Chapter 108: The Final Decision
The Queen Mama Chanter — Main Deck
"I've been wondering about this ever since the Navy issued his bounty poster."
Pekoms gnashed his teeth, the sound like grinding stones. His tiny eyes—barely visible behind his sunglasses—fixed on the dark figure standing at the Thousand Sunny's prow.
"How can there be a crew where someone's bounty is higher than the captain's, gao?!"
He had seen Straw Hat Luffy on Fishman Island. Had watched the rubber idiot declare war on Big Mom herself over a few tons of candy. At the time, Pekoms had dismissed him as just another reckless rookie with more courage than sense.
But this one—this Uchiha Itachi—hadn't been there.
A six hundred million berry bounty didn't appear out of thin air. Not for a newcomer. Not for someone who had only just entered the New World.
"Does he have some kind of broken Devil Fruit ability?" Pekoms raised his sunglasses, revealing eyes the size of rice grains squinting down at the Sunny. "Or is there something else that makes him a threat?"
"Calm yourself, Pekoms, mon ami."
Baron Tamago crossed his impossibly long legs—limbs that seemed to bend like compass needles—and lifted the teacup from its perch atop his egg-shaped head. He took a delicate sip, his mustache twitching with refined amusement.
"No matter how high his bounty, no matter how dangerous the rumors claim him to be..." Steam curled from the cup's rim. "These are children who have only just dipped their toes into the New World."
He lowered the cup, his eyes glinting.
"Do you truly believe they possess any means to oppose us? To oppose Mother?"
Pekoms' jaw worked silently.
"Anyone with even a shred of sense understands this truth." Baron Tamago's voice was silk over steel. "The Four Emperors are not enemies you challenge. We are forces of nature. One does not fight a hurricane—one survives it by bowing to its passage."
Capone Bege drew on his cigar, the ember flaring bright. Smoke curled from his lips as he smiled—a thin, calculating expression that never reached his eyes.
"Well said. Once we demonstrate the gap in power, they'll hand over Caesar without further... complications."
His gaze drifted to the Thousand Sunny's deck, where the Straw Hats had clustered around their returned crewmate.
"And if they don't..."
The smile sharpened.
"We remind them why the Big Mom Pirates rule these seas."
The Thousand Sunny — Main Deck
Nami's explanation had taken less than two minutes, delivered in the rapid-fire cadence of a navigator accustomed to crisis. Itachi absorbed every word without interruption, his Sharingan still spinning slowly in his eyes.
"So." His voice remained level. "The moment I departed, you received calls from both Usopp and Robin."
Sanji joined Nami in an awkward pantomime of waving hands, their expressions caught between apology and exasperation.
"You left so quickly!" Nami protested. "We didn't have a chance to tell you!"
"It doesn't matter." Itachi's gaze softened fractionally. "They're safe. That's what counts."
He turned to face the Queen Mama Chanter.
The massive vessel dominated the horizon like a confectionery fortress given unholy life. Its figurehead—a grotesque, animated face—was singing. A low, discordant melody that seemed to bypass the ears and resonate directly in the bones. Even now, the face swiveled left and right, observing the world with manic curiosity.
"Sanji." Itachi didn't look away from the enemy ship. "Those two at the railing—they're the same ones who demanded the candy tribute on Fishman Island?"
"No doubt about it." Sanji lit a fresh cigarette, the flame briefly illuminating his sharp features. "Baron Tamago and Pekoms. Big Mom's personal errand boys."
He exhaled a stream of smoke.
"The third one—the gangster with the cigar—I don't recognize him. Probably another officer in her crew."
Brook's skeletal frame trembled as he pointed toward the Chanter's bow. "F-forget the crew! What's wrong with that ship?! It's alive! I can hear its soul singing! And I know souls—I am one!"
The figurehead chose that moment to swivel toward them and wink.
Brook screamed.
Aboard the Chanter, Pekoms raised a loudspeaker to his leonine mouth. His voice boomed across the water, amplified to deafening clarity.
"STRAW HAT IDIOTS! LISTEN CLOSELY!"
The Sunny's crew fell silent.
"OUR PRIMARY PURPOSE TODAY IS NOT REVENGE! OUR OBJECTIVE IS—"
His clawed finger shot downward, pointing unerringly at the cowering figure of Caesar Clown.
"—THAT WRETCHED SCIENTIST YOU'VE BEEN DRAGGING AROUND! CAESAR!"
Nami blinked. Her earlier panic-induced exaggeration about Big Mom seeking revenge suddenly seemed... premature.
They're not here for us?
They just want Caesar?
