Link to Approval

This island was different to Yuurei in the sense that his log pose had registered a different island. There were only two islands he had really been since he had gotten this particular item. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do here, but he figured that it was time to get back into his work. He was going to be on this island for a while, so he figured that finding a job to do would keep him busy. He was at the Greenie Pass of Lulusia Kingdom and looking around this place he understood the name behind the place. There was a lot of grass and other plant life base in this part of the island. There were lots of trees that reach high up into the air, and the sun’s rays barely made it through because of the trees. It was still nice and warm around these parts, but the trees provided quite the shade.

Yuurei’s walk quickly through the path he was on as he was trying to figure out where he was going. He took the walk because he figured he would get into town quicker, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, he was moving through this place and wondering if he should go above the trees, or start training. The thief had heard rumors though in the little time he was here. There were bandits that plague these areas. He was alert because of this making sure that nobody would get the jump on him.

”I wondered if I could get Gideon to go on an adventure with me? I did meet him first, but how would he like that idea? I’m sure we could find people as well. Kasui and the rest of the people from Skypiea would be cool with that. It also means a ship is needed, but that shouldn’t be too hard to get.” He said to himself.

He took in the air around him and was amazed at how natural it was. The beauty this place had shown really did cover the evilness behind the woman at the royal throne. His walk continued on for minutes, then an hour, and soon two hours would pass until he saw a nearby town. His eyes would gleam with happiness because he thought he wasn’t going to find a town around here. He moved towards his new destination. The excitement on his face could be seen by anybody that had met with him. After a few minutes of walking, he would arrive at the entrance to the town. At first, he thought there was nobody who lived here and was close to being disappointed, but he expanded his observation and noticed that there were a lot of people in their homes.

”What is going on here? Why is there nobody outside when it’s so beautiful?” He asked out loud.

Yuurei didn’t knock on the doors, however, as he continued to walk around and see if he could find out what was going on around here.

+25 into Strength
8/7/4/4/7

Yuurei could feel the presence of everybody inside their homes. He could see that there were a few people by the windows and figured they were peaking as best as they could without being seen. He kept moving through as he could hear some noises from the distance. In his head, he figured that whatever was keeping the people of this town inside was close. He wasn’t in no rush and it was because he figured that he would make it on time. It wouldn’t take long for his eyes to meet with a bunch of men putting a bag of what looked like vegetable and fruits in a cart. They had gotten it in the back of the wagon, and jump in the back as well as the wagon started riding off and away from the town. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but it looked like these people were definitely afraid and it was possibly the men that just left town.

”Hey everyone those guys just left! If that was what kept you guys from coming outside it is safe now!” He shouted out loud.

When he did this the men who left were nowhere close to the town anymore. He looked around and hoped someone would come out, and soon someone did. It was from behind him, and he could tell that it was just a little kid. Then the feeling of an attack was coming towards him. He didn’t turn to see what it was, and instead moved his head to avoid the object, and caught it with his hand. Yuurei turned to look at the kid to see what he did that, and when his body fully turned, the kid looked scared. He crumbled the rock in his hand, and a few seconds after he did that an older girl came to the young kid and was holding him.

”Please do not hurt him. He doesn’t know what he is doing.” She pleaded with Yuurei.

He rubbed the back of his head confused. He figured he would show kindness, and smile at the two of them.

”I wasn’t going to touch him, so you have nothing to worry about. I’m just hungry and thirsty. I was hoping I could find a place to eat and talk to someone about what is going on here. I saw a few men leave a minute or two ago, but they were the only ones outside while everybody in the town was inside. And seeing the kid throw a rock at me makes me feel like they weren’t good people.” He figured this out the moment she protected the boy.

She was surprised for a second, but then she figured if she was kind to him, he would be able to help.

”I just finished cooking for everyone in the house. You can come and join us and I can explain to you what is going on if you would like?” She told Yuurei.

He blushed a bit and didn’t think she was going to offer him a meal, but he wasn’t going to say no, and he would get more information on what’s going on here.

”Sure I will be more than happy to accept your offer. Thank you for having me.” He said to her.

