The pursuers came swiftly — a massive naval warship cutting through the waves, led by a major general famed across the New World for his iron fist and absolute faith in numbers and artillery.
"Target sighted! All batteries — prepare to fire!" the major general barked.
Rumble!
A storm of cannon fire roared through the air, hundreds of shells raining down toward Tanma's small, fragile-looking boat.
But the next instant, every marine on the deck saw something that would haunt their nightmares forever.
Tanma didn't even draw his sword.
He simply pressed one foot down.
An invisible shockwave exploded outward from his boat — a pressure so immense it seemed to warp the air itself. The barrage of shells froze midflight, colliding against an unseen wall before detonating in midair. Flames blossomed across the sky, painting the sea blood-red.
The enormous warship lurched violently as if struck by a giant's unseen hand. The hull groaned, timbers splitting under the impossible strain.
"W-what… what is that?!" the major general gasped.
By the time the words left his mouth, Tanma's figure had vanished.
In the blink of an eye, he reappeared — standing effortlessly atop the warship's main mast, his black coat rippling in the smoke and wind.
He looked down upon the chaos below, expression calm, eyes cold.
Then, Calamity left its sheath.
A single sword stroke.
No warning. No flourish.
Just a blinding arc of light that split the sky itself.
CRACK—BOOM!
The warship split cleanly down the middle, its two halves drifting apart like cleaved fruit. The major general, his crew, and the massive vessel were swallowed by the sea in seconds, reduced to flame and wreckage before the shockwave had even faded.
Tanma landed softly back on his little boat, its sails untouched, not a single drop of seawater clinging to him.
The second wave of pursuers arrived soon after — two high-speed warships under the command of experienced vice admirals who had studied his previous engagement. This time, they didn't dare approach.
"Keep your distance! Use long-range fire! Don't give him a chance to close in!" one of them shouted.
Cannons thundered again and again, shells raining down like swarms of angry hornets around Tanma's vessel.
Tanma frowned slightly.
It wasn't difficulty he felt — only irritation.
Noisy.
He raised his head, eyes narrowing on the twin ships stalking him across the horizon. Then he lifted Calamity and drew a casual slash across the sea.
A flash of light — and silence.
The ocean itself split.
Twin ravines opened across the waves, and in the next instant, two colossal whirlpools erupted, twisting into howling waterspouts that towered over the ships.
BOOM!!!
The whirlpools devoured the two warships whole. For a brief moment, their hulls collided midair, splintering like toys before being swallowed by the roaring sea.
Not a single man survived.When the water finally calmed, only scattered wreckage remained, drifting quietly across the waves.
A small navy reconnaissance craft found the wreckage later that day. Through their binoculars, they saw him — a lone figure standing at the bow of his tiny boat, calm and motionless.
Even from that distance, his gaze froze their blood.
"Turn around!" the captain screamed. "Full power! NOW!"
The speedboat fled at maximum throttle, vanishing over the horizon without daring to look back.
By the time their report reached command, the word had already spread across the fleet like wildfire.
"That man… that Tanma… he's a monster!""Two vice admiral warships gone in minutes!""No one short of an admiral can stop him!"
The Navy's pursuit of Tanma — after three devastating losses — came to an abrupt standstill.Every branch in the New World grew wary.No one dared to approach the man in black who could split the sea with a sword.
Tanma's reputation, along with his clean, terrifying kill record, spread like a plague through the ocean.
The 500 million bounty suddenly felt like an understatement.
But Tanma himself remained indifferent.He sailed on at his own pace, unconcerned.The navy's assaults were nothing more than buzzing flies — brief annoyances easily silenced with a single swing.
Meanwhile, inside a heavily guarded conference hall at the New World Naval Branch, the atmosphere was suffocating.
Reports of the losses covered the table. Officers sat grim-faced as one vice admiral slammed his fist down.
"We can't let this continue! We must concentrate our forces and crush him! Are we going to let a pirate mock the Navy like this?!"
His words echoed through the room — but instead of agreement, a few bitter laughs answered him.
"A stronger lineup? Easy to say. Two vice admirals joined forces and couldn't even touch him. What do you propose? Sacrifice more of us?"
The first man bristled. "So what, we cower now? What about justice?!"
Another officer leaned forward coldly. "Justice still requires someone alive to carry it out. That… thing isn't human. Unless—"
"Unless what?"
"Unless we send one of the true monsters from Headquarters. Someone like… Major General Zephyr."
The room fell silent.
Even the cynics stopped laughing at that name.
"Zephyr… the 'Black Arm,' huh?" one muttered. "They say his mastery of Armament Haki is absolute. He's being hailed as the next generation's monster, alongside Garp and Sengoku…"
"But he's only a major general. You think he can handle a man who sank two fleets?"
"Maybe not. But he's the only one who'd dare try."
Just then, the heavy doors of the room swung open.
A tall man stepped inside — young, broad-shouldered, his posture straight as a blade. His dark eyes were sharp, focused, like a hawk sizing up its prey. The white coat of a rear admiral fluttered behind him, though the aura he carried was far heavier than his rank.
It was Black Arm Zephyr — the man destined to become one of the Navy's strongest pillars.
The room fell silent as his boots echoed against the floor.
"If the target is Tanma," Zephyr said evenly, scanning the room, "then I'll take this mission."
His voice was calm, but his clenched fist told another story — one of conviction, and a promise of a battle that would shake the seas.