One Piece: I Awakened the Ninja Template System - Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Straw Hat Pirates
The gates of Arlong Park slammed open.
“Hachi needs a doctor!”
Hatchan rushed across the courtyard, carrying Kuroobi in four of his arms and Chew’s lifeless body in the remaining two. The surviving Fish-Men followed him, supporting their wounded companions.
Laughter and conversation died instantly.
Arlong rose from his chair beside the pool.
The moment he saw Kuroobi’s burned body, his casual expression disappeared.
“Kuroobi!”
He crossed the courtyard in several long strides. Hatchan carefully lowered the injured martial artist onto the stone floor.
Kuroobi’s breathing was shallow. Much of his clothing had burned away, exposing blackened skin and terrible burns.
Arlong knelt beside him.
“What happened?”
“The human did this,” Hatchan said.
Tears ran down his face as he placed Chew’s body nearby.
Arlong stared at the wooden spike protruding from the back of Chew’s head.
The entire courtyard became silent.
Even the most violent members of the Arlong Pirates looked shaken. Chew and Kuroobi weren’t ordinary fighters. Both had survived the Grand Line and sailed beneath Fisher Tiger as members of the Sun Pirates.
Yet one was dead, and the other might soon join him.
Arlong touched Kuroobi’s shoulder.
The martial artist groaned.
“Get the doctor!” Arlong roared.
A Fish-Man with a medical bag hurried forward.
“Bring him inside,” the doctor ordered. “Carefully. Don’t touch the burned areas.”
Several pirates lifted Kuroobi onto a wooden board.
Hatchan tried to follow.
Arlong caught one of his arms.
“Tell me everything.”
“But Kuroobi—”
“The doctor will keep him alive. Tell me what happened.”
Hatchan looked toward the doorway through which Kuroobi had disappeared. Then he wiped his eyes and began explaining.
He described Born Village, scout fishmen, and the Fish-Man who had run toward them claiming to be the only survivor.
“He wasn’t really one of us,” Hatchan said. “He changed back into a human when Kuroobi hit him.”
Arlong’s eyes narrowed.
“Changed?”
“He made smoke, and then he looked different.”
Hatchan continued.
The human had summoned wooden vines from the ground. Those vines restrained Fish-Men and drained their strength. He moved faster than most of them could follow, survived injuries that should have crippled him, and created weapons from wood.
Then he breathed fire.
“He burned Kuroobi,” Hatchan said, his voice breaking. “Chew tried to help him. The human appeared behind Chew and…”
His gaze fell toward the body.
Arlong’s fingers tightened.
Stone cracked beneath his hand.
Nami stood near the edge of the courtyard.
She had come to Arlong Park after hiding the treasure stolen from Luffy’s ship. She expected to report on her latest maps, tolerate Arlong’s insults, and leave as soon as possible.
Instead, she listened to Hatchan describe a battle that sounded impossible.
Nami remembered Nojiko’s worried expression.
A pirate hunter had arrived.
A scout.
He was hiding in Born Village.
Nojiko had seen many Fish-Men heading in that direction.
Nami had believed he was already dead.
Now Chew was dead instead.
Kuroobi had returned with injuries so severe that even a Fish-Man doctor might be unable to save him.
One person had defeated them.
It felt like a miracle.
Nami had spent eight years believing no one in the East Blue could challenge Arlong. Pirate hunters had tried. Marines had visited. Brave villagers had resisted.
Arlong destroyed all of them.
But this stranger had faced three officers and an entire hunting party. He killed Chew, nearly killed Kuroobi, and escaped from Hatchan.
Hope tried to rise inside Nami.
She crushed it immediately.
Hope was dangerous.
She needed only a little more money. Once her savings reached one hundred million berries, Arlong would honour their agreement and sell the village back to her.
She couldn’t gamble eight years of sacrifice on a stranger.
Arlong remained beside Chew’s body, processing Hatchan’s account.
He knew about Devil Fruits.
The Grand Line contained countless users with strange and dangerous abilities. Some could transform into animals. Others could manipulate natural elements or turn their bodies into impossible substances.
But every Devil Fruit followed one fundamental rule.
One fruit granted one power.
Related abilities could emerge from that single power. A person controlling wood might create vines, weapons, flowers, and perhaps even regenerate by absorbing energy from plants.
Enhanced strength and speed could come from training.
But fire was different.
Transforming into another person was different.
“How can one human possess so many powers?” Arlong muttered.
No ordinary Devil Fruit explained it.
Perhaps Hatchan misunderstood what he saw in the chaos. The fire could have come from a hidden weapon, and the transformation might have been a disguise.
Yet all three officers had witnessed it.
Arlong turned toward the survivors.
“You’re telling me one human killed this many of you?”
The Fish-Men lowered their heads.
Arlong’s sharp teeth ground together.
He had built his rule on the absolute superiority of Fish-Men. Humans were weak creatures meant to crawl beneath them. Now one human had slaughtered members of his crew and escaped.
Such humiliation couldn’t be tolerated.
