New World, an unnamed sea.
Rumble!
Cannon fire roared across the waters as smoke rolled over the waves. On the open sea, a brutal hunt was underway.
More than a dozen black speedboats, each flying a skull-and-crossbones flag, surged forward like a pack of ravenous wolves, surrounding a lone armed merchant ship.
"Hard to port—now!"
"Damn it! It's the Bloodfang slave hunters! Why are those mad dogs here?!"
On the merchant ship's deck, the captain of the guard—his armor shattered and his body soaked in blood—roared in despair.
Unrestrained, hysterical laughter echoed from the pirate ships.
"Men! Don't sink the ship!"
"This one's loaded! Word is they're carrying top-grade goods from Amazon Lily. Catch even one and you can live like a king on Sabaody Archipelago!"
"Charge! Kill the men—leave the women alive!"
Grappling hooks slammed into the railings as the slavers prepared to board.
Just as the crew of the merchant ship shut their eyes in despair—
Buzz!
A heart-stopping detonation erupted in the sky above.
It wasn't thunder.
It was a sonic boom—air torn apart by something moving at terrifying speed.
The next instant, a silver figure appeared without warning, suspended in midair between the two sides.
White robes fluttered. Silver hair danced wildly in the wind.
Uchiha Tobirama folded his arms, standing calmly in the void. Pale violet Rinnegan eyes looked down at the ships below as if they were nothing more than dust.
The battlefield fell into a deathly silence.
Whether it was the slavers mid-charge or the guards bracing for death, everyone froze and stared upward.
Flying… in the sky?
Tobirama ignored their stunned gazes. His vast mental perception swept outward, instantly grasping the situation.
"Perfect."
His voice was calm and unhurried, yet it clearly drowned out the crash of waves and carried into every ear.
"Excuse me."
"I'm new here and need a guide familiar with this sea."
"Who's capable of that?"
Silence.
Three seconds passed.
Then explosive laughter burst from the slave ships.
"A guide? Hahaha!"
"Where'd this idiot come from? Can't he see we're busy?"
A scar-faced captain with one eye stepped forward, a massive saber resting on his shoulder. He grinned viciously at Tobirama in the sky.
"Hey, pretty boy!"
"I don't know what Devil Fruit you ate to fly like that, but you've got a nice face."
"Get down here and put on a collar. We'll sell you to some Celestial Dragon ladies for hundreds of millions of Berries!"
The surrounding pirates howled with laughter.
"The boss is a genius!"
"This idiot's probably some country bumpkin from a backwater island!"
"Fire! Shoot him down!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets screamed upward. Even two cannon shells arced toward Tobirama.
On the merchant ship, the guard captain's face turned ashen.
"It's over… That lunatic—does he know who Bloodfang is?!"
In the sky, Tobirama didn't even blink.
He didn't dodge.
The bullets and shells struck an invisible barrier three meters from his body.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Boom!
The bullets ricocheted away. The shells detonated midair, failing to stir even a speck of dust on his robes.
As the smoke dispersed, Tobirama still hovered there, arms crossed, a trace of impatience on his face.
"…Really."
He shook his head. A cold killing intent flickered in his eyes.
"No matter the world, there are always ignorant ants testing my patience."
"If you don't want to be a guide—"
"Then become ashes."
Tobirama drew in a breath.
Chakra roared to life within him.
No hand seals.
At his level, even breathing could spell disaster.
Fire Release — Raging Flame Extinction!
He simply opened his mouth and exhaled.
What poured forth was not ordinary fire.
It was a sea.
A sea of crimson flames.
At first only a few meters wide, the flames expanded instantly, swelling with the wind into a colossal inferno thousands of meters across—blotting out sky and sun as it crashed down upon the slaver fleet.
The sky turned blood-red.
The seawater began to boil.
"What is that—Aaaah!"
The one-eyed captain's grin shattered into pure terror.
He tried to flee.
But there was nowhere to run.
"No! I'm with the World Govern—"
Boom!!
The sea of fire swallowed everything.
Ships, screams, steel—gone.
The warships carbonized on contact, disintegrating like paper.
The ocean boiled violently, white steam erupting skyward.
Three seconds.
That was all it took.
Aside from the merchant ship protected at the center, every slave vessel—and every pirate aboard—vanished without a trace.
Only black ash floated on the boiling sea.
One strike.
Annihilation.
Tobirama exhaled slowly, as if brushing away a swarm of flies.
"Too weak."
"They weren't even worth warming up."
On the merchant ship, silence reigned.
The guard captain's sword slipped from his fingers and clattered to the deck.
Hundreds of sailors stared in shock.
One move… and more than a dozen warships were erased?
Even Marine Admirals couldn't do that!
"God… a god!"
Someone cried out.
Legs gave way. People fell to their knees in droves.
In this world where strength ruled all, there was no other word for such power.
Tobirama vanished.
In the next instant, he stood calmly on the merchant ship's deck.
"Get up."
His gaze swept over the kneeling crowd, then settled on the cabin.
"I saved you. In return, I want information."
"And the three hiding inside—come out. There's no need to hide."
The cabin door creaked open.
Three figures stepped out.
The girl in front was twelve or thirteen, still young, yet already striking—jet-black hair, deep blue eyes, and features refined enough to hint at a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms.
Behind her, two younger sisters clung together, trembling.
Boa Hancock.
The future Pirate Empress.
A sharp glint flashed in Tobirama's eyes.
"Oh?"
"Good luck indeed."
He hadn't expected to encounter such a prize the moment he arrived.
At this time, Hancock had none of the pride she would one day wield. She looked more like a frightened kitten, shaken by the inferno she had just witnessed.
"T-thank you… thank you for saving us, sir…"
She tried to kneel with her sisters.
Tobirama lifted a hand. A gentle force stopped them.
"I don't like empty formalities."
He turned to the merchant captain, who was still shaking uncontrollably.
"I'll take these three."
"Leave the nautical charts and News Coo papers. Then abandon ship in the lifeboats."
The captain froze—then nearly wept with relief.
"Yes! Yes! Thank you for sparing us! The ship is yours—everything is yours!"
Staying near a monster who could boil the sea was far more terrifying than losing a ship.
Within ten minutes, everyone fled.
The deck was left empty.
Only Tobirama and the three sisters remained.
The sea breeze swept past.
Hancock clutched her sisters tightly and forced herself to look up.
"What… what do you want from us? If you plan to sell us—"
"Sell?"
Tobirama laughed softly, as if hearing a joke.
He walked to the railing and looked out at the endless sea, his back unfathomable.
"No one in this world can afford what I want."
Turning back, he pulled over a chair, sat down, crossed his legs, and pointed to a stool nearby.
"Sit."
"Relax."
With an air of detached calm, he spoke casually.
"I've been in seclusion, cultivating far from the world. I've just emerged and know little of current affairs."
"Since I saved you, let's call it fate."
"Tell me about this world."
"For example—what year is it, how the seas are divided, and who stands at the top."
Hancock hesitated.
Seclusion… cultivation?
Yet when she met Tobirama's gaze, something eased in her chest.
There was no greed in his eyes—only indifference to all things, and a faint, inscrutable appreciation, as though he were observing a rare artifact.
She took a deep breath and sat carefully.
"Yes… sir."
"The seas today belong to pirates…"
As her soft voice carried on, Tobirama's lips curved slightly.
"…Is Roger dead?"
And this future empress before him—
Since fate had brought them together, he would begin here.