One Piece: Starting With Flame-Flame Fruit

With a hint of disdain on his face, Tony listened to the arrogant taunts of the little minions and the vice-captain's foolish provocations. His eyes suddenly sharpened, and the tomoe in his Sharingan spun into place. A powerful killing intent radiated from him.

The minion in front of him noticed Tony's shift in gaze. Seeing the two black tomoe in those red eyes, he stammered, "You… those eyes… why do they… look so... strange—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the minion felt a cold slash across his neck, and his world spun 360 degrees.

Blood spattered across the Starry Night's deck.

"Huh?"

The last thing he saw was Tony standing upside-down before him. His head rolled to the deck at Tony's feet, lifeless and staring up with unseeing eyes. T

ony, holding his Zanpakutō, didn't even spare the man a glance. It had all happened in seconds, a swift, flawless motion. The other pirates hadn't even seen Tony draw his sword before their comrade's head and body parted.

For a few stunned seconds, silence fell over the Tiger Pirates. Even their captain, Goro, was taken aback—someone on the Grand Line dared to stand alone against his crew?

Recovering quickly, Klen's expression morphed from amusement to rage. He shouted furiously at Tony, "You reckless brat! How dare you attack the Tiger Pirates? Don't think you'll get away with this! I'll make sure you die in pieces, one slice at a time!"

"Men! Attack! Kill him and avenge our fallen brother!"

"Yes, Vice-Captain Klen!"

Without a second thought, the pirates grabbed their weapons and prepared to board Tony's Starry Night.

But Tony was quicker. He leaped onto the Tiger Pirates' ship and said coldly, "You've sullied the ship my master crafted with his own hands! Such a crime demands your lives as payment!"

The pirates, who had initially been some distance away from Tony, now felt the eerie and overpowering aura radiating from his eyes up close, making their palms break out in a cold sweat.

Their thoughts raced, and one of them couldn't help but think, "It's your own fault for spilling blood on your own deck! And you're blaming us?"

Confronted by Tony's menacing stance, none of the Tiger Pirates dared step forward. They hesitated, their courage wavering as they felt the intense killing intent emanating from him.

...

"Don't be afraid of him; he's only one person! Rush him and take him alive! I'll make sure he suffers a fate worse than death!" Klen barked fiercely from the sidelines.

His words rallied a brave crew member, who shouted encouragement to his fellow pirates. "Vice-Captain Klen is right! There's just one of him! If we all attack together, I refuse to believe seven of us can't take down this brat!"

With that, a pirate wielding a giant axe charged forward, followed closely by six others, hoping to overwhelm Tony with sheer numbers. Unfortunately, Klen's underestimation of Tony's power would soon lead to bitter regret.

Tony's Sharingan quickly traced the trajectory of each attacker's moves. With a few quick sidesteps and pivots, he evaded their blows effortlessly. Then, striking with precision, he dispatched each pirate with a single slash—no wasted movement.

Rayleigh's swordsmanship lessons came to life in Tony's hands. Though he hadn't mastered the art completely, the assistance of the Sharingan allowed every strike to hit critical points: neck, heart, skull.

In mere moments, four pirates lay dead, their blood staining the deck of the Tiger Pirates' ship, and the grisly scene was littered with severed limbs. The remaining three pirates, now trembling in fear, stumbled backward, unwilling to approach Tony any further.

At this moment, Captain Goro descended from his throne, applauding slowly, a smile on his face as he looked at Tony. Watching his men die one by one seemed to leave him unfazed.

"Impressive, truly unexpected," Goro said with a calm smile. "I'm a bit annoyed, yes, but I'm willing to offer you a chance. How about joining my crew as the vice-captain? Let's venture into the New World together and make our mark!"

He squinted slightly, still smiling, as he regarded Tony. Goro had struggled through countless battles in the West Blue to reach this last island on the Grand Line. With his sights set on the New World, he was determined not to falter now. Seeing Tony's strength firsthand, Goro hoped to recruit him to bolster the crew's power.

"Oh?" Tony replied mockingly. "I just killed your crewmates, and you're inviting me to join you? How ridiculous!"

The idea repelled Tony. A captain who would welcome someone who had slaughtered his own crew—Tony understood that, among pirates, this kind of pragmatism and ruthlessness was common. As long as someone was powerful, they could join a crew, even if they'd just killed the captain's own men.

But Tony wanted no part of such a crew. He knew that a group bound by nothing but strength and devoid of conscience would eventually destroy itself.

Goro, the captain of the Tiger Pirates, wasn't angered by Tony's refusal. He continued, calm and composed.

"Crewmates?" he sneered.

"I'm not angry because you killed them—I'm annoyed because I'm now short-staffed. They were merely replaceable tools, nothing more. As far as I'm concerned, they were expendable. Only Klen has some value; the rest are just trash. Dead or alive, they're insignificant."

~----------------------------------------------------------

T/N:

Access 30 chapters in advance on my Patreon: [email protected]/dreamer20 (Replace @ with 'a')