Chapter 52: Dragon
"This place is terrifying," Usopp muttered, having already stripped off his shirt in the oppressive heat. Despite this, he continued trembling, eyes darting everywhere. "Everywhere you look—fire! Heat! Monsters probably hiding everywhere!"
"I don't know," Luffy said cheerfully, stepping over a rock that was practically glowing red. "I think it's pretty interesting!"
Itachi had removed his chainmail vest, revealing a lean but defined upper body. The scars across his chest told stories no one aboard the Sunny had asked about yet.
Zoro, also shirtless, studied Itachi's physique with a swordsman's analytical eye. Lean muscle, low body fat—thinner than Luffy, actually. Zoro found himself wondering how a frame like that could generate such devastating power.
"HEY! ANYONE HERE?!" Luffy cupped his hands around his mouth. "THE PERSON WHO CALLED FOR HELP! WE CAME TO SAVE YOU!"
Itachi scanned their surroundings. "The man on the phone mentioned being cold."
Usopp waved a hand in front of his steaming face. "Cold?! On THIS island?!"
"Perhaps," Robin offered thoughtfully, "whatever happened to him made him feel cold, even if the environment wasn't."
"DON'T SAY SCARY THINGS LIKE THAT, ROBIN!" Usopp's trembling intensified. "This place is already terrifying enough!"
"Where's that samurai?" Zoro walked alongside Luffy, both of them scanning in opposite directions. "The one they mentioned?"
They pressed forward. Luffy continued shouting. The only response was the crackle of flames.
"Maybe it really WAS a Navy trap," Usopp speculated. "False distress signal—"
"Doesn't matter!" Luffy suddenly broke into a run, laughing. "We're on the island now! We should explore everything!"
Itachi's hand shot up.
"Wait. Don't move."
Usopp froze mid-step. Robin and Zoro halted immediately. They'd learned—even without understanding Itachi's sensing methods—that when he warned, they listened.
Luffy, of course, kept running.
Then he stopped.
"Hey... what's that up there?"
Itachi leaped onto a massive boulder, its surface hot enough to blister bare skin. From this vantage, he could see clearly.
In the flames ahead, a shape emerged. Massive. Fanged. Horned. Four legs ending in talons. Wings folded against its back.
Everyone spoke at once.
"A DRAGON?!"
"Those are supposed to be LEGENDARY!" Luffy's astonishment didn't look like fear—it looked like joy.
Zoro's hand moved to his sword. "Why is something like THAT here?!"
"It's not friendly!!" Usopp's legs had already started their retreat protocol.
Robin's eyes narrowed. "It's noticed us."
Itachi watched the creature with cold assessment. The size alone made it dangerous. The teeth, the claws, the wings—unknown capabilities, unknown temperament, unknown threat level.
Luffy bounded forward, directly toward the dragon.
"IT'S SO COOL! SO HANDSOME!"
He stood before it, arms spread.
"How can something this cool EXIST?!"
The dragon's enormous eyes fixed on the tiny rubber man before it.
"Luffy! CAREFUL!" Zoro drew his swords.
The dragon's head snapped forward, jaws gaping.
Luffy dodged—and in that moment of evasion, heard something impossible.
"Who?"
He twisted in midair, looking back at the crew.
"Did you hear that?! The dragon TALKED!"
Robin's eyebrows rose. "I did hear something..."
Luffy's body steamed as he activated Gear Second. His legs pumped, speed increasing exponentially. His arm stretched behind him.
"GOMU GOMU NO—JET BULLET!"
The punch connected with the dragon's face.
The creature barely staggered.
"SO HARD!" Luffy's eyes went wide. "My punch didn't do anything!"
Robin observed with concern. "That punch would have knocked out a Sea King..."
The dragon recovered and lunged. Zoro intercepted, blades meeting fangs in a shower of sparks. Both combatants were forced back by the impact.
"Tch!" Zoro gritted his teeth. "Strength AND hardness—this thing's no joke!"
The dragon didn't care about their assessments. It raised its head. Fire gathered in its throat.
"HE'S GONNA—"
Luffy's arms shot out, grabbing Usopp and diving clear.
BOOM!
A torrent of flame erupted from the dragon's mouth, consuming the area where they'd stood.
A wall of water met it head-on.
"SUITON: SUIJINHŌ!" — Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!
Steam exploded everywhere as fire and water collided, neutralizing each other in a hissing cloud.
Luffy, Usopp, and Robin turned.
"Itachi!"
Itachi didn't acknowledge them. His hands were already moving through another sequence of seals.
"KATON: GŌKAKYŌ NO JUTSU!" — Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
A sphere of flame shot toward the dragon.
It splashed harmlessly against the creature's scales.
"Brother Itachi!" Usopp shouted. "Fire won't work! It's literally MADE of—"
He stopped.
Itachi was gone from the boulder.
The dragon, distracted by the useless fireball, never saw the shadow that emerged from the dissipating flames.
Itachi appeared above its head, Wind Forest Fire already drawn.
STAB.
The blade pierced the dragon's left eye.
Before the creature could even register the pain, Itachi had twisted, using the momentum of his turn to drive the sword into the right eye.
STAB.
Blood sprayed. The dragon roared—a sound of pure agony.
Itachi withdrew the blade and dropped from the dragon's head, landing silently.
"AMAZING!" Usopp's jaw dropped.
Robin's eyes sparkled. "Flawless."
"WHO ARE YOU?!" The dragon's voice erupted from its throat, somehow still articulate despite its injuries. "ARE YOU A WARLORD'S UNDERLING?!"
Everyone froze.
The dragon—blind, enraged—began another flame breath.
Luffy launched himself upward, fist extended.
"GOMU GOMU NO—GIANT PISTOL!"
His massive fist slammed into the dragon's jaw, redirecting the flames harmlessly skyward.
Zoro saw his opening. Haki flowed into his blades, darkening their edges.
"It's time to end this."
He charged.
"TORA HUNTING—SANZEN SEKAI!"
His blades crossed, then tore through the dragon's neck. Under the force of Armament Haki, even those scales couldn't protect it.
The dragon's head separated from its body and rolled across the scorched earth.
Usopp stared at the massive head, now still.
"It's... it's dead..."
Then Itachi spoke.
"There's something on it."
He was already moving toward the fallen corpse.
(End of Chapter)
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