She held the kid’s hand and started walking off to a nearby home. Yuurei followed them and for some reason, he kept his guard up.

19/20 Haki Remaining

It wouldn’t take long for the three to enter the woman’s house, and she could see that there was food in a long wooden table. It looked handcrafted by someone in the household, and he could see that there were five more people at the table. Two grown men, one in their fifties and the other in their thirties. It was the same for the two women, and then there was a little girl sitting down. They looked at the girl and wondered who this new person was. They knew he didn’t live here because the entire town knew each other.

”Who is this man? Why did you let him into our home? He could be one of them. What have you done?” The elderly man said.

It was there Yuurei knew for that those men weren’t good people. He wasn’t either, but he would steal and take advantage from those lesser than him, well okay maybe a little bit.

”I’m not with those men. I saw them leave, and I was wondering what is going on here. She offered me food, and I’m hoping some information to see if I can help you townsfolks.” He said this to everyone.

The elderly man was not buying it, but it wasn’t his household anymore. The girl sat down and he noticed the only seat empty was the one next to her as the little boy sat next to his sister. Yuurei walked over to the seat and sat down.

”Thank you for allowing me to be here.” He said as he bowed his head to everyone.

”He’s fast. He wasn’t even looking and he caught the rock I threw at him, papa.” He said at the table.

They were surprised that their son had done such a thing but was happy that he was still breathing.

The girl didn’t say anything as they had prayed for a few seconds and then started moving the bowl of food around the table. When everyone had their servings everything was placed in the middle of the table again. She looked at Yuurei and figured she would start off the conversation.

”First off my name is Penelope nice to meet you.” She said to him.

”The name is Yuurei, nice to meet you Penelope, and thank you for the food. Now how could I help you, your family and the people of this town?” He asked her.

He dug into his food when he finished speaking as he was enjoying what she created. She smiled when she saw him eating because she was happy that strangers could eat what she created.

”Those men you saw leaving were bandits. They come here every few weeks and then take from us almost everything that we have grown. It isn’t just that, but the money we make from selling our stuff is usually taken by these bandits. They don’t know when to stop, and the town is suffering for it. We stay inside when they come so that nothing bad happens and they seem to be okay with it.” She said to him as she took a bite out of her meal.

Yuurei nodded as he was listening to her words as he couldn’t believe that this was happening, and nobody was doing anything about it. He swallowed his food with a smile on his face as he looked at her.

”Good food by the way, but keep going.” He said to her, and she followed it up with a blush before she would continue.

”So, from where I left off. We stay inside because we don’t want any trouble with them. We are trying our best to keep up with what they want from us, but we are slowly losing our resources. I know that the town is going to have problems with them sooner or later, and we don’t know what to do, or who to go to.” She said to him with a sad tone in her voice.

Yuurei was eating while she was telling him all of this, and he understood what she was saying. He swallowed his food after chewing it for a bit and looked at her.

”Yeah things will turn ugly if you cannot supply them what they ask for. I’m glad the town is smart enough to stay indoors when they come around. Still, that is something that nobody should have to do around where they live.” He said to Penelope as he went back to eating.

She would finish some of the food she was eating, and then looked to turn to him.

”Do you think you can help us Yuurei? If you cannot then do you know of someone who can?” She asked him hoping he had the answers.

Yuurei stopped chewing for a second as he was looking at everyone at the table. They stopped eating when they heard Penelope speak. It was a bit awkward, but he figured he would have to finish what he was chewing before answering her. Once he did he would sigh with relief, but also with satisfaction.

”Oh yeah, I forgot to answer. The food was so good I completely forgot to answer you completely. I am okay with helping you townsfolk with the bandit problem. It shouldn’t be that much of a problem to get most of your stuff back. Just remember not all of it will be there; they will use what they can and eat what they can. Still, when I’m done there will be no bandits to bother this town. But first, I want to finish this delicious meal, so if we can all continue eating that would be great.” He said this, and everyone’s face had brightened up.

