Chapter 16
They deftly dodged the hammer before the ma.s.sive weapon hit the giant bear chasing after them, making him fly away! From his outsider's point of view, Haru found the flight quite majestic... From behind them, an old man rushed toward the bear before stopping in front of them. Luffy then asked: "W-who's that?" the bear got up and rushed with renewed vigor and grudge toward the old man. Luffy warned: "It would be better if you ran old man!" Sabo looked at the imposing man and recognized him: "This old man is Naguri! From the grey terminal!" he got up and shouted: "Run! He will chase you!" The stranger didn't move or run, was it fear or confidence? Sabo was starting to panic: "What are you doing? Old man!" from their foreheads the portals approached each other before fusing into one making Haruno appeared. He looked at the old man, smiled at his successful prediction and simply watched the scene unfold before his very eyes.
It seemed as if time had stopped when the old man didn't move and the bear hit him directly! An explosion occurred and a spherical shock wave formed. The wind pressure was so strong, it began to push back the kids! They thought that the old man had died on impact, but what they saw surprised them. The paw that was going to hit the old man stopped in mid-air as the bear looked intensely at the old man, who quietly said: "You know that your place is not here. Go back to the forest. Now!" The bear directly got up on his two hind legs and walked back to the forest. Ace, Luffy,
The old man looked behind himself and asked them: "Are you okay? Kids." He then looked at Haruno and made a rather surprised expression, he counted just three kids... Where did the fourth come from? Haruno smiled and said: "We are okay, Naruji-san." Sabo looked at him and said: "It's Naguri!" Ace and Luffy looked at the old man. Luffy's and Ace's eyes were already s.h.i.+ning. Haruno smiled and said: "Now that the bear isn't here anymore, let's get those fishes back!" Luffy nodded heavily at the prospect of getting back food and rushed toward where they left the fishes. Haruno looked at the old man and added: "Narugi-san, you can also eat with us if you want!" Sabo looked at him and once again said: "It's Naguri!" Haruno looked at Sabo and smiled, a bit embarra.s.sed.
They started to talk and ask about some things, like who he was, how can he be so strong... Etc. The old man then said: "I was the captain of a pirate s.h.i.+p." Sabo shouted in response: "Eh!?! Naguri was a pirate? And a captain!?!?" Naguri nodded: "That's right." Luffy chuckled and said: "I knew it! Only a pirate captain could do something like that!" the old man asked back: "What, that?" Luffy smiled and said: "You scared that bear with just one look! Like Shanks! Right Haru?" Haruno smiled and nodded, Luffy added: "You are cool, old man!" Naguri scratched his head and asked embarra.s.sed: "You think so?" and laughed.
Sabo said: "I can't believe that Naguri is a pirate, because he collected and only hit trash with his hammer all day... Building some strange thing... And was beaten by the gangsters and the BlueJam pirates in the grey terminal... I thought that he was a normal old man..." Luffy chuckled and said: "You just don't understand Sabo! A pirate is like that!" Sabo then answered: "And you are a kid! What do you even know about pirates?" Luffy: "I know a lot! Shanks doesn't go killing everyone that he sees!" Sabo: "Again with this Shanks person..." Haruno examined the fish grilling before saying: "It's ready." He threw the fish in mid-air and cut it in four pieces. One for the three others and Naguri. Haruno smiled before adding: "Eat frankly, you helped us a lot Nagiru." Sabo, Ace, and Luffy shouted back: "It's Naguri!" Haruno laughed loudly and corrected himself: "Right, Naguri!"
"Ah, thank you," said Naguri while eating. Ace then asked: "Can you now explain? What is a pirate captain doing in a lost place like here?" Everyone looked at the individual in question as he answered: "Why are you asking me about it?" Haruno quickly added: "You don't need to answer if you don't want to, of course." The old man smiled as he said: "No, no, I will explain. Had you ever heard about the Gold Roger?" Haruno looked at Ace who was stunned for a brief moment. Sabo asked: "Roger?" Luffy smiled and shouted excitedly: "I heard about it! He was the king of pirates!" Naguri dropped a bombsh.e.l.l as he said: "We challenged Roger, the king of pirates, for a duel!" Luffy smiled and asked: "Really!?" Haruno smiled at the scene and exclaimed, impressed: "Oh... You have guts Navuri." Sabo looked at him and shouted: "It's Naguri!!!" Haruno coughed and looked away in shame. Naguri continued: "But... we lost, and I lost my friends from sight. After this, everything changed from bad to worse... And here I am now. That's basically what happened to me."
Luffy smiled and said: "But... You fought with the king of pirates, right? So cool!" The old man quickly explained as he laughed "No, no... We weren't a match for him. We lost completely!" Luffy: "Is that so...? Even you weren't a match for the pirate king..." Naguri: "Yes, it's not just Roger, but all of his crew was strong! Most important of all, their teamwork was incredible! Fighting with them was an honor." Ace, at this moment, started to walk away. Sabo looked at his retreating back and thought about following him. He looked at Luffy who continued to dream: "Is that so... I have a long way to go to be a pirate then." Naguri looked at Luffy and asked: "You have an interest in pirates?" Luffy simply proclaimed: "I will become one!" The old captain looked at him, stunned, and asked: "You'll become one?" Haruno laughed and explained: "Naburi-san, he wants to become a pirate!" Naguri stared at Haruno and calmly said: "It's Naguri."
[Edited by Aaronji]