Free Web NovelChapter 7: Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Medical Talent?
Even though all her other stats were terrible and she had zero skills, that single Medical Talent was enough to make Rorschach’s heart race.
Who could say no to a beautiful, gentle ship doctor?
Rather than recruiting some random original character, he much preferred bringing canon characters onto his crew.
"Alright, alright. Let’s all head inside," Charlie said with a laugh, trying to ease the mood as he started walking toward the mansion.
"Wait. There’s one more thing," Rorschach interrupted.
"Is something wrong, Lord Rorschach?" Charlie asked, turning back in confusion.
"How much longer are you going to keep up that act?" Rorschach drew his sword and pointed it at the butler with the slicked-back hair and round glasses.
Charlie hurriedly stepped forward. "Lord Rorschach, did Klahadore offend you somehow?"
Rorschach didn’t answer.
The butler—Kuro—pushed up his glasses with his palm, expression completely blank.
"My lord, have I done something to anger you? If so, please forgive my rudeness."
Kuro gave a perfect, polite butler’s bow.
Rorschach wasn’t buying any of it. He swung his sword and sent a golden slash flying straight at him.
Kuro’s pupils shrank. He instantly leaped backward, dodging the slash. The two butlers standing nearby weren’t so lucky — they were knocked back by flying debris.
"I could smell the pirate stench on you from a mile away," Rorschach said casually, flicking his sword.
"That movement and the way you push up your glasses... You’re Captain Kuro, right?"
"I don’t understand what you’re talking about, sir," Kuro replied calmly. "My name is Klahadore. I am merely a butler that Master Charlie took in a year ago. I know no one by the name of Kuro."
"Yeah, Lord Rorschach, you must be mistaken," Charlie added, looking confused. "Klahadore has been working for me for a whole year. He has nothing to do with any pirates."
Kuro pushed his slightly crooked glasses back into place.
He really sounds convincing. If I hadn’t known the plot, I might’ve actually been fooled.
But since he wanted Kaya on his ship, he might as well save her parents too — the couple who were supposed to die before the canon story even started.
"Still pretending?" Rorschach smirked. "Then I hope you can survive what’s coming next."
A wave of Conqueror’s Haki slammed straight into Kuro.
Kuro’s body reacted on instinct. He used Shakushi and vanished from his spot, reappearing far away with a pair of clawed gauntlets already on his hands.
Rorschach raised an eyebrow. Where the hell did he pull those claws from? I didn’t even sense them.
Then he shrugged. It’s the One Piece world. Characters pulling extra weapons out of nowhere is normal. free𝑤ebnovel.com
The ten razor-sharp blades gleamed coldly, completely exposing Kuro’s true identity.
The other butlers stared in shock at the "teleporting" butler and the deadly claws on his hands.
"Protect Master Charlie and Miss Kaya!" they shouted, rushing forward to form a protective wall.
Kuro slowly lifted his head, breathing heavily.
"Who... are you?"
The Conqueror’s Haki had clearly affected him. Even though it didn’t knock him out, it had drained a good chunk of his spirit.
"Dead men don’t need to know my name," Rorschach replied.
The earlier slash and Haki blast had only been to force Kuro to reveal himself. If Rorschach got serious, Kuro wouldn’t last more than a few moves.
"We’ll see who dies today," Kuro hissed.
He still had his trump card. He was confident that once he used it, no one could defeat him.
How cute. How naive.
"Sigh... I really didn’t want to use this," Kuro muttered, his voice turning ice-cold. "But because you ruined my perfect plan, I have no choice but to go back to my old life."
"I’ll slaughter everyone on this island, take all their wealth, and return to being a pirate. This is all that old fool’s fault for bringing you here."
Behind the reflective lenses, Kuro’s eyes gleamed with killing intent.
Rorschach grew slightly interested. He remembered Kuro had a special technique — Shakushi — a movement skill almost as fast as the Marine Six Styles technique "Shave."
The problem was Kuro couldn’t actually control it. He just flailed around at high speed, slashing blindly.
Rorschach sneered. If you can’t even control your own technique, how do you expect to get any stronger?
Still, 16 million berries seemed a little low for Kuro’s actual strength. He was definitely stronger than East Blue overlords like Don Krieg.
Speed is power, as Admiral Kizaru liked to say. There was truth to that.
Rorschach wanted to experience this technique for himself.
"Come on," he beckoned with his finger.
"Tch... Shakushi!"
Kuro’s figure vanished. freeweɓnovel.cøm
At the exact same moment, Rorschach disappeared too.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Their afterimages flickered across the courtyard. Normal people could only hear the constant sound of clashing metal — they couldn’t even see the fighters.
"Ugh—!"
With a pained cry, Kuro was sent flying and crashed hard into a large tree.
"H-How is this possible?! You’re faster than me?!" Kuro stared in disbelief at his broken Ten Blade Claws.
"Heh. With just that level of speed, you thought you were invincible?" Rorschach laughed.
He had only been playing around earlier. Now that his Agility was C-, he was clearly several steps ahead of Kuro.
Even before Kuro landed, Rorschach had already predicted the landing spot with Observation Haki and was waiting for him.
He had only been testing the limits of Shakushi.
After a few exchanges, he fully understood the technique. While it had similarities to "Shave," it wasn’t quite right for him.
But he had still grasped the core principle.
"Watch closely. This isn’t how you use that move."
Rorschach’s body turned into a blur and reappeared somewhere else. After a few flashes, he was suddenly standing right behind Kuro.
"This is... my own Shakushi...?"
Those were Kuro’s final thoughts.
His head flew high into the air before landing on the ground with a dull thud.
Shakushi had the same speed as the Six Styles technique, but Rorschach preferred the Marines’ "Shave." It consumed far less stamina.
