36. Let's Save Her!

"Izumi!!" Luffy suddenly appeared in front of Izumi.

Mihawk glanced at Luffy and said.

"Brat! Tell him not to challenge someone he can't possibly beat!"

"I will!"

Then, Luffy took Izumi to Johnny's boat so that he could be taken care of by Johnny and Yosaku.

Mihawk looked in that direction. At first, he thought only Zoro and Luffy attracted him. Turns out, there was one more person who caught his attention.

"One has a strong determination to become the strongest swordsman in the world. The other has the desire to become the Pirate King regardless of how difficult it is to achieve his dream. And the last one has a fighting ability that keeps increasing every time he fights and has Haoshoku Haki."

After a while, Mihawk jumped to his boat, then sailed in a certain direction.

— — — —

Three hours later.

"Ugghh." Izumi let out a groan and he began to open up his eyes.

"Izumi!!! Are you alright?" Luffy asked in worry. Meanwhile, Sanji was smoking beside them with bandages wrapped around his body.

"I thought I was dead!" Izumi chuckled. Then he looked around. He only saw Luffy, Sanji, and Yosaku. "Where's the other?"

"They went after Nami. We will also go there."

Izumi facepalmed.

"That's bad. We should have gone together. They could be in danger if they face Arlong. Moreover, Zoro is still injured."

"Izumi-san, you know Arlong?" Yosaku asked in wonder.

"Originally, Arlong was a member of the Sun Pirates whose members were all fish-men. But they have a history. Some of them had been enslaved by humans, so many of them hated humans. Arlong is one of the members who really hates humans. Thus, he had not only destroyed many villages but was also ruling them. Even Nami herself was treated like a slave by him."

Hearing the explanation from Izumi, Luffy and Yosaku were so dumbfounded, even Sanji.

Luffy grabbed Izumi's shoulders and yelled.

"IF YOU KNEW THAT, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!?"

"YOU THINK NAMI WILL LET YOU MEET ARLONG? NAMI DON'T WANT TO LET US BE IN DANGER, SO SHE LEFT US! Be patient! We will save her, but wait for the right time! Her heart is still not ready because she is afraid that we will be killed by Arlong." Izumi grabbed Luffy's face when he said that. Then, Luffy grabbed back Izumi's face.

"I don't care. And I don't understand what you mean! Anyway, we have to save Nami. You're coming too, right, Sanji?"

Sanji exhaled the smoke first, then answered.

"A lady was screaming for help. I couldn't help but have to save her."

Izumi didn't know when Sanji decided to join. Looked like Sanji decided to join while Izumi was still unconscious. Izumi held his stomach which was slightly in pain. Mihawk miraculously stabbed his sword into Izumi's stomach without damaging his internal organs. It made him grateful.

"By the way. Why did you even bother to challenge Dracule Mihawk?"

"Mihawk is indeed a dangerous swordsman. But he won't really fight seriously against a weakling like me. Furthermore, I knew he wouldn't just kill me if he knew my true intentions. That's why I still dare to challenge him. By fighting him, I also tell you how powerful the Seven Warlords of the Sea are. In essence, they are monsters." Izumi explained why.

"You're challenging him just to show that the Seven Warlords of the Sea are monsters?"

Izumi raised his two fingers.

"Well, there are other reasons. I need to test my limits and learn Haki from him. The best way to learn Haki is to fight against stronger people. In my case, I fought a monster."

"Haki? What is that?" Sanji asked. Luffy also wanted to know what Haki was, to the point that Izumi dared to challenge someone he couldn't beat.

Izumi started to explain.

"Haki is a mysterious power that allows the user to utilize their own spiritual energy for a wide variety of purposes. For example, Kenbunshoku Haki. It can grant you six senses, and you can sense people's presence, strength, emotions, and intentions. If you can master it completely, you can literally see a precise mental image of what will happen in the next few seconds. In other words, futuristic vision."

Sanji widened his eyes.

"What??? Is there such a power?"

Meanwhile, Luffy was a bit confused. Then, he hit the palm with his other hand.

"Anyway, a mysterious power right?"

"Luffy. Sooner or later, you will meet people who can use Kenbunshoku Haki once you enter the Grand Line. They can predict your attacks, know your strength, and know where you are without having to look."

"Can it predict attacks? Amazing."

"Yup. Even people who are not Devil Fruit users can learn it. Next is Busoshoku Haki. Every human being has spiritual energy, and this spiritual energy is used to create armor that can be applied to your body as well as clothes or weapons. That is called Busoshoku Haki. You already know that Luffy's body is rubber, right? But if you use Busoshoku Haki, it can hurt him if your punch contains Busoshoku Haki."

After Izumi explained Busoshoku Haki, Luffy remembered his childhood.

"Ah!! So, it's because of Haki, huh? No wonder it hurts."

"You know that, Luffy?" Sanji asked.

Luffy nodded and explained to him.

"Yes. When I was little, my grandfather used to beat me a lot. At that time, I wondered why his punches hurt even though my body is rubber."

