Chapter 389: Shura's Heart-Piercing Words and the Captain's Trial! Awakening in the Mud

Faced with the sharp blades drawn by Kin’emon and Kanjuro in a fit of rage, there was no need for Tatsuya to deal with them personally.

“Clang!”

A crisp, melodious sound of metal leaving its sheath pierced the morning silence.

Zoro’s figure instantly blurred into a green afterimage, blocking the path at Tatsuya’s side.

The sandai kitetsu in his hand shimmered with an eerie, icy gleam. His eyes were sharp as knives, and the corner of his mouth curled into a sneer filled with disdain:

“Don’t get too carried away, you ignorant samurai.”

“If you want to draw your blades against our Vice Captain, you’d better weigh yourselves first and see if you actually have the ability to do so.”

On the other side, the air suddenly heated up.

Sanji’s right leg instantly ignited with the dazzling flames of Diable Jambe, the scorching fire dispersing the surrounding morning mist.

With his hands in his pockets, he stood firmly in front, blocking all of the samurai’s attack routes.

As long as the opponents dared to take one more step forward, they would be met with a destructive barrage of kicks.

Seeing both sides ready to clash in the blink of an eye, Duke Inuarashi and Master Nekomamushi instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

They had personally witnessed the terrifying power of this pirate crew when they faced the Four Emperors on the sea.

If the conflict were allowed to erupt, Zou, which had only just caught its breath from the ruins, would likely face total destruction today.

The two rulers exchanged a glance and immediately, with tacit understanding, turned into two afterimages, rushing desperately into the middle of the two opposing sides.

They spread their arms, sweating profusely as they frantically tried to smooth things over.

Duke Inuarashi turned around, his usually dignified face now full of apologetic smiles.

He bowed repeatedly to Tatsuya, his tone filled with a hint of pleading: “Lord Tatsuya, please, I beg you to calm your anger.”

“Everyone here is a benefactor of Zou. If there are any misunderstandings, we can sit down and discuss them properly. Please, do not fight here!”

Master Nekomamushi turned around and roared at the samurai behind him:

“Kin’emon! Put away your blades immediately!”

“Are you idiots crazy! How dare you draw your blades against our benefactors!”

Faced with the desperate dissuasion of the two Mink Tribe rulers, Tatsuya stood his ground without taking a single step back.

There was not the slightest ripple in his deep eyes; he merely looked coldly at Kin’emon, who was furious but held back by the two rulers, with undisguised mockery:

“He is just a child?”

“What, is this the excuse you fallen subjects use to escape reality and comfort yourselves?”

Tatsuya’s voice was not loud, but every word pierced straight to the heart.

“Do you think that when ‘of the Beasts’ Kaido swings down his blood-stained mace,”

“he will show mercy just because your lord is a wet-behind-the-ears child?”

“On this cruel sea, the enemy’s butcher knife never pauses for even a fraction of a second just because of weakness.”

Tatsuya ruthlessly tore away their last shred of dignity.

These samurai were standing here now, begging a newly risen “Sea Emperor” to go to all-out war with another veteran “Sea Emperor” who had entrenched himself in the New World for years.

This would absolutely not be a game-like contest; it would be a cruel war, like a meat grinder.

Once the war began, the entire New World would be dragged into it.

Countless innocent people would bleed and die, and countless families would be torn apart.

Saying this, Tatsuya applied a little pressure with his foot, pressing Momonosuke’s face, twisted with fear, back into the damp soil:

“To overthrow one of the Four Emperors, one must pay a price unimaginable to ordinary people.”

“If the lord you have gone to such great lengths to support is just a lecherous piece of trash who only cries when encountering difficulties, hides behind others when facing danger, and even indulges in women without shame,”

“then tell me, why should I risk the incredibly precious lives of my companions to avenge a piece of trash that cannot be helped?”

“Your lives are lives, but are the lives of my companions not lives as well?”

“Are the lives of the Mink Tribe not lives as well?”

These cold words made the faces of the samurai and the Mink Tribe present turn as pale as paper.

The lips of Kin’emon and the others trembled violently, but they could not refute a single word.

The impulse that had supported them in drawing their blades was extinguished as if doused by a basin of ice water. Their hands holding their weapons lost strength and hung down powerlessly.

However, amidst the oppressive atmosphere, Kanjuro, who had been keeping his head down beside Kin’emon, felt a flash of satisfaction and mockery deep in his eyes.

As a veteran traitor planted by Orochi inside the Kozuki Clan.

Kanjuro felt that the situation before him was simply an excellent opportunity bestowed by the heavens to destroy this group of samurai.

