"Target confirmed. The boy looks like the drawing from the intelligence report."
Kalifa adjusted her glasses by pressing against the bridge of her nose. After giving Tanaka a quick glance, she retracted her gaze to avoid drawing his attention.
The same went for Who's-Who, Jabra, and Blueno.
However, while they too looked away, their eyes slightly lowered as they saw Tanaka appear and begin walking toward Rosinante.
Beneath their military uniforms, their muscles tensed up. They concealed their sharp aura to avoid alerting the target while remaining poised to strike.
"Tanaka, over here."
The moment Rosinante saw Tanaka, he didn't wait in place. Instead, he took the initiative to walk forward and greet him.
"Long time no see, Rosinante."
Seeing the excitement and joy on Rosinante's face, along with the favorability score hovering close to 90 above his head, Tanaka couldn't help but smile.
Speaking of which…
Rosinante and Law were the first people he had met and built the best relationships with in both the Naruto and One Piece worlds.
Even compared to his teacher, their favorability scores were only slightly behind.
It wasn't until later, when he overthrew the Hyūga main house and seized power, that Natsu and Hizashi's favorability score completely pulled ahead—eventually reaching the threshold needed for the Void Walker's Gate.
Breaking past 90 points.
After a long separation, seeing Rosinante again made Tanaka genuinely happy. He had even brought him gifts, which added to his delight.
"A month of travel is quite a while. But it's fine. I'm now a Rear Admiral, and I have my own warship, so I can come see you anytime."
Rosinante deliberately tugged at his Justice coat in front of Tanaka. Since he got promoted, he had to flaunt it in front of him.
"You do look quite like a proper Rear Admiral in that coat."
"By the way… Where's he?"
Tanaka gave him some face by offering a compliment before asking about Law.
"Ever since you mentioned Haki, he's been obsessed with it. So after I returned to headquarters and resumed my duties, I sent him to the Marine Academy."
After updating him on Law's whereabouts, Rosinante suddenly narrowed his eyes, scanning Tanaka from head to toe. He even gestured with his hand:
"Wait a second… What's going on here? I remember when we first met, you were just a bit taller than my knee. Now you're almost at my waistline."
He scrutinized him for a while before realizing that Tanaka had grown significantly taller since their last encounter.
Height-wise…
Though Tanaka hadn't quite reached 1.7 meters yet, he was already around 1.65 meters.
A considerable growth spurt.
"Somehow, when you say it, even though I've gotten taller, I don't feel happy at all."
Tanaka smiled helplessly.
Rosinante's words might have sounded harsh, but in reality, he was already being quite tactful.
The reason he phrased it that way was simple—Rosinante himself stood at a towering 2.93 meters.
"Don't worry, I'll make you happy right now."
Rosinante grinned, reached into the pocket of his Justice coat, and pulled out a brown paper envelope.
"Look! Guess what this is?"
He waved the file folder in front of Tanaka.
"Haki training methods?"
Tanaka's eyes immediately lit up when he saw the brown paper envelope in Rosinante's hand, snapping him out of his frustration over being teased about his height.
"That's right. Inside are training methods for Armament Haki and Observation Haki, as well as some Haki techniques."
Rosinante had a proud expression on his face.
"Thanks, Rosie."
Upon hearing this, Tanaka's smile grew so wide that even Mihawk's Yoru wouldn't be able to cut it down.
"No need for thanks. Both Law and I owe you our lives. If it weren't for you personally pulling us out of Doflamingo's Birdcage, we would've been dead at his hands a month ago."
Speaking of this life-saving favor, Rosinante's voice was filled with deep gratitude.
As he spoke, he handed over the brown paper envelope containing the Haki training methods.
Seeing this, Tanaka didn't hesitate and reached out to take the envelope.
"Move!"
Ten meters behind Rosinante, Who's-Who had been watching Tanaka with a concealed but vicious gaze.
The moment he saw the boy's attention fully locked onto the envelope, his slightly lowered eyelids suddenly lifted. His expression remained unchanged, yet the aura he gave off was entirely different.
If he had been like a resting lion before, now he was a lion baring its fangs, ready to strike.
Even before Who's-Who could give the order, the other CP9 members needed no verbal communication. With just a single exchanged glance, they pounced like predators, flashing out from the surrounding Marine personnel.
For the three agents, who had mastered the Rokushiki, a distance of thirty meters was nothing. They could close that gap in a single step.
Their speed was so fast that even an arrow released from a bow couldn't compare. The only fitting analogy was that of a bullet fired from a chamber.
Whoosh!
By the time Rosinante heard a strange sound, three figures had already brushed past him.
In the blink of an eye, Who's-Who, Jabra, and Blueno all extended their index fingers. Just as Tanaka was about to take the brown envelope from Rosinante's hands, three fingers, sharp as bullets, shot toward him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three sounds echoed like bullets sinking into flesh.
Tanaka's right chest, abdomen, and right leg were penetrated by their attacks.
"Haki, huh? Try learning it in your next life."
Who's-Who's cold, merciless eyes locked onto Tanaka's face, which had twisted into shock and horror due to the sudden assassination.
"You… you all…"
Faced with this sudden betrayal, watching his savior being ambushed by the very Marine soldiers he had brought, Rosinante's eyes widened in disbelief.
He couldn't understand why the subordinates he had brought with him had suddenly turned on Tanaka.
However, it took him less than a second to recognize the martial arts techniques they had used—and in that instant, he realized their true identities.