Chapter 221: The Battle with Smoker

"Alright, we've arrived."

Uchiha Feiyu brought Tashigi to the main gate of the Marine base. The few Marines on guard duty looked at the strange scene before them with confused expressions; if they hadn't seen that Tashigi wasn't resisting, these guards might have already moved against Uchiha Feiyu.

"We're already here? Thank you very much, Mr. Uchiha Feiyu."

Tashigi looked up and squinted, vaguely making out the silhouette of the Marine Headquarters, and a smile appeared on her face:

"Wait for me to go inside, change my clothes and glasses, and then I'll come back out to talk to you!"

"Alright then, do you need me to take you inside?"

"No need. Inside the Marine base, I've long since gotten used to finding my way home without my glasses!"

Uchiha Feiyu fell silent for a moment, but in the end, he still didn't ask Tashigi what exactly had caused her to get used to such a thing.

He just had a feeling that if he asked about it, this poor girl would burst into tears right then and there...

Wearing Uchiha Feiyu's jacket and clutching her slashed trousers tightly with one hand, Tashigi hurried into the Marine base.

Uchiha Feiyu waited at the gate for a while, and just as he was feeling bored, Tashigi ran into a bit of trouble on her end.

Standing on the top floor of the Marine base, Smoker looked down at the rushing Tashigi and frowned slightly.

As Smoker's subordinate and Adjutant, Tashigi was clumsy and often caused him trouble, which frequently made Smoker furious and led to him reprimanding her more than once.

But with Smoker's cold exterior and warm heart, he was clearly very concerned about Tashigi's safety, and her current state of dress made Smoker suspicious.

With a thought, Smoker transformed into a cloud of smoke, charged straight out of the window, and landed in front of Tashigi.

Tashigi, who was squinting and trying hard to distinguish her direction, was suddenly startled when a large mass of white landed in front of her, and she hurriedly retreated:

"Who is it! Where did this monster come from?"

"Tashigi, you idiot! Can't you even recognize your own superior anymore... Fine, I shouldn't have had any faith in your eyesight."

Halfway through speaking, seeing the broken glasses on Tashigi's face, Smoker couldn't help but cover his head:

"How many times have you broken your glasses this month? And... what's going on with you? Why are your clothes all torn up like this?"

As he spoke, Smoker's expression turned serious. Tashigi was certainly a clumsy girl, but in terms of both her looks and her physical development, she was considered a beauty. Her current disheveled state made Smoker worry, suspecting that someone might have bullied her.

"Uh..."

Tashigi hesitated for a moment, then spoke up:

"There's a reason for the state of my clothes! They were just slashed by a blade..."

Slashed by a blade? Smoker narrowed his eyes. So someone really had bullied his Adjutant! This could not be ignored.

"Who did this? Looking at you, you didn't get the short end of the stick, did you?"

The short end of the stick? Thinking of her trousers and panties falling down, and then ending up flat on her back, Tashigi's face turned as red as a chili pepper. In extreme shyness, she shouted:

"Colonel Smoker!! What are you asking about?!! Mr. Uchiha Feiyu is not that kind of person!! Although this is indeed the result of Mr. Feiyu's Ghost Cutter Demon Blade, but..."

Uchiha Feiyu? Smoker raised an eyebrow slightly. Wasn't that the Bounty Hunter who had just come to exchange his bounty?

Tsk, he remembered there was also a beautiful woman with orange hair by his side! He was indeed a lecher, but to bully someone under the Marines' nose, he certainly had guts!

"Where is that Uchiha Feiyu right now?"

Smoker interrupted Tashigi directly. Tashigi was stunned for a moment, but sensing Smoker's serious tone, she obediently gave up the information on Uchiha Feiyu:

"He's at the gate of our Marine base!"

Good! He had even come to block the front gate; he clearly didn't take him seriously at all! A flash of anger crossed Smoker's eyes, and he said coldly:

"Wait here. I want to see just what kind of person dares to bully my subordinate!"

Watching Smoker disappear as he turned into smoke, Tashigi blinked her eyes, suddenly realizing:

"Colonel Smoker! Wait a minute! There must be some misunderstanding here!"