The old people didn’t say anything, but he could see that they had hope enter their bodies. The kids were talking to each other about the situation and were happy that the boy threw a rock at him in beginning. Yuurei was eating his food though and he didn’t rush it, but he wasn’t eating slowly either. He was going to finish this, and then be on his way to go have a visit with the bandits that were terrorizing this town. After a few minutes of eating Yuurei’s plate would be empty and the pirate would lean back on the chair as he patted his belly with a smile on his face.

”That was amazing. I will get up in a few and be on my way to go take these guys out, so don’t you worry.” He grabbed his cup of water and chugged it down as well.

He stood at his chair for a second, and then when he thought about how he was getting to the bandit's location he realized he didn’t even know where these bandits were.

It would take Yuurei about ten minutes to get up from where he was seated. When he did he would stretch his arms into the air as he looked at the whole entire family. He was hoping one of them would know where they were located.

”So, a question.” He paused for a bit.

He rubbed the back of his head trying to figure out whether or not he should ask this.

”I saw them leave in a certain direction, but I don’t know where these bandits love to stay. Do any of you happen to have that answer?” He asked wondering if they were going to make this easy for him.

Penelope looked down as that was a 'no' on her part, and it was the same for everyone except for the father. He looked like he was thinking on an answer while everybody stood quietly hoping something would come out of all that thinking.

”Penelope, take Yuurei to see Henry. That man has been to the bandit’s home before. Well, he scouted them to see where they lived once. That man is crazy maybe he will be willing to aid you if you tell him what you plan on doing.” He said as it was all that he had to offer.

Yuurei looked at the father and nodded with appreciation. He didn’t want to leave the town and aimlessly walked around the area. There might have been a chance he would have never found them, which meant that he had wasted valuable time.

”Of course father will do.” She said as she looked at Yuurei and moved towards the door.

”Thank you for the information, and thank you for the food and heartwarming presence.” He said to them.

He turned around and while he was doing that they had waved bye to him. He followed behind Penelope as she was moving towards a certain home.

”Thank you for stuffing my stomach.” He said to her.

”It’s not a problem. I’m just happy you are here to help us. With those bandits gone we can prosper and become a better than town than we were already.” She said to him.
”How long have you been living here?” He asked curiously.

”I lived here my whole life, and my parents before me. I think of everybody in town as my family.” She answered him.

The two would continue to talk while walking several minutes through the streets of the nameless town. Yuurei’s steps would come to an end when he saw that Penelope had stopped walking. She was also in front of a house now, and he moved right next to her and looked at her as she looked at him.

”This is the place?” He asked.

”Yup.” She said as she ran the door.

After a few seconds of the door being rung, the two of them could hear footsteps making their way towards the door. Yuurei was a bit anxious because he figured he would be on his way to the bandit’s hideout, but that wasn’t the case. The doorknob started turning, and the suspension only increased from how slow things were going. Soon enough a man would open the door as he looked at the two of them, confused about Yuurei, but happy to see Penelope.

Henry coughed a bit after he tried to assess the situation that he was in. The girl he was crushing with was with someone who was handsome and looked like he could handle himself.

”Hi there Penelope. I didn’t think you would be the one at the door. How can I help you Penny, and who is that?” He asked her as he looked at Yuurei for a split second and then back at Penelope.

Yuurei could only smile when he saw this because he understood the situation very well. That was interesting to see, but he decided not to speak because he didn’t want to ruin the conversation.

”Yes I am here because we need your help. Yuurei here is planning on taking care of the bandit problem. He offered his service, but nobody knows where they live, but you. You were the only one crazy and brave enough to do such a thing. Do you think you can take him to them?” She asked as she looked at him.

Yuurei looked at Henry to see how he was taking all of this. When he saw Henry he could only smile at the young man. This guy looked like he was frozen with every word that he heard come out of her. The thief snapped his fingers, which brought the man back into reality. He had been paying attention but was lost for words.

”Yes, I do know where they live, and if you are asking Penelope, then I will gladly take him to the bandit's hideout. I don’t know why anybody wants to mess with them. I’m just going to say this to you Mr. Yuurei. Don’t tie yourself with this village if you fail, or else you will regret it for the rest of your life.” He said to Yuurei.

The thief could only shake his head as he raised his hands up to show that he didn’t want any problems with him. Henry saw this and nodded as he went inside real quick to put on shoes and the such before coming back outside prepared. He looked at Yuurei once again when he was outside and then looked at Penelope.

