I Punch the Tailed Beast Ball

After learning that Miss Bakkin, Whitebeard Jr., and the others had been killed by the Marines, Kaido flew into a rage.

It wasn’t because he had a particularly good relationship with Bakkin. Although they had both once been members of the Rocks Pirates, they had never been friends.

After all, the Rocks Pirates had never been a close-knit pirate crew. Everyone had only come together for their own purposes before eventually becoming a pirate crew. If members didn’t kill each other, their relationship was already considered fairly good.

Among the Rocks Pirates, the only one Kaido had any real connection with was his fellow Emperor of the Sea, BIG MOM, Charlotte Linlin.

The Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Azure Dragon Model that he had eaten was given to him by Big Mom on the day the Rocks Pirates disbanded.

The real reason Kaido was furious was that he felt the Marines had humiliated him and damaged his interests.

Although Kaido didn’t believe that the dimwitted Whitebeard Jr. was Whitebeard’s son either, Whitebeard Jr.’s strength was still quite impressive, and he believed Bakkin’s plan had a reasonable chance of succeeding.

If it succeeded, Kaido would gain tremendous benefits while also eliminating the Whitebeard Pirates, one of his greatest enemies.

Consumed by rage, Kaido didn’t bother thinking any further. He directly ordered two of the Beasts Pirates’ All-Stars into action, sending both Jack and Queen to lead the elite forces of the Beasts Pirates in an assault on G-5, one of the Marines’ few branches in the New World.

Although Jack had lost to Ace, while Zoan Devil Fruits weren’t necessarily outstanding in every aspect, their toughness and durability were indeed difficult for other Devil Fruits to match.

So although Jack had been defeated, he recovered from his injuries very quickly.

As for Jack’s defeat, Kaido didn’t blame him too much. Kaido had always been quite generous toward subordinates he valued.

...

”Damn it! Why didn’t you report it before going to eliminate Edward Weevil and Miss Bakkin?!” Inside the Fleet Admiral’s office, Akainu slammed his fist onto the desk, glaring with wide eyes as he angrily berated Nagasawa.

Unfortunately, Nagasawa wasn’t affected by Akainu’s intimidation at all. Smiling, he replied, ”Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, don’t make false accusations. I did file a report before this mission.”

Akainu pulled a sheet of paper from the pile of documents on his desk and angrily threw it onto the floor.

”You call this a report?”

Written on the paper were only the words:

Going out to sea to hunt pirates.

”How is that not a report? Isn’t Edward Weevil a pirate?” Nagasawa asked in return.

Akainu was speechless. Nagasawa had truly managed to infuriate him.

”The Intelligence Department already gave you the information. You should’ve known he couldn’t be touched for the time being,” Akainu said coldly.

After discovering that the Beasts Pirates had attacked G-5, Marine Headquarters had immediately dispatched reinforcements, driving back Jack, Queen, and the others.

However, the Beasts Pirates were never going to provoke the Marines for no reason while still clashing with the Whitebeard Pirates. So after an investigation, what Nagasawa hadn’t even bothered hiding was naturally uncovered.

”Why not? Isn’t combating pirates the Marines’ responsibility? Weren’t you the one who said you wanted to end the Great Age of Pirates?” Nagasawa asked again.

”Should I have let him go and allowed him to continue committing atrocities? Who knows how many more people would have died while he remained free?”

”It’s precisely because we want to end the Great Age of Pirates that we can’t provoke the Beasts Pirates at a time like this.”

”If the Beasts Pirates go to war with the Marines, the Whitebeard Pirates—who also hate the Marines—might temporarily set aside their conflict with the Beasts Pirates and attack the Marines together. If that happens, every arrangement the Marines have made in the New World will be destroyed!” Akainu shouted at Nagasawa.

He pounded the desk several more times, sending the documents scattered across it flying.

”So do you understand the enormous mistake you’ve made? For the sake of preventing a few possible sacrifices, we’ll end up paying a far greater price!” Akainu roared.

Nagasawa casually picked at his ear with a finger, looking completely indifferent, nothing like someone being scolded by his superior.

”You!” Seeing Nagasawa treating his words as though they were nothing, Akainu’s blood pressure immediately shot up. He almost wanted to smash Nagasawa’s face with a Meteor Volcano.

Fortunately, Akainu had already gone through a fit of rage not long ago and had become somewhat numb to it.

Besides, they couldn’t actually fight. If they really did, Marine Headquarters itself would probably be destroyed.

”You caused this mess, so you figure out how to solve it. Until you come up with a solution, don’t come back to Marine Headquarters,” Akainu said as he waved his hand dismissively.