As she spoke, Tashigi prepared to run over, but as soon as she moved vigorously, she felt a cool breeze blowing from below. She pulled up her trousers and gritted her teeth:

"Forget it, I'd better go change my clothes first!"

Meanwhile, Uchiha Feiyu was still waiting at the gate. He didn't have any particular thoughts about Tashigi; he was simply bored and killing time.

A moment later, he saw a cloud of smoke surge out from the Marine gate, transforming into the figure of the smoke-man Smoker. This Smoke-Smoke Fruit user took a fierce drag of his cigar and then blew a cloud of smoke directly at Uchiha Feiyu.

Uchiha Feiyu's expression changed immediately, and he said coldly:

"That kind of behavior is very impolite, Colonel Smoker!"

"Hmph, compared to the even more impolite things you did to my subordinate, I think my actions are quite reasonable!"

"You bastard, you actually took advantage of a sparring match with Tashigi to take liberties with my subordinate. Have you decided how you're going to apologize yet?"

What on earth? Uchiha Feiyu looked confused, having no idea what Smoker was talking about.

In reality, this was all in Smoker's imagination. He had already noticed that Tashigi's clothes had been cut by a sharp blade, so he concluded that the other party must have teased his Adjutant and used his blade to cut her clothes to harass her.

As for anything further, Smoker didn't really suspect it. His Adjutant was indeed clumsy and sometimes didn't seem very bright, but she was just a bit dim, not mentally disabled. If something like that had really happened, she wouldn't be reacting this way.

"Tsk, whatever."

Uchiha Feiyu had wanted to explain, but after glancing at Smoker, he quickly gave up the idea—not because it couldn't be explained, but mainly because Smoker couldn't beat him.

Since the other party couldn't beat him, and he was the one in the right, what did he have to fear?

He could beat Smoker up, take the moral high ground, and lecture him; even if Smoker was angry, he would just have to swallow it.

With such a good opportunity, how could Uchiha Feiyu, who was already bored, possibly waste it?

"Since you've come to ask for a beating so sincerely, I'll be merciful and grant your wish! Pick a spot and let's have a one-on-one!"

Smoker took a fierce drag of his cigar, glared at Uchiha Feiyu, and said coldly:

"You certainly have a sharp tongue... Let's go, let's have our fight in the forest behind the base!"

In Smoker's eyes, although what Uchiha Feiyu did was annoying, it didn't reach the level of being illegal, nor was it particularly heinous—it could only be said that due to the chaos of the world, the legal threshold in the One Piece World was very low; there was no such thing as a crime of molestation.

Therefore, Smoker only intended to give Uchiha Feiyu a sound thrashing. Anyway, because of the laws of the One Piece World, beating someone up didn't seem to be much of a crime, just like how eating and dashing wouldn't get you on a wanted poster.

The two of them ignored the two guards at the gate who were peeking and trying to find out more information, and went straight around the Marine base toward the forest behind it.

A moment later, the Marine base gate opened, and Tashigi ran out, panting:

"Huff... huff... you two, have you seen Mr. Uchiha Feiyu and Colonel Smoker?"

The two Marines guarding the gate looked at each other and spoke up:

"Those two ran off to the forest in the back to have a duel!"

"Damn it, I already told Colonel Smoker that this was a misunderstanding, yet he's still being so persistent! No, I have to go stop them!"

Catching her breath, Tashigi ran directly toward the forest behind the Marine base. Seeing this, the two Marines behind her immediately put their heads together:

"Hey, hey, what is this situation? Colonel Smoker, Master Sergeant Tashigi, and this Uchiha Feiyu—what on earth are they doing?"

"Can't you tell? Two men and one beautiful woman—it must be a duel for love!"

Unaware that his reputation was being ruined, Smoker had already arrived at the forest behind the base. There was a clearing here without any trees, and the ground was pitted and uneven, looking like the result of many battles.

In fact, this was the place Smoker usually used for training. At this moment, he shook his arm slightly and looked at Uchiha Feiyu opposite him:

"Kid, do you need me to give you some time to pray now?"

Uchiha Feiyu gave Smoker a speechless look and said indifferently:

"We haven't even started fighting yet, and you're already preparing to pop the champagne? It's very dangerous to get slapped in the face later!"