”I will be back after I take him to their hideout.” He said to her.

She nodded, and Yuurei waved at Penelope, and she did the same thing. Yuurei noticed that Henry started moving on ahead, and he started jogging towards the man to catch up to him. When he got to the man’s side he looked at him with a huge smile on his face.

”So, how long have you been in love with Penelope?” Yuurei asked curiously.

Henry heard those words, and his face turned bloodshot red. He turned to Yuurei slowly as his neck sounded like cranking noises.

”Who told you that?” He asked.

Yuurei could only chuckle and shake his head.

”Well you just did. And it was really obvious Henry.” He said to him.

”It’s that obvious huh? Well I been like this with her since we were kids, but it got worse as I got older. Now she thinks I’m weird, but maybe she will see me differently if I assist you in this.” He said to Yuurei.

”No helping out. You are doing enough by taking me there. You get in the way, then I will have more work to do.” He said to the man.

The two would soon make their way out of town and on their way towards the bandit’s hideout.

Yuurei and Henry were walking through the Greenie Pass in silence. The silence made things awkward, but at the same time, it was thought to be necessary. The swordsman didn’t know how far the bandit’s hideout was, so he stood quietly. Henry, on the other hand, was trying to figure out what to say.

”Do you have any advice on how to approach Penelope?” He asked Yuurei as he looked down at the ground.

He could only look at Henry and smile at the man because he saw as something so innocent.

”My advice is pretty simple Henry, just tell her how you feel and she will either reciprocate those feelings back to you. The worse thing to do is to stay quiet, and then she finds someone else who expresses their feelings towards her.” He said as things got quiet for a bit.

”You got to seize the moment man and that is it.” He said to Henry.

The young man heard his words, and he looked at Yuurei with a different look on his face.

”Fine, when you come back from the bandit's hideout I will confess my feelings to Penelope.” He said with a look of determination.

Yuurei could only shake his head because now he was going to have to come out on top of this.

”Alright, that means I got to make sure to leave their hideout alive then.” He said with a smile on his face.

They continued walking, but it looked like Henry had more questions or more to say to Yuurei.

”Where did you come from Yuurei? And why are you willing to help us?” he asked because he was sure nobody else would.

Yuurei heard the question and rubbed the back of his head because he didn’t know how to answer that without twisted it a bit. He placed his hand back to his side as he looked at Henry.

”I am not from this island, but I am a man who looks for work wherever he can. While on the island I gather information on how things are run here. I just wanted to see it for myself. I enjoy the challenge of what is in front of me, and it is why I chose to help. There was also the fact that Penelope fed me, and the town needs these things brought me to wanting to help out.” He said this to Henry.

They both nodded at each other, and most of their walk was basically finished. The two had a conversation with each other, which brought time to move along faster. Their travel was just the same as Henry noticed where they were. He was surprised by how fast they had made it here, which brought him to slow down and get closer to Yuurei. He didn’t want to alert anybody, so he was going to bring his voice down to a whisper.

”It looks like we made it to their hideout, and I will stop here. Last time I almost went into their base by accident. If you keep going straight through here you will make it to the front of their base. I doubt that is what you want, so I say trek carefully and find an opening. I will be waiting for your return Yuurei.” He whispered all of this to Yuurei as he turned around started heading back.

Yuurei watched him leave, and he cracked his neck as he knew he was going to get to work now. he moved diagonally towards his right, so that way he wouldn’t end up at the entrance of their base.

While moving through the area for a few minutes, Yuurei had activated his Observation. He didn’t want to bump into one of them by accident and ruin his whole entire sneak attack. The thief peeped his head out of the brush and started looking around the area. There wasn’t anybody around, so he was free to look around as he pleased. He could see the wooden pikes that were all around the area, which meant it would be hard for him to get in from the side. He looked around and saw that the people whose presence he felt were not looking in his direction. He moved out of the bush and started walking against the pikes. He was examining the area as he was trying to find a spot on their walls that were not fortified like the rest.

