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East Blue – Conomi Islands
Arlong Park
Zoro, despite being very injured, with a weak body and barely able to maintain his focus to use Haki, quickly dodges the constant attacks from Hatchan's six swords using Observation, defending with Wado Ichimonji when he couldn't dodge.
An opening then appears when Hatchan performs an attack at a very wide angle, leaving his back practically exposed, and upon seeing this, Zoro takes the chance to deliver a downward diagonal slash across Hatchan's back, marking him with a deep cut.
"Doesn't seem like you have much more to show, so I'll finish this quickly", Zoro calmly comments, realizing that Hatchan's strength didn't go beyond that, and despite being unable to use any kind of Haki other than Observation due to his injuries, he wouldn't need much more to defeat the Fish-Man in front of him.
"I don't mind losing, but I'm going to give it my all! Be careful, big bro Arlong is way stronger than all of us, he knows how to use something called Armament Haki, so it won't be easy for you to defeat him", Hatchan says in pain, getting into an attack position again.
"Hmm, my crew knows how to handle themselves, and about Arlong, if that's all that guy's got, then he's no challenge at all for my Captain", Zoro says before taking the initiative, charging at him using Soru, which causes his wounds to reopen.
And despite his open wounds, Zoro endures the pain in silence and delivers an upward slash from left to right, clashing midway with the downward attack from right to left of three of Hatchan's swords.
The shrill sound of metal grinding against metal echoes through the area, and despite his body being weak and tired from the injuries, Zoro, with his overwhelming strength, pushes Wado forward without resistance, cutting Hatchan's three swords in half.
As soon as Hatchan's swords are cut, Zoro takes advantage of the opening to deliver a powerful headbutt to his nose, sending his head flying backward as his nose gushes blood.
Doing a backward roll, Hatchan quickly gets back on his feet, distancing himself from Zoro.
"Come at me with everything, Hatchan, the next one will be my last strike!", Zoro exclaims with a predatory smile, sheathing his sword and then lowering his center of gravity, entering an attack stance.
Hatchan, passing one of his remaining swords to one of his left arms, also enters an attack stance.
The palpable tension in the air is then broken as the two disappear from their spots, only to reappear with their backs to each other, having switched places.
Slowly sheathing his sword, with this movement being the only indication that it had been unsheathed at some point, Zoro murmurs, "Ittoryu Iai: Shishi Sonson."
As soon as the click of the sword being fully sheathed echoes through the area, a deep cut, gushing blood, appears on Hatchan's torso, who can't withstand the shock and faints, collapsing to the ground.
While straightening his posture, Zoro, spitting a mouthful of blood due to his open wounds, suddenly hears Luffy's voice shouting from the sky, "Gomu Gomu no Atomic Punch."
And then, he hears for a second a thunderous "Ziummmmmm" of something falling from the sky at supersonic speed before a massive crash echoing throughout the entire island, making it shake completely, effectively drawing the attention of the island's citizens, who until that moment had been completely unaware of what was happening.
Zoro, dazed, watches as the fifty-story Arlong Park building crumbles before his eyes, a huge cloud of dust and debris rising as it collapses.
When the cloud clears, Zoro stands still, observing the destruction around him for a few moments before sitting tiredly on the ground, his wounds bathing him in his own blood as he thinks with a smile, 'Show-off mother fucker! Didn't even need all that to beat that weakling, and the worst part is that level of destruction wasn't even him going all out. Yeah, fuck! I've got a long road ahead if I want to keep up with this idiot.'
Meanwhile, in Cocoyasi Village, the villagers turn toward the direction where they heard the loud crash.
"What the hell was that? I even felt the ground shake", a scarred man says quietly, looking toward where the sound came from.
"Arlong Park is over there", one of the citizens beside him comments.
"Everyone, nothing's happening, don't worry, everything's fine", Nojiko says, approaching.
Genzo looks at the young woman in front of him for a moment before saying, "Spill it, Nojiko, what's going on?"
"I already told you, nothing's happening", Nojiko says, knowing that once they found out, they'd want to help.
"If you won't tell us, I'll go see what's going on", Genzo says, starting to move.
"I'm coming too", the villagers begin to say one after another.
"Wait! Okay, I'll tell you, but you have to promise that once you know, you won't interfere with what's going on", Nojiko says, raising her hands in surrender.
"I can't promise you that, Nojiko", Genzo says, stopping in his tracks and looking at her.
Nojiko then starts explaining what's happening, racking her brain for a way to prevent them from interfering in Nami's fight.
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(AN: 872 Words)
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