Trader In The World Of Pirates!!!

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With a growing sense of unease, Belphegor stepped into the center of the ring.

According to his original plan...

He should have approached Hayato, exchanged a few words, and discreetly attached the invisible thread he had prepared to Hayato's body.

But now...

Frightened by the overwhelming power displayed by Lambo and his Pokémon, Belphegor no longer had the courage to get close to Hayato, let alone make such a bold move.

As soon as Cervello gave the signal, the two Guardians of the Storm drew their weapons without hesitation.

One side gripped several explosives, while the other held throwing knives.

There was no need for words.

Seeing that Hayato didn't seem to plan on using any Pokémon like Lambo had, Belphegor felt a rush of joy.

His throwing knives flew out in a flash, slicing through the air like bolts of lightning, aimed straight for Hayato's face.

However...

Had this been two months ago, Hayato might have flinched at Belphegor's attack.

But after surviving hellish training, all he could think at this moment was:

"So slow."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

With a simple side step, Hayato easily dodged the knives. They barely grazed him, not even touching the hem of his clothes, before embedding themselves in the ground behind him.

"Is that all you've got?"

Hayato, eager to prove his skills in front of Tsuna, frowned in disappointment at Belphegor's weak attack.

After all, if the enemy was too weak, even a victory wouldn't feel satisfying.

Belphegor, seeing the look of disdain on Hayato's face, felt a surge of anger.

Sure, he knew the other side had some tricks up their sleeves, but this level of condescension was too much!

Known as the "Ripper Prince," Belphegor quickly retrieved even more throwing knives—this time, twice as many as before.

"Don't underestimate me you bastard!"

With a fierce wave of his arm, the knives scattered in all directions, flying toward Hayato from every conceivable angle, surrounding him on all sides.

"Oh? Now that's interesting!" Hayato's expression finally grew serious.

As the knives closed in, he casually tossed one of his bombs. But rather than aiming at the incoming knives, he threw it behind him—toward the knives that Belphegor had launched earlier.

Hayato smirked confidently, knowing he was in control. He grinned and remarked:

"Not bad. A clever tactic."

"First, you pretended to test me with a few simple throws. It looked like you weren't trying to cause harm, but in reality, you were setting up for something bigger..."

Boom, boom, boom!

Several bombs exploded in succession.

The resulting shockwave blasted away the knives that had been lying in wait behind Hayato.

At the same time, the knives flying toward him suddenly lost their momentum, dropping to the ground as if they were drunk.

Hayato smiled confidently and continued, "You used the knives to hide an invisible thread, and then relied on that thread as a guide to make your knives hit with precision."

"For anyone else, that might've been a real problem."

"But..."

He shook his head, picking up the thread from the ground and showing it to Belphegor with a grin.

"This trick of yours? It's just a cheap knock-off of something Master Usopp would do!"

"Master Usopp?" Belphegor's face twisted in confusion and embarrassment.

How had Hayato seen through his plan so easily?

And who was this Usopp that Hayato was referring to!?

Despite Belphegor's confusion, Hayato had no intention of elaborating. He waved his arm, and several bombs, each marked with special symbols, appeared in his hand.

Pursing his lips, Hayato smiled smugly.

"Now, let me show you the true power of a long-range fighter!"

"Ultimate Technique: Exploding Star!"

No one knew how many times Hayato had watched Usopp's battle videos during his 40 days of intense training. Seeing Pokémon at levels 40 and 50—capable of leveling mountains—fall under Usopp's ingenious strategies...

Hayato had felt an unexpected sense of admiration.

Maybe it was because both he and Usopp were long-range fighters, or maybe it was because they both relied on their intellect to win battles. Either way, Hayato had developed a deep respect for Usopp's fighting style.

To him, Usopp was the undisputed king of long-range combat.

And in Hayato's mind, he wasn't just powerful—Usopp was practically a god from another world!

"Pretentious!"

"After all that buildup, it's just a simple explosive attack?"