As long as he could provoke the Straw Hat crew here and use the hands of these powerful pirates to kill Momonosuke, his undercover mission could be brought to a perfect conclusion.

Kanjuro sneered inwardly, then quickly put on his mask of being loyal and devoted, heartbroken at seeing his lord humiliated.

He pretended to be blinded by rage and let out a roar like a trapped beast.

He completely ignored the obstruction of the two rulers and disregarded Kin’emon’s exclamation.

He raised his giant brush-shaped blade with both hands and slashed it down at Tatsuya’s head like a madman.

“I will not allow you to insult Lord Momonosuke like this!”

“Die! Pirate!”

However, this seemingly aggressive strike appeared incredibly ridiculous.

Accompanied by a sound of breaking through the air, Sanji’s figure flashed past like a ghost.

His leather shoe, burning with high-temperature flames, traced a perfect arc in mid-air, kicking Kanjuro in the abdomen with ease and precision.

“Bang!”

With a dull thud, Kanjuro spat out bile, and his whole body flew backward like a kite with a broken string.

He finally slammed heavily into the muddy ground a dozen meters away, rolling a few times before stopping, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Seeing that the opponent actually dared to make a move, the expressions of the entire Straw Hat crew instantly turned gloomy and unfriendly.

The two rulers and Kin’emon were also terrified by Kanjuro’s reckless action.

They stepped forward repeatedly to rebuke him sternly, fearing it would trigger an irredeemable bloody battle.

But Kanjuro, lying on the ground, held his chest with blood on the corner of his mouth, still loudly rebuking Tatsuya for his disrespect toward their lord, trying to continue provoking trouble.

Watching this clown jumping up and down on the ground with such clumsy acting, Tatsuya’s eyes turned dark and gloomy.

He slowly raised his right hand, and violent, deep blue lightning faintly flickered at his fingertips.

He was never a kind-hearted person with a good temper.

Since someone was in such a hurry to die, he wouldn’t mind sending this traitor to hell right here.

“Enough! Everyone stop!”

Just at the critical moment when a bloody conflict was about to break out, Luffy, who had been silent on the side, suddenly spoke up loudly.

Luffy’s voice was not hoarse, yet it contained a kind of majesty.

With his voice, an invisible pressure belonging to a Captain instantly enveloped the entire scene.

The camp, which had been noisy and chaotic just a moment ago, instantly quieted down under the shock of this aura.

Everyone turned their gaze toward the boy wearing the Straw Hat.

Luffy raised his head and looked at Tatsuya with serious eyes.

Tatsuya met his Captain’s gaze, and the lightning in his eyes slowly dissipated.

He understood the meaning in Luffy’s eyes, shrugged slightly, and very graciously withdrew the military boot that was stepping on Momonosuke’s head.

He stepped back half a pace, returning the initiative to Luffy.

Momonosuke, regaining his freedom, was covered in mud and crawled up from the ground in a sorry state.

He thought Luffy’s “stop” was to stand up for him and rebuke that terrifying Vice Captain.

He immediately wiped his tears with his dirty sleeve, crying aggrievedly, and thanked Luffy repeatedly.

After all, from childhood, he had always been held in the palm of his retainers’ hands, and no one had ever dared to treat him so sternly and without mercy.

Everyone stood still, holding their breath, not daring to make a sound.

They watched Luffy quietly, waiting for the “Fifth Emperor” to make his final statement regarding the Wano Country alliance.

However, Luffy’s next move exceeded everyone’s expectations.

He did not smile as usual, nor did he bend down to help up the crying Momonosuke on the ground.

He strode forward with a blank expression and walked straight to Kin’emon.

In Kin’emon’s terrified and bewildered gaze, Luffy reached out and snatched the katana he was clutching tightly.

Faced with the palpable pressure radiating from Luffy.

Kin’emon’s Adam’s apple bobbed, he swallowed hard, his whole body stiffened, and he dared not make any move to resist.

Luffy, holding the katana that shimmered with an icy gleam, turned around and walked step by step to Momonosuke.

“Clang.”

A crisp sound of metal hitting the ground rang out.

Luffy loosened his wrist and dropped the heavy sword directly onto the mud-stained grass, landing right beside Momonosuke’s feet.

Looking at the sharp blade dropped in front of him, Momonosuke seemed somewhat at a loss.

With his face covered in tear stains, he looked up and, in a childish voice filled with sobs, shouted with confusion:

“Lord Luffy… what are you doing?”

Luffy put away his usual gentleness, and his clear eyes were now filled with seriousness and indifference.

He looked down at Momonosuke from above:

“Pick it up. Swing it at me.”

“Let me see… your determination.”