Chapter 23: Vs Smoker
...
All the marines around looked at smoker and me with curious gazes on their eyes, wondering who could win this time.
"Look, Smoker-san is at it again"
"He really doesn't know when to give up, huh?
"It's not that Smoker-sama isn't strong, it's just that Asura-sama is just too powerful for him to defeat currently..."
Smoker, that heard their comments, turned to look their ways briefly and gave them a scary expression that made them shut up instantly. After that he cracked his knuckles and started approaching me in an imposing manner.
"What's with that expression, huh?! You think the same thing as them right?!"
"..."
I just stood there calmly while looking at him with an unbothered expression worthy of a cold person that seeks revenge 24/7 and that doesn't really care about anything else. Making somehow Smoker even angrier than before.
"That's it, I've had enough of that gaze of yours. I'm teaching you some manners!" Smoker snapped and grabbed my neck before sending a fist with all his strength towards me.
Do not worry, my companion in having a grumpy face, I'll let you have a worthy battle so you don't lose straight away.
*Swif!*
I moved my head to the side and dodged the fist of smoker by a few centimeters which then made him decide to take his distance from me, after all he already knew what could have happened if he received one of my hits.
Losing 300 consecutive times against me must have taught him something after all...
"White blow!"
After he took enough distance from me, he used his devil user abilities and shot me a dense cloud of smoke from his arms directly to my face.
The reason I wasn't ending this fight with just one hit was because if I did it then this could become simply me flexing my overpowered abilities, which was not what I wanted.
I was a cold-blooded bounty hunter that sought revenge on all pirates in the world, simply ending this fight without the elegance worthy of an edgy character couldn't satisfy me. So I needed to make this fight into a proper duel that I could end later in a badass way to leave all the marines here dumbfounded.
To do that I needed to extend this fight into one where I only dodged or blocked most of his attacks, and after being cornered completely I could finally show off my abilities by defeating Smoker in two or three hits.
One could be too exaggerated.
This was also to save Smoker some face as I had this feeling of compassion and maybe a bit of brotherhood with him as he also had a permanent grumpy expression like me.
The ever going grumpy guys must help each other after all!
*Boom!*
After I dodged the smoke cloud that smoker shot, I took out a small sword from my waist and ran rapidly towards him while using my appearance changing ability to make my red eyes glow faintly to add a "hunter" like effect to this scene in the eyes of the marines.
*Kachin!*
I delivered my sword down on him while reducing my speed slightly just so he could be able to react to this attack, and of course, fast enough so that he couldn't notice I was going easy on him. Soon he took out his Nanashaku Jitte, which was completely covered in sea stone, and used it to stop the sword from going any further...
"White out!"
Soon the arms of smoker turned into clouds of smoke that shot towards my direction, and as soon as they enveloped me, restrained completely my movement.
"It's over shithead, this time it's my win!" Smoker grinned slightly after seeing me completely trapped in his technique and launched many clouds of smoke with the shape of a fist in my direction.
However...
"Blood torrent"
*Fuoooosh!!*
Soon, a crimson hurricane enveloped me completely, destroying the restraints of the cloud of smoke, and eradicating the smoke fists coming in my direction.
"What?!" Smoker yelled in disbelief.
*Bam!*
I used Soru and suddenly appeared right in front of Smoker, delivering a hard kick into his chin that sent him flying towards the wall of the marines' headquarters.
*Boom!!*
"Stay in the ground if you don't want to get more beaten up, Smoker" I spoke coldly towards him while showing some contempt on my expression to provoke him a bit more. After all that attack could barely hurt someone like him.
"Bastard... how is it that you can hurt me!" Smoker stood up and glared at me with an irritated expression, after all, he still didn't know about the existence of Haki, but he could probably know later...
This wasn't the first time I kicked him or punched him, however, he still felt bewildered every time I somehow managed to successfully hit him, which shouldn't be possible as he was a human made of smoke and my attacks should just pass through his body without delivering any damage.
"Your choice then..."
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I used Soru once again and moved myself right in front of him in order to deliver a fist covered in a first stage Haki right into his face.
*Bam!!*
"Argh!!"
Smoker vomited a bit of blood and soon fell unconscious, and although I should have felt a bit worried by the fact that he vomited blood out of nowhere, in this world vomiting blood while in a fight was completely normal.
Anime logic, don't ask me.
"Fools should just stay in the ground when they are advised to"
After delivering my last words, I left the place while walking in a badass manner without looking back, leaving the marines watching the duel completely awestruck at my imposing figure.
"Bon voyage"
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"Ha...!"
"Ha...!"
"Ha...!"
As I entered the house, I heard some small shouts coming from the garden, However, I just shrugged it aside and walked into the kitchen.
"Oh, Sid!"
Bell-mere, or now Bella, looked at me with a surprised expression on her face when he saw me appear.
"Yo, I see you are cooking once again for Kuina, shouldn't you teach her a little on how to cook? I mean, she is going to need it whenever we travel around the world..."
"Don't say stupid things, That girl pushes herself so far every day, this is the least I could do..."
"Hmm... she is indeed quite devoted to swordsmanship..."
"So, why did you visit us today Sid?"
"I came to bring you your monthly payment, also I came to talk to you for a bit"
"Oh, what happened?"
"I actually saw Nami today, she stole Red beard John's treasure this time"
"Red beard John...? Oh, you mean Crimson mustache Jack? Heh~ That girl has already grown up so much...?" Bell-mere smiled sightly while closing her eyes.
Although the first time she became extremely worried about her, after three more times she just started laughing at the shenanigans of her daughter.
Of course, I had to bring her several reports about their daughters' status so that she could stay calm. Not that it was easy, but as a Shadow eminence candidate that I am, I couldn't falter just because of something like these, could I?
"Oh, Sid you were here?"
A voice came from the entrance of the Kitchen, and when I turned to look I saw Kuina covered in sweat with a towel around her neck and a bamboo sword in her waist.
"Yeah, I just arrived from beating down some pirates and marines, were you now practicing the technique you told me about?"
"Yeah, and I'm sure my sword will reach you this time!"
"Uhuh, sure. Wanna try it out now that I'm here for once in a while?"
"You bet!"
"First let's eat, here, I made a bit more for you Sid" Bell-mere stopped the both of us from fighting, and placed some of her famous tangerine sauce in the table for us to eat.
"Thanks for the meal!" Kuina launched herself towards the food and started eating like a certain protagonist with a straw-hat.
"Thanks for the meal as well" I took a seat and started eating elegantly while savoring every flavor that came into my mouth when I munched into it.
Only three more years until Nael and us become official marines, and until then I had to polish my strength so I could be able to be worthy of being considered a proper Shadow eminence.
Only 6 more years and the cannon could start. Which also meant that in 6 years, I could finally debut as the Shadow eminence that could shake the entire world.
A storm was coming, and it was all my doing...
"Hmm... you should maybe add a bit of cheese on this Bell-mere, it could potentiate the acidity of the tangerine, as well as make it sightly sweet and salty at the same time..."
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