Malphegor
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UTBW: Ch. 24
🕑 Added 2025-04-17 19:13:22 +0000 UTCMastery-level jutsu had greatly increased power.
Take Fire Release, for example—the temperature could reach over three thousand degrees, enough to melt steel.
No matter how strong your body was... One fireball could burn you completely into charcoal, given that the heat was strong enough.
This was why Junichi had never abandoned ninjutsu.
Ninjas were magic-type fighters, and magic classes usually had a higher damage ceiling than physical ones in RPG games.
A Mastery-level Great Fireball Jutsu was proof of that.
Not to mention, above regular ninjutsu, there were secret techniques, forbidden jutsu, bloodline limits, and even more powerful forces.
With the Proficiency System, I can advance both powers side by side. Junichi smiled to himself.
When the time comes... I'll use powerful ninjutsu to outmaneuver the brute-force fighters of the One Piece world.
Then I'll use Haki powers to fight the fragile ninjas in the Naruto World.
That will be fun.
His thoughts raced, and his decision was made.
Let's do it!
The Ten-Rat Pirates were no real threat to him as long as he maintained his confidence and self-belief. The first battle always started within one's mind, and with a weak mindset, he wouldn't stand a chance in the real fight.
"I'll accept this gift," Junichi said seriously.
Mihawk had no objections and smiled. "Come back soon."
Rayleigh and Shakky also offered their blessings. They wouldn't help Junichi directly. If even something like this required their intervention, then there was no point to him going out to sea.
Might as well find a quiet place to grow old and die.
"I'll set off now." Junichi said as he stood with the leather pouch, bowing slightly to the three of them.
"Go on, go on." Shakky waved him off.
Rayleigh and Mihawk raised their wine glasses to see him off.
"Farewell." Junichi raised his own glass, drank it in one gulp, and turned to leave the tavern.
He headed straight to the docks. He rented a ship and set out to sea. The navigation knowledge Rayleigh had taught him finally came in handy.
---
Ding-a-ling!
At evening, the bar door opened. Hancock, exhausted from an afternoon of training, walked in tiredly.
"I'm back," She said weakly, slumping straight onto the bar counter.
"Please get me a glass of juice," she mumbled. "I'm dying of thirst…"
"Honestly…" Shakky knocked her lightly on the head and said, "This is a bar. Coming in every day just for juice, what's that about?"
Even though she said that, Shakky still made her a glass of juice.
"Hehe, thank you." Hancock drank happily, satisfied.
Once she recovered some energy, she looked around curiously, clearly searching for someone. But that person was nowhere to be found.
"Don't bother looking. He went out to sea," Shakky said knowingly, shaking her head.
"Huh?!" Hancock was shocked, staring wide-eyed at her. "When? Why so sudden? He didn't even say goodbye to me?"
Shakky glanced at her and said slowly, "It's just a short trip, he's hunting down a pirate. He'll be back in a while."
"Oh, I see." Hancock sighed in relief and slumped back onto the counter. But not long after, she lifted her head again and asked, "How long exactly?"
"A week or two?" Shakky replied uncertainly.
"That long?" Hancock's expression fell.
"Can't be helped. It's a tricky opponent," Shakky recalled the intel and the assessments from Rayleigh and Mihawk, then explained, "He might end up in a tough fight. One to two weeks, that's only if things go smoothly. If they don't, it could take even longer."
After all, Junichi was just one young man, and he was up against an entire pirate crew. The difference in numbers was huge. He would definitely have to use guerrilla tactics—slowly chipping away at the crew's numbers before finally taking on Cobb.
That kind of strategy would take time.
Shakky made this judgment silently but didn't share the specific intel with Hancock. Basic operational secrecy.
"Ugh…" Hancock's face fell even more, her brows knitting tightly.
It really was going to take that long...
"So don't dwell on it. Focus on your training," Shakky tapped Hancock's head with her finger, gently reminding her.
"Got it…" Hancock replied glumly, nodding.
---
Outside the Sabaody Archipelago, dozens of pirates were laughing loudly on the deck.
"Drink! Drink up!"
"We made a killing this time!"
"Yeah! The island's hundreds of years of savings are all ours!"
"We're set for a long, wild life now!"
They had just raided an island, slaughtered the town's security forces, and looted the wealth the residents had accumulated over generations.
The Ten Rat Pirates had made off like kings. Even the lowest-ranking crew members got a hefty cut of the loot.
"Cobb's is definitely going up again!"
"Probably hitting 200 million this time!"
"A toast to Cobb!!"
Someone raised a glass to the captain.
The others burst out laughing and lifted their drinks as well.
"To Cobb!!"
"To Cobb!!"
"To Cobb!!"
In that moment, the shouts echoed like thunder. Every pirate looked at their captain with admiration in their eyes.
Strong, and made them rich, what a perfect leader.
"Hahaha! Eat, drink, go wild!" Cobb laughed heartily, downing his drink in one gulp.
The atmosphere got even livelier. The pirates were drinking, eating meat, telling lewd jokes, and bragging like mad. Only the higher-ups of his crew stayed calm.
"Cobb…" A tall, lean man with a shrewd glint in his eyes approached him and said, "Is it really okay to be this flashy? A lot of people are eyeing your blade."
Cobb didn't care. He lightly touched the cursed sword at his waist and sneered, "Dustin, who can match me here? Unless it's Hawk Eyes, I'll kill whoever comes my way!"
At those words, the man called Dustin looked helpless. "He is in the Grand Line too. It seems like he's even tracking you."
"No worries. He's been hanging around the Sabaody Archipelago for days. Hasn't even set sail." Cobb dismissed it with a wave, "Once we fence the loot, we'll head off to the Four Blues and live it up. Think he can find us?"
Dustin nodded, convinced for the time being.
The party carried on, and soon, night fell.
One by one, the pirates collapsed into drunken sleep, snoring loudly. Cobb retired to the captain's quarters. Dustin assigned night watch duties and lay down on the deck to rest.
Before long, the ship was completely silent.
And in that moment, a shark swam swiftly through the water, approaching the underside of the ship.
Had any of the pirates bothered to look closely, they might have noticed its oddly movements.
It surfaced... and in a puff of mist transformed into the shape of a boy.