”I see. So you’re giving me a vacation. Then thank you very much, Fleet Admiral Akainu. I was just planning to take a nice trip around the seas,” Nagasawa said with a cheerful smile.

Having said that, Nagasawa didn’t give Akainu another chance to speak. He swaggered out of the Fleet Admiral’s office, leaving Akainu behind to continue fuming alone.

The reason Nagasawa dared to do whatever he pleased was simple: he believed he was absolutely invincible in the world of One Piece.

So what if he provoked the Beasts Pirates?

If Kaido really came looking for him, Nagasawa wouldn’t even need to use anything else. With the Captain-Commander template alone, one slash from Zanka no Tachi would be enough. There was no way Kaido would survive.

Of course, although Nagasawa had a way to solve the problem, he deliberately didn’t tell Akainu. He was intentionally provoking him. After all, Akainu simply wasn’t a very likable person.

And when Nagasawa said he wanted to travel the seas, he wasn’t joking. He had already planned to do so.

There was no way he was going to stay cooped up in Marine Headquarters all day. Otherwise, how could he happily collect Devil Fruits?

Besides, he also wanted to see how much the One Piece world had changed because of him—whether Mihawk had become stronger after being inspired during the Summit War, how the Whitebeard Pirates were doing, and he also wanted to visit the Revolutionary Army in person.

Returning to his office, Nagasawa saw Tina diligently working.

”Tina, do you want to take a long vacation?” he asked.

”A long vacation?” Tina looked at Nagasawa in confusion, unable to understand why he suddenly brought up taking leave.

”The Fleet Admiral saw how outstanding your boss has been, so he’s rewarding me with a vacation that lasts as long as I want.”

Tina: ”...”

She didn’t believe a single word Nagasawa said. Compared to a vacation, suspension sounded much more believable.

Though in truth, this wasn’t considered a particularly serious matter for an Admiral.

”Admiral Nagasawa, please explain the situation properly to Tina. Don’t make it so subjective,” Tina said expressionlessly.

Since Tina wanted to hear it, Nagasawa repeated his harmonious conversation with Akainu.

”See? Isn’t that basically the same as giving me a vacation until I feel like coming back?” Nagasawa said while leaning back in his chair and taking a sip of the hot tea Tina had brewed.

”Not at all. They’re completely different. You’ve basically been kicked out of Marine Headquarters,” Tina replied speechlessly.

For an Admiral, this originally wasn’t a very serious matter.

Kaido wasn’t an idiot. There was no way he’d wage war against the Marines over some so-called ally. Attacking G-5 was already the result of him acting on impulse, and that was the end of it.

But Nagasawa kept provoking Akainu, which was why things ended up like this.

”What’s so fun about staying at Marine Headquarters? It’s boring being here every day,” Nagasawa said indifferently.

Tina stared at Nagasawa for a long while before ultimately saying nothing.

Silence filled the office, interrupted only by the sound of Nagasawa eating donuts.

”Nagasawa, I heard you went out and dealt with some pirates recently.” Garp laughed heartily as he walked into the office.

The moment he saw Nagasawa eating donuts, his eyes lit up, and he immediately joined the snack-eating army.

”Nothing worth mentioning. Just some small fry with a bounty of over 400 million. More importantly, I’m taking a long vacation.” Nagasawa told Garp that he’d be leaving Marine Headquarters for a while.

That way Garp wouldn’t wonder where he’d disappeared to later.

”A vacation? That’s great! Want to come visit my hometown with me?” Garp laughed loudly.

Nagasawa shook his head.

”I’ll pass. I already have some travel plans.”

Garp didn’t mind. After chuckling a couple of times, stuffing himself with snacks, and chatting idly with Nagasawa for a while, he left the office.

”So, Tina, what do you think? If you want to stay at Marine Headquarters and continue working overtime, I don’t have any objections,” Nagasawa asked.

Tina hesitated.

If she left together with Nagasawa now, her promotion would probably be ruined. She was just about to become a Rear Admiral.

But she was also Nagasawa’s direct subordinate. Her boss had already been driven out. Would it really be appropriate for her to remain at Marine Headquarters?

Besides, she wasn’t worried about Nagasawa getting into danger. With his strength, safety wasn’t something worth worrying about.

She was worried he’d make even bigger headlines.

After all, Nagasawa had openly killed one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and he never bothered hiding the fact that he called the Celestial Dragons trash.

She was afraid that after only a short time outside, he’d make headlines for killing another Warlord or beating up a Celestial Dragon.

