LIGHTNOVELONLINE [19] An Unexpected Encounter?
Chapter 19: An Unexpected Encounter?
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Rain Base was a huge city. Nearly as big as Alubarna itself, Hashirama noted. The main eye-catcher was the pyramid-shaped, golden building in the middlemost part of the city—a casino, that also served as Sir Crocodile’s main base.
Obviously, Crocodile wasn’t here at the moment, so Hashirama was in a chilling mood as he made his way to a nearby Call Booth to contact his sister. It was nearly 10-AM and it had been more than 16 hours since Tsunade departed.
Beside him was Mikita, and she was wearing a long jacket over her sun dress to cover her body and face. Many people knew her in this place, as she was a regular in the casino nearby, and the secret Baroque Work members around these parts were also familiar with her identity, so hiding it like this was a must.
The call booth here was, as Hashirama remembered from his previous life, a rectangular ‘room’ beside the street with a telephone attached inside it. Except, in this world, a Den Den Mushi was replacing the work of the telephone.
Hashirama entered the booth, pulling Mikita in as well—gaining quite a stare from the nearby crowd—as Mikita’s body shivered.
“Eugh, it’s hot as it is, but you made me wear this long coat, and now you are bringing this sweaty me in such a tight place. I feel gross.” Mikita complained.
“Keep quiet,” Hashirama poked her in the ribs with his elbow, making her grunt softly. Ignoring her, he started to dial a number on the Den Den Mushi, instead.
“Can’t I just stare outside? I mea— wait, what’s this? This is not Miss All Sunday’s number, though? Who are you calling- ak!”
“I said keep quiet.” Hashirama looked at her dryly after elbowing her again. “I am calling my beloved sister; I will call Sunday after this.”
Mikita held back from clicking her tongue and stood silently, while Hashirama finished dialing the number and called.
The call rang once, twice, and then thrice as he braced for what was to come. Tsunade must be so mad for not receiving a call from him earlier than this. So much so that she hadn’t yet called him herself—clone Hashirama had checked so in his personal Den Den Mushi back in Alubarna.
After a few more seconds of ringing, Hashirama’s heart skipped a beat when the call was picked up and the caller Snail’s facial expression changed to that of Tsunade.
– Mhm? Hello, who is this?
Tsunade’s voice, crisp and clear, came out of the snail’s lips; that made Hashirama smile involuntarily.
“Sis, it’s me, Hashirama.”
– Ah- Shira?! What’s up, why are you calling from an unknown number? No wait, first of all—sorry, I couldn’t call last night. A situation that was both… surprising and interesting happened last night.
“Ah,” Hashirama blinked, recognizing that he wasn’t in trouble. “Ha… ha ha, it’s fine, I don’t mind. I was busy myself with something, so I didn’t get to call too-
– Wait, you didn’t call me yourself? Wait, right, now that I recall it, you never called me. What the fuck?! Hey kid, did you just forget your sister after just half a day? What’s so important that you had to pause on calling me, huh? Hey, why aren’t you talking?!
“….”
Hashirama was stunned. Didn’t she do the exact same thing? How… Did that make sense?
From the side, Mikita softly patted Hashirama’s shoulders.
* * *
Later on, when Tsunade calmed down—refusing that she did the same thing that she was accusing him of—she cleared her throat and explained what she meant when she said something ‘surprising but interesting’ came up.
– So the ship I was on clattered with another ship while traveling—but it wasn’t a coincidence, it was a pirate attack! There was no other fighter beside me on the ship, so it was a lucky attack for the pirates—but as said, I was there. I beat them up and left them with bruises, and now I am leading them with me to hand them over to the pirates.
– But here is the interesting part—I found an Uzumaki on the pirate ship!
“Wait, what? How?”
– Yeah, that’s right. I did say that there may not be anyone else other than us two around, but I was wrong. Her name’s Marianne, and she has Chakra. Very little, barely countable. But I saw it in use. She draws stuff with chakra that can change people’s emotional states. She was fighting from the pirate’s side and was preparing an attack for me, but once she sensed my Chakra she stopped. Apparently, she recognized me—she says her father told stories about me when she was young.
Hashirama listened to her with a frown, as he tried to recall that name.
‘Marianne… Marianne… Ah, that’s right, wasn’t she a part of Baroque Works in the anime?’ Hashirama recalled the short redhead. ‘But then again, I recall she was very young, that explains why she hasn’t joined the organization yet.’
Hashirama also recalled referencing her [Color’s Trap] power when he first thought of Fuin-Jutsu. So, it turns out that Marianne’s powers also worked on Chakra?
