Another purpose

Pt. 5

"So what will it be Iceburg? Will you tell us where the blueprints are? Or will more people have to die?"

Rob Lucci stood over Iceburg's injured form.

CRASH

"ROBIIIIIIIN!!"

Luffy came crashing through the wall at the same time Zoro slashed through the locked doors. "Luffy?" "Zoro?"

Itachi calmly walked through the massive hole Luffy had created, surveying the scene in front of him, his eyes finally landing on Robin.

She averted her eyes from his. She could put on an act in front of the others, but not him. Looking at him always made her feel vulnerable. Something in his eyes just easily pierced any mask she could put up.

Paulie followed him, his shoulders shaking with rage. "So it's true," he ground out. "You're all just government agents looking for a weapon. Did these past five years mean nothing!? Answer me, Lucci! Kaku! Kalifa!"

"Of course they didn't," Kalifa answered coldly. "We had an objective and we were going to complete it through any means necessary. As you can see, betrayal is one of them."

Paulie yelled out in rage, throwing an attack at the closest person: Rob Lucci.

"Pipe Hitch Knives!"

Lucci seemed to disappear from view, evading the attack, only to reappear right in front of Paulie.

"Finger Gun."

His hand shot towards Paulie's chest, but Itachi was already there, deflecting the attack upwards. He kicked out at Lucci's exposed stomach and sent him flying back.

The other CP9 agents shifted uncomfortably at seeing their strongest member be repelled so easily by Itachi.
"Stay out of this Paulie. You are already quite injured as is. These guys are leagues above you in terms of strength."

Blueno strode forward, "That's right. We have trained our bodies through countless hours in a martial arts that makes our bodies like weapons. With the Six Styles, our strength is equal to that of a hundred men." Itachi was in front of him in an instant, hands wrapped on his head, "Then mine is equal to that of a thousand."

Blueno's eyes widened before Itachi brutally kneed him in the face, the man's Iron Body technique no match for Itachi's strength. The other agents looked on in shock at seeing one of their own being taken down with such ease.

Lucci addressed Itachi, "You're little ruse with those fake plans almost had us, but Kalifa and Blueno here were able to weed the truth out of Iceburg. Those plans were fake. The real ones were given to someone else." Itachi only stared at him. It was worth a shot, but intelligence gathering was their primary objective as a Cipher Pol group. Keeping such information away from them would've needed far more preparation.

Luffy tried to attack Kaku with a Gum-Gum Gatling but he easily dodged all the attacks with another technique called Paper Drawing.

Before Luffy could recover, Lucci went back on the offensive using Shave to close the distance between him and Luffy. Zoro tried to block the man but was easily batted aside.

"Finger Gun."

The attack would've hit Luffy dead in the neck, but once again, Itachi was there to block the attack. Lucci's eyes narrowed before attacking Itachi another four times in quick succession. Itachi easily blocked them all, grabbing Lucci's hand after the last one and flinging him back towards the other CP9 agents. Luffy had taken that time to grab Iceburg while everyone's attention was on Itachi.

Chopper began to administer first-aid while Luffy looked at Robin, "Why are you doing this, Robin?"

She looked at the rest of them coldly, careful to avoid Itachi's piercing gaze, "I'm shrouded in darkness. My history and past are things best left unsaid, but with you guys, I cannot attain my dream. It was fun while it lasted, but this is where we part ways, Straw Hats. I have no more use for you anymore."

Her eyes flicked towards Itachi, seeing if he would refute any of the lies she had just said, but he only kept his mouth shut. Her heart clenched in her chest. She didn't want to leave them, but the lies tumbled from her lips all too easily. She didn't want it to end this way.

"This is all for them. To keep them safe," she chanted in her head. It had replaced the old one. A nice development. It signified one thing above all else. Robin was a Straw Hat, and she would always be one no matter what.

"Enough of these games!" Lucci roared. "This mansion will burn down in fire very soon, and all of you will perish along with it."

As he said that, Kaku destroyed the ceiling above them with a single swift kick, smoke pouring into the room through the holes Luffy and Zoro had made. With Blueno's unconscious body, the rest of CP9 and Robin jumped out. Lucci stayed behind, his body beginning to morph into something else.

Itachi's eyes narrowed as the man fully shifted, "A Devil Fruit, eh? Some sort of cat Zoan-type fruit."

"In this form, my prowess with the Six Styles is greatly increased. You could not hope to fight me as I am now, so why don't you just die?"

Luffy glared at the leopard man, "Itachi, don't get in our way."

He and Zoro dashed at Lucci, intent on fighting him without Itachi's interference. Itachi respected his captain's wishes, stepping back behind them and in front of Chopper, Nami, and Iceburg. It was quite easy to tell that both were far-outclassed by Lucci. Neither Zoro's swords nor Luffy's punches could make as so much of a dent in the man's Iron Body technique. He caught Luffy by the throat, kicking Zoro brutally through the wall behind him and out towards the city.

He brought Luffy to eye-level, "You are far too weak and pathetic to fight me. Begone from my sight."

And he flung Luffy through the hole in the ceiling. Itachi instantly made two shadow clones to follow the two. As good as their luck was, he wouldn't put it past them to somehow get stuck in a chimney or something.

Lucci turned towards Itachi, "You on the other hand. You are incredibly dangerous."

Then in a vicious flurry of Devil Fruit-enhanced kicks, Lucci began to destroy the mansion around them. Itachi jumped back as the ceiling began to cave in, while the floor beneath them shook. He grabbed Chopper and Nami, Paulie grabbing Iceburg and they both jumped out a nearby window. Flames were licking the sides of the mansion, almost reaching Iceburg's room.

"There they are! Some of the Straw Hats! Get them!"

As a large group of shipwrights came barreling down, Paulie jumped in front of them, "Wait! Stop! They're not our enemies! We've been deceived!"

The shipwrights came to a skidding halt at Paulie's words. "The Straw Hats are not the ones who tried to assassinate Iceburg. It was a different group."

His words were met with shocked looks. Paulie began to explain the Straw Hats' innocence in the assassination attempt, but Itachi didn't stay for very long. Once he made sure that Chopper and Nami were fine, he hopped up onto the surrounding rooftops and homed in on the chakra signature of the seal he had left on Robin.

He had a train to catch.