As the bomb slowly flew toward him, Belphegor's tense nerves relaxed. He smirked in disdain.

He had been bracing for a terrifying move like the ones the last two guardians had used, expecting Hayato to try to finish him off in one hit.

But in the end, was this really just a regular bomb attack?

Varia's intelligence network had long since gathered detailed information on Hayato's attack methods, so when Belphegor saw the bombs floating in mid-air, he didn't panic at all.

He calmly took out a few more of his delicate, razor-sharp throwing knives.

His plan? To cut down Hayato's explosives with precision and nullify the attack before it even reached him.

However...

Just as these thoughts flashed through Belphegor's mind and he was about to throw his knives...

Hayato smirked, lifted his palm, revealing the Vongola ring, and pointed toward the bomb floating in the sky.

He suddenly shouted:

"God Usopp, grant me your power!!!"

"Explode! Let this explosion tear apart all the enemies of Jūdaime!!!"

His dramatic tone caused Hayato's companion to cringe in embarrassment, nervously digging their toes into the ground behind him.

But the moment Hayato's words fell, something incredible happened.

The bombs in the sky seemed to be struck by magic—thin black lines suddenly appeared, dividing each large bomb into several smaller bombs, which quickly spread out.

In an instant, the sky was filled with these small explosives, outnumbering even Belphegor's earlier flurry of throwing knives!

Each of these tiny bombs had a small metal device attached to its tail. A bright flame shot out from these devices, igniting all at once.

In the blink of an eye!

The small bombs, like soldiers obeying orders, locked onto Belphegor and sped toward him!

"Are you kidding me!?" Belphegor exclaimed.

As the small explosives drew closer, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and the hand gripping his throwing knives began to tremble.

He could probably handle a few bombs with his knives, but there was no way to evade them all.

Unless...

Unless the power of these bombs wasn't as bad as they looked.

Yes, the power!

A thought flashed in Belphegor's mind.

The bombs weren't very large, roughly the size of the small firecrackers used during the New Year celebrations.

So...

Bombs of this size couldn't possibly generate a huge explosive impact.

As long as he protected his vital areas, these bombs wouldn't do much damage!

Belphegor's mind raced through countless thoughts.

The corners of his lips curled upward, as if he had just unraveled some crucial information. He sneered.

"Heh... You almost had me."

"But if you think this little trick can defeat me, you're severely underestimating the strength of Varia!!"

A fierce expression flashed across his once-composed face.

The next second, Belphegor flung all the knives in his hand.

The sharp blades sliced through several small bombs, disrupting their momentum and stopping them in their tracks.

Then, he took a step back and pulled his royal cloak over his vital areas. Made with bulletproof material from Varia's cutting-edge technology, the cloak would easily withstand a few small explosions.

However...

Just as Belphegor felt triumphant, convinced he had figured out Hayato's strategy...

He heard Hayato's sneering voice echo across the arena.

"Hmph~ Do you really think..."

"My bombs are just New Year's firecrackers?"

"If that's what you think..."

"Then you're underestimating the power of the great God Usopp!"

"What!?" Belphegor's expression tightened beneath the safety of his cloak. A sudden wave of dread washed over him.

And in the next instant...

Nearly a hundred bombs simultaneously surrounded Belphegor, as if programmed to explode all at once!

BOOM!!!

The deafening blast was as loud as ten massive trucks crashing at full speed, rattling the nerves of everyone in the arena.

No one could have predicted...

The power of these small bombs was far greater than any of the larger explosives they had seen before!

Even Tsuna and the others hadn't expected Hayato to unleash such a devastating explosion.

A mushroom cloud formed where Belphegor had stood, a thick plume of smoke enveloping the area, concealing his figure from sight.

Despite the chaos he had just caused, Hayato, the instigator of this overwhelming explosion, looked unsatisfied.

"Sigh..."

"It's still not as powerful as God Usopp's Firebird Star."

"I really don't get how the great God Usopp can shape flames into ammunition, shoot them out, and make it look so cool."

