Chapter 3
Yoru-kawa didn't bother walking all the way around the long coastline or looking for a boat.
Instead, he calmly walked to the edge of the beach, looked at the rolling waves, and simply stepped forward.
His feet landed steadily on the surface of the sea as though he were walking on solid ground!
A thin film of chakra formed beneath his soles, perfectly separating his shoes from the water.
Walking on water was practically an innate instinct for the Senju Clan once their chakra control reached a certain level.
Under the astonished gazes of seagulls overhead, Yoru-kawa strolled leisurely across the several-hundred-meter-wide bay and silently stepped onto the town's pier.
The moment he set foot on land, a thick, murky mix of cheap rum, fish stench, and faint gunpowder assaulted his nose.
The town before him was rundown: potholed streets, dilapidated houses, and drunken pirates staggering everywhere.
The instant this black-haired, out-of-place teenager appeared, he immediately drew countless stares.
Some were curious, some mocking, but most were the naked greed of wolves eyeing a fat sheep.
Yoru-kawa ignored them all and walked calmly down the street. His attention was quickly caught by a wall covered in densely packed sheets of paper.
Wanted posters!
"Jackpot. The best source of intel."
He walked straight over and began scanning the vicious-looking faces with bounties ranging from a few hundred thousand to several million berries.
Soon his pupils narrowed. His gaze locked onto one of the higher-value posters.
[WANTED]
[DEAD OR ALIVE]
["Hyena" Bellamy]
[Bounty: 55,000,000 Berries]
"Bellamy… 55 million berries…"
Seeing that familiar face, Yoru-kawa instantly pieced together the time and place.
"So this is Mock Town on Jaya Island!"
He immediately recalled the original story.
Mock Town—a lawless pirate haven in the first half of the Grand Line, a gathering spot and transit point for pirates.
Bellamy was one of the prominent figures of the new generation, an extreme admirer of Doflamingo.
"Since Bellamy is here, that means the timeline has reached the point where Luffy and the Straw Hats are about to head to Skypiea…"
Yoru-kawa kept scanning the wall of posters, but he didn't find that iconic straw hat grin.
"No bounty for Luffy yet…"
"That can only mean one thing!"
His eyes lit up.
"We're at the moment when Luffy has only just entered the Grand Line. His bounty hasn't reached here yet!"
This was excellent news for him!
It meant he had a decent window of relatively peaceful time to make preparations and raise his strength before the main characters arrived.
While he was thinking, trouble—as expected—came knocking.
"Hey, brat. Whatcha doing all alone?"
Two pirates reeking of alcohol blocked both ends of the narrow alley Yoru-kawa was in.
One of them even licked his lips, eyeing Yoru-kawa up and down with ill intent.
"Pretty nice-looking kid. Nice fair skin too. Some noble's runaway young master?"
"Heh, who cares! Let's see if he's got any berries on him!"
"If he doesn't, we can sell him to the slave traders. That'll still buy us plenty of booze!"
The other pirate grinned viciously and reached out with a huge paw toward Yoru-kawa's collar.
Yoru-kawa's eyes instantly turned ice-cold.
He knew that in a place like this, any sign of weakness would only invite a worse fate.
To survive, he had to bare his fangs.
The instant that hand was about to grab him, Yoru-kawa dropped low like a shadow.
His movement was cat-like—he slipped out of reach in a flash!
"Huh?!"
The pirate was stunned. He hadn't expected the kid to be that fast.
Before he could react, Yoru-kawa was already inside his guard.
He didn't use a single ninjutsu or even much chakra.
He only used the most basic taijutsu taught at the academy.
A perfectly executed leg sweep struck the pirate's ankle joint!
Crack!
"AARRGGHH!!!"
The pirate screamed as his massive body lost balance and crashed to the ground.
"You little bastard! You're dead!"
The second pirate flew into a rage, drew the scimitar at his waist, and brought it down toward Yoru-kawa's head with killing intent.
Yoru-kawa didn't dodge or block. At the last possible instant, he tilted his body at an impossible angle, letting the blade whistle past harmlessly.
At the same time, his hand formed a knife and chopped down on the pirate's wrist.
Crack!
The scimitar flew from the pirate's hand.
Immediately after, Yoru-kawa drove an elbow infused with precise force straight into the man's jaw.
BAM!
The pirate's eyes rolled back; he collapsed stiffly without even a groan, knocked out cold.
The entire exchange was smooth, clean, and over in three to five seconds.
Yoru-kawa didn't spare the two unconscious pirates a glance. He simply picked up the better of the two dropped scimitars and tucked it beside his ninja pouch.
In this world, a weapon was essential.
The pirates who had been watching for a good show suddenly froze, smiles disappearing as they instinctively took a few steps back.
At that moment, an exaggerated laugh came from the entrance of a nearby bar.
"Fufufu haha! What useless trash. Getting taken out by a kid so easily!"
Yoru-kawa turned toward the voice.
A tall man with wavy blond hair leaned against the doorframe, cigar in mouth, looking at him with amusement.
"Sword" Sarquiss—vice-captain of the Bellamy Pirates!
The two on the ground were clearly his subordinates.
Sarquiss blew out a ring of smoke, jerked his chin toward Yoru-kawa, and smirked at his crew.
"Hey, look at this. The kid hurt our guys…"
"But damn, a little brat being that strong? Now that's interesting. Fufufu haha!"
Still holding the cigar between his teeth, Sarquiss slowly walked out of the bar.
Seven or eight equally malicious-looking pirates followed behind him, subtly cutting off Yoru-kawa's escape routes.
"Not bad, kid. Taking out two of my men in a blink."
"Tell me your name. Which pirate crew are you with?"
Yoru-kawa calmly sized up Sarquiss.
He remembered this guy: 38 million berry bounty—higher than Arlong, the strongest officer under Bellamy.
But…
That bounty had a lot of water in it.