“…Sister, what do you plan to do to her?”
– Save her, duh.
Hashirama wasn’t surprised at her answer.
– I know her father, from the name and description she gave, he and I were cousins… Marianne says that both her parents died, though, so it’s not as if we would ever meet. But at the very least, I am an aunt to her, I can’t let her go to jail!
So her parents were dead? That must be why she used the name Uzumaki, rather than Senju, since the latter was the name of an infamous Pirate Crew. As an orphan, it wouldn’t be smart to associate herself with such a name. She made a smart choice.
– Luckily she doesn’t have a bounty on her name yet, I can just say that this pirate crew had kidnapped her and forced her to work for them. Given she is just 13 years old, it’d be easy to convince the Marines. I am going to join the Marines with her, I decided.
Hashirama chewed on his lips as he contemplated. A minute later, he shrugged. He didn’t see a problem with this, since the girl indeed wasn’t a full-fledged criminal yet, she could be turned. Also, it was his sister’s decision, not his, on who she should save and who she shouldn’t.
“Alright. Be careful in the marines, by the way, now there are two descendants of Senju Pirates there, they might want to try something.” Hashirama warned. “Other than that, good luck and break a leg. Tell Marianne I said hello, too. Bye.”
– Bye, Shira~ It’s nearly time for me to land too. Don’t forget to call me every night, like last time, or I will get seriously mad! Bye.
Then, the call was cut as Tsunade Senju went to live her own adventure. One that may just well be as interesting as Hashirama’s own.
“Wait a minute,” suddenly, Mikita gulped from his side. Hashirama turned to find her looking at him with a pale expression. “You are… y-you—”
“Huh? What’s up?”
“You are the descendant of the Senju Pirates?” Mikita asked aloud, but thanks to the glass of the booth nobody from outside heard her.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“What do you mean ‘what’s up’?! Your grandfather– he probably is your grandfather, right? Anyway, Tobirama Senju is a legendary Pirate! On par with Gold Roger, Golden Lion Shiki, and the others! How are you so casual about it??”
“Wait, for real?” Hashirama blinked. “I thought he was weak since he got captured by just Sengoku alone, though.”
“Well, yes, they’re not so famous anymore; for whatever reason, people forgot about them. I came across some information on them by chance, so I would know.” Mikita let him know. “I was so stunned when I read those feats, you know?”
Hashirama paused for a moment, somewhat not believing her since the Senju Pirates were almost brought to ruin by Sengoku alone, but then he recalled one important point that Tsunade made back in the day.
…Tobirama Senju fought Sengoku and his fleet while protecting many women and children on the ship. More than a pirate ship, the Senju Pirates was a Clan that lived in ships, after all. It was more than a single ship, too. So, obviously, it wasn’t a fair fight when Sengoku attacked and Tobirama had to fight while at the same time staying careful to keep the other people safe.
Perhaps, unlike what his sister said, the sheer might of Tobirama Senju was what forced Sengoku to let Tsunade and her family flee.
“...Damn, you are right.” Hashirama realized. “I never really looked into them since I don’t care much about the past… But haah, this is interesting.”
“It is interesting.” Mikita didn’t look pale any longer and was rather smirking mischievously. “Hehe. Now I have more faith in you than before, as the descendent of a legend. Come on, come on, let’s go defeat Crocodile~ We will then write our names in the pages of history! Hehe~”
Hashirama stared at her as she got more and more relaxed around him, without any real care for danger. Well, at least this meant she won’t continue trying to kill him every other second—something he was still cautious about even after the talk he had with her earlier.
“Come on, let’s go and wait for Crocodile faster!” Mikita insisted, but Hashirama went back to dialing the Den Den Mushi. “Hey? Who are you calling now?”
“You forgot already why we are here?” Hashirama asked in no surprise. “We need to report to Miss All Sunday that we have reached Rain Base, she will tell us what she learned from Crocodile after we left.”
Hashirama finished dialing the number as the Snail started to ring aloud.
`Pere Pere Pere Pere~
`Pere Pere Pere Pere~
`Pere Pere Pere Pere~
On the third ring, the call was finally picked up.
– Ah, finally, I have been waiting so long for your call!
An exasperated Robin’s voice replied from the other side, and rather than explaining why she was waiting so eagerly, she ordered him quickly.
– Listen, do as I say, go to the casino and… make it go bankrupt. Otherwise, our plans are a bust.
One corner of Hashirama’s lips quirked up weirdly, as he questioned the sanity of this woman.
“Why so suddenly?”
Turns out, she had a very good reason behind such an absurd command.
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