Caesar himself had collapsed to the deck, his gaseous body flickering with terror.
"Y-you—you're not actually going to hand me over, right?!" His voice cracked into a higher register. "PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU! I'LL DO ANYTHING!"
"Shut your mouth, you piece of garbage scientist." Sanji's foot connected with Caesar's face, stretching his features into a comical distortion. "You're the reason we're in this mess."
Pekoms continued, his tone shifting to something approximating magnanimous:
"HAND OVER CAESAR, AND I GUARANTEE YOUR SAFE DEPARTURE! THE BIG MOM PIRATES WILL OVERLOOK YOUR PREVIOUS TRANSGRESSIONS—THIS TIME!"
The offer hung in the air.
Safe passage. No retribution. Just one prisoner in exchange for their lives.
Nami's expression changed.
The fear that had gripped her moments ago didn't vanish—it was still there, trembling at the edges of her features. But something else surfaced. Something harder. Something that had been forged through two years of studying weather patterns and celestial navigation, through battles that had taught her the value of leverage.
"Absolutely not."
Her voice cut through the chaos with unexpected steel.
Sanji's eyebrow rose. Chopper looked up in surprise. Even Caesar stopped his pathetic whimpering to stare.
"Before Law was captured, he made something very clear." Nami's eyes were fixed on the Den Den Mushi that connected them to Luffy. "No matter what happens, we must maintain control of two assets. Caesar. And Momonosuke."
She didn't fully understand why Doflamingo wanted the boy. But Law had been adamant. Those two cards were non-negotiable.
She lifted the receiver, her grip steady.
"Luffy. Listen carefully."
The Corrida Colosseum — Interior Corridor
Luffy ran.
Behind him, Zoro's sandals slapped against stone. Kin'emon's clogs clattered an uneven rhythm. Bartolomeo—still weeping with joy at being allowed to accompany his "seniors"—brought up the rear, his barrier ability ready to deploy at any moment.
The colosseum's corridors twisted and turned, but Luffy's path was unwavering. Away from the Marines. Away from the Seastone cage. Toward whatever came next.
Nami's voice crackled through the Den Den Mushi in his hand.
"Luffy, in our current standoff with Doflamingo, we hold exactly two bargaining chips."
"Yeah." He ducked under a low archway without breaking stride.
"Caesar. And Momonosuke."
"Right."
"Law sacrificed himself to protect these cards. Used himself as bait so we could keep them. We cannot—cannot—give them up."
"I get it." His voice was calm. Certain. The voice of a captain who had already made up his mind.
"There's one more thing. If we can accomplish it, our position becomes even stronger."
Luffy's eyes sharpened.
"Destroy the SMILE Factory."
On the Thousand Sunny, Itachi's gaze flickered toward Nami. A question formed in his crimson eyes—but Nami raised her hand in a sharp pause gesture.
"Wait, Itachi. I know what you're going to ask. Just listen."
Itachi closed his mouth and nodded.
Nami took a breath.
"Luffy. I want to come back to Dressrosa. More than anything. But right now... it's almost impossible."
She pressed on before he could respond.
"The moment we try to land, we'll be intercepted. Big Mom's ship is right here. If we engage them with Caesar and Momonosuke aboard, we risk losing both our bargaining chips in one battle."
Her grip tightened on the receiver.
"So we—"
"Yeah, Nami."
Luffy's voice was warm. Steady. The voice of someone who had already seen the shape of her plan and accepted it completely.
"I know."
The corridor opened into a wider passage. Zoro cut down two Marine pursuers without breaking stride.
"Sanji already told me. Tra-guy's original plan was for you guys to take Caesar straight to the next island, right?"
"That's—yes. That's right."
"Then go." Luffy's grin was audible through the snail. "All of you. Get out of here. We'll finish things in Dressrosa and meet up with you after."
"Luffy—"
"That's an order from your captain."
The words carried no weight of command. No demand for obedience. Just simple faith. The absolute certainty that his crew would do what needed to be done—and that he would do the same.
"You've got Itachi over there, so it's not like anything too bad can happen. Shishishi!"
The Thousand Sunny
The crew exchanged glances.
Chopper's lip wobbled. Brook's skeletal jaw hung slightly open. Momonosuke—still in his child form, still trembling from everything he'd witnessed—looked up at the adults with wide, uncertain eyes.
Sanji nodded slowly.
Nami exhaled.
"Then it's settled. We sail for the next island."
At that precise moment, the Queen Mama Chanter's cannons spoke.
Three shells screamed through the air, their trajectories arcing toward the Sunny's deck. Pekoms had apparently grown tired of waiting for a response.
Sanji moved.
