One Piece: From Picking Up Red Hair's Broken Arm

Chapter 20 The story ends
"You mean, you want me to give you an explanation? That's the opposite."

Xia Nuo sneered, "Isn't it up to you to give Junyi an explanation?"

"Junyi..."

“Don’t call my name!!!”

Junyi's breathing was rapid, his eyes were red and swollen, and his teeth were almost biting his gums.

"So you're the mastermind behind this? You're the one secretly controlling Asakurajima? Then what about the five years I've lived through before that? And what about that sentimental scene you just acted out?!"

Looking around, he looked at the corpses on the ground in despair.

"It's only been one day, and you've killed so many people in one day. In the past five years, five whole years, how many cruel and insane things have you done? Why did you do this!!!"

Sakurabaju then looked at the corpses with a cold expression.

He cast his emotionless gaze on Junyi again and spoke softly, his voice sounding like it came from the depths of a dry well.

"Do you remember what I told you about your mother?"

"Mother?"

Junyi became even more enraged and roared, "Why are you suddenly mentioning her? How dare you mention her now! Didn't she die of an illness while traveling with you ten years ago?"

"Aya died during that trip, but not from illness."

"That year, shortly after we started our journey, we passed through the Kingdom of Goa. Two elegant noble ladies boarded the ship. They hit it off with Aya and became friends within a few days."

"They often held tea parties in the afternoon, and sat together on the deck at night to watch the stars, laughing and joking, and talking about everything."

"Aya has been with me since I was poor. She has worked hard for so many years. Except for when you were just born, that was almost the happiest time I have ever seen her."

"Until one day..."

"Those two noble ladies suddenly mentioned wanting to play football, but where can we get the ball on the ship?"

"Then their tempers suddenly changed. They flew into a rage, beating and scolding their own guards. They even threatened to kill the captain and throw him into the sea to feed the fish."

"Aya couldn't bear it, so she stepped forward to persuade him, saving the captain's life. She then went to the kitchen to borrow materials like a pig's bladder to help sew a leather ball."

"After spending most of the night making the ball, Aya was very happy because now she no longer had to worry about the two noble ladies taking their anger out on the guards."

"She went to deliver the ball early in the morning. I slept in a little longer and then went to look for her. Guess what I saw?"

Sakurabaji had a blank expression on his face.

It was as if the story being told had nothing to do with him.

"Aya's head was cut off, and the two noble ladies used it as a ball, kicking it around happily. She had worked so hard for most of the night to make the ball, but because it was disliked for being too ugly, it was crushed and thrown aside."

Wha…what?! Junyi’s pupils suddenly constricted, and he stumbled back two steps, his body shaking violently.

Xia Nuo let out a long sigh and remained silent for a while.

He had some guesses about the identities of the two noble ladies.

But he did not interrupt and let Sakuraba Itsuki continue speaking on the stage.

In the vast and empty arena, only that emotionless voice echoed:

"...I was stunned for a long time before I finally came to my senses. I drew my sword and rushed forward like a madman, but was suddenly stopped by the captain of the guards."

"My swordsmanship, which I was so proud of, was like a joke in front of that guy. I couldn't even hold out for a few seconds before he was trampled underfoot."

"I really couldn't figure it out at the time. After a long and painstaking investigation, I finally figured it out..."

"Those two young ladies aren't nobles of the Goa Kingdom at all. They're Celestial Dragons who secretly went there to play without telling their families! As for the captain of the guards Aya saved, he's actually Vice Admiral Stirles of the Marine Headquarters!"

“How funny, how funny…how funny!!!”

Sakurabashu suddenly raised his head and laughed wildly.

"Hahaha, Aya thought she had made two new friends, but she didn't know that in their eyes, she was just a kitten or puppy that they teased on a whim."

"And the guy who knocked on the door the night before to express his gratitude for saving his life, personally cut off Aya's head the next day!"

"What about me? I was kicked into the sea like a dead dog and drifted for a month before I finally survived!"

"No wonder you were so quiet for several months after returning from that trip..." Junyi grabbed his hair in pain and muttered absentmindedly, "But after mother's funeral, didn't you slowly get over it?"

"Come out? I've never come out!"

Sakuraba Itsuki sneered, "It's just that I want to continue raising you, for the sake of the gym I founded, that I choose to escape and forget, and continue to play the role of the good president and good father I used to be."

