"What are you waiting for!! KILL THEM!!"
"Once they're dead, all that treasure is yours!!"
Kuro's voice, thick with suppressed agony and venom, rasped from the deck of the pirate ship. In the stillness of the night, it sounded like a saw blade against bone.
The pirates, who had been frozen in terror by the Fireball Jutsu, finally snapped out of their daze. Looking back at their captain's murderous glare, fear of Kuro finally outweighed their fear of the flames.
"CHARGE!!" "KILL HIM!!" "FOR THE TREASURE!!"
The pirates roared again, brandishing their blades as they stormed up the slope. This time, however, they were smarter.
Instead of crowding the center like mindless flies, they fanned out, hugging the rocky walls on either side of the incline, moving with cautious, predatory movements as they kept their eyes locked on the terrifying boy who spat fire.
Standing below on the sand, Jango, desperate to save face after the earlier chaos, spun his razor-sharp pendulum. He glared up at Nami and shouted:
"In that case, I'll start by dealing with that woman! Take this!"
Jango struck a bizarre pose, swaying the pendulum rhythmically before Nami. "Listen closely. When I say 'One, two, Jango,' you will instantly fall into a deep sleep. Look at the ring..."
"One... two..."
Nami instinctively started to follow the swinging metal. However, standing right beside her, Viktor's crimson eyes shifted, casting a cold, indifferent gaze down at Jango.
Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique.
"Jango—"
Thud!
A dull sound echoed. The one who collapsed wasn't Nami, but Jango himself. He looked as if he had just seen the most horrifying thing imaginable; his eyes rolled back into his head, and he slumped onto the sand, foaming at the mouth.
"LORD JANGO?!!" The surrounding pirates were aghast.
"How did you hypnotize yourself?!" "Wake him up! Wake him up!"
The single tomoe in Viktor's eyes spun slowly before he retracted his gaze. Against someone with such weak mental fortitude, he didn't even need a high-level illusion.
By now, the vanguard of the pirates had reached the top. Nami, seeing the snarling, vicious men closing in, instinctively shrank back. She ducked behind Viktor, grabbing his coat and yelling:
"Go, Vice-Captain!! Go get my... I mean, go get our treasure back!!"
Viktor didn't bother responding to her nonsense.
Shing.
His figure vanished instantly. Viktor didn't retreat despite being outnumbered. On the contrary, a fierce battle intent surged within his red eyes. He wanted to know exactly how far his strength had come after the system's enhancements and his recent training. These pirates were the perfect whetstone for his blade.
At the top of the slope:
"Hey! Why did you hit me earlier?!" Usopp clutched the massive, throbbing bump on his head, glaring at Nami. "It hurts! Are you some kind of ogress?"
"Huh?" Nami's eyebrows shot up. She raised her staff again threateningly. "You got a problem with that?"
"N-no! None at all!" Usopp waved his hands frantically, backing away with a forced, placating smile. "Ahahaha, I was just joking! The atmosphere was just so tense... but speaking of which..."
He turned his head to watch Viktor below, who was cutting through the pirates like a wolf in a sheepfold. He swallowed hard. "...He really is amazing. He's like a demon..."
Nami lowered her staff and lifted her chin proudly, as if she were the one doing the fighting. "Hmph, of course. Now do you see the strength of our crew?"
"Then why aren't you fighting?"
Nami stiffened for a second before looking at him with pure, unadulterated confidence. "Excuse me? You're a man, and you're asking a delicate navigator like me a question like that? Aren't you ashamed?"
"HA?! DELICATE?!" Usopp's mouth twitched as he looked at the heavy wooden staff in her hand. But he took a deep breath, seemingly infected by the heat of the battle below. "Fine! In that case, the Great Captain Usopp shall join the fray! Leave the cover fire to me!"
He stepped to the cliff's edge, pulled back his slingshot, and aimed at the pirates below. "Take this!"
"Special Attack: Gunpowder Star!"
Nami huffed and crossed her arms. But as she watched Viktor's solitary back in the thick of the fight, she bit her lip. A strange emotion flickered in her heart. What's wrong with me... he's just a pirate... the treasure is what matters! Right!
Down on the slope, Viktor was in the zone.
Clang!
He parried a blade, sparks flying, before flicking his wrist and using the momentum to floor a pirate. Almost instantly, he felt the rush of wind from his right. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Viktor ducked low, letting a scimitar whistle over his hair.
In the next motion, he swept his leg out, sending the attacker crashing into the dirt.
"DIE!!" Two more pirates leaped from above, hacking down at him.
Viktor remained unfazed. He held his sword up with one hand, the "Clang" of the impact steady as he blocked both blades. His muscles tightened, chakra flared, and he shoved them back with explosive force. As they stumbled:
"Settle down."
Viktor's wrist blurred. His sword carved a cold arc of light through the air, precisely opening their throats.
Splatter.
"Urgh..." The two fell, clutching their necks.
The pirates behind them watched Viktor's fluid, ruthless movements and began to tremble. Their grips on their swords faltered; they hesitated to step forward.
"What's wrong? Not coming?"
Viktor felt himself entering a state of perfect clarity. Everything in his Sharingan's field of vision became slow and distinct. Every enemy's breath, the twitch of a muscle, the trajectory of a swing—he saw it all.
"Body Flicker."
His silhouette blurred again. Viktor went on the offensive, his blade piercing the heart of the nearest man. He followed up with a kick, sending the corpse flying like a cannonball into two other pirates behind him.
Because of the narrow terrain, the pirates' numbers didn't matter; only two or three could face him at once. This tactical advantage, combined with the Sharingan's dynamic vision, made Viktor an unstoppable force.
It was a one-sided slaughter. Within minutes, the slope was littered with groaning pirates. The survivors were truly terrified now. They looked at the black-haired boy who held the line alone and couldn't stop shaking. The night wind tossed Viktor's hair, revealing those eerie red eyes glowing in the dark.
"He's... he's a monster!!" One pirate finally broke. He dropped his sword with a "clatter," fell to his knees, and began to sob. "It's too scary! We can't win!"
Just as their morale was about to collapse entirely:
"What monster? Stop acting like cowards!" "Let the Meowban Brothers finish him!!"
The crowd parted to reveal two bizarre pirates wearing cat-claw gloves—Butchie and Sham.
Viktor stopped, expressionless, and flicked the blood off his blade, painting a red line on the ground. He bent his knees, preparing to end the two noisy "cats."
"Whoa, whoa, my dear Vice-Captain. At least leave some for me."
"WAHH!! VIKTOR! SO COOL! You took them all down! Shishishishi!"
A boisterous laugh rang out from behind. Luffy, clutching his straw hat, and a grumpy-looking Zoro finally emerged from the darkness and reached the battlefield.
Viktor turned to look at the two latecomers. A small smirk touched his lips, though his voice remained sharp. "You're too slow, you idiots."
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