[99] A Lantern of Hope

Chapter 99: A Lantern of Hope

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The entire Amazon Lily was in chaos. Even Marguerite was feeling guilty now. After all, the Snake Empress had been abducted by the evil man, Hashirama Senju, who assaulted her when she was bathing.

"Men are so disgusting!"

"What cheap tricks did he use to defeat her?"

"She was obviously vulnerable, she was taking a bath, for god's sake! She wasn't expecting an attack."

"What were the guards doing?! Isn't it their responsibility to keep the Empress safe in the bath?"

"Hey, why are you blaming the guards? It's obviously the man who's at fault!"

"Such lustful creatures a man in. To assault the kind and gentle Empress when couldn't defend herself…"

Marguerite and her… accomplices could only stay silent as the others bad-mouthed their first man blatantly.

At the same time, a search was happening on the entire island, starting from the residential area to the forest outside. Not even a corner was left out.

Yet, they couldn't find their Empress and her abductor anywhere.

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Hashirama was not in Amazon Lily anymore. He wasn't sure when Boa Hancock would wake up, and he would also have to talk things out with her, so hiding somewhere in the Amazon Lily wasn't optimal. Since people searching for him would find him soon.

He needed some time, so he flew to a nearby island. There were quite a few around here, including the one where Luffy trained in the time skip. Obviously, that's not where Hashirama was right now, due to the amount of uselessly aggressive beasts there. He was on another island close by, where there were less dangers.

It was a common forest island with a beach surrounding it. He was on the beach, camped under the shade of a tree. With a fireplace in front of him, he was cooking a large ostrich by tying it up on a plank of wood and rolling it around the fire. He hadn't yet cooked it, since the ostrich was alive still, and he wasn't planning to torture the innocent bird by burning it alive.

In fact, he wasn't planning to kill it. He wasn't a vegan, but it felt useless to kill this birdie when he could produce an endless supply of meat. The visit to Boin Archipelago did him well. He was just scaring the little thing because it dared attack him out of the blue when he dropped here.

"Learn to respect people, little bird."

Hashirama poked the tied bird with a stick, making it shake in fear, yet it still screeched at him.

"How rude."

Hashirama yawned and poked it again. This wasn't animal abuse; he was just teaching the birdie the cycle of life. He will let it free after Hancock wakes up.

As if hearing his inner voice, the woman in question showed signs of waking up.

Hashirama heard the rustling of leaves and turned his head backward. There a woman was laying on a puddle of soft leaves that had a large leaf laid over it. A pair of banana tree leaves were laid over her chest, and her lower waist, to cover her private part. They were tied from the back, so they shouldn't fall even if she stood up.

Hashirama himself wore similar clothing. Though for him it was just a pair of short pants.

He fully turned around to face her since she might attack. He faced the world's hottest woman as she woke up from her beauty sleep, which had lasted a total of four hours.

"Mhm…"

Boa Hancock rubbed her eyes gently and sat up. She opened her eyes and immediately her eyes fell on Hashirama just mere meters from her.

Her eyes flinched and she kicked up from her position. She didn't try to attack with her devil fruit power this time, which was a smart thing to do.

"You disgraceful bastard!"

At the speed of lightning, the tall woman shot toward him. Like a whiff of air, she appeared before him with her leg raised and inches from his nose.

"Don't kick like that. I can see your privates."

Boa Hancock, who had already launched her kick, stepped back somehow. She frowned and glared at him.

She was beautiful. She wasn't shy about anyone seeing her naked body. So it wasn't shyness that stopped her, it was who would be seeing it. A lowly man, someone disgusting.

Pausing for a moment, she looked at her surroundings. This wasn't Amazon Lily. And her outfit…

Boa Hancock froze.

She was naked before, but now she wore this ridiculous outfit. It was clear who helped her wear this, given she was asleep, but she didn't feel grateful for that. No, she felt horrified.

Her face went pale as she looked at him.

"You… saw."

"Your breasts? Or your shapely behind? Yes, I did."

"No! My back!"

Hancock growled at the stupid bastard who was trying to make fun of her. He wasn't that goofy, she knew, he was just wicked.

Hashirama opened his mouth. He didn't say anything for a second before he sighed and spoke.