As he spoke, Uchiha Feiyu drew the Sandai Kitetsu. Pitch-black Armament Haki slowly coiled around it, causing Smoker, who had been acting all high and mighty, to see his expression slowly sink.

Armament Haki? A Bounty Hunter from the East Blue who hasn't even been to the Grand Line has actually awakened Haki? Is there some mistake?!

Unaccountably, Smoker felt that he had truly been a bit overconfident.

When a Logia faces an opponent without Haki, it is an invincible ability, but when facing a powerhouse who has awakened Haki, the invincible attribute is greatly discounted and can only be counted as a fairly useful ability.

And Smoker's Smoke-Smoke Fruit ranks at the very bottom among all Logia Devil Fruits; when facing a Haki powerhouse, the effect is likely even worse than an ordinary Devil Fruit.

Without the Devil Fruit elementalization ability as a foundation, although Smoker's physical techniques are decent, it would be bragging to say he could fight everyone in the East Blue without an equal. In pure physical techniques, he might not even be able to beat Monkey D. Luffy or Zoro!

But it was too late to regret it now. Smoker was also a man who cared about his face; how could he retreat just like that? He took a deep breath, smoke swirling all over his body, and then immediately drew the Ten Hand weapon from his back, transformed his whole body into a mass of smoke, and charged forward violently.

Under the cover of the smoke, the Ten Hand weapon appeared and disappeared, and after changing its orientation several times, it slammed into Uchiha Feiyu's abdomen.

Then, the next second, the weapon was grabbed by one of Uchiha Feiyu's hands, and he was instantly unable to advance or retreat.

Uchiha Feiyu held the Sandai Kitetsu in one hand and grabbed the Ten Hand with the other, shaking his head helplessly:

"Is this your limit? Isn't this a bit too weak!"

"If we don't count Devil Fruit Ability, you, this guy, can probably only be considered mediocre among the Colonels of the Haijun Benbu. I don't know where you get the confidence to be such a troublemaker!"

"You guy—don't look down on people! White Blow!"

Smoker roared, his other arm transformed into a mass of exploding smoke, and his fist, leading the way like a cannonball, slammed fiercely toward Uchiha Feiyu's head.

Boom—Smoker smashed a fist onto Uchiha Feiyu's head, and then his expression changed slightly. He felt a sharp pain coming from his knuckles, and he could even faintly hear a small cracking sound.

Uchiha Feiyu's head tilted slightly, pitch-black Armament Haki wrapped around it, and his high-speed flowing blood, combined with his tough skin, pushed his defensive power to a perverted level.

And although Smoker had also undergone a certain amount of physical tempering, he had clearly put more energy into his Devil Fruit.

His physical fitness was inferior to the current Uchiha Feiyu, his defensive power could not compare to Uchiha Feiyu's reinforced skin, and he didn't know Haki or Iron Body—in this situation, Smoker threw a punch, but the one who ended up injured was himself.

Veins appeared on Smoker's forehead. He retracted his fist without changing his expression, but the look on his face and the sweat on his head betrayed the nervousness in his heart.

His own attacks were completely ineffective against his opponent, while the other side seemed to be able to deal true damage with every slash. What should he do now? Asking for a solution, it's quite urgent!

Uchiha Feiyu sheathed the Sandai Kitetsu he had drawn. He was truly afraid that Smoker would be cut in two with a single slash; using his fists, at least he could control it.

Watching Uchiha Feiyu sheath his blade, Smoker immediately understood Uchiha Feiyu's intention, and his face turned dark:

"What do you mean by that! Are you looking down on me?! I am..."

A black fist wrapped in Armament Haki swung out violently, smashing into the smoke with a boom, cutting off Smoker's words.

Precise Observation Haki keenly found Smoker's abdomen as it turned into smoke. With just one punch, Smoker felt his mind go blank. His mouth, which had been speaking, suddenly spat out blood mixed with saliva, his eyes rolled back, and he almost fainted on the spot.

"That's right, I really didn't take you seriously. What, you're not convinced?"

Uchiha Feiyu pulled his fist out of Smoker's abdomen, which had already materialized. Smoker spat out another mouthful of blood, his whole body swaying, and he barely managed to stand up by leaning on the Ten Hand in his hand.

(End of this chapter)