vncnus 47. Crow Ninja
47. Crow Ninja
Norton led Sanosuke into the captain's cabin, where the treasure chest they had taken from the turtle's back sat on a long black table.
That was the only one of the nine treasure chests on the Treasure Chest Turtle's back that contained something: a Devil Fruit of unknown type.
"Have you thought it through?" Norton opened the treasure chest and pushed the Devil Fruit inside, which looked like it was covered in black feathers, in front of Sanosuke.
"If you eat it, there will be no chance to regret it. You will become a landlubber who can't swim."
In Norton's view, this was a huge gamble.
If the acquired abilities are not powerful enough, it's a completely unprofitable deal.
"I've made up my mind, King!" However, despite Norton's persuasion, Sanosuke's gaze remained firm.
The defeat to Zoro left Sanosuke deeply troubled. Although he had long anticipated being surpassed one day, he hadn't expected it to happen so soon!
Since Zoro joined the crew, Sanosuke has been training hard every moment, but even so, he still can't beat talent.
On this vast ocean, there is undoubtedly only one path left for ordinary people to rival geniuses...
That is to eat a Devil Fruit!
Devil Fruits, known as the treasures of the sea, can grant users incredible powers and change a person's destiny!
"Alright, since you've decided, then eat it..." Norton said in a low voice.
"Perfect timing... I'm also curious about what this Devil Fruit's power is."
The Devil Fruit on the treasure turtle's back is somewhat legendary, so it shouldn't be a particularly bad ability, otherwise it wouldn't have been preserved.
Upon hearing this, Sanosuke nodded, picked up the Devil Fruit with its black feather-like peel, and ate it without hesitation.
Immediately afterwards, Sanosuke's expression turned ugly.
If I had to describe it, it would be like eating the most disgusting thing in the world.
But Sasuke, true to his ninja nature, chewed up the entire Devil Fruit without uttering a sound and swallowed it.
Norton couldn't help but give a thumbs up. He had long heard that Devil Fruits were as disgusting as shit, and sure enough, even Sanosuke, who could eat the devil pepper without batting an eye, changed his expression!
"How are you feeling? Can you use your abilities now?" Norton asked.
Sanosuke looked down at his hands and clenched them.
"I feel...something amazing is happening to my body...my strength...has increased!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Sanosuke suddenly bowed, and then black feathers suddenly floated up in the room!
Sanosuke spreads his body, and his arms transform into a pair of black wings!
"A Zoan-type?" Norton nodded slightly. "It looks like the ability to turn into a bird."
"Zoan type, Bird-Bird Fruit, Crow Mode." Sanosuke said the name of the Devil Fruit naturally.
"How are you feeling?" Norton asked.
"After transforming, I've improved in every way. Now, I can definitely defeat Roronoa Zoro!" Sanosuke's eyes gleamed.
"Then let's give it a try!" A voice suddenly came from outside the door.
Zoro stood at the doorway, holding his three swords, staring at Sanosuke, who had turned into a black ninja crow, and revealing his gleaming white teeth.
You want to turn things around right after you've just finished eating the fruit?
no way!
...
The top deck of Baratie, a sweltering afternoon before a downpour.
The pirates, sensing the approaching threat, formed a wide circle.
In the center, Zoro confronts Sanosuke, who has entered his half-beast form and has his wings spread halfway.
Sasuke's hands remained in the form of claws, but he had already taken out his ninja sword and three black kunai from his ninja tool pouch and gripped them in reverse.
"Three-Sword Style: Demon Slash!"
Zoro showed no intention of testing him; he immediately unleashed a deadly attack!
The figure transformed into a green gust of wind and charged forward, its three blades sealing off the upper, middle, and lower routes, the blades flashing fiercely like the wailing of ghosts!
A glint flashed in Sanosuke's crimson vertical pupils, and instead of retreating, he advanced!
A piercing clang of metal clashing rang out!
Zoro's three swords were steadily blocked by those seemingly soft wings. They cut in only a few inches before being jammed by the dense feathers and wing bones, sparking dazzling sparks!
"What?!" Zoro was shocked; the hardness of these wings far exceeded his expectations!
"Black Feathers Scatter!" Sanosuke shouted, and his wings that were holding the blades suddenly flapped, sending countless sharp-edged black feathers shooting backward like a rainstorm, heading straight for Zoro's face!
Zoro retreated hastily, his sword flashing protectively: "Dual Sword Style: Reversal!"
Most of the black feathers were knocked away, but a few still grazed his cheeks and arms, leaving thin, bloody marks!
Although it wasn't deep, it made Zoro's expression turn completely serious.
"It's not over yet!"
With a flap of his wings, Sanosuke glided sideways like a ghost, his left hand wielding a ninja sword that pierced Zoro's ribs, while his right hand fired three kunai in a triangular formation toward Zoro's eyes and throat! His attack speed was nearly half again as fast as before!