"The Slave Mark? I saw, yes."

"Love-Love: Beam!"

Apparently, that was just a distraction because she was already moving by the time Hashirama released a burst of his Haki to destroy the beam.

With her impressive leg power, her speed was something that Hashirama honestly couldn't react to.

In the end, his forte was his Wood Release. His physical powers were his secondary focus. He wasn't the tank some might think he was.

So when Boa Hancock's kick, infused with her Devil Fruit power came rushing at him, he couldn't dodge it. He did try to block it and succeeded, but it wasn't a good idea.

Her technique, [Aromatic Leg], petrified the spot that it hit. It was unavoidable since he couldn't just stand still and release a burst of his Haki, he couldn't do that while moving, and he had to move, he had to block or dodge if he didn't want his head turned into a gory mess.

Hashirama's arms that he used to block the kick turned to stone, and then with another kick from her, his arms broke apart and down.

"Shit."

Not that it was an issue. His arms regrew from the part it was still flesh. Hancock looked a little surprised, as she rushed at him again and kicked at his head this time.

Honestly, Hashirama couldn't win in a 1v1 fight if it was purely close-quarter combat. Boa Hancock was one of the best at utilizing her devil fruit in her fighting style, and even if he somehow blocked the effect, which he doubted for speed and agility reasons, he would still receive huge damage from her Haaki infused legs.

Then again, Boa Hancock received a bounty of 1,659,000,000 Berries the moment the Warlord system was discarded. While her devil fruit was broken, she was a physical bomb too, a testament to her bounty.

Hashirama wasn't lying when he said she was his natural counter. She was too dangerous. And now that she wasn't just trying to petrify him, but actually kill him, as he guessed from her aura, it was hard to stand against her.

"How unfortunate. You could have survived easily if you got turned into stone the first time. Now death is inevitable since you saw… it."

He wasn't sure how he would have survived if he was petrified, but sure. He didn't have the time to argue. He couldn't win, so he had to adapt and overcome.

Not that she was letting him have any chance to do that. With a fast kick that came hitting on his skull, not allowing him any chance to block, Hashirama's skull turned to stone, down to his forehead.

'Oh shit, this is bad-'

Hashirama's brain froze. With another devastating kick coming from her that he couldn't dodge, now that he had lost his ability to think, he could only take it head on, as his head broke into a million pieces of stones.

Boa Hancock sighed and stood straight. Putting a hand on her waist, she looked down at the destroyed Hashirama… and blinked.

"Huh?"

His body that had been destroyed lost all the humane texture, instead gaining a wood-like appearance. With her Observation Haki flaring up, she noticed a burst of blue light, some sort of energy, that blitzed from this spot into somewhere else. She couldn't follow it; it was too fast.

However, her senses had a guess where it went. Given the pressure she suddenly felt. Boa Hancock slowly turned towards the forest, and as she had expected, one after another distorted pieces of Hashirama's left the forest, putting themselves together to become whole, while some emerged from within trees. There were at least two dozen clones and more forming.

"Any plans to talk this through still?"

One of the clones asked. In reply. Boa Hancock grumbled and then blitzed toward him.

Unfortunately for her, Hashirama was prepared. He knew he couldn't win, so he had to adapt and overcome, and he had made preparations for that even before she woke up.

""[Wood Release]""

2/3rd of the group clasped their hands, channeling chakra to use their main forte, while the rest rushed at Hancock to engage in a battle of strength. They were still clones, just like the one before, so they couldn't overpower her for sure, but they were enough to distract her. So that the 2/3rd of the group could handle her with their wood release.

A group of clones engaged with her, getting destroyed by her merciless kicks, landing basically no attack on her at all. However, in just ten seconds, the rest of the group was done with their chanting.

""[Smothering Binding Technique]""

All the clones shoved their hands into the ground, transforming their arm into a tree that came out from the ground inches ahead, and multiple branches rapidly rushed forward at Hancock, wrapping around her even as she tried to fight. She tried all she had to, but all that was meaningless, she was immobilized.

Her arms were pulled in either direction, while her legs were right together, leaving her unable to move and also no way to use her devil fruit powers.

