Chapter 5: Dante vs.Shanks!
Dante closed his left eye, steadying his breathing as much as possible. His Observation Haki locked firmly onto the tall figure hidden among the Navy soldiers.
His finger rested lightly on the trigger—then squeezed without hesitation.
"One-Shot Style: Fate's Kill!"
He had once seen Devil Fruit users give dramatic names to their attacks. There was no way Dante would allow himself to sound any less stylish.
Even if it was just a single Haki-assisted rifle shot.
"Pshhhk!"
With the sound of tearing flesh, a spray of blood burst into the air, scattering into the sea below.
A tall, slender Marine—towering above the soldiers around him—dropped from the sky. His wide eyes reflected disbelief, a flash of fear, and then only weakness as his body crashed into the ocean.
"Oi! Kuzan!!!"
A nearby Marine cried out in horror, launching into Moonwalk to save the fallen recruit. As a veteran serving under Vice Admiral Garp, he knew exactly how much potential that young man had, and just how dangerous his Devil Fruit could become. Losing a talent like that would be a disaster.
Meanwhile, Kuzan himself was sinking deeper into the sea, his thigh burning with pain where the bullet had struck. His body felt heavy, powerless, his lungs screaming for air.
A bitter thought crossed his mind:
Seriously… who the hell uses a seastone bullet on a rookie?
Just before he lost consciousness, he caught the faint image of his attacker: a black-haired boy, rifle in hand.
"Che… must be instinct. Even with Observation Haki, my aim still slipped."
Dante clicked his tongue in annoyance. His bullet had missed the mark—his original target. Which also meant that history's first female Admiral would never come to be.
What a waste.
But Dante wasn't the kind to put all his eggs in one basket.
Balance was important, after all.
Why not spread the blessings evenly? If his bullet changed the ratio of men and women in the Navy, well, he'd simply aim to keep the seas in balance.
In a way, Dante had beaten Roger to it.
The boy had become a king already—
The King of Critical Hits.
"Trading blades head-on? Yeah, that's not my thing. Picking people off from a high perch? Now that's the true king's path."
Watching Dante's improving sniping form, Beitam the ship's marksman felt both proud and uneasy.
This kid really doesn't play fair…
The chase dragged on, intense but tilted in the Roger Pirates' favor. Their overwhelming average strength let them keep ahead, gradually pulling away from Garp's warships.
"Bang—! Bang—!"
"Damn it… Armament Haki again."
Dante cursed as his bullets were intercepted, clanging harmlessly against hardened bodies. He could harass low-ranked Marines easily enough, but against anyone wielding Armament Haki, his shots became useless. Nothing could break through.
Of course, thanks to his Observation Haki, not a single enemy bullet had touched him either.
"Just wait until I've mastered Armament Haki and Future Sight… we'll see how long you can keep blocking me then."
Click.
Dante slung his rifle over his back and slid down a rope from the lookout. This was no time to get cocky. Against Haki-infused strikes, he was still too fragile. A single graze could end him.
The crew barely spared him a glance as he retreated. They knew the truth: a nine-year-old kid had no place in this kind of battle. Forcing him into the fray would only split their focus protecting him.
Buggy and Shanks were no different. In the eyes of Roger's veteran crew, the three brats were all the same utterly green, utterly useless.
Though Dante himself had no doubt he could stomp the other two together if he wanted.
"Oi, Shanks! Dante's already hiding somewhere—let's get out of here too!" Buggy hissed.
"Don't be like that, Buggy! This is the battlefield of real men!" Shanks shouted back, his tiny hands gripping his sword as he stubbornly leaned over the rail to watch.
Dante's Observation Haki picked up the two idiots still lingering on deck. He stopped in his tracks, a crooked grin forming.
He was, at his core, a man of fun. Adventure and mischief that was what he lived for. His hunger for strength came from the same place: to make his own fun, not to end up as someone else's joke.
Seeing those two clowns refusing to hide, Dante couldn't resist.
On the deck, Buggy tugged furiously at Shanks' sleeve, trying to drag him away from the railing. Shanks resisted, eager to witness the battle.
Dante crept up behind them, silent as a shadow.
Then—smack!
A hand clapped down on Buggy's back.
"Who said I was hiding, huh?" Dante's whisper slid into his ear like ice.
Buggy and Shanks both nearly jumped out of their skin.
"D-Dante! You bastard don't sneak up on people like that!" Buggy barked, his face flushing red.
But in truth, relief washed over him. He immediately thought about dragging Dante along with him, maybe using the boy as backup to haul Shanks away. Buggy didn't dare approach Garp's warship, and without ranged weapons, standing on deck only made them easy targets. Unlike Dante, he hadn't awakened Observation Haki at nine years old.
"Oi, Dante. Let's head back to the cabin together." Buggy urged.
Dante considered it, then nodded. Buggy wasn't wrong he was no fighter yet, not really. Like Dante, he'd only just joined Roger's crew. His lack of combat experience was normal.
But Shanks…
That blockhead had been born into this pirate life. He wasn't about to retreat just because the situation was dangerous.
"Why the face?" Dante asked, noticing Buggy's frustrated expression.
Following his gaze, he quickly understood. Shanks hadn't moved a step.
Tch. This idiot really was the worst kind of teammate.
This wasn't like the battles to come years later in Wano, where big-name pirates faced each other head-on while subordinates clashed below. Right now, even the weakest of these elite Marines could kill a child in an instant.
Sure, Shanks would become a monster one day. But today…
He was just another reckless brat.
Dante tilted his head at Buggy, signaling him to step aside.
Then, with a smooth motion, he raised his rifle not at the Navy, but at Shanks' head.
"Bang!"
The rifle butt came down hard against the back of Shanks' skull.
The boy's body stiffened, then crumpled, eyes rolling back.
Given Dante's monstrous natural strength and his relentless training, even at this age, he was easily as strong as a young Whitebeard. One strike like that could put anyone his age out cold.
"Not bad." Dante nodded approvingly. " Dante versus Red-Hair…"
"Young Dante wins."
Satisfied, he grabbed Shanks by the collar and started dragging him toward the cabin leaving Buggy staring in dumbfounded silence.
---