"The real Sakura Garden tree, the original Sakura Garden tree, drowned when it fell into the sea ten years ago!"

"I thought I could just keep running away like this. After all, what else could I do? Revenge? Revenge on whom? A Celestial Dragon or a Vice Admiral of the Navy? I'm not even a swordsman, how could I have such ability!"

He grinned.

"But fate won't let me give in!"

"Five years ago, during the shipwreck, I nearly drowned in the sea while rescuing people, but I managed to survive. Not only that, I even found a devil fruit from the wreckage of a merchant ship!"

"You all pretty much know what happened next."

Sakurabaju finally turned his body over, and the wood stumps on his chest where the sword had pierced it surged and were repaired in an instant.

His expression gradually became indifferent.

"Fate saved me twice and sent me the power of the devil again. This is clearly encouraging me to embark on the path of revenge."

"So, I destroyed everything that belonged to Sakuraba Tree with my own hands."

"The gym, my family, my old friends...these only make me reluctant to give up. I continue to curl up on this small island, licking my wounds like a pitiful creature, afraid to take the first step towards revenge!"

"As for the lives lost at my hands in the past few years?"

Sakurabaju scoffed and shook his head slightly.

"Don't worry, their deaths weren't in vain; they were worthwhile. In the past five years, these puppets have earned me over a billion berries, allowing me to finally save enough money to pursue my revenge."

"Shameless! You... you... don't you have any remorse or guilt at all?"

Junyi's face turned pale, and his fingers were shaking as he pointed at Sakuraba Itsuki. "You're crazy! Completely crazy! It turns out you've been a lunatic for five years!"

"Those two Celestial Dragons deserve to die! I wish I could chop off their heads to avenge Mother! But you have to do it this way?! Would Mother be willing to see you do this? For revenge, you've killed so many innocent people. When you die, will your soul still have the face to see her?"

"Speak with some respect, Junyi."

Yingtingshu's voice suddenly turned cold. "Five years ago, I was going to kill you, but in the end, I softened my heart and let you drift on the sea to fend for yourself. It was like saving your life."

"But you absolutely shouldn't have returned to this island just when I was about to leave, and you brought someone with you..."

"Little brat who likes to get in the way!"

The moment the words fell.

Hundreds of puppet threads suddenly flew out from his crown, dancing wildly in the light and growing, transforming into countless dark yellow vines as thick as arms. Sakuraba Tree's voice rang out again, as mechanical and cold as a puppet, not human at all:
"It can happen once or twice, but not three times. Chunyi, since you don't value the chance to live that I gave you..."

"--Then why not, just become my puppets along with this little brat!"

Chi Chi!

With the sound of breaking through the air, dark yellow vines rushed over and in a flash, surrounded Xia Nuo and Chun Yi below from all angles.

Xia Nuo looked at these thick lines that were twisting wildly like a group of snakes.

"Do you still have the energy to fight?" He suddenly tilted his head and asked, "If you don't want to fight him, I understand."

"……me……"

Junyi stared at the figure on the stage in silence, then suddenly wiped away his tears and said through gritted teeth:

"I don't want to escape, Boss! My father, Sakuraba Itsuki, just as he said, has been dead for a long time. The one on the stage now is just an evil spirit in his body."

"He wants revenge? Well, he'll have to wait. Let me avenge my father first!"

Xia Nuo glanced at Junyi with some surprise.

"Take it."

He directly took out the "authentic" knife and threw it over. "This ability is indeed a bit difficult to deal with. I will deal with the main body, and you will be responsible for helping me cut off those branches."

Chun took it instinctively and stood back to back with Xia Nuo.

Swish! Before he could adjust to the feel, several puppet strings attacked from the side.

He immediately held his sword in front of him to block the first wave of attacks, then suddenly slashed from the side, cutting the thick lines in half in an instant.

What a fast sword... Jun'ichi was shocked. The sharpness of Koshiro's Wado Ichimonji was only this fast.

Xia Nuo had already raised his head and squinted at the source of the puppet string.

"Who allowed you to stay up there and act like a ghost?"

He suddenly stretched out his hands, firmly grasped the nearest vines, and his gnarled biceps suddenly bulged into hills. Strength poured in violently, and he pulled hard!
"Get down here!"

Crackling, crackling, that was the sound of cracks appearing on the edge of the ring due to friction, and the body of the Sakuraba tree, like a dead branch, was instantly pulled off the ground and flew up.