Yuurei was crouching the whole time, so he was moving slower than he was capable. He made sure not to much pressure on his feet, so he didn’t make noise with each step. He was trying to be as sneaky as possible, and it was working. It would take him some time, but there was a spot on their wall was broken. The thief peaked his head in the hole that was there and was looking around to see if there was any type of traps waiting for him there. He would look around for a second, and noticed there was nothing here. He smiled as he slowly broke off more piece of the wood that was in front of him. He did this until he was capable of going through without much of a problem. He stepped inside of the bandit's hideout with a smile on his face. His position was still the crouching position as he was assessing the situation.

There were about twenty-two people that were in this place, and he could feel some moving around while others stood in place. The best thing about being a thief with observation was avoiding the people he was trying to steal from. He did wish that this ability of his was able to locate the treasure, but that wasn’t the case. Yuurei started moving around the camp now as he had infiltrated their home. The thief was doing his best to avoid everyone, and check out the places that he could walk into. He was hoping that he would find the area were they stored everything. He knew they didn’t have time to move everything to separate areas, so they must have everything they just took from the village in one spot. Yuurei would continue to move through this place for a good thirty minutes. He had not been seen the whole entire time, well except one time he almost got caught.

Yuurei had hidden himself and the person who caught wind of him had figured it was an animal that had entered here. The swordsman moved towards an area that he didn’t touch before. This place had a lot of people around it, so he was trying to avoid that place at all cost, but now he knew that whatever he was looking for had to be there. If I can get out of this place with everything and not fight that would be amazing. He thought to himself as he inhaled deeply before he continued on.

19/20 Haki Remaining

Yuurei would soon make his way to the place where the bandits were located. He would look around to see what they were doing, and it looked like they were talking while others were moving around. It looked like even though they were bandits they knew that they had to protect what they took from the townsfolk. He would look at the men who were moving around as he was studying their patterns in their movements. The only people who were a problem to get into the other room were the ones moving. The men who were chatting weren’t even facing the direction he was heading to. He would stay where he was for a few minutes as he was memorizing their pattern. It wasn’t hard to do, but he wanted to make sure to see if they were moving around that way because someone told them to.

There was a small window for him to get to the room, and he knew what he had to do. He would wait for the moment where they all had their backs turned away from it for a second. While waiting he would use the gravitational field on himself specifically and make himself quicker than he was before. He ran right through them as fast as he could, and when they turned to look at each other they had missed Yuurei. He was in the room now, and he was looking at all of the stuff that was in here. They had been busy, and that much he knew, but he had a job to do. He looked around to noticed that there was a small window that led outside. He used his gravity ability to make everything that he saw float into the air. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do next, but it probably had to do with breaking the wall.

He looked back at where he came from and he knew that he could just escape if he wanted to, but then he remembered that he had to get rid of the bandits. If he stole from them, they would only get back to the town and take it from them again and possibly something much worse. I forgot about taking care about the bandits, but at least I know I could have gotten away with it unnoticed. I guess the party will start in a second. He thought to himself as placed the stuff down. He unsheathed Kusanagi, and Benihime as he was wondering how he was going to handle this. He could step out and take them out, and then have one of them alert the rest. He figured that would be the plan as he stepped out of the room and looked at the two bandits who were confused to see him walk out of there.

”What the hell?! How did you get in…” He never got to finish speaking.

Yuurei was quick on his feet as he rushed straight towards the man who was talking and swung his blade down on him and cutting him straight down his chest. The blood spurted everywhere but missed him completely. The bandit behind him so his friend go down, and he was surprised and scared at the same time.

”We have an intruder!” He shouted at the top of his lungs alerting everyone around him.

18/20 Haki Remaining

Skill used:

Yuurei had a smile on his face when he noticed that the men who were sitting there and chatting had gotten up. They all turned to look at Yuurei with weapons being drawn. He looked at each and every one of them with one sword in each hand.

”If you don’t take me out you guys are going to lose everything.” He said this to them as they started running straight at him.

