"...Well, I suppose it was worth a try," Ryu replied simply as he watched the swordsman begin to dismiss himself already. But then he couldn't help but allow a small smile to appear on his face as well. "And if we do become enemies, I suppose it's a good thing I found out what you're capable of now rather than later." However, when the man asked him about the reason he had gotten involved, that forced him to raise an inquisitive brow. How did he know about that? The reason he had jumped into the battle in the first place was to prevent that gun from even being brought into the fight. It was drawn in the back and discreetly at that. And only for a brief moment before he interrupted. But he kept that information to himself for now. No need to let Mitsuki in on his suspicions if they might end up as enemies in the future.

Next came a warning from the man about the Marines. "...I'll try to keep that in mind," he replied simply. But now that he knew what was probably going on on this island he wasn't sure he could just sail away in good conscience. He didn't need to be told that the Marines weren't all that they were cracked up to be. No, he had seen first hand what those with power would do in the Marines to get what they wanted. He knew all too well. And he didn't want anything like that to ever happen to anybody else if he could help it. "Well, maybe I'll see you around," he murmured, continuing on his way toward the inside of the island.

Unfortunately for Ryu, his small hope of finishing his business on this island prior to meeting this abuse of power was destined to be shattered. It was less than an hour later when he suddenly came across a rather unfortunate scene. Upon witnessing a small crowd starting to gather around in the village square, his curiosity got the better of him. He approached the crowd and looked through them, eventually spotting exactly what was going on in there. An older man was on the ground while a man clearly in a Marine outfit was looking down at him. The Marine wielded an interesting sword, different in design from what the Marines usually brought with them with a blade longer than usual.

"This is a nifty sword you made, old man," the Marine replied, pointing the blade down at the older man. "The Marines heartily accept your donation to our cause." 

"S-sir, I would be more than happy to give you a sword, b-but please, not that one. I-I'm holding that one for-" 

"I don't care who it's being held for. You couldn't make your quota for us this year, so you don't exactly have a choice in the matter, do you?" the tall Marine inquired.

"B-but please, I-I'll make you another-!" 

"Heh. As if we have time to just sit around and wait around for weeks on end. We're too busy chasing away wannabe pirates to protect your little village. I think this sword makes for a perfect symbol of gratitude, don't you?" 

Meanwhile, the crowd around them was murmuring restlessly, clearly wanting to intervene somehow. But not one of them seemed to want to get in trouble with the Marines. There seemed to be no telling what would happen to them or their families!

"Of course," the Marine added. "If you've still got protests...I'd love to test the blade's usefulness out." He then pushed the blade closer to the old man. A moment later, however, the sword, and the man wielding it, would suddenly find themselves well away from the old man. Ryu had pushed his way through the crowd, jumped into he air and spun himself around to gain momentum. With that momentum, he had utilized his partial transformation ability to turn his foot into a dragon claw and slammed a kick as powerfully as he could into the Marine's chest, sending him flying and causing the crowd on the opposite side to disperse in order to avoid the Marine projectile. 

The Marine grunted as he was slammed into a nearby wall, dropping to one knee, with the sword getting stabbed slightly into the ground to keep himself upright. He turned his gaze upright and glared at the man who had just interfered and wiped the blood off of the corner of his mouth. He rose back to his feet, not taking his gaze off of the now normal-looking man. "Boy...you just made the greatest mistake of your life." he muttered.

"You'll let this man go and leave the sword if you know what's good for you," Ryu demanded, deciding to try to bluff his way through this.

"Heh...a kid like you, trying to intimidate me? That makes for a pretty good laugh. Why would I be scared of you?" 

"Tch..." Ryu muttered. His bluff had been called. And now, he supposed he didn't have much of a choice. He didn't want to keep a fight going, so he needed to scare this guy into backing down. Besides, would somebody this low in rank be privy to the information about his dragon fruit? He had his doubts. He raised an arm and then triggered his partial transformation again, turning his arm into a dragon claw, earning him exclamations of shock from the crowd behind him, including the old man. Even the Marine stared at him in shock, eyes wide. "Because I can tear you to shreds if I wanted to." he said simply.

After a few moments of stunned silence, all heads turned to look at the Marine officer, who was simply staring at the claw. But then, a slight smirk crept onto his face. "...I see," he murmured. He then reached into the pocket of the coat he was wearing and pulled out...a miniature Snail Phone? He raised it to his face and suddenly spoke into it. "...Seems like the Red Dragon has turned up. You might want to come to the square and see it for yourself, sir." 

Ryu gave the man a look of confusion. He hadn't properly heard what the man had said into the phone, so he didn't realize what had just happened.

"Well," the Marine added, raising his sword and flourishing it with flicks of his wrist. "You want to play with a Marine Commander, eh son?" he asked. "Then let's see you try to 'rip me to shreds' as you so eloquently put it."