A New Path - Chapter 203

The most horrific event that this island had ever seen just took place a few minutes ago. Monkey D Luffy punched a Celestial dragon. A world-noble as they were called. The reason why people were panicking was that hurting in any shape or form a Celestial dragon would result in an Admiral being sent to that location. Even though this island held countless powerful pirates, most of them couldn’t stand even a few seconds against an Admiral. The one who was sent was Kizaru, the light human. The rumoured fastest man alive, which of course even he knew he was not.

Inside the auction house where the Celestial dragon was first assaulted, things had gotten slightly out of hand. The Straw hat crew had just laid eyes on the giant and the white-haired old man that came walking from the back room. His intense and powerful aura had knocked out all of the marines and guards fighting the crew. He stood on the stage opposite the crew and stared Luffy directly into his eyes.

‘Amell was right, did he orchestrate this? How could he have known?’ Rayleigh, who this old man was revealed to be was also the one that Amell went to see just hours before. His amazement and wonder with Amell only increased after he successfully predicted this meeting.

“Who are you, old man?” Luffy asked after the silence in the room had gone along for a little too long. Luffy stood ready to fight, and the other pirates in the room, including the rest of the Straw hats, stood petrified at what Rayleigh had done. The Straw hats recovered slightly faster than the others thanks to meeting Amell not many days before. Their shock and horror over what he had done to Enies lobby still haunted their dreams.

“A fan of yours. I’ve wanted to meet you, Straw hat Luffy.” Rayleigh laid eyes on Hachi. The Fishman that had been a previous enemy of Luffy and now was showing them around this place. Luffy’s actions of punching a world-noble came from Hachi being shot by that very noble. Rayleigh saw the would and narrowed his eyes and started analyzing the scene.

“I have fans?” Luffy tilted his head to the side and dropped his guard.

“Luffy, the marines are gathering in mass. We need to go, NOW!” Nami yelled from the side. Not even mentioning the fact that this Rayleigh scared her, she couldn’t let them be completely surrounded or escape was gonna be almost impossible.

“Old man!” Luffy said sternly to Rayleigh. “Take my crew and Hachi and escape from here. I’ll distract the marines.” Luffy showed his stubborn nature and walked immediately towards the exit. Two other captains in the room silently followed after him.

“Straw hat Luffy. You intrigue me!” Said a man with a long sword leaning against his shoulder as he walked.

“Who are you guys? I don’t need help!” Luffy said sternly again.

“Who said I’m helping you? I just don’t like the marines.” Said the other pirate captain with an entire arm made from scrap metal, most likely from some devil fruit.

“Whatever, just don’t get in my way!”

“Same to you, Straw hat!”

As the three rookie pirates went out to fight the marines, Rayleigh stood still in the same spot watching the crew. “You guys let him go so easily. Do you not fear his death?”

“Luffy won’t die, we know that much from spending so much time with him. Nothing kills him, and that’s final.” Sanji said cheekily.

“You might be more right then you think. Did you guys know you caught the eyes of a very scary person?” Rayleigh said, trying to figure out the mystery surrounding this crew and the Gotei.

“Y-Y-YOU MEAN! HIM?!” Usopp fell down on his butt while shaking uncontrollably. Same for Nami and Chopper. Zoro sheathed his swords and nodded to Rayleigh, now that Luffy was gone, he had to lead the crew as that was his duties as Vice-captain.

“You mean, Amell? Yeah, we met him and he sank Enies Lobby with a wave of his hand.” Zoro almost lost balance as he said it. Not even him or Sanji had yet to recover from seeing that sight.

“Hahaha, sounds like something he would do!” Rayleigh didn’t know Amell at all before today. But, people like Amell and Rayleigh only need one conversation to find a real connection.

“You know him? Is he here?” Sanji said with a somewhat shaky voice.

“No, you can rest easy, he is not here. I would advise you to take things slowly. The marines and World Government knows your connection with him, so your journey will be ten times harder than any other pirate.”

“Not to be rude, Sir. But, can we talk about this when we’re safe in another location?” Robin said to Rayleigh. She wasn’t scared at all. She grew up around monsters many times more powerful than Rayleigh. Alucard to just name one of them. And, she wasn’t afraid of Rayleigh acting against them. Amell had told her about what people, marine or pirate that she could put her trust in. One of those was Rayleigh.

“You’re right, it seems I got slightly carried away there. My apologies. Pick up Hachi and follow me.” Rayleigh said.

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Outside the building, a massive fight was happening between marines and pirates. Or, more accurately only three pirates. Arguably, the three most powerful pirate rookies versus hundreds of pirates. On a tree branch, hundreds of meters away sat Itachi and his boys.

“Do you think we should help?” Naruto asked, fully ready to jump into action.

“No, his crew are safe with that old monster. And, Luffy isn’t pathetic enough to lose against this opposition. We only need to act when the Admiral comes for Luffy’s head.” Itachi said quietly.

“Why did that muscle head have to punch one of the bubbleheads, so annoying.” Naruto laid back on the branch and complained loudly.

“About that, brother!” Sasuke began, but Itachi knew what he was gonna ask and interrupted him. “Could I kill an Admiral? Unsure. Can I stop Kizaru and Aokiji from killing Luffy? Absolutely, but to kill them, I think we three need to work together. I am still weak because I haven’t mastered my new abilities. When I do that, Admirals will become a joke in front of me.”

“And, how long will that take?”

“Master Alucard estimates it will take me a hundred and fifty years to fully master all my abilities.” Itachi laughed, but Sasuke and Naruto dropped their jaws.

“What?! That long? What kind of crazy powers do you have now?”

“You don’t wanna know, Naruto. My strongest abilities could consume worlds. That’s what Master said, and he forbid me from using them until I was ready or I would die as well.”

“I want that too. I need to ask if Alucard can bite me as well!” Naruto said playfully, but he got a stern look from Itachi.

“Don’t joke about that, especially in front of him!”

“I’m sorry! I won’t!” Naruto bowed his head slightly in shame and continued to silently observe Luffy’s fight.

“Someone powerful just arrived!” Itachi looked up towards the east. “An Admiral just arrived. Prepare for a fight, this will be a tough one!” He said and closed his eyes to meditate.

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End