Yuurei would dodge the swings of their weapons, and when two of them had gone to him he would elbow both of them. This would cause them to stumble back a bit, but when they stopped they were only met with the man’s blades. They would drop to the ground, which brought Yuurei a little smile that he had such freedom again. He rushed over to a few more people that had attacked him before, and he spun around to swing his blades around all of their waists and cutting them deeply that they would bleed out. They would drop down to the floor and scream while this happened. He knew more were coming because of his observation, and it was four to be exact. They had all jumped towards him from each direction to try and get an advantage on him. He could only smile at this and waited for the moment where he could block them all with both of his blades.

When the time came he turned as his blades landed on each of these guys weapons and smiled at them. The impact of the attack kept them in the air as they were a bit surprised about his strength. Yuurei used more strength than he used before to cut through the weapons that were against his blades, and straight through the four men who attacked him. Their death was immediately, and he noticed that there was a total count of ten people down for the count. He cracked his neck because he saw more men were heading his way. He counted twenty-two men before, but he wasn’t sure if that were more. They rushed towards him as he started stepping back to avoid their attacks, and then it happened. He had tripped on one of the bodies that were behind and he could feel himself falling to the ground. Why does this happen to me every time. He thought to himself.

When he fell to the ground he looked up to see that there were three of them now and they were all ready to attack him. He looked at all of their weapons coming straight to him, and he picked up his legs to block their attacks. He covered his legs in armament, and when he felt them slowing down, he had kicked them away from him as he got up from the ground again.

”You guys almost had me. That was a little scary. I didn’t think I would fall on the floor.” He said to them.

”Shut up and die! You killed our comrades!” One of the bandits shouted as he rushed straight towards Yuurei.

The thief only shook his head because he had made a grave mistake. He stepped forward, and before the man could swing down his weapon Yuurei’s blade pierce the man’s heart as he stopped what he was doing to look at the man who had just killed him. The thief would pull his blade away from the man and swung Benihime down on the floor to get rid of the blood. He looked at the other remaining men and shook his head.

They stopped their run for a second or two as they looked at the man, and then to their friends that had fallen. They could tell he was strong if they fought separately, so they had to fight together. There were two people who looked better equipped for the fight than the others. He figured those two were the men above everyone else. He didn’t want to use his gravity fruits against them because he thought his swordsman’s ability was good enough.

”He is not a foe you can fight on your own people. Do not give him an opening, and we shall succeed.” The leader of the bandits said.

They looked at him and nodded as they started running towards Yuurei altogether. He saw this and smiled because it was the best thing they could offer him. He had seen a few of them swinging their weapons at him, and he would dodge them as he stepped back. This time he was sure not to trip on the bodies that had fallen earlier. While he was dodging their attacks, he noticed that there were two attacks that were faster than the others. One was moving at his speed while the other was moving faster than he could. Still, his observation haki was what helped him with these types of situation. He had blocked both of there as he looked at them with a smile on his face. They were strong indeed, but they had more room for growth or had at least. He pushed them back only to be met with a bunch of their men swinging their weapons of choice at him.

He felt the blow to his ribs, but nothing happened. He looked down to see that his endurance kept his skin from bruising, or being pierced by such weak strength. The guys who tried to stab him with their little blade had them snap on impact. He just cracked his neck because they were trying to take him out.

”Man I didn’t think he would stop our attack like that.” He said to his leader.

”I know, but this is where we go in for the kill.” He said to his lieutenant.

The two of them would nod at each other and look at the men who were in front of Yuurei. They started striking at him rapidly because they didn’t know what else to do. He stepped back from them and they started charging at him again. Yuurei crouched under one of the men there and pierced his blade into his abdomen and lifted him into the air and then swung him to the side like he was nothing. Then another guy had rushed towards him and Yuurei stepped to the side as he stumbled a bit forward. He saw this and he swung his blade down on his back and dropped to the ground after the deep wound. When he turned to look at the remaining men he saw one of the guys running straight at him, and Yuurei quickly pierced him right in his chest. The two bandits saw this, and knew now was their chance to strike.

