The villagers of Cocoyashi looked up at the sky where Gojo had leapt, now floating so high above that he appeared as nothing more than a tiny dot against the blue. For a second, the village felt strangely still.
Then the ground trembled—just a faint shiver at first—and a heavy rhythm of footsteps rolled toward them. The thudding grew louder, close enough that every villager heard it clearly. Instinctively, all heads turned toward the village gate.
A group of Fish-men marched in, their silhouettes growing larger with each step. Leading them were two of Arlong's officers—Kuroobi and Chew—and behind them trailed their subordinate Fish-men, each one looking more agitated than the last.
Genzo's jaw tightened the moment he saw them. None of the Fish-men wore their usual smug expressions; they looked irritated, even furious. A cold fear crawled up Genzo's spine. Flashbacks of the day Kuroobi had beaten him nearly to death surged uninvited into his mind, quick and sharp. All the scars across his body seemed to ache at once, as if remembering that pain along with him. Not again…
Kuroobi and Chew, along with their subordinates, halted right in front of the gathered Cocoyashi villagers. The air felt heavy, tense. Kuroobi stepped forward, his broad shadow falling over Genzo, and asked bluntly, "Have you seen a young man with white hair and black glasses come to your village?"
Genzo swallowed hard. For a moment, words refused to leave his mouth. What do I say? Should he tell the truth—that Gojo was here, had jumped into the sky, and was at this very moment floating somewhere above them? Or should he cling to that faint, fragile hope Gojo had given them?
Earlier, Genzo had hesitated to say anything to Gojo about the Fish-man Pirates. He had thought Gojo was just another strong but ultimately helpless human who would get himself killed. But after what he had heard and seen… Gojo killing the scout team, and then displaying that unbelievable ability to soar into the sky… Genzo no longer saw him as someone weak. Maybe… maybe this time, things could be different.
But before Genzo could force out a single word, Kuroobi's gaze shifted. His eyes narrowed as he looked past Genzo at the villagers clutching sticks, knives, farming tools—anything they could hold like a weapon. Their knuckles were white, their faces trembling. To Kuroobi, it was obvious they were standing as if ready to attack someone.
Kuroobi's eyes swept over the villagers, lingering on the makeshift weapons in their hands. His voice dropped, cold and suspicious. "Why are you all holding these strange things, as if you're preparing to attack someone?"
One of the more timid villagers flinched, then stepped forward. His hands were shaking, and his voice cracked with fear. "T-There was a young man with white hair… wearing sunglasses, just like you described. And he said—he said he killed the scouts of the Arlong Pirates. So we… we were grouping up to attack him when he suddenly jumped into the sky."
Kuroobi's expression darkened. The moment the words left the villager's mouth, he snapped his head upward. High above, a small dot hung motionless in the sky—barely visible, but undeniably there. Narrowing his eyes, Kuroobi could make out the outline of a human figure.
He didn't get long to observe.
Gojo began to descend, slowly at first, then faster, drifting down with controlled ease. Within moments he touched the ground, landing lightly right in front of Kuroobi—face-to-face. The sight of him standing there made the air around them thicken, as if the whole village inhaled at once and forgot to breathe out.
Kuroobi glared at the young man now standing before him. His jaw tightened, fury rising with every breath. "Are you the one who destroyed the scout ship of the Arlong Pirates and killed the Fish-men aboard it?" he demanded, voice sharp with rage.
Gojo didn't even blink. "Yes, I did."
The answer hit Kuroobi like a spark to dry tinder. "You filthy human!" he roared. "How dare you kill one of our brethren?!"
He lunged forward, muscles bunching as he prepared to throw a crushing punch. But he never got the chance.
Gojo moved faster—far faster. In the span of a heartbeat, his palm was already pressed against Kuroobi's face. A split second later, he drove Kuroobi straight into the ground with brutal force. The impact thundered through the village, shattering the earth and leaving a wide crater, Kuroobi's head embedded deep into the dirt.
Dust drifted in the air as Gojo straightened. "You talk too much," he said calmly, "and I don't like the way you talk."
With a single, effortless strike, Gojo had taken down one of Arlong's officers—the same man who had once beaten Genzo so badly that fear of the Fish-men had rooted itself deep inside him, and in the hearts of every Cocoyashi villager watching.
Chew, standing only a few steps behind Kuroobi, froze in shock. Watching an officer of the Arlong Pirates get taken down in an instant—without even a hint of resistance—left his mind reeling. But fear quickly turned into anger.
"Attack!" he shouted.
His shout snapped the remaining Fish-men out of their daze. Their expressions hardened, and with a chorus of snarls they surged forward. Swords, spears, short knives—every weapon they had glinted as they charged straight at Gojo.
Gojo's hand closed around the hilt of his sword.
And then he vanished.
A blur of motion, a faint rush of displaced air—before any of the Fish-men realized what had happened, Gojo was already standing behind them. His sword was unsheathed, held loosely in his hand, its blade dripping fresh blood that pattered onto the dirt.
One by one, the charging Fish-men staggered to a halt. Their weapons clattered from their hands. A beat later, thin lines of red erupted across their bodies—diagonal slashes, clean horizontal cuts, each one delivered with frightening precision. Blood spurted from the wounds, staining the ground as the realization hit them all at once.
Every strike Gojo had placed was fatal… or near enough to be, unless someone treated them immediately.
Now only Chew remained—and terror was written plainly across his face. He stared at the fallen Fish-men around him, their weapons scattered across the ground like discarded scraps. His throat tightened. He knew he stood no chance.
Without a second thought, Chew snapped his jaws open and unleashed his technique. "Water Gun!" A bullet-fast jet of water blasted from his mouth, slicing through the air straight toward Gojo.
Gojo merely shifted his body a little, letting the shot whistle past him, and then advanced with his sword in hand. His steps were calm, deliberate.
Seeing that sight—Gojo walking toward him, unbothered—Chew panicked. He began firing Water Guns one after another, the blasts rapid and relentless, like a machine gun made of pressurized water. Dozens became hundreds, each shot loud, sharp, and fatal to any normal human.
But Gojo slipped through them effortlessly. A tilt of the shoulder, a lean to the side, a slight step—every water bullet missed him by inches as if the air itself guided them away.
Realizing none of his attacks worked, Chew's fear broke completely. He turned and bolted, sprinting away as fast as his webbed feet could carry him.
Gojo watched him flee.
It wasn't that he couldn't kill Chew with a single strike—he absolutely could. He simply chose not to. If Chew ran, he would head straight to Arlong Park using the fastest path possible.
And Gojo fully intended to follow. This will save me the trouble of searching, he thought, taking a step forward with a faint smile.
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