[121] The Heist (1)

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Chapter 121: The Heist (1)

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After his flashy debut, Hashirama was promptly led back to the waiting room. He stopped on the way right in front of the door and waited for minutes as he watched dozens of the fighters being led away to another path, while a larger number of fighters walked past him and into the waiting room.

Not everyone from the match was led away to the medic unit, only a few of the hundred that Hashirama had knocked out. A few people had fallen unconscious on top of weapons, receiving wounds that needed to be treated. Only they were being led to the infirmary.

Hashirama understood why, taking everyone away and making them toys would create too large of a gap in people's memories. It was too risky if everyone other than the winner from each block remained in their heads. The Toy-Toy Fruit did have a great stretch on mind control, but it couldn't be all omnipotent – Doflamingo had to keep some of the fighters normal.

The number was huge in the three earlier blocks, almost 50 percent. However, since this time only 9 people really fought, they were only taking the 7 of them who lost and the few other injured people. They were taking 7 of the 9 because one was Hashirama and the other was Charlotte Daifuku. That still unconscious middle-aged man was being led away by a few Big Mom participants who too had been knocked out by Hashirama in the arena but had regained their senses by now.

'So it's safe to assume Doflamingo isn't turning Daifuku into a Toy. A pity. If he did so, I could have turned the Big Mom pirates on this island against him, after making them realize their people had been turned into toys. Cautious bastard.' Hashirama thought in regret.

No matter how much Doflamingo trusted Sugar's Power, he didn't want to take a chance if it meant picking an Emperor's wrath. Moreover, when it meant he might lose his soul in return. Hashirama could see why inhabitants of this world would be scared of that woman, though he personally only felt an ick towards her.

Pushing these thoughts away, Hashirama looked at the scene ahead. It was a warrior wearing a helmet, arguing with the guards who wanted to take him to the infirmary. He didn't want to go and was arguing with the guards.

He called himself "Rickey" from what Hashirama picked up, and that name reminded him why this scene looked familiar to him. That was… the former King of Dressrosa, who had come to fight in this tournament to get his hands on a devil fruit to free his country.

Hashirama suddenly felt a little bad for not noticing him earlier and reassuring him that his country will be fine; he was Viola's father after all, and Rebecca's grandfather.

Speaking of Rebecca, she suddenly approached the old warrior, not recognizing him, and assured him to get treated, he had a few sword wounds. He was one of the few who wasn't knocked out, actually, that meant he was pretty strong-willed, even if his physical powers paled in comparison.

Hashirama didn't intervene in the scene as the King sighed and listened to Rebecca, whom he knew was his granddaughter, but couldn't reveal his own identity either. It was better for the King to go to the underground place and gather an army of followers, as happened in the cannon timeline.

After King Riku III was taken away though, and a guard approached Rebeca to take her away, Hashirama quickly approached a scene. It required his attention fast before it could spiral down.

"I said I don't need it. I am a local gladiator here!"

"Oh- ah! My bad, I am new here, I-I will be going then."

A worker was harassing Rebecca, telling her to follow him to receive medical attention, until Hashirama walked in and he flinched, quickly accepting Rebecca's words and rushing away.

Hashirama had encountered this guy before, who was trying to get Beidou away into the infirmary after the match in Block C. Hashirama had stopped him from taking Beidou, healing her wounds on the spot with his Mystical Palm Jutsu, and the worker had walked away with a stunned expression.

"Looks like I worried for nothing."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, let's go."

Hashirama was worried that Rebecca would be taken away, and he would have to step in again, healing her wounds. However, there seemed to be no reason for that since Rebecca wasn't supposed to be taken to the infirmary at all, being a local gladiator and all – Doffy didn't plan to turn her into a toy.

Hashirama patted Rebecca on her back and led her inside the waiting room.

* * *

Hashirama had been ignoring all the gazes until now, but the intensity grew a bit annoying when he stepped into the waiting room again.

There were about a hundred and a half people here, those who weren't so injured that the medic couldn't take them away, and Doflamingo let them stay here so that the audience had some memories of the matches.

Hundreds of eyes fell on Hashirama as he led Rebecca into the room, everyone stepping away from him, as he approached where Beidou and Marigold had been waiting. The two of them waved at him, even though Marigold still looked a bit down.

"That was an impressive match. I thought you wouldn't show off too much, but guess I was wrong." Beidou walked over and fist-bumped him.

"Thanks, I just thought there isn't any reason to play nice."

"Glad your match was at the end, though. If Gramps saw the sword, he would have lost his mind. He was taken to the infirmary, thankfully."