17/20 Haki Remaining

They rushed straight towards Yuurei once again, and the lieutenant would strike first. The thief noticed this and blocked the young man’s attack with his free blade. When he did this the leader of the bandits had appeared on the other side of Yuurei, and blow on the man’s arm. The swordsman felt the strike cutting his arm a little bit as he looked to the side. He could see the blood coming out where he had been and was surprised. He didn’t think this man would have armament, but that was what he got for assuming things. It didn’t hurt a lot, but he did feel it nonetheless. The leader, of course, struck at Yuurei again and again, which brought the thief to jump back and away from him and his lieutenant. His sword would be pulled out of the man’s chest at the same time as he looked at the remaining forces.

There are nine men still remaining, and none could live. I also cannot let this get back to me. I will have to dispose of the bodies as well, but how can I do that. He thought to himself. He was on the move now as the seven men had rushed over to him. Yuurei would swing his blades straight down on two men, and then rotate his wrist a bit, so he could swing his blades straight up on another two men. When he was doing this the two men above the groupies had gone for their attacks again. Yuurei felt the pain on his right arm, but it was something he shrugged off for now. He wasn’t using his armament because he didn’t think he needed to use it at this moment. The thief wasn’t underestimating them, but he wanted to practice in not relying on his Armament oh so often.

They would clash with Yuurei, as they smiled at him and thrust a kick straight into the man’s chest at the same time. The swordsman was pushed back by this as he saw it coming, but chose to ignore doing something about it. He felt the bruising on his chest and he nodded because they were using their armament pretty well.

”You guys are really talented, maybe you could have been great pirates or marines if you two didn’t settle for looting a helpless town trying to live.” He said to them.

They weren’t much different, but Yuurei wouldn’t take everything from the people that needed. They looked at each other and then at him with smiles on their face.

”You say this as if you are going to take us out. We got you where we want you.” He said confidently to Yuurei.

”And we do this because the queen has left us no choice.” He said to Yuurei.

He shook his head because it always went back to that queen that he met that day. She wasn’t a good queen and from the time he met her, and how people lived throughout this island he was able to conclude that. Still, he wasn’t going to hold back on them because of the cards that they were given.

16/20 Haki Remaining

Yuurei felt like time was passing really quickly, but in reality, only a few minutes had gone by since the fighting had started. He was waiting for these bandits to attempt their attacks again, and soon it would happen. The seven regular bandits that were standing tall cracked their necks and yell from the top of their lungs as they rushed towards Yuurei. Each of them trying to attack them in pairs. He would bring his blades up to block their attacks as he was admiring their will to fight. The thief was sure that they would run by now, but that wasn’t the case.

”You guys are too loyal, but I guess if he is treating you right, and have you believe in something then that is why you guys will fight to the end.” He said this while being attacked.

When three of them attacked at the same time, Yuurei would block their attacks, but at the same time, he noticed that those two were on the move again. They had rotated behind him and strike at his legs to take him down. He jumped into the air to avoid the attack and then felt his body being pushed back by the three in front of him. He was tilting backward, so he allowed it and his clenched hand would be met with the ground as he pushed off it and landed on his feet. He had a smile on his face because that was a close call. He got into position as he had remembered fighting those slavers in that building. Things would be much different now if he had done the attack now. He shook his head back into reality when he saw them coming after him again. This time he struck while the iron was hot.

His long arms swung horizontally cutting through the first two men who attacked him. Benihime would cut straight through them as they would fall to the ground. When the other pair had rushed to him, they would be met with the same attack, but this time it would come from Kusagani. When they were hit the grunts could be heard from them as they also fell to the ground. His eyes looked serious as there were three of men left not including the two other guys who were in sync with each other. Yuurei started moving now as he was getting too far from the entrance to where all the stuff was located. He wasn’t sure if they were trying to get him away from the merchandise, but that wasn’t going to happen.

Yuurei moved forward rushing towards the three and when they saw him coming they tried their best to block his attacks, but he was too powerful. Through sheer power and the help of his blade, Yuurei would break through two of the three peoples weapon and connect with them as well. The blood would spurt out of them from the attack leaving three people left to fight him to the death.

15/20 Haki Remaining

The last bandit that was in front of Yuurei was surprised to see how he was able to do such a thing. Still, he knew it was to back down now as he had swung his metal pole as hard as he could on Yuurei. The pole would bend when it hit the man and he knew what was going to happen next. Yuurei went to stab the man and when his sword pierced through his heart, the two men had come up from behind at the moment and struck the thief on his face, and then another attack on the side of his waist. He could feel the small bruising on his waist, and he had been slightly cut on his face. He had known they were coming, but he was occupied with his attack right now.

