The night deepened slowly.
Rosse and the others, who were chatting idly, had no intention of resting at all.
Within the range of Observation Haki, those Wano samurai had always been nearby.
Even the villagers in this settlement were secretly helping to cover for them, in order to hide their movements.
But those disguises were basically futile. The strongest among them was only at C-rank, and their attacks relied purely on hot-blooded zeal.
Forget Rosse and Gion, whose Observation Haki was enhanced by their Devil Fruit powers, even Moria's Observation Haki could see them crystal clear.
"Kishishishi, they're running out of patience," Just as they were chatting, Moria suddenly spoke.
At the same time, about 500 meters away from the house they were staying in, nearly a thousand people were closing in under the cover of night.
"I'll go," Gion lightly placed her right hand on Konpira, already making the motion of standing up.
A thousand people sounded like a lot, but they were nothing but small fry. For her, it was only a matter of time.
"I've been sitting around so long I'm about to rust. This time, I'll go myself," Rosse smiled faintly at the corner of his mouth, gave Gion a look to stop her, loosened his arms that were holding Toki and Olvia in his lap, and slowly stood up.
Mosquitoes may be small, but they're still meat.
A thousand people could serve as an appetizer.
Seeing Rosse stand up, the others made no move at all.
Since Rosse wanted to handle it, naturally they had no need to even think of making a move.
In Rosse's crew, his word carried absolute authority.
If he said he'd go himself, the others wouldn't even suggest helping cover.
"Toki," As he stood and walked toward the door, Rosse called out with a smile, "Come with me."
"Huh?", Toki pointed at herself in surprise.
'Since when did I qualify to participate in battle too?'
With her strength, ambushing one or two might be fine, but joining a battlefield like this, wouldn't she just die in a second?
"You only need to move forward. Leave the rest to me."
Rosse laughed heartily. As he opened the door, he crooked a finger at her.
In that instant, a veil of seawater wrapped around Toki's body, sweeping her along behind Rosse as they walked outside together.
The others, seeing Toki being taken along, had no intention of helping either.
It was just a bunch of small fry.
As long as Rosse provided protection, Toki's safety wasn't in question.
The only thing left to consider was simply that everyone wanted to see how Rosse would support Toki.
Rosse and Toki hadn't even walked far out of the door before they collided with the incoming samurai.
From the street corner, a flood of figures rushed out. The gleam of drawn blades flashed coldly under the moonlight. It was the Wano samurai who had been plotting for a long time.
The moment Rosse's towering, iconic figure entered their sight, it was like a spark tossed into a powder keg, instantly igniting their pent-up fury and fervor.
Excited blushes spread across the samurai's cheeks, pupils contracted from the thrill.
"Bastard Rosse, Wano does not welcome you!"
"Anyone who insults Wano must be punished, no matter how far!"
"KILL! KILL! KILL!"
"KILL ROSSE! SEIZE TOKI!"
"..."
Over a thousand samurai shouted their passionate yet chaotic slogans. The air itself thickened with killing intent and fighting spirit.
They all thought Rosse, standing alone with a burden in tow, was already fat meat on the chopping block.
None of them even considered that perhaps they were the prey.
"BROTHERS, CHARGE!"
With a thunderous roar, all restraint shattered.
The thousand samurai burst forth like wild horses broken free of reins, their war cries shaking the night sky, weapons of every kind in hand, rushing straight toward Rosse.
A thousand men.
Even if they were all just sword-wielding samurai, the sight was still magnificent.
The narrow village streets were now completely flooded by this torrent of warriors, not a gap in sight, as if it would swallow everything ahead.
"Truly spectacular," Toki's pupils contracted sharply as she gazed at the scene.
Such a thousand-man charge was something she had almost never seen in her memory, let alone having it directed right at her.
But... She glanced at Rosse standing in front of her and felt unusually at ease.
Even against ten thousand, with him there, one man was enough.
But before she could let her thoughts run further, Rosse suddenly spoke, "Charge."
"Huh?"
Toki didn't even process it.
Or rather, she had never once thought that, at the moment when a thousand were charging at them, she would be charging at the front.
But no matter how she reacted, her steps did not stop.
That veil of seawater around her body was pushing her forward, driving her ahead at great speed.
When she realized her body had already passed Rosse, Toki was completely dumbfounded.
She had indeed prepared herself to sacrifice if necessary. But sacrifice and battle were completely different things.
In her script, this part had never existed.
"Kill!!"
By now, the warriors just a hundred meters away had already rushed close.
Even in the darkness, Toki could see the faces of the nearest samurai. Excitement mixed with savage joy.
They didn't look like they were charging at an enemy. They looked like they wanted to devour her whole.
Fear.
Instinctively, Toki raised her right hand to block.
But—
Whoosh!
A high-pressure water blade shot from her hand, slashing straight at the closest samurai.
Psshht! Psshht!
The sound of flesh being sliced rang out. Under Toki's utterly stunned gaze, the water blade easily split the samurai's body apart, then continued for over ten meters, cutting nearly ten more people before dissipating.
Blood instantly sprayed under the moonlight.
This bloody slaughter made the front row of samurai hesitate slightly.
But they quickly charged forward again.
The ones at the back didn't even know what had happened. Or rather, even if they did, the point was to use bodies to drain the enemy's stamina. The front-line samurai were destined to be cannon fodder anyway.
Watching the warriors come closer, Toki knew Rosse would protect her, but still couldn't help jumping back.
As she leapt into the air, dozens of water swords formed before her, condensed from seawater.
The instant she landed, the swords shot out, cutting through the night sky straight at the samurai.
SHUUH! SHUUH! SHUUH!
Under Toki's wide-eyed stare, the water swords became like meat grinders. Each sweep, each thrust, effortlessly took a samurai's life.
Block? Dodge?
Whatever the samurai tried was useless.
Raise a weapon to block, and the water sword would slice through both weapon and wielder alike.
Try to dodge, and they would find their speed far below the water swords, hunted down and killed with ease.
"Not even on the same level...", Toki murmured to herself, staring deeply at the bloody carnage before her.
She knew Rosse was strong, and had even imagined him unleashing Conqueror's Haki to flatten everyone.
But that kind of domineering display was nowhere near as shocking as this.
Now, she felt like she was seeing everything through Rosse's own eyes.
With just a light wave of the hand, a single water blade cut down swaths of enemies.
With a small leap, dozens of water swords flew out, and not a single person could get close.
The samurai were barely ten meters from her.
But those ten meters, for them, were like a natural moat.
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