Arlong’s gaze shifted across the courtyard.
It settled on Nami.
He crossed the distance between them before she could step back.
One hand closed around her neck.
Arlong lifted her from the ground.
Nami grabbed his wrist as her feet kicked uselessly beneath her.
“You brought him here.”
She struggled to breathe.
“I didn’t.”
“Don’t lie to me!” Arlong tightened his grip. “You’ve spent years sailing through the East Blue. You must have hired that pirate hunter.”
Nami forced the words past his fingers.
“I just arrived.”
Arlong glared at her.
“From what Hatchan said, that man has been hiding on the island for days. I don’t know anything about him.”
It was the truth.
Nami hadn’t even known Jack’s name until Nojiko told her about him.
Arlong searched her face for any sign of deception.
Then he threw her.
Nami struck the courtyard wall and fell to the ground. Pain exploded through her shoulder, and blood ran from a cut near her temple.
Arlong pointed at her.
“You had better pray you aren’t involved. If I discover that you helped him, I’ll eat your sister in front of you.”
Nami’s eyes widened.
“And after that,” Arlong continued, “I’ll feed every human on this island to Momoo.”
Nami pushed herself onto one knee.
Hatred burned in her eyes.
For one moment, she wanted to take the weapon from the nearest Fish-Man and attack him. She wanted to drive it through Arlong’s heart, no matter what happened afterward.
Then she remembered Cocoyasi Village.
Nojiko.
Genzo.
All the people depending on her.
Nami swallowed her anger and remained silent.
Before Arlong could threaten her again, several Fish-Men entered through the gate.
“Captain Arlong!”
Two of them dragged a thin young man with a long nose between them.
“We caught the human!”
Nami turned.
Her heart sank.
Usopp struggled against the Fish-Men holding his arms.
“Let go of me! Do you idiots know who I am? I command eight thousand powerful followers! If I don’t return, they’ll destroy this entire island!”
Nami wanted to curse his terrible luck.
Of all the places he could have landed, he had somehow wandered directly into Arlong’s territory.
Hatchan examined him.
“That isn’t the human from Born Village.”
Arlong looked at the captive.
“Then who is he?”
Usopp spotted Nami.
Relief covered his face.
“Nami! Thank goodness! Tell these fish freaks I’m with you!”
The courtyard became silent again.
Arlong slowly turned toward her.
“Nami.”
She forced herself to stand despite the pain in her shoulder.
“I stole their ship and money. They followed me here.”
Usopp’s expression changed.
“Stole? We came to rescue you!”
“I don’t need rescuing.”
“Nami, stop pretending. Luffy knows you—”
She moved before he could finish.
Nami seized a knife from the belt of a nearby Fish-Man and rushed toward him.
Usopp froze.
The knife flashed.
Nami drove its blade through the palm of her hidden hand and pressed the blood-covered weapon against Usopp’s body, concealing the wound from everyone else.
His eyes widened as he understood.
“Fall,” she whispered.
Nami shoved him toward the edge of the pool.
Usopp clutched his chest dramatically.
“You… traitor…”
He fell backward into the water.
The Fish-Men laughed as his body disappeared beneath the surface.
Arlong watched Nami carefully.
Blood ran from her concealed hand, hidden beneath the folds of her clothes.
She turned away from the pool.
“I told you. They mean nothing to me.”
Arlong studied her for another moment, then nodded.
“Perhaps you remember where you belong after all.”
Nami didn’t respond.
Beneath the water, Usopp escaped through a hidden opening and swam desperately toward safety.
Arlong turned to Hatchan.
“Take me to Born Village.”
Hatchan looked toward the room where the doctor was treating Kuroobi.
“What about him?”
“The others can protect him.” Arlong’s teeth gleamed. “I’m going to tear that human apart myself.”
Hatchan picked up his swords.
“For Chew.”
“For every Fish-Man he killed.”
Arlong gathered a hunting party and marched from the park.
Nami waited until they disappeared.
Then she quietly left, one hand wrapped around her bleeding palm.
She needed to return home and bandage the wound before anyone noticed.
On the other side of the island, another small boat reached the shore.
Luffy jumped out first.
“Nami!”
His shout echoed through the forest.
Zoro stepped onto the beach carrying his swords.
“Stop yelling. If she’s hiding, announcing our arrival won’t help.”
“She stole our treasure!” Usopp wasn’t there to shout the complaint himself, so Sanji did it for him in a mocking voice.
The cook lit a cigarette.
“I don’t care about the treasure. We need to find Nami-san and rescue her from whatever terrible situation forced her to leave us.”
Zoro yawned.
“She said she was a thief. Maybe stealing our ship was the situation.”
Sanji kicked toward his head.
Zoro blocked with a sheathed sword.
“Don’t insult Nami-san!”
Luffy ignored them and marched into the forest.
He didn’t know where Nami was, but uncertainty had never prevented him from choosing a direction.
They soon encountered Nojiko near a path leading south.
She carried a farming knife and looked as if she had been searching for someone.
Nojiko stopped when she saw them.
