Seeing that the captain was about to display his power, the crew quickly cleared an open space near the deck and erected the wooden cross.
Bucky slipped eight throwing knives between the fingers of both hands. "Split into pieces—Clown Throwing Knives!"
As soon as he finished speaking, both of Bucky's hands detached from his arms and spun into the air with a sharp, whistling sound. Tom, still tightly bound to the cross, struggled in vain to free himself from the ropes.
In his terrified eyes, the spinning knives sliced through the air and tore into his flesh—more than a dozen bloody cuts opened up across his body.
What followed were Tom's screams of agony.
The severed hands, still clutching the knives, spun back to Bucky and reattached to his arms. Watching Tom writhe in pain, Bucky grinned in satisfaction.
"Split into pieces—Clown Throwing Knives!" he declared again.
Just when the onlookers thought the torture was over, the flying knives spun through the air once more and slashed Tom's already bleeding body again.
"Captain! Please stop! It really hurts!" Tom, who was usually so arrogant, now wailed like a broken man.
But Bucky showed no sign of mercy. Again and again, the spinning knives tore at Tom's body. For over half an hour, they flew back and forth, turning his flesh into a bloodied ruin.
Eventually, when Tom was no longer breathing from excessive blood loss, the surrounding pirates burst into thunderous cheers at what they considered their captain's "magnificent" performance.
No one seemed more thrilled than Kabaji, the chief of staff. His usual gloomy face now glowed with bloodthirsty excitement...
On a pirate ship, the captain is both god and king. His will becomes law. Bucky the Clown delighted in tormenting the weak, and his cruelty had spread through the crew, creating a culture of bullying—fueled by fear and obedience.
It was this same atmosphere that had created people like Tom.
But Kurosawa Raion was different.
He despised this kind of behavior. Even if he grew stronger one day, he swore he would never bully the innocent. He felt no sympathy for Tom's death. From the moment he was dragged aboard, Raion had never considered himself one of Bucky's crew.
He had hoped that with Tom gone, life aboard the ship might be a little easier. But nothing changed. Raion was still nothing more than a weak, lowly shiphand.
Two more days passed, and they were now closing in on their destination—Orange Town.
That day, Raion was assigned to repaint the ship's railings. As he worked quietly, the lion Liki suddenly sprang out of nowhere, knocking him over and sending his bucket of red paint flying.
The thick red paint splattered across the deck and all over Raion's body.
Raion got up, covered in paint, and looked around. Sure enough, he saw Vice-Captain Mochi snickering behind his hand. The lion, Liki, was eyeing Raion with eager satisfaction.
Raion knew immediately: Mochi had set this up.
When Mochi noticed Raion glaring at him, his smirk quickly twisted into a scowl.
Red paint still dripped from Raion's soaked clothes, pooling onto the deck. He clenched his fists and stared at them angrily.
"What's that look supposed to mean? Not happy?" Mochi sneered.
In response to his master's words, Liki let out a roar and flexed his razor-sharp claws.
But Raion wasn't afraid. He stared them both down. "What was that supposed to mean?"
Mochi was the vice-captain—second only to Bucky himself. For a bottom-rung deckhand to challenge him like this was unthinkable.
"Hey," Mochi snapped, "what's with that tone? Do you know who you're talking to?"
Liki roared again, snapping his jaws.
"I don't care who you are," Raion spat. "I'm asking what you meant by that."
Mochi blinked in disbelief. What's with this kid?
He didn't know the truth: since the day Raion decided to assassinate Tom, he had already made peace with dying. Better to die fighting than live in constant humiliation.
If people no longer fear death, what power can death have over them?
But the anger of the weak still doesn't scare the strong.
Mochi grinned darkly. "In that case, I'll let Liki tear you apart."
As if understanding his master's words, Liki opened his blood-stained jaws wide and lunged—
But before the lion reached him, a fist suddenly slammed into Raion's face. He flew ten meters across the deck, rolled, and slammed into a cabin wall before coming to a stop.
He looked up, dazed—and saw Bucky the Clown standing there.
Bucky crossed his arms over his chest. "Kid, has no one ever taught you about hierarchy? Mochi is the vice-captain. Who gave you the nerve to talk back to him like that?"
In Bucky's world, there was no right or wrong. Only power. If Mochi's lion had killed Raion, Bucky wouldn't have lifted a finger.
"Take him to the bottom cabin," Bucky ordered coldly. "No food, no water. Lock him in there for two days."
"Yes, Captain," two pirates responded and dragged Raion away.
Afterward, Mochi approached Bucky. "Captain, this guy just insulted me. Shouldn't we execute him?"
But Bucky laughed. "Orange Town is almost ours. We'll soon have a real base. I've been in a good mood lately, so let's spare him—for now. I'm a generous man, after all."
Hearing this, Mochi said no more.
That night, deep in the ship's lowest cabin...
The space was pitch dark. Raion sat alone on the floor, hugging his knees. The silence was crushing. Emptiness, loneliness, and a deep sense of sorrow gnawed at his soul.
Is this really how it ends? Being bullied every day… and then dying forgotten?
Why does my life have to be like this?
But just as despair was about to consume him—something extraordinary happened.
"Attention, host. Naruto System initializing...Naruto Store loading...Personal data being read. Please wait…"
Huh?
Raion froze. The cold, mechanical voice echoed directly in his mind.
What... what the hell is this?!
Whatever it was, it pulled him out of his darkness—hope, once extinguished, sparked again in his eyes.