Even after reading countless papers on the world's top ammunition technologies, Hayato still couldn't replicate Usopp's bomb-making methods.

The Firebird Star was no bigger than a marble, yet it packed an unfathomable amount of power.

It was a mystery that baffled Hayato.

For now, he could only increase the number of his bombs to improve his offensive strength.

But in Hayato's heart, he carried a dream...

A dream to create ammunition as compact and powerful as Usopp's Firebird Star.

One day, he envisioned summoning a hundred phoenixes of fire with a single wave of his hand, their wings ablaze as they annihilated his enemies!

Not only would it be devastating, but it would also be a spectacle to behold!

And when the battle was over, he could set them off as fireworks for Tsuna.

Hayato hadn't forgotten...

Tsuna had once personally told him that he wanted to see a grand fireworks display.

That was why Hayato had become so obsessed with mastering the Firebird Star.

What's more...

The Firebird Star was considered obsolete by Usopp.

Hayato was confident that, with his intelligence, he would one day unlock the secret to this powerful technique!

  ...

  ...

A gentle breeze swept through, dispersing the dust and smoke that had risen.

Amidst the lingering mist, a large crater had formed in what was once the pristine arena.

The two Cervello, deep in thought, approached the edge of the crater and peered down.

What they saw was shocking...

The Guardian of Varia's Storm, Belphegor, was nearly stripped bare and lay in tatters, blown apart by the explosion.

If not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, indicating he was still breathing...

Cervello might have suggested burying him right then and there in the pit.

Unsurprisingly, Hayato had emerged victorious in the battle and claimed half of Belphegor's ring, completing the Vongola Ring.

...

...

"Jūdaime, look! I did it!!!"

The triumphant Hayato rushed over to Tsuna, eager to show off, brandishing the fully assembled Vongola Ring in his hand. His expression screamed, "Praise me!"

And Tsuna, without missing a beat, praised him wholeheartedly:

"Yeah! You did great, Hayato-kun!"

"But you really surprised me back there!"

"I didn't realize how strong you've become, Hayato-kun!!!"

Tsuna laughed, his tone full of sincere admiration.

Beaming with pride after receiving the praise, Hayato, still riding the high of victory, decided to impress further.

Patting the device strapped to his waist, he boasted with a confident grin:

"That was nothing!"

"It's just a shame the opponent was so weak this time."

"Otherwise, I could've shown you the full potential of the 3D Maneuver Gear I invented!!!"

"3D Maneuver Gear!?"

Tsuna's curiosity was immediately piqued as his eyes darted toward Hayato's waist.

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen this device during their previous training sessions. 

In fact, Hayato must have created it after the training camp ended, sometime in the last month or so.

And that was exactly the case!

During the training camp, after witnessing the raw physical strength of Takeshi, Ryohei, and even Hibari, Hayato had been consumed with self-doubt.

No matter how hard he pushed himself, the gap between them only seemed to widen.

Eventually, under the guidance of Reborn, Hayato came to a realization—physical strength wasn't his forte.

So, he pivoted. He joined the research team instead.

After nearly two months of effort, Hayato finally developed what he proudly named the "3D Maneuver Gear."

Although it shared a name with the iconic gear from another world, its functionality was quite different.

Hayato's version could absorb the energy generated from explosions and convert it into immense kinetic power.

This allowed him to fly or move with incredible speed, dramatically improving his agility.

For a long-range fighter like him, this mobility was invaluable, giving him the speed to chase down opponents or evade attacks.

Unfortunately...

Belphegor hadn't survived the first round of explosions.

All Hayato had really done was add some guidance systems to target more accurately...

Or perhaps boost the explosive power to create that miniature mushroom cloud...

Yet, Belphegor couldn't even handle that and had the audacity to claim he was an elite of Varia's assassination squad?

Hayato had made up his mind...

Once Tsuna took over as the Tenth Vongola, his first act of loyalty would be to disband Varia's "leisure division" and form a truly elite assassination force!

After all...

As long as you wipe out everything in front of you, that counts as a successful assassination, right?