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OPI Chapter 425: Tanuki and the Cigar
🕑 Added 2025-06-09 18:58:04 +0000 UTC“You bastard! Who did you just call a pet? Say it again, clearly!” Shukaku glared furiously at Crocodile, who had appeared above its head in
“You bastard! Who did you just call a pet? Say it again, clearly!”
Shukaku glared furiously at Crocodile, who had appeared above its head in a swirl of yellow sand.
“And who gave you permission to stand on Shukaku-sama’s head? Get down, now!”
Amusingly enough, it was all just shouting—Shukaku didn’t actually make any aggressive moves.
“And is that how a dumb tanuki like you talks to someone who just saved your life?”
Crocodile didn’t look the least bit angry.
With a smoking cigar in his mouth, he looked down at Shukaku and chuckled.
“Not bad. Nice and plump, kinda cute. Shame you're not a crocodile. I know you can turn into sand—how about trying a new look? Maybe a big croc with a banana on its head?”
“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!”
The more Shukaku listened, the more wrong it sounded. And when it finally realized what was going on, it flew into a rage.
“Get down! Get down! Who said you saved me? Did I ask you to?!”
It immediately swung a massive paw upward to grab at him.
But Crocodile turned into sand, flowing effortlessly between the giant claws.
By the time Shukaku pulled its paw back, Crocodile had already reformed above its head.
“Kuahahahaha—!”
Hearing that exaggerated, wheezing laugh, Shukaku was at a loss for words.
Finally, it let out a heavy sigh.
“Fine. If you really want to stand up there, whatever. But you’ve got to help me beat that guy up. That attack just now really hurt.”
It couldn’t be helped—this man was just too strong.
“But of course. Like I’d ever let someone off the hook for hurting my pet.”
Crocodile squinted toward the black-winged demon floating in the sky, grinning as he spoke.
“Say it again! I am not a pet!” Shukaku roared.
“Fine, then how about… partner?”
Crocodile took a slow drag from the cigar held between his fingers, then said softly to Shukaku: “When you’re freed from this place, be my partner, Shukaku. If anyone bullies you on Starfish, just come find me.”
“Partner…”
Shukaku turned the word over in its mouth. It wasn’t that it didn’t understand—it just felt strange. Someone actually wanted to partner up with it?
“Hmph. Don’t look down on me! Who in their right mind could bully me?!”
Shukaku didn’t believe there was anyone on Starfish strong enough to mess with it.
“Well, you didn’t say no. So from now on, we’re partners. I’ll handle things here—if you’ve got nothing better to do, go help out in the Land of Bears.”
“No way! I want to see you rip that bastard apart with your bare hands!”
Shukaku shouted furiously.
“Works for me.”
Crocodile nodded coolly, not bothering to push the issue further.
“Rip me apart?”
“Then come and try it—if you dare!”
The black-winged demon in the distance let out a guttural roar, full of malice.
Sound waves rippled out from its airborne form, ring after ring of pure force.
[BOOM!]
The next instant, its jet-black wings flared as a deafening sonic boom exploded.
Shinnō’s demonic form vanished on the spot.
It wasn’t teleportation—just raw speed.
Crocodile didn’t back down an inch.
Instead of turning into sand, he stomped hard off Shukaku’s head and launched into the air.
At the same time, his right arm had already transformed into a black, crescent-shaped sand blade vibrating at high frequency—he brought it down in a vertical slash.
[CLANG!!!]
The black-winged demon’s enormous right claw collided head-on with the equally massive black sand blade.
In that instant, it was as if the air itself had been hit by a nuclear blast—exploding with indescribable force and shockwaves.
Even Shukaku had to raise both arms in front of its face to shield itself from the tangible wall of pressure.
Its massive feet slid back across the ground—three full steps.
After a head-on clash, the two were inevitably pushed apart by the recoil.
"Not bad power."
Crocodile could feel a slight numbness in his arm.
It seemed he had indeed underestimated this Shinobi World.
"No mistake about it—his attack carries the power of a demon... and these grains of sand... a law of desiccation?"
After hearing the words of Void inside him, Shinnō glanced at the gash on the back of his right hand. The wound was completely dry, devoid of any blood. He immediately shouted at Crocodile: "Who the hell are you?! Do you have a demon inside you too?!"