”We die as a family because we are all that we know.” He said with a smile on his face.

Those words stung Yuurei in the heart a little bit, but there was nothing he could do to change what he had done. They were the bad guys in his eyes even if they didn’t think they were. When he went to take his blade out to attack the other two, he noticed the man in front of him was holding his hand as best as he could. It had slowed him down for a second, which was enough time for the other two to do something else. The swordsman was surprised this guy was holding his hand, so he didn’t react quick enough to feel the back of his legs being hit by both men. He felt them being pushed forward and he fell to the ground with the man he had stabbed on him. The two of them so this as another opportunity as they started swinging their weapons as Yuurei.

After he had been hit by the three of their attacks each, he wasn’t very pleased by their attacks. He had let go of his blade and pushed the man off him. When they attacked again he let go of his other blade and grabbed onto both of their legs. They were surprised about this because they thought they would be able to beat him into a pulp until he couldn’t move. Yuurei forced their leg up and tossed them into the air as all three of them were now on the floor. The swordsman would get up quickly as they were falling as he had pulled his blade out of the dead man, and picked up the second sword as he watched them get up as well. He had given them time to get on their only because he was getting his weapons back. Yuurei stared at the two of them as they were the only ones remaining.

”I can’t have you to live because then you guys will continue stealing from the innocent.” He said to them.

”Then let’s see who lives.” He said to Yuurei.

The three would continue their staring contest as they waited for someone to make their first move.

14/20 Haki Remaining

The second in command had made the first move, and then afterward the leader followed behind his friend. The two of them would swing their weapons at Yuurei just to be blocked. When Yuurei had gone for the counter-attack though, they would be able to dodge it as they had distanced themselves from Yuurei. He looked at the two of them and knew this was going to be fun, but he wasn’t sure how long he wanted to drag a fight. He rushed towards the two of them this time, and swung Benihime at the leader, and afterward Kusanagi at the lieutenant. They would try to block it with their weapons, but would only see that Yuurei would cut straight through it. They were surprised about that but were able to dodge the attack at the last second from cutting them.

He would kiss his teeth when he saw this because he thought he would be able to surprise them with that attack, but he wasn’t fast enough. They had moved back and gained their composures as they no longer had weapons to use. They tossed it to the side and got into a fighting stance before they rushed towards Yuurei. They started throwing jabs and uppercuts at Yuurei, but every time he tried to block their attacks with his sword, they would place their hand down and move with another one. They were scared, and smart and knew what would happen if their fist were met with his blades. They jumped away and picked up whatever weapons they could find on the floor, and looked at Yuurei. The two of them were surprised to see that he had closed the gap between them as he swung Benihime and Kusanagi at them. They blocked with their weapons, and at the same time knew it was time to dodge now that they slowed down the attack.

They jumped back and knew this wasn’t going to go well. They looked irritated about what was happening, but Yuurei wasn’t going to allow them to do whatever they pleased.

”Hey man I think we should leave and start new. This man isn’t going to let us fight the way we want to fight.” He said.

”I don’t think he is going to let us leave though.” He said back to his friend.

They were both rights on certain things. Yuurei had made sure they lost their weapons, and he never had the intention of allowing them to leave. He got into position and rush straight towards when they saw this they nodded and turned and started running away from him. They were going to try it anyway, and the two of them were on sync with their run at first. The leader being faster was slowly moving away from his partner. Yuurei, on the other hand, wouldn’t be able to catch up to the two, but he would be able to keep them in his sight.

”Stop running you two. I mean it.” He said to them with his blades in his hands.

They heard him and started shaking their heads because they weren’t going to listen to him. He could see that his cry for them to stop wasn’t going to happen. He didn’t want to use his gravity powers on them, but he had to face the fact that his devil fruit was his own power, and mastering both skills would be great for him in the long run. The two bandits thought this was a great idea, and it was, but they didn’t know about his other powers.