If that happened, Nagasawa probably wouldn’t be able to return at all.

Killing a Warlord was one thing.

Beating up a Celestial Dragon was irreversible.

”Tina will supervise you closely.” Tina glared fiercely at Nagasawa.

Her Rear Admiral promotion...

Although Tina wasn’t someone who cared deeply about rank, it was something she had earned through her own efforts and was just about to obtain. Suddenly losing it naturally left her somewhat unhappy.

”Haha, supervise me? Everyone knows I, Nagasawa, stand against gambling and drugs.”

Just then, Z’s Neo Marines were preparing to depart, so Nagasawa simply hitched a ride on Z’s ship and left Marine Headquarters.

After learning why Nagasawa had left Marine Headquarters, Z felt somewhat guilty, while Ain indignantly said,

”Why should someone who eliminated such a heinous pirate be driven out of Marine Headquarters? The Fleet Admiral has gone too far.”

Ain was deeply grateful to Nagasawa for killing Whitebeard Jr.

She couldn’t understand why killing such an evil pirate was treated as though it had been a mistake.

Whitebeard Jr. could kill Marines freely, yet the Marines couldn’t kill him simply because he had ties to Kaido?

Where had the Marines’ justice gone?

Binz also spoke up in Nagasawa’s defense, and the other members of the Neo Marines all looked equally indignant as they supported him.

Tina suddenly felt that Z’s Neo Marines might be a rather dangerous organization.

Compared to everyone else speaking up for him, Nagasawa himself remained completely calm.

Smiling, he said,

”It’s no big deal. It’s just a vacation for a while. No need to make such a fuss.”

”Nagasawa, where do you want to go? I’ll take you there,” Z asked.

The Neo Marines mainly hunted pirates in the first half of the Grand Line rather than in the New World.

”Then take me to Kuraigana Island,” Nagasawa said without any hesitation.

He planned to visit Mihawk first before heading to the Revolutionary Army headquarters.

However, he wouldn’t bring Tina with him when visiting the Revolutionary Army.

It wasn’t the right time yet.

Taking Tina there now wouldn’t be appropriate.

”Kuraigana Island? That’s where Mihawk lives. Are you sure you want to go there?” Z asked.

”Isn’t Mihawk the world’s greatest swordsman? I want to see just how strong his swordsmanship is, and how powerful Yoru, the world’s strongest black blade, really is,” Nagasawa explained.

Only then did Z remember that Nagasawa always carried a sword at his waist, although he’d never once seen him use it.

Because of the overwhelming strength and Haki Nagasawa had displayed against Whitebeard Jr., Z had subconsciously assumed he was a powerhouse similar to Garp.

Now Z understood.

Nagasawa was probably planning to have a duel with Mihawk.

”Compared to your Taijutsu, how strong is your swordsmanship?” Z asked curiously.

He genuinely wanted to know whether Nagasawa’s sword or fists were stronger.

Nagasawa smiled.

”My swordsmanship is considerably stronger.”

Z was startled.

He had witnessed Nagasawa’s Taijutsu firsthand.

The terrifyingly powerful Whitebeard Jr. had been knocked down with one punch and killed with a second.

Yet Nagasawa claimed his swordsmanship was considerably stronger.

What kind of realm was that?

Ain glanced at the sword hanging from Nagasawa’s waist.

She was also a swordswoman who frequently fought using a shortsword.

After observing it for a while, she couldn’t recognize which famous blade it was.

”Stop looking. This sword is called Ryujin Jakka. It isn’t one of the famous blades you know,” Nagasawa said with a smile.

”But it will become one in the future.”

”The greatest one.”

Tina, who had been lost in thought the whole time, heard Nagasawa’s words and felt there were simply too many things to complain about. She didn’t even know where to begin.

The journey to Mihawk’s island wasn’t instantaneous.

During the voyage, with nothing better to do, Nagasawa began instructing Tina in her training.

Tina was actually a rather well-rounded Marine.

She possessed both types of Haki, had trained in all of the Six Powers, and was also a Devil Fruit user.

The awkward part was that while she knew everything, nothing in particular stood out.

Nagasawa mainly trained Tina’s Haki, followed by her Devil Fruit development.

He suggested that instead of always thinking about trapping enemies with the iron bars she created, she should focus on increasing the strength of the iron itself and use her own body as a weapon in combat.

Since they were all on the same ship, Nagasawa also occasionally gave guidance to the others.

Both Ain and Binz received some instruction as well.

However, no matter how long a journey was, it would eventually come to an end.

After sailing for some time, they finally arrived at Kuraigana Island.