What an amazing power... Sakurabaji narrowed his eyes.

Although I had witnessed the puppet's vulnerability when I pretended to be dead just now, the feeling was completely different when it happened to me.

However, I am not an inflexible puppet.

With the help of his mind, the soles of his feet suddenly creaked open like two small wooden doors.

Countless fine puppet strings shot out from it, penetrated through the gym's floor tiles, and penetrated deep into the ground, firmly fixing Sakuraba Tree's body in the air.

No matter how strong the pulling force from below was, it could not move him at all.

What's next? Hmm? Ying Tingshu's expression suddenly changed. A shadow in his pupils was rapidly growing larger. In his peripheral vision, the ground where Xia Nuo had stood was already empty!

What...when?
Without time to think, Sakuraba Shu hurriedly urged his body to completely turn into a puppet.

For those who are controlled by him, it is equivalent to completely destroying their independent consciousness.

But for him, a person with this ability, converting his entire body into hardwood and then layering it on the surface of his skin would be the best defensive armor.

Boom!
Xia Nuo grabbed the steel frame hanging from the ceiling, kicked the load-bearing column at the back, and used this last leverage to suddenly move closer by several meters.

Finally, at the moment when Sakuraba Tree completed its puppet transformation, he appeared in the air to his left.

"caught you!"

He smiled grimly and punched Sakuraba Shu's left shoulder hard, sending a shock wave that exploded in a circular pattern.

The puppet-like hard body suddenly collapsed, revealing the empty chest cavity inside.

The flying wooden thorns brushed against the surface of Shanuo's muscles, but they were unable to penetrate at all. They were bounced off and fell to the ground.

How could this be... Sakuraba Ju's pupils suddenly shrank.

He didn't know how many times he had tried to use the sword on his torso before. With his swordsmanship, he could only cut through the first layer of hardwood outer shell at best, and could not hurt the inside at all.

But it was actually pierced through by just one punch from this kid?

shit!
Even though he had overestimated it as much as possible, this guy's strength was still much stronger than he expected!
A long-lost feeling of panic came over me.

Before he could react, Xia Nuo took the opportunity to step firmly on him.

The boy's handsome face was right in front of him, but when he grinned, he looked as terrifying as a devil in Sakurabaji's eyes.

"Maybe you don't know, but the feel of your hands is really very similar to the orange trees in my hometown."

Xia Nuo's mouth was almost stretched to his ears. "Unfortunately, when I'm not busy with farming back home, my favorite thing to do is to plough the orange trees."

Boom!
Before he finished speaking, Xia Nuo directly rode on Yingting Shu and bombarded the opponent's chest with a series of fast, heavy and violent punches like a thunderstorm.

He used to perform hundreds, even thousands, of breathing boxing techniques against those tree trunks or wooden stakes every day. In a year and a half, the total was hundreds of thousands of sets.

Sweat is never wasted.

At this point, with the target's material texture almost identical, everything became familiar.

Boom, boom, boom! Punch after punch, amidst the continuous muffled sound, Sakuraba Tree's aura weakened at a speed that was almost visible to the naked eye.

Consciousness is gradually fading.

No, this can't happen... I can't fall here!
Sakuraba Itsuki's career is clearly over!
I should use a new identity and a new name to complete the revenge plan I have been planning for a long time!

His right hand struggled and trembled slightly as he tried to control the puppet strings that had initially been released from his head to fight back, but there was no feedback at all.

What's going on? !
Sakurabaji tried to look down, and in the blurry corner of his eyes, he could vaguely see——

On the ground below, Junyi was still slashing and slashing at the thick vines with a sword in his hand.

While his body was restrained, he chopped for who knows how long, but by this moment, he had almost chopped all the puppet strings into pieces.

"The last punch!"

The moment the feeling of despair came over him, Xia Nuo's low growl rang in his ears.

boom!
The surface of the hardwood body had already shattered into pieces, and this blow completely severed all the puppet strings.

The body, having lost its support, fell directly to the ground from a height of seven or eight meters, creating a huge dent.

Xia Nuo stepped on the other person's knees and walked down with a creaking sound, then looked back at the center of the spider-web-like crack.

——But Sakuraba Itsuki opened his eyes as wide as he could, staring at the ceiling with unwillingness, but his skinny body did not move, and there was no sound.

(End of this chapter)