Zoro parried the ninja sword with his own sword, narrowly dodged two kunai by turning his head, and knocked the third one away with the tsuba of his Wado Ichimonji sword.
But Sanosuke's offensive was relentless—he no longer relied solely on strength, but perfectly combined the swift and unpredictable taijutsu of a ninja with the terrifying physical attributes granted by his Black Crow form!
Sometimes he uses his wings as a shield to withstand the blades, sometimes he uses his claws to launch fierce physical attacks, and sometimes he uses his wingspan to glide briefly and throw kunai from above or behind Zoro, where Zoro has difficulty defending.
The jet-black feathers drifted with his movements, sometimes condensing into tiny, dazzling whirlwinds, and sometimes shooting out like iron caltrops to create disturbance.
"One-Sword Style: Flying Dragon!" Zoro seized an opening and unleashed a swift and fierce slash!
Sasuke neither dodged nor evaded; his left wing formed a shield in front of him to take the blow head-on, while his right wing, like a giant black scythe, slashed across Zoro's waist with a fierce whistling sound!
Trade wounds for wounds!
Zoro was forced to change his attack, his sword flashing as he parried the wing attack—
boom! !
Zoro felt a tremendous force, like a mountain collapsing, coming from the blade. The deck beneath his feet shattered with a "crack," and he was forced back five steps by the wing strike, his chest heaving with blood and qi!
"His speed and strength are still increasing... He's adapting to the Devil Fruit!" Zoro gritted his teeth, his fighting spirit burning even brighter.
"Ink Raven Secret Technique: Feather Blade Storm!"
Suddenly, Sanosuke leaped into the air, his wings vibrating violently at an extremely high frequency! Thousands of black feathers detached from his wings, not scattering randomly, but forming two intersecting, cutting black whirlwinds that swept towards Zoro, following the trajectory of his wing flapping! The area was enormous, almost covering half the deck!
Zoro's pupils contracted, and he held up three swords in front of him: "Three-Sword Style: Great Tornado!"
A dark blue tornado of sword wind met the black feather storm!
The two forces collided, creating a gust of wind that sent shattered black feathers and cyan shards flying everywhere, causing the onlookers to scream and retreat.
As the smoke and dust cleared, Zoro could be seen breathing heavily, his sleeves torn and bleeding in several places.
Meanwhile, the light on Sanosuke's wings in the air was slightly dim, and new feathers were slowly growing out, but his downward momentum did not decrease but increased!
"Raven Strike - Falling Star Kill!" He folded his body and wings together like a shuttle, with his ninja sword in front and his claws behind, transforming into a jet-black meteor that pierced down with a speed beyond the reach of sight!
This is a deadly strike that combines ninja-style falling techniques with the diving power of a Zoan-type creature!
Zoro roared, unleashing a three-sword slash upwards in a reverse motion: "Three-Sword Style: Demon Slash!"
A louder and more ear-piercing impact than ever before erupted!
At the point where the two clashed, the deck could no longer withstand the pressure and collapsed, creating a large crater!
Smoke and sawdust shot into the sky!
Once the dust had settled, Zoro was seen kneeling at the bottom of the pit, his three swords firmly blocking Sanosuke's thrusting ninja sword and the sharp claws pressed against the back of the swords.
Sanosuke, on the other hand, hovered above using his wings and pressed down with all his might.
The two men wrestled, their muscles bulging and veins standing out. Their power clashed wildly through the blades and claws, producing a teeth-grinding scraping sound.
With the momentum of his dive and the slight adjustment of his wings, Sanosuke even gained a slight advantage, gradually pushing Zoro deeper into the depths!
The pirates watching were completely silent, stunned by this groundbreaking scene.
That's enough.
Norton's calm voice rang out, yet it carried an undeniable pressure, as if an invisible hand were separating the two.
Sanosuke folded his wings, landed lightly, and slowly retracted his claws and wings into his body, transforming back into human form.
He was breathing heavily, and sweat was beading on his forehead, but his eyes burned with a fervent light—the excitement of having his desire to catch up with and even surpass others met.
Zoro sheathed his sword and stood up, giving Sanosuke a deep look: "Interesting... very interesting! Next time, I'll cut through your black fur and bones too!"
"I'm waiting," Sanosuke replied coldly.
Norton's gaze swept over the two of them, finally settling on Sanosuke:
"The physical enhancement brought by the Zoan type makes up for your shortcomings, and your idea of combining the new ability with the original combat methods as a ninja is good."
But remember, this is just the beginning. Developing the depth of the fruit is more important than simply using brute force.
"Yes, King!" Sanosuke bowed.