"Huh?"
Crocodile, just about to strike again, paused in surprise.
How would this guy know his power came from a Devil Fruit?
Unless...
"Oi oi oi—don’t tell me you’re trying to say that this monstrous form of yours comes from a Devil Fruit too? Is that what this is—a Mythical Zoan or something?"
Crocodile stared at the black-winged demon in astonishment.
"Devil Fruit ability..."
Hearing this, both Shinnō and Void fell momentarily speechless—but that didn’t mean they were silent.
They were now conversing rapidly within the mental domain.
"Could it be," Void speculated, "that some demon transformed itself into a kind of fruit, and then possessed him when he ate it?"
"If that’s the case," Shinnō replied, "then either it’s a twisted bastard, or it had some sort of necessity for doing so."
"Then what do we do? Is the demon inside him strong?"
"No, actually... it's weak. Its aura is so faint, I even suspect it’s a newborn demon. And yet, the power he's displaying is incredibly strong. It’s bizarre—very bizarre..."
"But regardless—if he's mastered a 'law' and carries traces of demonic energy, then his attacks qualify as part of the 'Underworld Domain'. Hurting my body would be perfectly reasonable!"
"The Underworld Domain?" Shinnō asked, confused.
"You don’t need to know. It’s just what we call it in my world," Void snorted coldly.
"Right now, focus on defeating him—or grabbing hold of his body. If I can establish a link to that demon, I might figure out what the hell’s going on!"
"Got it!"
Shinnō agreed without hesitation.
"But I’ll need to change forms."
"Do as you like."
Just as Void finished speaking, the towering black-winged demon suddenly collapsed into a thick cloud of black smoke, forming a floating 'black sphere' in midair. This sphere began to rapidly compress in size.
"Hmm?"
Crocodile raised a brow.
Soon, the 'black sphere' shrank to barely two meters tall and wide. From within emerged a muscular young man, shirtless, his chest pitch-black, his long dark hair trailing down his back. He slowly unfurled a pair of black-feathered wings, still veiled in drifting wisps of black smoke.
As he looked up at Crocodile with a cold smirk, his eyes were utterly terrifying—dark sclera with pupils glowing blood-red. The malice and killing intent pouring from his body surged outward like an overwhelming tide.
"A transformation, huh?"
"Not a great look. And that aura seems weaker than before," Crocodile commented around the cigar clamped in his mouth.
"Hmph. Then I’ll show you what true invincible power looks like!"
"Eight Gates Formation!"
"OPEN!!"
With a thunderous roar, Shinnō exploded with a crimson blaze of energy shooting into the sky.
Waves of violent aura rippled out, hammering the surrounding void.
Crocodile’s expression turned serious.
He could sense a dark and overwhelming intensity radiating from Shinnō’s body—powerful and utterly sinister.
"So you’re a real threat... In that case..."
[BOOM!!!]
In that instant—
An almost visible, surging wave of power erupted from Crocodile as well, colliding head-on with the force Shinnō unleashed.
His aura crackled with arcs of purple lightning, while Shinnō’s pulsed with darkness and blood-red radiance.
“This guy is that strong?!”
Shinnō was startled as he felt the overwhelming force pouring from Crocodile.
He had thought that opening the Eight Gates would utterly crush his opponent in despair.
But to his surprise, they were evenly matched—or rather, he might even be at a slight disadvantage.
But there was no turning back now. All that remained was to fight!
[BOOM! BOOM!]
Almost simultaneously, both Shinnō and Crocodile erupted into action.
A violent, fist-shaped shockwave surged forth, compressing the air around it. The raw power distorted the surrounding void.
Yet this powerful attack was blocked head-on by a sharp sand blade crackling with purple lightning. Within just a few seconds of struggle, it cleaved the shockwave in two.
[BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!]
The two clashed again and again high above the Land of Bears.
Each impact echoed like a volcanic eruption.
Their movements were so fast, their shockwaves so immense, that even Shukaku, watching from below, could only see blurry afterimages—judging the battle’s progression based on the shifting clouds of yellow sand each shockwave blew away.
In that moment, Shukaku witnessed the true strength of Crocodile.
Comments
JoKeRtHeBrOkEr
i like the idea of specific people becoming partners with the tail beasts