From her words, Hashirama noted that she hadn't forgotten about Don Chinjao yet, which meant he hadn't turned into a toy yet.

"Yeah, that's for the better. I would rather not have an unnecessary fight with someone like him."

Suddenly, Beidou blinked. She looked confused… and then slowly spoke.

"Huh? Whom are we talking about?"

"Oh… Nobody, don't worry."

So Chinjao was just turned into a toy as they were speaking? Hashirama hadn't forgotten about the man yet, however, which confirmed his guess from earlier. Once he had broken Sugar's devil fruit's ability with his sheer willpower and meta knowledge, it couldn't affect him anymore. Earlier, he had also felt something within him grow, which in turn caused his Observation Haki to grow, in a more enlightening sense than the usual mortal sight one.

Just then, the host announced. ["Now that the arena has been cleared, we will be fixing the cracks in it! That, and to allow the final participants one last rest, there will be a thirty-minute break! Please do your best preparations, everyone!"]

"Alright," Hashirama patted Rebecca on her head. "Stay in this window, it will make things easier for me."

"Huh?"

Hashirama excused himself from the three girls and walked off without explaining anything. He wanted all three fruits, though he planned to eat none. The Nine-Tailed Fox fruit incredibly intrigued him, however. Catrina Devon was the one who ate it in the canon timeline, but he wondered to whom he would give it in this timeline.

Regardless, as the host just announced, the fighters should do their best preparation. For once, Hashirama agreed. It was time he showed the world what Hashirama Senju was really capable of, so he had to prepare.

* * *

King the Wildfire didn't say anything after seeing Daifuku lose; he wasn't the type to mouth out "I told you so" to someone. Though he did pick up a glass of juice and took a sip – through a small removable fabric on his lips. Calmly sucking the juice through the pipe, he let his satisfaction be known as Charlotte Smoothie just said silently.

After witnessing that burst of Conqueror's Haki, what had happened was not exactly unexpected. Any Supreme King worth his dime would stand fine against anyone from an Emperor's crew below the Commander rank. Well, unless they were up against the Red-Haired Pirates, but those monsters didn't fall under the average definition.

On the other hand, Tsunade and Hancock were whispering. Whispers for people in the room were not an issue, they could hear everything, so Tsunade was talking vaguely and cryptically.

"You wanted to say something earlier, was it about him?" Tsunade spoke, referring to [Ra] from the match just now.

Hancock had acted very oddly yesterday when Tsunade was asking about Hashirama. If he really was here, she couldn't understand why Hancock would hesitate to tell her – even if Hashirama requested her to stay silent, it didn't make sense why she would listen to him. Really, her brother couldn't be that big of a womanizer to get the world's most beautiful woman, infamous for being a male hater, spinning on his palm in under a month?

'Then again, he did pluck Vivi away from her country without any resistance.'

Tsunade noted as she watched Hancock sigh, close her eyes, and nod. So it was the case. Tsunade couldn't help but laugh, a surge of relief and anticipation running through her veins. That was it, he was here, her brother – she would finally see him, after almost three years. Why was he wearing that mask? She wanted to see his face already.

Then, after the initial relief and adoration passed, a wave of cold anger suddenly ran under her skin.

Was he sleeping with dozens of women while she was dying like a lonely cat in the marine base? Dammit, they even made their feelings clear that day…!

Vivi was an exception, Tsunade expressed her feelings while knowing he held feelings for that princess girl. Moreover, she was even planning to introduce Marianne to him in a more than just family way. Tsunade didn't plan to let the Senju name die, and as she had talked to him that day about it, he would have to fill the bellies of more than a few ladies to keep their legendary Clan living and beyond.

However, it still stung. Knowing younger brother now, by sixteen years, was now a lot more experienced than her.

"Goddammit." Tsunade clenched her fist, and the armrest under her fist cracked.

"Is there anything wrong, Vice-Admiral?"

Doflamingo took that moment to chime in, looking at her with his usual smirk as she held back from plastering his face on the floor right then. She gave a smile, equally as fake as his.

"I am just regretting that a force such as that boy isn't with the Marines. Even if he is wearing a mask, I haven't heard about such a marine, so it's definitely not him."

"Ah, that makes sense. He is impressive for his apparent age, yes."

Doflamingo added and then turned back to the other guests. 

"That's right, Hancock." Tsunade suddenly said, but this time she wasn't whispering. "Let us keep our senses alert. Anything may happen in the next match, we should be prepared for the worst."

Even though she said the words with a smile, the room suddenly went cold. A few minutes later, the host loudly announced for the fighters to gather in the arena again.

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