"Hey, Buggy!"
Kaito Raien walked over to the stunned Buggy and gently patted his shoulder.
"K-Kaito, you're insane!"
Buggy snapped out of his daze, staring at Kaito like he was some rare mythical creature. But then something seemed to hit him—his expression dropped, and he turned away, walking off with slumped shoulders.
While walking, he muttered under his breath:
"Monsters… monsters… Is there anyone normal left on this ship? First Shanks, and now Kaito too…"
"Uhh… I guess that hit him pretty hard."
Kaito scratched his forehead, a bit helpless.
"Hahaha! Don't worry about it, Kaito. Buggy's used to getting crushed," Jabra's voice called out from behind.
"He'll be fine?"
"Yeah. Trust me, this isn't the first time the kid's gotten a dose of reality."
(ー_ー)!!
Buggy (internally):Thank you so much, Mr. Jabra. You're such a great guy.
Truly a world where only I get hurt has been achieved!
Three days later, on an uncharted island within the Grand Line…
The Jackson had docked along the shore. The Roger Pirates were making a quick supply run—chances for peaceful breaks like this would be few and far between in the days ahead.
"Alright, you lot—quick in, quick out! We're only staying three hours!"
Roger shouted from the bow, giving final instructions to the crew.
"Tch. Captain, you're always the last one back on the ship." ┐(′-｀)┌
"Wonder if there's any good sake on this island…"
As the captain darted ahead enthusiastically, the rest of the crew split into groups and began gathering supplies per plan.
"Kaito! Wanna come with us? I heard the ramen here is amazing!"
Buggy turned to invite Kaito, who was still standing on deck. Beside him, Shanks also looked over. After all, the three of them were the youngest on the crew.
"I'll pass. I want to check out the weapon shops. Still haven't found a weapon that really suits me," Kaito replied, shaking his head. It would be hard to pull out his Fangtian Halberd while walking around in a group.
"Aww, okay then. We're off!"
Buggy looked slightly disappointed but waved as he and Shanks ran off toward town.
Kaito strolled leisurely through the island, admiring the scenery and taking in all the novel sights.
"Mmm, this is sweet!"
"Whoa, this venison is delicious!"
"Cherry pie? Eh… mid."
He snacked his way through the streets, and when he finally decided to head back—trouble found him.
"Get outta my way!"
"No! Don't hurt my husband!"
"Let go of my daddy, you jerk!"
"Cough! Cough!"
"Hmph. Who do you think you are, standing in my way? Are you looking to die?"
Hearing the commotion up ahead, Kaito turned and saw Doglas Bullett in a full-blown brawl. In front of him lay a bleeding civilian—apparently, the man's child had accidentally bumped into Barrett.
Now the family was under attack.
Bullet turned to see Kaito blocking his path, his face twisting with irritation.
Though Kaito was a member of the Roger Pirates, Bullet had never considered them his family. After being betrayed in his youth by the people closest to him, Bullet had joined the Jackson for one reason only: to challenge Roger.
He didn't care about anyone else.
"Let them go. Truly strong people don't bully the weak,"
Kaito said calmly, standing tall and fearless beneath Bullett's piercing glare.
"You can leave now,"
he told the frightened family behind him.
"You arrogant brat!"
Bullet's fury ignited. He raised his arm and threw a devastating punch straight at Kaito's head—he wanted to teach the kid a lesson.
BOOM!
A fist the size of a boulder, trailing a gust of wind, crashed into Kaito's skull—sending his small body flying nearly a hundred meters.
Bullett scoffed as he watched Kaito crumple mid-air.
So much for that "genius." In the face of raw power, he was nothing.
"Too weak."
"Is that so?"
A calm voice came from behind Bullet.
The Kaito he'd punched exploded into a puff of wood with a "pop!" —it had been a wood clone all along.
"You've got some guts, huh."
[+10 Anime Points from Barrett]
Thanks to his basic Observation Haki, Kaito could just barely sense Bullet's movements. And during that moment, he had secretly tagged Bullet with a Flying Thunder God seal.
"Wood Release: Exploding Spear Trees!"
Feeling the weight of an overwhelming aura settling around him, Kaito raised his arm. From it, wooden vines sprouted, morphing into thick, spiked trees that lashed out in all directions like angry beasts.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The crashing sounds echoed as tree after tree was snapped in half violently by Bullet's brute strength—less than a meter from Kaito, the trees shattered like twigs.
Still, Bullet couldn't close in.
Seeing Kaito standing calmly amidst the chaos made him burn with rage.
This time, he wrapped his fist in an invisible layer of Armament Haki—his arm gleamed like steel, hardened and invincible.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Blow after blow thundered across the wooden battlefield. Finally, in a fleeting moment, Bullet saw an opening and lunged forward—his iron fist barreling toward Kaito's face.
"Wood Release: Wood Substitution!"
CRACK!
Kaito's body shattered… revealing another wooden dummy. Fragments flew in all directions.
"Tch. So all you know how to do is run?"
Bullet was getting frustrated. He wanted to crush Kaito before anyone else from the crew noticed. Otherwise, they'd step in and ruin his chance to "educate" the brat.
"I can do more than dodge—"
A cold voice echoed from above.
Kaito descended from the sky, Fangtian Huaji in hand, its blade gleaming dangerously.
"Thunder Half-Moon Slash!!"
With a mighty roar, Kaito launched his strongest attack straight at Barrett—