A New Path - Chapter 197

“WHAT!? IT’S GONE!?”

Sitting in his office, Sengoku had just gotten the news about Enies Lobby delivered to him by Vice-Admiral Momonga. The only other person there was the always cheerful Garp. He was happily snacking on some chips while listening to Momonga’s report.

“Y-Yes, Sir! I can’t believe it myself, but it is true. Enies Lobby is no longer present. It has been completely wiped off the face of the earth. The last report coming from Spandam was that Nico Robin had been successfully brough to Enies Lobby. After that everything went radio silent and that’s when you ordered me to investigate. That is all we know!” Momonga had taken the trip back to HQ to calm his nerves from the pure shock and fright he felt when he first laid eyes upon what once had been a massive government-run base.

“That’s not entirely true! I do have some relevant information!” By one of the walls of the office, Hisoka stood and played with one of his playing cards. He was looking over at the fleet admiral with a condescending gaze.

“HISOKA!” Momonga’s rage brought him to immediate action, so he drew his sword and dashed over with the intent to kill. A quick slash and Hisoka’s body was cleaved in twain, only for his bottom and torso to fade away like a mist passing by.

“Momonga, calm yourself! Use Haki, without it, Hisoka will play with you endlessly, or until you go mad.” Garp said calmly and put another chip into his mouth and started chewing.

“Yes, you are entirely correct, Hero! Haki is indeed my one greatest weakness.” Hisoka now stood by the door, playing with the same card as before. “Though that might be true in your case, that boy doesn’t have high enough mastery to avoid me!” His words served as poison for the Vice-admiral and caused his rage to bellow up further.

“Lucky for him, I didn’t come here to argue or fight. I am but a humble messenger for the boss!” Hisoka bowed nonchalantly.

“Let me guess, your boss had a hand in Enies Lobby and its mysterious disappearance?” Sengoku and Garp had fought most commanders multiple times. They knew that even though they could counter Hisoka’s illusions, that wasn’t all he had. Hisoka was a top tier user of Haki, like all commanders. And his card magic made him extremely deadly and hard to catch. They wouldn’t start a fight with him even here in Sengoku’s office unless it was unavoidable.

“Right you are! And, it could have been avoided, but that boy Spandam just had to test fate by abducting the bosses granddaughter.” Sengoku and Garp shared a quick look of acknowledgement and went stoic again.

“Nico Robin, I presume?”

“Right again, Mr Fleet Admiral! I knew you had this position for a reason, look at you, you’re so smart!”

“Save the flattery, Smart Ass! But, now I understand!” Sengoku stared intently at Hisoka. His rage, sorrow and exhaustion couldn’t be seen on his face. He wouldn’t allow himself to lose his cool in front of this pirate he considered the garbage of humanity. Losing his cool would be giving Hisoka, and then Amell another victory. What he needed to be right now was clear-headed. He could leave the yelling and cursing to the Five Elders sitting up there on their mountain.

“Hisoka, if that’s all you came to say, then leave my office. And, next time you decide to break into my office, be prepared to lose that miserable little life of yours.” Sengoku wouldn’t bother chasing Hisoka around HQ. That would only further worsen this situation. His threat wasn’t said with any real intent behind it. Hisoka was the most difficult commander to kill beside Alucard, so the times it was worth trying to kill him were few and far between.

“Good to see you again, Gentlemen! Have a most wonderful evening!” Hisoka faded away as the card in his shone with weak light.

“Garp, Nico Robin is currently with your grandson’s crew, right?” Sengoku looked at the always casual Vice-Admiral.

“Yup! And, I think it’s time I go and see him, making sure he knows to keep out of harm’s way.” Garp stood up and walked out of the room with the most casual of walks. He was so used to this life that Hisoka’s visit didn’t even bother him. Sengoku watched him walk out of the office and released a tired sight after Garp disappeared beyond the door.

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“Moron, it’s that way! Shisui explained it three times, how can you have already forgotten it? I can’t believe you are actually Uncle Amell’s son.” Sasuke and Naruto were running across the ocean at ridiculous speeds. Running on the water was nothing overly normal in this world so the one ship they had passed earlier had caused some very confusing and shocking looks to be thrown their way.

“No, you’re wrong, it’s totally that way!” Naruto argued as they stood on the water glaring at each other.

“How are you this dumb? Didn’t Amell train you since you were three?” Sasuke facepalmed a bright red mark on his own face. His frustration over Naruto’s careless and oblivious nature had on multiple occasions caused fights between them that almost destroyed the leaf village.

“He said North, so we’re going North! End of discussion!” Naruto said stubbornly.

“YES! We are going Nort, but you’re pointing South!” Sasuke pointed in the opposite direction. “That is North, now can we move?” Sasuke saw how Naruto grew bright red in the face. Getting something this basic wrong was something to be embarrassed about.

“R-Right! Let’s move! And, we should hurry too, we’re lagging behind our time schedule here.” Naruto started to jog away in shame.

“Yeah, because of you!” Sasuke said and started running after his air-head of a friend.

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End