Malphegor
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HGBW: Ch. 03
🕑 Added 2025-02-28 00:23:19 +0000 UTCThe biting cold wind howled as snowflakes fluttered down, blanketing the town at the island's center in a layer of silver.
At the highest point of the town stood a brightly lit building, heavily guarded by numerous pirates patrolling the area with rifles in hand despite the harsh wind and snow.
Inside, pirates gathered around dining tables in small groups.
Some devoured large chunks of meat, while others gulped down liquor. Yet, no matter what they were doing, every pair of eyes remained firmly fixed on one man.
Despite being a pirate, he wore a Marine's coat.
This man was none other than Barrels, a former Marine officer turned pirate.
Click.
Faced with the intense gazes from all directions, he grinned, then leisurely opened the wooden box he had been holding close to his chest.
A red, heart-shaped fruit was revealed to everyone present.
The moment the fruit came into view, the eyes of all the pirates turned feverish with greed.
"How much do you think this fruit could sell for?"
Sitting comfortably in a large mahogany chair, Barrels scanned the room with a playful expression, but before any of the pirates could answer, he chuckled and said, "I've heard it's worth five billion!"
As soon as these words left his mouth, the pirates' gazes toward the Devil Fruit burned even hotter, like flames set ablaze.
Rip.
A burly pirate, as strong as a bear, worried that his own greed might drive him to snatch the fruit, quickly bit into a large chunk of beef leg, chewing furiously as he muttered through a full mouth, "That's ridiculous! The government must've lost its mind!"
Having grown up in the North Blue and never ventured to the Grand Line, he couldn't comprehend how a single fruit could fetch such an astronomical price.
It was worth more than gold raining from the sky.
"If we could get our hands on that kind of money, we wouldn't need to be pirates anymore."
A pirate wearing a horned hat spoke excitedly, prompting the others to burst into hearty laughter and agreement.
Barrels wasn't surprised by his subordinates' reactions.
After all, he didn't expect mere North Blue lackeys to understand the true value of the Op-Op Fruit.
"Think about it."
"If a doctor eats this fruit, they could become the most sought-after physician in the world."
"I've heard that in history, a doctor who consumed this fruit once performed miraculous surgeries, curing countless incurable diseases and becoming a legend."
"But that has nothing to do with us now."
Eager to flaunt his knowledge and pass the time, Barrels explained part of the reason why the Op-Op Fruit was valued at five billion berries.
The surrounding pirates listened intently, their imaginations already running wild with dreams of selling the fruit to top Marine officials and living a luxurious life as wealthy men.
However...
Unbeknownst to Barrels and his crew, while their attention was wholly fixated on the fruit, a figure hung upside down from the rooftop's edge like a nocturnal owl.
The soles of his shoes seemed glued to the wall, firmly gripping the surface.
A pair of piercing white eyes, though staring at a thick wall, saw through everything inside—the pirates patrolling outside, the armed guards, and even Barrels himself.
The moment the Op-Op Fruit was revealed, the owner of those eyes narrowed his gaze.
In addition to the burning intensity, his eyes gleamed like a tiger stalking its prey from the shadows of the forest.
Cold and ruthless.
"Seven outside. Ten inside."
Tanaka focused chakra into his feet, keeping himself suspended upside down from the rooftop's edge.
With his Byakugan, not only had he located Barrels' hideout before Rosinante, but he could also move through this heavily guarded base undetected.
In the world of Naruto, sneaking into a ninja village—or even a single ninja clan's compound—would be a fool's dream.
Take Konoha, for example. Any clan, even the Ino-Shika-Chō, would have sensory barriers or ninja trained in detection.
Even with the Byakugan, Tanaka, merely an elite chūnin at best, could never infiltrate unnoticed.
But the One Piece world was different.
There was no chakra, no sensory ninja, no barrier techniques.
Moreover, Barrels and his pirates were nothing like the Konoha ninjas, who had been trained from childhood in assassination, infiltration, and espionage techniques.
"No Haki."
Through the Byakugan's vision, he confirmed that none of the pirates possessed Haki. At least he didn't see some kind of energy surrounding them.
He felt at ease.
No wonder Rosinante—a weakling with no combat abilities, no Haki, and only the power of the Calm-Calm Fruit—could still infiltrate and escape from this base after assassinating its occupants.
Even though Tanaka had assessed the pirates' strength, he wasn't reckless enough to make a direct move.
The deception tactics ingrained in him from childhood training within the Hyūga branch house were etched into his very bones.
His past-life memories further solidified his instinct for achieving flawless victories without taking damage.
After all, even the so-called "God of Shinobi" was still just a fragile ninja.
Of course, Tanaka's margin for error was nowhere near as high as the Admirals or Emperors of this world.
A single bullet.
A single cannonball.
Either could take his life in an instant.
While using his Byakugan to assess the number, strength, and distribution of Barrels' forces, his mind instantly formulated at least five different battle strategies.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he made his decision. Reaching into the two pouches strapped to his legs, he pulled out six shuriken, holding them between his fingers.
He locked onto the seven pirates stationed outside the building without even needing to turn around, predicting each of their possible reactions in advance.
Then—
Whoosh!
With a flick of both hands, seven shuriken shot out like arrows released from a bowstring, weaving effortlessly through the wind and snow.
The blizzard did nothing to obstruct his vision.
And the howling wind did nothing to affect his accuracy.
In fact, the wind and snow became his ally, masking the flying shuriken and muffling the sound of them slicing through the air.
Thunk!
One pirate, gripping a rifle and stationed outside the building, didn't even have time to react before a shuriken, curving along an impossible trajectory through the snow, embedded itself in his throat.
"..."
His eyes widened in shock, body tensed, and hands clenched tightly around his rifle.
"Enem—!" His lips quivered, attempting to call out, but before any sound could escape, his grip loosened, and the rifle dropped into the snow with a soft thud.
At that moment, the pirate's pained and furious cry finally broke out, but the next second, his agonized, pale face was overtaken by bewilderment and fear.
Because he realized that every one of his comrades nearby had suffered the same fate.
Some had shuriken lodged in their throats.
Others had been struck through the heart.
Some had their temples pierced.
Each pirate hit by a shuriken instinctively tried to call for help.
But without exception, they all bled from their wounds, dropped their weapons, and fell to their knees in the snow.
Yes, in the world of One Piece, people were known for their absurdly high endurance and vitality.
Even in the North Blue, a seasoned pirate or a Marine Commander would have a physique comparable to that of a trained ninja.
Some, like Kaido and Big Mom, possessed monstrous strength and durability even before the age of 10, far surpassing legends like Hashirama or Madara.
However, the problem lay in the difference between Tanaka's fighting style and that of this world.
He aimed exclusively for fatal points.
Either vital pressure points or the throat.
With the Byakugan's precision, every shuriken he threw was a guaranteed hit.
Moreover—
Whoosh!
Two kunai, each wrapped with explosive tags, flew toward two separate pirates.
Thud!
The kunai embedded themselves into the chests of the two pirates just as the explosive tags burned through their final seconds.
BOOM!
A violent explosion erupted, generating thick smoke and scorching flames that surged outward. The fiery blast engulfed the pirates already struck by shuriken, sending bodies flying, blood splattering, and chaos erupting through the snowy night.
