Hearing this, Rob Lucci immediately pounced towards Orochimaru, his voice still calm, "You're courting death!"
His Finger Pistol struck Orochimaru, but there was no sensation of hitting flesh; the humanoid figure in front of him instantly turned into a dark, viscous liquid and melted away.
Nami shivered, rubbing the goosebumps on her arms. Sure enough, most of Orochimaru's techniques were disgusting.
"It's a Body Replacement Jutsu."
Orochimaru's voice came from above. Lucci looked up and saw Orochimaru standing upside down on the ceiling, arms crossed, somewhat surprised. What kind of ability was this?
"Don't be so angry... I was just curious. I rarely speak usually," Orochimaru mused for a moment, then nodded.
"No... not at all," the Straw Hat Crew said in unison, their eyes vacant, waving their hands.
Rob Lucci used Moonwalk to attack Orochimaru again, but Orochimaru easily dodged every strike.
"I thought the Straw Hat Crew were all useless, but I didn't expect to find someone like you," Lucci said, looking at Orochimaru on the ceiling, then at Luffy and the others who were struggling against Kaku and the others, his expression grave.
Orochimaru removed the Chakra from his feet, falling freely. He somersaulted in the air and precisely squatted on Lucci's head, creating a sense of déjà vu identical to Ace. "Luffy is only 17 years old. How old are you? A 30-year-old shouldn't compare himself to a 17-year-old... If you lose, won't you cry?"
Squatting on Lucci's head, Orochimaru suddenly became distracted. This posture reminded him of Kakashi. Should he read a book? He remembered there was Jiraiya's Make-Out Paradise in the mall. He decided to do it. He realized he had never really looked closely at Jiraiya's books, which were said to be very popular in the Ninja World.
Though the writing was as bad as the author.
So, a group of people watched as Orochimaru pulled out a book called Make-Out Paradise from his pocket, then expressionlessly read two pages... quietly closed the book... and burned it with a single flame.
Meanwhile, the ignored Rob Lucci's body gradually began to swell. The fallen Luffy and Barry were shocked, their pupils dilated. "Devil Fruit... What kind of fruit is this?"
"Cat-Cat Fruit... Leopard Model," Lucci's entire body took on the patterns of a leopard... His massive frame stood on the ground, and he swiped a claw at Orochimaru on his head.
Orochimaru flashed back to Luffy and the others. He looked at Lucci in silence for a moment, then his right hand instantly transformed into a snake, striking at Lucci. The Kusanagi Sword in its mouth shot out, piercing Lucci in the waist... "Ugly... Don't you know you were only ever good-looking in the face? Now you don't even have a face."
Watching Lucci stagger, clutching his waist... Orochimaru paused, "Ah... Gomen... I missed..." He then turned and apologized to Barry, "I'm sorry, Barry, your happy life is gone.
But this leopard is quite ugly, I suppose you wouldn't be interested in him anymore, right?"
Barry turned red with anger, "!!!! Whose damn happy life?! What have you been talking about from the start?! You shameless man!!!"
Huh??? Orochimaru was full of question marks??? "How am I shameless???"
Barry pointed at the chainmail on Orochimaru's body, "How can you wear such indecent clothes! And no pants!!"
Huh???? Orochimaru was speechless... He looked at the yukata that reached his knees, then at Lucci who only had pants, and then at Barry with the eyes of a bewildered deer. Was this some antique dug up from somewhere...? He instantly lost all interest... "Luffy... you guys play by yourselves... I'm going to check on Robin..."
Orochimaru didn't spare Lucci a glance and flew off, following the connection between his clones, towards Robin.
Seeing Robin about to board the train, Orochimaru's figure abruptly appeared before her. "Are you really going?"
Robin lowered her head slightly, caressing the white snake bracelet on her hand, and softly replied, "Mmm..."
Orochimaru was silent for a moment, ultimately choosing to respect Robin's decision, but he still couldn't help but instruct, "Alright then, be very careful on the way. My clones can also use genjutsu, so you won't be harmed. They will only see an illusory dummy, don't be surprised... We'll come to pick you up." As he spoke, Orochimaru tried to stand on tiptoe, reaching out to gently pat Robin's head.
Robin looked at Orochimaru, a warmth spreading in her heart, and her lips involuntarily curved into a smile. She softly said, "Alright... if you can take me away. But Orochimaru... you're not Luffy... you should know... the World Government won't let me go easily."
Orochimaru smiled slightly, "If it were me, perhaps you really would be taken away, because I wouldn't do something I wasn't sure about. But that's Luffy; no matter who the enemy is, he will only see you as his Companion, and he will definitely cause a huge commotion. So, we will definitely come to pick you up. You will know Luffy's resolve."
After hearing this, Robin said nothing more, only nodding silently. Then, she turned and boarded the sea train bound for Enies Lobby. The train slowly started, carrying her gradually away. Orochimaru stood quietly in place, watching the train depart until it disappeared from sight.
On the rooftops of the back alleys, Nami ran, searching for Luffy, who had been sent flying by Lucci. Nami had learned the truth from Iceberg, and it was just as Orochimaru had suspected: Robin had agreed to be taken by the World Government to ensure their safe departure from Water 7... Iceberg's words still echoed in Nami's mind: "I never thought she would choose to let you few live, over the lives of all humanity."
Nami wiped away tears, continuously searching for Luffy.
Meanwhile... Orochimaru flapped his wings, flying in mid-air, looking at Luffy, who was stuck in a crevice with a pig-like face.
"Orochimaru... save me... I'm stuck... I can't get out," Luffy mumbled, struggling hard.
"No, didn't you say you wouldn't let me interfere in your fight? If you can't get out, then just watch Robin get taken away," Orochimaru said expressionlessly, even poking him with a discarded stick.
Nami, who was looking for Luffy, met Kokoro. After hearing Kokoro talk about the Sea God, she learned that a giant tsunami was imminent. Suddenly, her gaze fixed on something ahead, as if she had discovered an important clue. Her eyes were locked forward, seemingly trying to find something.
Just then, her vision passed through a gap, and she saw Luffy stuck there. At the same time, she also noticed Orochimaru poking someone behind Luffy.
Nami's face instantly darkened, she gritted her teeth, letting out a low growl, then unhesitatingly transformed into a shark-faced figure, charging furiously towards Luffy and Orochimaru's location.
"This is not the time for petty grievances!!! This insidious snake!!!" Nami roared.
Kokoro looked at Nami in shock, "No!!! You can't go to the back alley now! The Sea God are coming!"
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