Her gaze moved from Zoro’s swords to Sanji’s formal clothes and Luffy’s straw hat.
“You’re the pirate hunters.”
Luffy tilted his head.
“No. We’re pirates.”
Nojiko’s hopeful expression vanished.
“Then what are you doing here?”
“We’re looking for Nami.”
Sanji stepped forward with hearts almost visible in his eyes.
“Do you know our beautiful Nami-san?”
Nojiko ignored his exaggerated pose.
“What do you want with her?”
“She stole our ship,” Zoro said.
“And our treasure,” Luffy added. “But she’s still our navigator.”
Nojiko stared at him.
“You came all this way for someone who robbed you?”
“Of course.”
Luffy answered as if the question were ridiculous.
Before Nojiko could respond, someone crashed through the bushes.
Usopp stumbled onto the path, soaked and gasping.
“I survived!”
Luffy grinned.
“Usopp!”
Usopp pointed back toward Arlong Park.
“Nami stabbed me and threw me into the water!”
Sanji’s cigarette fell from his mouth.
“What?”
Zoro rested one hand on a sword.
Nojiko’s expression tightened.
Then Usopp raised both hands.
“It was fake! She stabbed her own hand and used the blood to fool them. She saved me.”
Sanji’s fury transformed into admiration.
“Nami-san sacrificed her beautiful hand?”
Nojiko exhaled slowly.
She didn’t want these pirates attacking Nami because they misunderstood her actions. If they truly considered her part of their crew, perhaps they deserved to know why she had spent eight years serving Arlong.
“Come with me,” Nojiko said. “I’ll tell you her story.”
…
Nojiko brought them into the grove and began explaining everything—Arlong’s invasion, Bell-mère’s death, and the deal Nami had made to purchase the village for one hundred million berries.
Sanji listened in grim silence.
Usopp’s hands trembled with anger.
Zoro lay beneath a tree and closed his eyes.
“You’re sleeping?” Usopp demanded.
“I heard enough.”
Luffy walked away before Nojiko reached the most painful part.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m not interested in Nami’s past.”
Nojiko stared after him.
Sanji smiled faintly.
Their captain didn’t need an explanation.
He would wait until Nami asked for help.
…
Nami arrived at the grove after leaving Arlong Park.
She stopped when she saw the unfamiliar boat and signs that people had been near the house. Before she could search for them, voices approached from the road.
Marine Captain Nezumi entered with armed soldiers.
His narrow face wore a smug smile.
“We have received information that a thief is hiding stolen property here.”
Nami’s eyes hardened.
“What are the Marines doing on this island?”
“Enforcing the law.”
“You’ve ignored Arlong for years.”
Nezumi waved one hand dismissively.
“That matter is unrelated. We’re here to confiscate money obtained through piracy.”
The Marines entered the grove with shovels.
Nami blocked their path.
“You can’t take it.”
Nezumi smiled.
“Move.”
“That money belongs to me!”
“A criminal cannot claim legal ownership of stolen treasure.”
Nami looked from his face toward the soldiers.
No ordinary Marine patrol could have known where she buried the money.
Only a handful of people knew about her savings.
The truth became clear.
“Arlong sent you.”
Nezumi’s smile flickered.
“That is an absurd accusation.”
“He told you where the money was.” Nami’s voice trembled. “You’re taking it so I can never reach one hundred million.”
The Marines pushed past her.
Nami attacked, but a soldier struck her injured hand. Pain made her drop the knife.
They dug beneath the tangerine trees and uncovered the treasure she had spent eight years collecting.
Every voyage.
Every theft.
Every wound.
Everything Bell-mère had died protecting.
Nezumi took it all.
Nami ran toward Arlong Park after the Marines left. She confronted Arlong and demanded that he honour their agreement.
He laughed.
Arlong had no intention of allowing her to purchase the village. Nami’s skill as a navigator was too valuable. In a world dominated by oceans, someone capable of drawing perfect maps and predicting weather could become indispensable.
He had found a loophole.
Arlong hadn’t personally broken their agreement or stolen her money.
The Marines had done it.
Nami returned to the road outside Cocoyasi Village with empty hands.
The villagers were waiting.
Genzo stepped forward.
They had always known about her plan. They had pretended to hate her so she wouldn’t feel responsible for saving them, but now they refused to let her suffer alone.
They gathered weapons.
Nami begged them to stop.
Arlong would kill them.
No one listened.
Eight years of submission had ended.
Nami collapsed onto the road and drove a knife toward the tattoo on her shoulder, trying to cut Arlong’s mark from her body.
A hand stopped her.
Luffy stood above her.
She looked at him through her tears.
“Luffy… help me.”
He placed his precious straw hat on her head.
“Of course I will!”
Zoro stood nearby with his swords.
Sanji lit another cigarette.
Usopp raised his weapon despite his shaking hands.
Behind them, the people of the village prepared to march against Arlong.
Nami clutched the straw hat as Luffy turned toward Arlong Park.
Everyone is ready to fight, and end Arlong’s rule for good.