In the crowd, Sanji silently stubbed out his cigarette and turned to walk towards the kitchen.
No one noticed the sharp glint in his eyes. Amidst the roar and fumes of the kitchen, he leaned against the cold iron wall and slowly raised his right leg.
boom! boom! boom!
The heavy, precise kicks landed on the inside of the thick iron door panel, leaving shallow dents.
His gaze was terrifyingly focused. He couldn't... he absolutely couldn't let those two battle maniacs leave him too far behind.
...
Three days later.
"All ships have been reinforced!"
Funing's voice was broadcast throughout the fleet via a megaphone Den Den Mushi.
"The keel has been double-reinforced, the hull has been covered with oil-impregnated hardwood, and all key cables have been replaced with stranded steel cables crafted using the techniques of the Giants!"
The fleet, flying the flag of the Norton Pirates, formed a wedge formation.
Although many of the ships are still battered and show signs of repair, thanks to the tireless efforts of the shipwrights, at least every ship now has the capability to withstand the wind and waves.
"set sail!"
The fleet slowly sailed out of the relatively calm sea area.
However, just half a day later, the celestial phenomena suddenly changed!
The distant horizon seemed to be smeared black by a giant hand, and the thick, lead-gray cloud wall advanced at an illogical speed. What rolled in the clouds was not only lightning, but also an eerie bluish-purple light.
The air pressure dropped sharply, and even seabirds fled in terror.
"A massive, complex storm! A weather hell unique to the entrance to the Grand Line!"
Nami rushed to the observation deck. "Everyone! Lower all mainsails immediately! Leave only the jib sails to maintain minimum rudder effectiveness! Secure everything that can be fastened to the deck! Quickly!"
Commands were put into action, and the pirates rushed about like wound-up springs.
When the first "wall of water," more than fifteen meters high and carrying white foam and wood debris, crashed down like a tidal wave, the reinforcement project that Funing had overseen in advance proved its worth—not a single ship disintegrated or broke apart in the first impact!
But this is just the beginning.
The rain didn't just fall; it poured down as if the sky had shattered.
Visibility dropped to zero; all you could hear was the howling of the wind, the roar of the waves, the fury of the thunder, and the groans of the ship's timbers straining under the weight.
Giant waves surged in from all directions without any pattern, tossing ships up and down. Even with ropes tied to the deck, people were thrown off and seriously injured.
"35 degrees to starboard! Full rudder! Avoid that undercurrent vortex!"
Nami senses the movement of air with her skin, captures the sounds from the depths of the waves with her ears, and uses a kind of innate intuition to outline a fleeting survival route for the fleet in dire straits.
For three whole hours, it felt like being tossed around in a washing machine in purgatory.
When the storm finally subsided and the broken sunlight pierced the clouds like sharp swords, almost everyone collapsed to the ground, like stranded fish, with only the strength to gasp for breath.
"Take inventory of the ships! Report casualties!" Norton's voice remained steady.
Fu Ning suppressed her dizziness and began to count the shadows of ships bobbing on the sea.
One, two, three... twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six...
She counted twice, and her expression suddenly became somewhat strange.
"Reporting to King, the fleet... all twenty-seven ships are present."
She paused, then added, "But...we seem to be in the wrong place."
Norton walked to the edge of the bridge and looked out.
The fleet, led by the White Pearl, was now floating in an extremely strange sea area.
A thin, grayish-white mist filled the surroundings, and the seawater was a deep, almost blackish blue, smooth as a mirror, without a ripple or any visible waves.
The sky here appears low and gloomy, with dim light.
The strangest thing is that there is no wind at all, not even the slightest air movement, and the canvas hangs limply.
"The Calm Belt..."
Zeff's hoarse voice came from the side, carrying the solemnity of an old pirate, "And the deepest, most deathly kind... usually that means..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood.
As if to confirm the worst-case scenario, unnatural ripples began to appear on the dark, mirror-like sea around the White Pearl.
First, grayish-white bony spikes covered with barnacles and corals pierced the water's surface, standing less than 100 meters to the right front of the ship.
Then, the seawater on the port side rose up, revealing a winding ridge wider than the White Pearl, covered in dark green seaweed, with a house-sized orange-yellow eye coldly turning and locking onto the hull.
Directly ahead, several purplish-black tentacles, each over three meters in diameter and covered with suckers and horny barbs, quietly emerged from the water, swaying and approaching slowly like venomous snakes.
More shadows emerged in the deep water, their outlines bizarre and grotesque, subtly enveloping the White Pearl and the surrounding fleet.
Sea Kings!
And it wasn't just one, it was a whole group!
They seemed to have been awakened from their deep-sea slumber by the commotion of the storm or the intrusion of the fleet.
Ordinary cannons and swords seem utterly ridiculous in the face of monsters of this size.