From within the forest, one last Hashirama came out. He rushed out, kicking the ground and appearing before her with his knuckles rolled. She couldn't react as he unleashed a barrage of attacks.

His forearm was coated in Armament as he slammed her chin, his other hand blowing into her abdomen. He jumped and rolled in the air, his kick landing by the side of her face, and he jumped again to kick her other cheeks.

"Gah!"

Boa Hancock could only groan and gasp as he attacked her, not allowing her to move and taking out a little anger on her. She did kill him right there, even if it was a clone.

"H-honorless! As expected of a man- gah!"

With one last kick under her chin, her lower jaw slammed shut, her brain shook inside her skull, her eyes went white, and she lost consciousness.

Hashirama took a breath and stepped back. Sighing and calming down. The pain from dying hurts. It always did. But this one in particular was a bit weird, he felt that his body "broke" there. It was quite painful.

"Augh…"

To his surprise, Hancock regained her senses soon this time. She was dizzy, her eyes half closed, as she glared at him.

"Have you… used me when I was asleep?"

The stupid woman had the audacity to ask if he had raped her or not. Fucking bitch, she thought he didn't have enough pull game to girls willfully. She should have seen the group of bitches from her own tribe that was begging to be dicked down last night.

Hashirama realized there was no point in getting worked up anymore. This situation was stupid, and he would rather end it fast.

"I will pretend like I didn't hear what you just said. It's offensive to me as a man. Anyway, if you are worried about your Slave Mark, you stupid slave bitch, I will have to reassure you that your secret is safe with me. I apologize for cursing, I am just a little mad, but other than that, I am not lying, I have no intention to ruin your life."

Hashirama stared at her. As he should have expected, his words went over her head and she had only heard him curse her. She glared at him, her forehead veins popping hard. She was about to release a burst of Haki right then, but he released one first to warn her, ending it in a split second.

The woman clenched her jaws. "I know what you're doing. Your friends are still petrified. So you're saying I can trust you? You want to negotiate with me, and the moment I release them you'll blow me secret. Isn't that correct?"

What a paranoid bitch she was. However, it would be a lie to say a small part of Hashirama didn't have this urge. Not that he would admit it. He was just going to leave her alone.

"Alright then,"

Hashirama got an idea. He walked to the ostrich, to Hancock's surprise. The ostrich had observed the devastating fight take place and was staring at the approaching Hashirama with wide eyes.

Hashirama grabbed the stick the ostrich was tied to. He faced Hancock with it. The woman gave him a weird look and absorbed him.

"You have already seen me regenerate before, right? I regrew my arms. Watch this."

Hashirama said, while his fingers sharpened like a knife. The ostrich looked at him in shock, gulping, as he brought a finger to its thighs.

While most of an ostrich's body was covered in feathers, its legs and throat showed its bare skin. Hurting its throat could kill it, so Hashirama made a large enough cut in the poor bird's right thigh. It obviously yelled in pain, but he glared at it to shut up, and it did.

Then, Hashirama's fingers returned to normal. Instead, he brought his palm to the bird's thigh that was cut open, showing the meat beneath. The bird was in pain, crying, until it blinked when a gentle green light lit up on Hashirama's hand.

Hancock blinked too, watching the process with wide eyes, as she saw the wound close. The entire wound vanished in real-time, the green light healing it, as Hancock's eyes shook. She was fascinated but still confused as to why he was showing her that though.

When the wound was entirely healed, Hashirama loosened the bindings of the bird and it fled like a bolt of lightning.

With the presentation complete, Hashirama looked at Hancock.

"If you noticed, there was no scar left on the thigh. Not only can I heal myself, I can heal others as well." He said. "If you are still confused about what I am talking about, I am saying that… I can fix that mark of yours. If no mark exists, I will have no blackmail material left, and you can trust me. In exchange for me completely erasing the Slave Mark from your back, and making your back return to its natural state, I want my teammates back. Unharmed and alive."

Boa Hancock's confused frown melted. In her eyes, a hope she never had, a light that she didn't know where it originated from, lit up, as she felt her mind fill with greed and anticipation.

Was he suggesting that… No, no, there was no way.

After all, after two decades have passed since she left that damned place, could she truly be freed?

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