Itachi moved faster.
The Wood Black Crow had already dissolved—but Itachi's hands blurred through seals, and three massive wooden shurikens materialized from the deck's timbers. They spun through the air with lethal precision, each one intercepting a cannonball mid-flight.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Wood and gunpowder detonated together, showering the sea with splinters and smoke.
Sanji's leg caught the fourth shell—one Itachi hadn't targeted—and redirected it harmlessly into the waves.
"So that's how it is." Sanji landed beside Itachi, his visible eye sharp. "They're not asking anymore."
Itachi's gaze remained fixed on the Chanter. "We've already provoked one Emperor's crew today. It seems we're about to provoke them further."
He turned to Sanji.
"But I'll need one more order from the captain first."
Sanji's lips curved around his cigarette. He lifted the Den Den Mushi.
"Hey, Luffy. I need a captain's order."
"Order?"
"Yeah." Sanji's voice was light, almost casual. "Permission to attack the Big Mom Pirates."
A pause.
Then Luffy's laughter burst through the receiver—bright, wild, and utterly without fear.
"GO FOR IT, SANJI!"
Sanji grinned and flashed a thumbs-up toward Itachi.
The gesture was returned with a slight nod.
"One more thing." Itachi's voice was calm. Measured. The voice of someone stating an immutable fact. "Tell Luffy I won't be going to the next island."
Sanji's hand froze mid-gesture. "Huh?"
"Take care of the ship, Sanji. And Nami."
"What are you—Itachi, what are you saying?!"
"I'll stop this ship here." Itachi's Sharingan spun slowly, tiredly, but with unwavering focus. "Once they're no longer a threat to the Sunny, I'll head to Dressrosa and regroup with Luffy."
"Brother Itachi!" Chopper's voice cracked.
"You're going to... you're going to leave us again?!"
"Itachi—" Nami's hand shot out, grabbing his sleeve. "We can stop this ship together! We can figure something else out! We have to trust Luffy and the others, but we can do this as a crew! You don't have to—"
Itachi smiled.
It was a small expression. Barely a curve of his lips. But it transformed his tired features into something warm. Something gentle. Something that reminded Nami, suddenly and painfully, of the man who had stood beside her on Fishman Island and asked nothing in return.
His finger rose.
Tapped once—lightly, softly—against her forehead.
Just like before.
Nami froze. Her eyes widened. Her grip on his sleeve went slack.
"Itachi..."
"Just like last time." His voice was barely above a whisper. "I won't die."
He stepped back, his hand falling to his side.
Nami's throat tightened. No. No, don't do this. Don't make that face. Don't say those words like they're a promise you might not be able to keep—
But she couldn't speak. The words lodged in her chest, tangled with memories of another departure, another sacrifice, another person who had smiled and told her everything would be fine.
Itachi turned to Sanji and raised an eyebrow—a mirror of the gesture Sanji had given him moments ago.
Your turn.
Sanji's visible eye softened. He understood. They all understood.
"Don't worry." His voice was steady. "The ship's in good hands."
"Itachi—!"
Nami's voice finally broke free, raw and desperate.
Sanji's hand settled gently on her shoulder.
"Nami-swan." His voice was uncharacteristically soft. All trace of his usual lovestruck theatrics had vanished, replaced by something genuine. Something kind.
"We have to trust our nakama."
His grip tightened—just slightly. Just enough to anchor her.
"We have to trust Itachi."
Nami's eyes glistened. Her hands clenched at her sides.
On the Queen Mama Chanter, Pekoms lowered his loudspeaker, confusion evident even on his leonine features.
"What are they doing down there? Having a farewell party?"
Baron Tamago adjusted his spectacles. "Most peculiar, mon ami."
Bege's eyes narrowed. His instincts—honed through years of underworld maneuvering—screamed that something had shifted. The atmosphere on the Sunny's deck had changed. The frantic energy of moments ago had crystallized into something else entirely.
Something dangerous.
"Prepare for incoming," he murmured, reaching for his weapon.
On the Thousand Sunny, Itachi Uchiha turned to face the Queen Mama Chanter alone.
The Wood Black Crow materialized beneath him once more—larger now, its dark flames burning brighter, its wooden frame reinforced with chakra and purpose. The Spirit of the Tree World hummed within his chest, ready to answer his call.
His Mangekyō Sharingan spun.
And somewhere deep in his memory, a voice echoed—the crooked old man of Rilke Callender, speaking of atonement and second chances.
"I entrust everything to you."
Itachi mounted the crow.
The black flames rose higher.
And the Tenth Straw Hat rose to meet an Emperor's wrath.
End of Chapter
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