"This Devil Fruit is mine! I, Reshat, am a pirate with a 70 million bounty—who dares come forward?"
With one foot planted on a corpse and blood staining his entire body, Reshat held the Devil Fruit high above his head and swept his gaze across the crowd with dominance. In that moment, he was king.
For a brief second, the battlefield fell silent. All eyes were on the blood-soaked man in the center, who looked as though he had crawled out from the depths of hell. The ferocity of his presence stunned everyone.
Then—
Bang!
Boom!
Crack!
Just when Reshat thought he had intimidated the others into submission, chaos erupted. Bullets, cannon blasts, and sword strikes rained down from all directions, blending into a hurricane of violence.
The pirate with a 70 million bounty was slaughtered by a coordinated barrage from the surrounding pirates—many of whom had bounties equal to or even greater than his own. Faced with such overwhelming force, he didn't stand a chance.
The Devil Fruit once again became ownerless, resting quietly atop a mound of corpses. But no one dared step forward to claim it—whoever made the first move would become everyone else's target.
---
There was no point in taking the fruit without the power to fend off the rest.
This wasn't the outcome Groo wanted—he had people embedded among the pirates, and chaos would ruin their mission.
At that moment, a small, wiry man crept through the fray, unnoticed. He edged toward the Devil Fruit, eyes gleaming as he reached out—
A blade flashed.
A head flew.
"You think you can sneak around while I'm fighting for my life up here? Do you think I don't exist?"
A towering man over four meters tall spat blood onto the ground, his massive sword dripping red.
The crowd gasped.
"That's the 90 million bounty swordsman—Gigablade Hawker!"
"You dare lose focus while fighting me?" another pirate shouted, fists clenched in rage. "Am I a joke to you!?"
Clang! Clang!
The furious pirate, Lorren, launched a flurry of punches like meteors. His fists struck Hawker's sword over and over, their impacts echoing like iron against iron.
"You brainless brute! Didn't you see that rat trying to steal the Devil Fruit?"
Hawker's blade danced in the air, leaving afterimages as it deflected every blow.
Lorren flipped backward to create distance, wiped sweat from his gleaming bald head, and sneered. "Devil Fruit? Who needs that garbage? A real man fights with his fists, not cursed fruits."
"You're a swordsman, aren't you? Do you really need a Devil Fruit to get stronger?"
Hawker's eye twitched. "I want it for my crew. Not everyone's a lone wolf like you. When you die, no one will even remember your name."
With a snarl, he sent a slash through the air.
The transparent arc tore through a few unlucky pirates before smashing through a giant tree. Loreen dodged with a sidestep, narrowly avoiding the attack. The broken tree slammed into the ground, burying several bystanders beneath its bulk.
Scenes like this played out across the battlefield as Groo threw out three more Zoan-type Devil Fruits. Powerhouses unleashed their strength without restraint.
Weaker pirates were annihilated in the shockwaves of the stronger ones' battles, yet no one retreated. Their greed outweighed their fear.
After all, who in this world is willing to live under someone else's shadow?
Every pirate at sea dreams of claiming the one true throne—of becoming king.
But without strength, all one can do is hide in the crowd and wait for the right moment.
Now that moment had come.
Five Devil Fruits.
Major pirate crews usually kept Devil Fruits for their own members. The few that ever reached the auction houses sold for outrageous prices.
Ordinary pirates had almost no chance to obtain one.
They didn't need all five—just one.
What if it turned out to be a rare Ancient Zoan or Mythical Zoan?
Opportunities like this were nearly unheard of.
---
Weiss and Karina stayed out of the chaos, watching from the sidelines. Jack and Kadun had already joined the fray. This was the perfect chance to test their six months of training—a true trial by fire.
And if they managed to claim a Devil Fruit? Even better. Whether they consumed it or sold it, the gain would be considerable.
Still, Weiss didn't want them eating random Zoan-type fruits. If it turned out to be something sturdy, maybe—but what if it was something ridiculous, like a "Sausage Dog Form"? What use would that be?
---
Kadun, deep in the melee, had been fighting for a long while. His breathing was uneven, and he wielded a large, chipped broadsword he'd picked up somewhere, cutting down pirate after pirate.
He moved carefully, attracting attention and hostility while inching toward the central open area where a Devil Fruit was being contested.
His sword was visibly dulled and jagged.
Kadun specifically targeted weaker pirates with ambush attacks. He wasn't the type to fight head-on—self-preservation came first.
If not for his desire to prove himself, he wouldn't even be in this fight.
Eventually, his tactics drew outrage.
"You damn kid! No sense of honor! You almost stabbed me in the ass!" one pirate shouted, face green with rage.
Just imagine—fighting for your life, and someone sneak-attacks you from behind? If not for a teammate's quick kick, he would've been humiliated or worse.
"Yeah! He keeps pulling that sneak attack crap. A few of my guys went down to him too!"
"Let's gang up and kill him!"
They talked big, but none moved.
Why?
Because Kadun wasn't just good at sneak attacks—he was also deadly. If they hadn't been careful, they'd be the ones lying in pools of blood.
"Come on! Try me, you chickenshits!"
"You sea scum act tough when bullying the weak, but cry foul when someone uses your own tactics against you?"
"Cowards! And you think you're worthy of the Devil Fruit? Go home and drink your mom's milk!"
That was too much.
"You're dead meat!" a pirate roared.
But Kadun simply dropped his sword, spread his arms wide, and smirked. "Come on. I don't even need to fight to kill you."
His attackers grinned. Was he serious? Dropping his weapon?
Some paused, suspicion flaring, and began to retreat.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out. One by one, the pirates attacking Kadun fell with bullets in their skulls.
"Sniper! Find the shooter!" someone shrieked.
Without Haki, they were just sitting ducks.
Of course—it was Jack.
Kadun lured the pirates into open ground, and Jack picked them off one by one.
And who knows? Maybe they'd even secure a Devil Fruit along the way.
---
For the members: You can check out the New Translation story at Ko-Fi (already at chapter 35). It will be uploaded here once it reach chapter 50.
Naruto: Getting Stronger Just by AFK
https:// ko-fi.com/sami27