"Strange… why has the gate ahead opened?"
At the entrance to the inner island, the guards stared in confusion toward the main gate.
Normally, the front gate of Enies Lobby was rarely opened in full. Only when important figures arrived would it be opened as a formal welcome.
"Front gate, front gate—what's going on over there?" one Marine asked, lifting a Den Den Mushi.
But there was no response.
Only dead silence.
That alone told them something was wrong.
"Damn it… don't tell me the front gate has already fallen."
"Hurry, send people over to check!"
"Hey! You there—stop right now!" a Marine suddenly noticed Luffy running toward them. "Did you open the front gate?!"
"The front gate?"
Luffy stopped and looked back in confusion—only then realizing that the massive gate behind him had somehow been opened.
"Yeah. That was me."
Jin suddenly appeared beside Luffy.
"Jin—you opened it?!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Mm." Jin nodded. "Opening it makes things easier for everyone to get in. That was the plan, wasn't it?"
Luffy: ???
Plan?
What plan?
"You bastards! What are you muttering to yourselves for?!" the Marines shouted angrily. "Who gave you permission to cause trouble here?! Get down on the ground—now!"
Luffy and Jin exchanged a glance.
Then, in perfect unison—
"I refuse!"
"You actually dare refuse—"
"Wait, isn't that the Straw Hat kid with a bounty of one hundred million Beli?!"
"What?!"
"Quick! Wake up Oimo and Kashii!"
An enemy with a hundred-million bounty was far beyond what they could handle.
And that man in the vest had said there were more enemies coming from behind.
With their strength, they couldn't stop this—only those two giants could.
"Gum-Gum Gatling!"
"BOOM!!"
A storm of fists smashed forward, blasting away a whole group of Marines.
After that, Luffy grabbed the ring high above the gate.
"Jin, I'll leave this place to you!"
"Got it!"
"Bastard, stop right there!"
Watching the enemy casually leap over the gate, the Marines' eyes nearly split with rage.
This was a catastrophic dereliction of duty.
If the gate fell, they would surely be executed by Commander Spandam!
Not guarding the gate meant only one thing—death.
"Where are you looking?"
"You think you can look down on us?!" the Marines roared. "Straw Hat is one thing, but who do you think you are?! Some nobody dares to face all of us alone?!"
"Get him! Kill him!"
"So I'm being underestimated…" Jin sighed lightly. "Is this the downside of having no bounty?"
Even with strength, no one recognized him.
Still, it didn't matter.
After this incident, his bounty would probably be quite impressive.
After all… this was Enies Lobby.
Glancing at the charging Marines, Jin spoke calmly.
"We have no personal grudges. But since we stand on opposite sides, I can only apologize."
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
"BOOOOM!!"
A massive fireball formed before Jin, surging forward with terrifying heat.
"He's a Devil Fruit user!"
"Someone save me—!"
"It's burning!"
"BOOM!!"
In a single blast, an entire group was taken out.
The ground was scorched black, bodies lying there smoking—clearly unconscious.
"Someone with this level of power can't possibly be a nobody!" a Marine cried in terror. "Who are you?!"
Casual attacks that wiped out so many people at once—
This was absurd.
"Fire… could he be Fire Fist Ace?!"
"No, impossible! I've seen Fire Fist Ace—this isn't him!"
"Damn it! Why would someone this strong not even have a bounty?!"
"Me?" Jin picked his ear casually. "I'm just an ordinary ninja."
"Alright, that's enough chatting."
"Which of you knows where Nico Robin was taken?"
"How would we know something like that?!"
"Even if we did, we'd never tell you, you evil pirate!"
The Marines glared at him fiercely, refusing to yield even in the face of overwhelming power.
Standing here, there were things they had no choice but to uphold.
"'Evil pirate' again…" Jin shook his head. "Always that line."
"Fine—then I'll just deal with you fir—"
Whoosh!
Before he could finish, two enormous shadows leapt out from behind the gate, momentarily blotting out the sunlight.
"BOOM!!"
They crashed down heavily, the ground trembling under their weight.
"Oimo, someone actually dared to attack this place today. That's unexpected."
"Yeah, Kashii," Oimo replied. "But it's fine. We'll just smash him to death."
"Let's finish this quickly. I still want to go back to sleep."
It was still technically nighttime for them, and being woken up like this put him in a terrible mood.
"Oh~"
"Giants, huh."
Jin tilted his head up, gazing at the towering figures.
This was his first time seeing the Giant Tribe in person.
Nearly twenty meters tall.
He wondered how they compared to the two giants from Little Garden.
"That's great! It's Oimo and Kashii!"
"Quick! Big guys, kill him!"
"Yeah, yeah—so noisy," Oimo muttered irritably.
If their captain weren't imprisoned in Impel Down, would proud warriors of the Giant Warrior Pirates really be stuck guarding a gate here?
Whatever.
Better deal with the enemy first.
"Brat," Kashii said coldly, hefting his massive axe. "Will you surrender, or shall we crush you ourselves?"
Killing intent slowly seeped into his eyes.
Anyone who dared obstruct their efforts to save their captain was an enemy of Elbaf!
Jin ignored him, instead using the Sharingan to command a few Marines to open the inner gate.
Only then did he turn back.
"Being bigger doesn't mean being stronger."
"Maybe so," Kashii roared, "but that certainly doesn't include you!"
With a shout, the giant axe came crashing down toward Jin.
If he wouldn't surrender, then death it was!
"BOOM!!"
The ground exploded into a massive crater.
"Hmph. Turned into paste, huh," Oimo snorted.
The strength of giants was no joke.
A normal human would have been reduced to nothing but mush.
"Not being smashed to pieces… sorry about that~"
"W-What?!"
Seeing Jin suddenly appear in midair, Kashii's pupils shrank.
He dodged it?!
"Then let me show you the strength of humans."
"Monster Strength Fist!"
"BOOOOM!!"
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