05 - The Doctor Will See You Now

"Don't get too cocky, kid."

"This Devil Fruit is specifically wanted by the World Government. Now that you've eaten it, you've made an enemy of them."

"Apart from the Marine, the Donquixote Pirates are also surrounding this island."

"Do you understand?"

"You can't escape!"

"Now that you've eaten the fruit, there's only one path left for you—death."

Five remaining pirates struggled to get up from the ground.

Each of them had a fierce look on their face, but none dared to step forward. Instead, they kept spouting threats from a distance.

Some tried to use the Marine to intimidate Tanaka, while others brought up the Donquixote Pirates.

Looking at these outwardly fierce but inwardly cowardly pirates, Tanaka simply smiled. He neither rushed to attack nor turned to leave. Instead, he formed a hand seal.

A puff of white smoke rose beside him, and an identical clone appeared.

It wasn't a shadow clone, but one created by the Clone Technique.

"Two of them?"

"Damn it! What the hell is going on?"

"He was already tough enough as one, and now there's another? How are we supposed to fight him?"

As pirates, they had no way of distinguishing between a simple Clone Technique and the more advanced Shadow Clone Technique.

All they knew was that a single Tanaka had already slaughtered most of them, and now there were two.

This only deepened their fear, making them even more hesitant to attack.

Seeing this, Tanaka casually walked over to the mahogany chair where Barrels had been sitting moments ago and sat down as if he owned the place.

This action alone made the surrounding pirates instinctively take a step back.

"Oh, right."

Sitting in the chair, he looked completely at ease, but his Byakugan remained active, covering an area of several hundred meters. Nothing escaped his sight—whether in the sky, on the ground, or even underground.

During the previous fight, he had nearly exhausted all his ninja tools.

Shuriken, explosive tags—almost all used up.

His chakra wasn't entirely drained, but at most, he could still perform one more Sixty-Four Palms or Revolving Heaven.

But for now, the threat had been neutralized.

The remaining pirates were too intimidated to act, so he saw no need to attack just yet.

Because in just a few moments, in addition to the abilities of his Byakugan, Gentle Fist, and acupuncture point strikes, he would gain a brand-new power.

The Op-Op Fruit.

"Compared to the World Government, the Marine, and the Donquixote Pirates, there's something I'd like to ask you all."

"I'm waiting for the power of the Op-Op Fruit to awaken… what exactly are you waiting for?"

Less than two minutes after eating the fruit, he could already feel changes within his body. He couldn't help but smile.

"Damn it!"

"No wonder this brat hasn't attacked yet."

"He's scheming!"

Hearing Tanaka's words, the pirates—who had been too afraid to make a move—suddenly had a realization. Their expressions changed drastically, but one of them mustered up the courage to speak.

"Guys, don't panic!"

"He is just bluffing! Think about it—he just ate the Devil Fruit. Even if his ability is strong, how skilled could he possibly be at using it?"

His words steadied the nerves of the other pirates.

Even if they were just nobodies from the North Blue, their captain had once been a Marine officer.

Even if he was just a branch officer, his knowledge was far greater than that of an ordinary pirate.

At the very least, they weren't completely ignorant about Devil Fruits. They knew that someone who had just consumed one wouldn't be able to wield its full power immediately.

In fact, with some Devil Fruits, especially those that required creative thinking, the user might not even know how to activate their abilities.

And they weren't wrong.

When Luffy first ate the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika, all he could do was stretch like rubber. He couldn't even control his limbs properly.

"ROOM."

But at that moment, Tanaka's smile deepened.

He softly uttered the word while raising his right hand.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind erupted from his palm, spreading outward in a swirling vortex.

At the center of the vortex, a semi-transparent, spherical space expanded in all directions, enveloping the remaining pirates.

Of course, this "semi-transparent" effect only existed in his vision.

To anyone other than the Op-Op Fruit user, this special space—known as the Operating Room—was completely invisible.

Even the Byakugan, one of the Three Great dōjutsu, couldn't perceive ROOM.

Because of this, the pirates had no idea that they had already stepped into the unique domain of the Op-Op Fruit, like patients lying helplessly on an operating table.

"He really doesn't know how to use his Devil Fruit ability."

Seeing Tanaka raise his hand and whisper something without any visible effect on the surroundings, the pirates felt a surge of excitement.

They quickly reached for the firearms scattered on the ground—the weapons left behind by their comrades who had been killed by explosive tags earlier.

Under the Byakugan's piercing gaze, every movement of the pirates was slowed down in Tanaka's perception.

He did not rise to stop them, nor did he step back. Instead, he reached for a dining knife on the table and swung it through the air.

Shlkk—

The blade didn't touch a single pirate. In fact, the closest one was still eight meters away.

Yet the moment Tanaka made his slashing motion, every pirate within the spherical space felt a slight pain in their arms—then, in an instant, their arms were severed at the shoulder.

The weapons they had just picked up clattered to the ground, now detached from their bodies.

"What just happened?!"

"That was just a dining knife!"

"And he wasn't even close to us?!"

The unexpected turn of events left the pirates frozen in shock.

They were not just stunned and furious—they were terrified.

At this moment, even the slowest among them realized that Tanaka, who had only just consumed the Op-Op Fruit, was far from clueless about its abilities.

In fact, he might already understand it perfectly.

Otherwise, there was no way he could wield it so skillfully right after eating it—just like how Sabo, upon eating the Flame-Flame Fruit, had immediately unleashed Fire Fist, Ace's signature attack.

"Surprised?"

Tanaka calmly observed their expressions. As he spoke, he swung the dining knife once more.

This time, with an upward slash.

In the next instant, every pirate lost their remaining arm.

"Run!"

With both arms severed, the pirates no longer cared about the Op-Op Fruit being taken.

Their only thought was to escape.

They turned and sprinted toward the exit.

Shlkk—

But just as their right foot lifted off the ground—Tanaka swung the knife once more.

And this time, they lost their legs.

Had this been a normal situation, losing both arms and legs would have meant immediate death due to blood loss or shock.

Yet, despite their severed limbs, the pirates felt only a slight pain.

There was no bleeding, no signs of physical weakness.

Aside from the fact that they were now crawling on the ground, they remained very much alive.

Seems like within ten meters, I can cut freely.

Even without using the slicing ability, simply maintaining ROOM feels like running—it constantly drains stamina, just like keeping the Byakugan active.

If I do use the slicing ability, the energy drain increases. The more targets I cut, the wider the cutting range, and the stronger the target, the faster my stamina depletes.

After this small test, he had gained a clear understanding of the Op-Op Fruit's power.

At that moment, he felt fortunate that he had been reborn into the Hyūga clan, which specialized in taijutsu and possessed the Byakugan—and not the Uchiha clan next door.

After all, the Op-Op Fruit was infamous for its high stamina consumption.

Without a strong body, it was impossible to use it to its full potential.