Chapter 15: East Blue Arc: Luffy Submerged! Zoro vs. Hatchan the Octopus!

"Hachi Ink Jet!" Hatchan spat out his ink at the charging Zoro.

Jumping aside to dodge the jet of ink, Zoro moved in and sliced off Hatchan's spiked hair.

"My hair!" Hatchan exclaimed. "You bastard! I'm gonna... forgive you since it's just hair and it's gonna grow back." he shrugged. "Roronoa Zoro, you can't cut me because I have six arms. Go ahead and cut me if you can. Hachi's Triple Sword Catch!" he tried to stop Zoro's sword slice. "Ow!" he whined when he missed his mark.

"I don't have time to play with you!" Zoro snapped. "He throws me out of whack."

Could he possibly... Sanji mused, seeing Zoro panting.

"If you're not paying attention, you'll shorten your life!" Kuroobi warned, throwing a punch which Sanji dodged.

"Fish shouldn't go against a cook!" Sanji snapped, swinging kick after kick on Kuroobi's finned arm.

"Go down already!" Zoro renewed his attack on Hatchan.

"Hachi Suckers!" Hatchan jumped and attached himself to a nearby pillar to avoid Zoro.

"So what?" Zoro snapped, seeing Hatchan attach himself onto the pillar. "Come down already! You damn octopus!"

"You damn fishman!" Sanji cursed as he and Kuroobi continued their fight, each dodging the other's blows.

"Roronoa Zoro, do you mind if I ask you a question?" Hatchan inquired. "I heard you use the Three Swords Style. Why are you using only one sword?"

"You're only losing big with only one sword." Zoro retorted.

"Shut up!" Hatchan fired back. "I'm not fighting seriously. Actually, there's a reason that a human swordsman can't defeat me."

"Just as I thought, those wounds..." Sanji realized his hunch was right when he saw Zoro falter. "From your fight with Hawk-Eye are... I thought something was strange." he noted, Zoro having collapsed onto the ground after Hatchan went back into the building to retrieve his swords. "He looked as if nothing had happened right after that fierce fight. Is he an idiot or what?"

"I thought I warned you pay attention." Kuroobi remarked, his punch sending Sanji flying through the damaged wall. "I have a fortieth dan in Fishman Karate. He's been taken care of, Arlong-san. What do we do with Roronoa Zoro?"

"Just ditch him into the sea." Arlong replied. "What weaklings... how boring."

"Geez, they sure did a lot of damage, though." Kuroobi pointed out.

"It's no big deal." Arlong shrugged. "Arlong Park can't be destroyed by this kind of damage."

"Indeed." Kuroobi agreed.

"How dare you, Roronoa Zoro!" Hatchan fumed. "You died from shock before I, the great swordsman, could attack you? You could have left your name in history if you died at least after receiving my Six Sword Style attack. Well, no matter how you struggle, or even if the world is turned upside down, you humans can't even give a scratch on me, wielder of six swords."

"Now, go after the girl who's gone after the rubber man." Arlong instructed.

"The Six Sword Style, huh?" Zoro echoed. "What a joke. I'll tell you one thing, octopus." he got to his feet. "There's a man I need to meet up. Until I meet him again, my life can't be taken away even by Death himself."

Underwater...

"Well, aniki, you don't drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there " Sasha joked, finding her unconscious brother on the sea bed. Summoning one of the simpler claymore swords she had in her arsenal, she focused water-elemental energy on the blade. "Pressure Blade!" she released three water blades at the rock holding Luffy down, destroying the boulder. "Water Lock!" she encased the freed Luffy in a water bubble of oxygen and proceeded to swim back to land with the rubber teen in tow.

Back in the fight...

"That fishman's punch was a fortieth dan?" Sanji echoed, getting back up. "Then those kicks I used to take all the time from that damn geezer are four-hundred dan kicks."

"What is it, Roronoa Zoro?" Hatchan taunted. "I'm not sure what's going on, but you look like you're in pain. You think you can defeat my Six Swords Style in that condition? Everyone in the whole world thinks the same way."

"I'll show you the Three Sword Style." Zoro swore. "Yosaku! Johnny! Let me use your swords!"

"I'll show you the wall that you humans with two arms can't surpass." Hatchan boasted. "Six Swords Style: Tentacle-Sword Overload!"

Grabbing the two swords Johnny and Yosaku tossed at him, Zoro defended and dodged Hatchan's attack. "Three Sword Style: Streaming Wolf-Swords!" he landed a successful attack across Hatchan's chest.

"How dare you have the impudence to do such a thing!" Hatchan fumed. "I'm really mad! I'm gonna kill you! If you just about it, you should know. I can hold six swords, so there's no way you can defeat me when you hold only three swords. Isn't that right?"

"Just think about it?" Zoro echoed. "What a big miscalculation. Whether it's three swords of six swords, it doesn't matter. Your sword and my swords carry different weight."

"Six Sword Style: Octopus Pot Stance!" Hatchan closed his six swords into a single point and charged at Zoro who blocked it with his crossed blades. "New Year's Open..." he parried Zoro's blades apart. "Body Slam!" he headbutted Zoro's bandaged chest. "That'll show you!" he rushed in for the finishing blow. "I won't let you land while you're still alive. Six Sword Ultimate Technique: Waltz of Six Swords!" he raised all six blades above his head, spinning them like a fan blade. "You'll be mincemeat if you touch it even for a second. That bastard!" he cursed, Zoro having dodged the attack. "He rolled on my swords adjusting to the spin. On top of that, he gave me a free hand cutting service. How dare he make fun of me! I'm not a circus acrobat! I'm completely angry now! I won't let him get away! Six Sword Stance: Octopus Pot Stance!" he renewed his attack. "It's all over! New Year's..."

"Dragon Twister!" Zoro ended the fight, his blades cutting off Hatchan's swords and sending the fishman flying into the air.

"How dare you beat Hachi!" Kuroobi snapped, readying a punch to finish off the exhausted Zoro. "You..." he growled when Sanji kicked him away.

"You did indeed send me flying." Sanji admitted.

"I didn't know there was someone in the East Blue that can survive my fist." Kuroobi noted.

"There's probably many," Sanji grinned. "Especially at a certain restaurant."

"You sure take me lightly, don't you?" Kuroobi glared.