazing!!"
Luffy's focus was always unique, his eyes wide as saucers.
"So... that butler... is really a pirate?!"
Having just run over, Usopp's jaw dropped in disbelief upon hearing this.
But looking at the severed arm on the ground and Tatsuya's serious expression, he already believed most of it.
Then he snapped out of it and looked at the unconscious Kaya, shouting anxiously:
"Anyway, let's take Miss Kaya to rest first! Her health is already poor!"
"Yeah, leave it to me."
Nami immediately hoisted Kaya onto her back, preparing to take her to the mansion.
As she passed by Tatsuya, Nami paused for a moment.
She looked at Tatsuya's calm profile and remembered her own indiscriminate shouting just now, and a hint of guilt welled up in her heart.
She leaned closer to Tatsuya and whispered with a reddened face:
"Sorry... Tatsuya. I misunderstood you just now."
Tatsuya gave her a strange look and tilted his ear as if he hadn't heard clearly:
"Huh? What?"
"..."
A vein instantly popped on Nami's forehead, and her guilt vanished into thin air.
"Drop dead!!!"
"Hey! You people over there! What have you done to Miss Kaya!!"
Just then, the mansion guards, having heard Kaya's scream earlier, arrived aggressively with weapons.
...
On the other side.
Deep in the dense forest.
"Huff... huff..."
Kuro, who had fled into the forest, clutched the wound of his severed arm, blood constantly seeping through his fingers.
His face was pale as he limped desperately toward the coast.
His Black Cat Pirates were stationed right there!
At this moment, his expression was incredibly gloomy, his features twisted together from pain and hatred.
The way things had developed was completely beyond all his expectations.
His originally perfect plan had actually been ruined by that red-eyed brat!
And he had even lost an arm!
"Damn it!! What kind of monster is that!!"
Kuro recalled those red eyes that seemed to see through everything, and a chill still ran down his spine.
But the malice in his eyes grew thicker and thicker.
"Unforgivable... absolutely unforgivable..."
He was going back!
Rally his old subordinates!
A full-scale assault!
"I'm going to slaughter that whole Village and those damn brats!!!"
"I will definitely make you pay the price!!!"
In the forest, a low, crazed growl like that of a wounded beast echoed.