"Heh. Your grandfather is so strong."

"That's right. If you meet him. Don't you dare go against him!" Luffy warned Sanji strongly. Sanji just shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not that free to fight an old man."

After a moment, Izumi started to explain the last form of Haki.

"Alright. I told you two forms of Haki already. For the last one. It's called Haoshoku Haki. This Haki is a rare form of Haki that allows the user to exert their own willpower over others. This Haki cannot be trained directly. Haoshoku Haki becomes stronger when the user is stronger spiritually. When spiritual power increases, willpower will increase as well. Haoshoku Haki can be used to temporarily dominate the psyche of others and intimidate them, knocking down all weak-willed intelligent beings and rendering them unconscious, and it can also be used to pressure others."

"Wait a moment!" Sanji suddenly cried out. Izumi turned at him.

"What is it?"

"That means you can also use Haoshoku Haki?"

"Hah? What do you mean?"

"I mean, before you fell unconscious, you suddenly screamed. Then a lot of people passed out after that."

"WHAT???"

This time Izumi was so dumbfounded. If what Sanji said was true, then he also had it. But he had absolutely no recollection of what happened before he fell unconscious, so Sanji explained it to him.

"My fight against Mihawk didn't end in vain." Izumi said inwardly.

— — — —

The morning of the next day.

Izumi, Luffy, Sanji, and Yosaku finally arrived at Cocoyashi village, Nami's hometown after they got lost at sea. Luckily they met a sea monster that had the appearance of a legless cow.

Their boat was pulled at high speed, and once it arrived, they were thrown ashore along with their ship which hit Zoro who was walking leisurely. This incident is quite similar to what happened at canon. The difference is, that they got lost on the way to Cocoyashi village.

"Ouch! Damn. My whole body still hurts." Izumi complained.

"Goddamned. Can you guys come normally?" Zoro emerged from the wreckage of the destroyed boat. He complained about the abnormal arrival of Luffy and the others.

"Haha, sorry, sorry. But, that was fun!"

"You should have fun somewhere else, dammit! Oh, Izumi, are you alright?" Zoro saw Izumi who was lying down. Zoro knew why Izumi had so many wounds because Zoro was still a little conscious after his defeat over Mihawk.

"I'm dying. Help me!"

Zoro helped Izumi up. Then he told all the events that happened before Luffy and Izumi came. How Nami saved Usopp by faking Usopp's death, why Nami became a pirate under Arlong, and how Nami tried to buy her village in order to get freedom from Arlong.

Hearing what Zoro had said. Everyone decided to save her from the fish-man, Arlong.

"Earlier, I saw Nami crying after the marine had no intention of helping her village from Arlong. Instead, they took Nami's treasure that she had accumulated over the years to buy her village from Arlong. And now Nami is heading to where Arlong is. I chased after her, but somehow I always came back here."

At first, Zoro was so annoyed with Nami's betrayal. However, after hearing everything from Usopp, he realized that Nami wanted to keep Luffy and others away from Arlong for fear that Arlong would kill them. He also briefly asked the villagers where they know Nami wants to free them from Arlong, even though she is willing to be enslaved and used by Arlong.

After Zoro told them all he knew. They all put on serious faces. In fact, the usually joking Luffy had a slightly angry expression on his face because he felt Nami sacrificed herself to protect him and the others.

Then, Sanji pointed at Zoro with his index finger.

"Are you blind? You didn't realize Nami-san cried for help and you got lost in direction? You damn shitty moss head!"

"What did you say, dumbass cook?"

Suddenly, they heard a scream.

"Woy, woy! Help me!!"

"Usopp?"

They saw Usopp trying to run away from someone. And the one chasing Usopp was a fish-man who had long lips.

Izumi no longer has a weapon because his weapon fell into the sea when he lost to Mihawk.

Izumi suddenly teleported beside Zoro and grabbed one of his swords.

"Lend me your sword for a moment!"

Without waiting for Zoro's answer, Izumi teleported again.

"Oi. What the fuck! He is too fast."

Even though Zoro didn't mind Izumi suddenly snatching his sword, he hated to admit that Izumi was better than him. However, Zoro was also curious about Izumi who used a sword because Zoro had only seen Izumi who was proficient in using daggers.

Izumi, who suddenly appeared beside the long-lipped fish-man, was already preparing to draw a sword from its scabbard. Izumi's gaze focused on the opponent in front of him. He was not very proficient with the sword because he had never practiced using it. But he could still remember the moves he executed when using a dagger or twin daggers.

Izumi performed two-rapid slashes vertically upward and diagonally downward right after he drew the sword from its scabbard.

The fish-man couldn't dodge and was seriously injured by Izumi's surprise attack. When that fish-man fell to the ground, Izumi stabbed his chest.

As he forced himself to move, his body became a little sore. But he didn't forget to warn the others.

"We don't have to waste time on useless things."

Izumi stood up straight and swung the sword.

*Slash*

The fish-man's head separated from his body.