Marineford, Training Ground
The afterglow of the setting sun fell on the vast training ground. The golden light shone through the thick clouds onto the ground, diagonally stretching every sword mark. Zoro was covered in sweat, kneeling in the center of the martial arts stone ground, his two swords stuck upright in the ground beside him, his wolf-like presence not yet dissipated. His shoulders rose and fall with his breathing, and the sweat dripping from his forehead glistened on the stone slabs.
Suddenly, he sensed a familiar yet powerful presence quietly approaching. Zoro suddenly looked up, his green hair glowing slightly in the setting sun. "Big Brother Roy!"
Before he could finish, Zoro had already rushed forward and grabbed Roy, who had just stepped into the training ground, his eyes burning with a fiery, almost crazed fighting spirit. "I've already passed Instructor Kizaru's trial! Where's the third sword you promised me?!"
Roy was taken aback by his sudden excitement and smiled helplessly, patting Zoro's head. "You kid... you've got a real temper. Don't be so impatient. The sword isn't going to grow legs and run away." He looked up at the setting sun that was slowly falling in the distance, his gaze gradually sharpening, his tone sinking.
"The third sword is at one of the ends of the Grand Line—the Florian Triangle."
Zoro was taken aback for a moment, then frowned. "Isn't that the strange sea area that's shrouded in mist all year round, where ships constantly disappear?"
"That's right," Roy nodded. "The legendary ghost ships, the zombies without shadows... those are all real." His tone changed, becoming low. "One of the Shichibukai, Gecko Moria, has made that place his own hunting ground."
"And his most prized 'trophy' is a 'corpse' he stole from Wano Country."
Zoro's eyes were shaken, and his hand on his sword quietly tightened. "Whose...?"
Roy looked at him directly, his gaze as sharp as a blade. "Shimotsuki Ryuma—the dragon-slaying samurai, a legendary swordsman from Wano Country."
Hearing this, Zoro's pupils constricted. "Shimotsuki...?!" *(The same surname as Kuina?!)
"Everything about him has been resurrected as a zombie by Moria with the 'Shadow-Shadow Fruit,' but—" he paused, a corner of his lip curling up. "—his weapon is still in his hands."
"What weapon?" Zoro asked instinctively.
"Shusui," Roy said the name slowly, as if announcing a fated authority. "One of the 21 Great Grade Swords, a 'black blade' that can even cut a dragon." A sharp glint appeared in Roy's eyes. "If you want that sword, you have to defeat Ryuma's 'sword soul'—this is your trial."
Zoro gritted his teeth, his entire body as if ignited by fighting spirit, his eyes bursting with a scorching light. "Let's go! Let's go now! I will not come back until I have that sword."
"Wait a minute~" Roy suddenly said, reaching out to stop Zoro, who was about to take a step. His tone was laced with a hint of teasing and deep meaning. "You think I'm just going to let you go alone?"
Zoro was taken aback for a moment, his brow furrowing. "Is someone else coming?"
Roy pointed to the side of the training ground. In the shade of a tree in the slanting sun, a blond figure was lying lazily in a folding chair, a faint lightning flashing around him, like a slumbering thunder god. "Him," Roy said. "Enel will go with you."
Zoro was taken aback for a moment. After seeing who it was, he flared up. "What? This guy?!"
Enel glanced over, lazily took the blade of grass from his mouth, and snorted coldly, as if he had already known the outcome. "Hmph, moss-head. Don't come crying in the thunderclouds."
"What did you say?!" A vein popped on Zoro's forehead, and his hand was already on the hilt of his sword. "Say that again and I'll cut you down."
"Come on, little weed-head. It's been a while since my lightning had a good warm-up."
The air instantly became filled with the smell of gunpowder. Lightning danced on Enel's fingertips, and Zoro's two swords also began to hum.
"Hey, hey, hey," Roy helplessly raised his hand and patted the two's shoulders. "If you want to fight, you can fight all you want in the Florian Triangle. Don't tear down the house at Headquarters."
Enel rolled his eyes. "I don't want to take on a mission to escort a little brat as a babysitter~"
Before he could finish, Roy slowly squeezed his fist, the cracking of his knuckles clearly audible. Enel instantly shut his mouth, coughed lightly, and his tone changed from harsh to round. "But then again, since it's a mission arranged by Vice Admiral Roy, then it's fine to go out and let off some lightning."
Just then, Roy suddenly changed his tone and said in a low voice that only Enel's Mantra could hear, "By the way, help me investigate something. I hear that Moria has been frequently capturing civilians in that sea area recently, using the Shadow-Shadow Fruit to extract their shadows. If that's true..."
Hearing the deep meaning in Roy's words, Enel's gaze sharpened slightly. He slowly grinned, his smile no longer lazy but sinister, dangerous, and full of killing intent. Lightning gathered silently in his palm, gradually exploding into arcs of electricity. "So that's how it is. This time, it's a 'divine judgment'."
Seeing his sinister smile, the hair on Zoro's body stood on end, and he quietly took half a step back. "This guy... is he really not a villain?"
Roy patted Zoro's shoulder, his expression unusually solemn. "This time, it's your trial as a 'master swordsman'." His gaze was burning. "If you lose, you won't even have the qualification to pick up that sword."
Zoro grinned, his beast-like fangs reflecting the light in the setting sun. "I will get the third sword to prove who the real master swordsman is."
Roy watched the two's backs gradually recede, lightning and sword intent crisscrossing. The sun was setting, and the clouds were moving. The shadow of the Florian Triangle was quietly opening its giant mouth in the distance.
At the same time, Marineford, Gion's Kendo Dojo
Sword lights crisscrossed, and the air churned. In the center of the dojo, two figures were clashing back and forth like a storm, the sparks from their clashing blades like a shower of stars, even more brilliant in the slanting sun.
Kuina gripped Wado Ichimonji with both hands, the hair on her forehead soaked with sweat and plastered to her pale forehead. Her figure was slightly swaying from the intense exercise, but she did not take half a step back. Each slash was as if she were pouring her entire will into the blade, calm, resolute, and unyielding.
Opposite her, Gion held her famous sword, Konpira, her expression no longer relaxed, a new hint of scrutiny and admiration in her eyes—the Kuina of today was no longer the little girl she could easily suppress.
"Hah!" Kuina suddenly stomped forward, her sword light drawing a silver moon, heading straight for Gion's throat.
"You've got guts," Gion said with a faint smile, her Konpira slashing horizontally, lightly deflecting the force, then she countered with an upward slash like a venomous snake striking. "A good resolve, but your speed is still a little lacking," Gion said.
Kuina forcefully retreated, but a corner of her clothes was still cut off, and her shoulder trembled slightly. Her breathing was already chaotic, her stamina being consumed as if by a raging fire, but her eyes were still as cold as a blade, without a trace of retreat.
Gion's gaze sharpened, and she charged forward, Konpira aiming straight for her throat. "CLANG!" Kuina forcefully blocked, but her arm went numb, a sharp pain in the web of her hand, and the blade of her sword was sent flying a few inches. The next second, the tip of Gion's sword was steadily stopped an inch from her throat.
"You've improved a lot," Gion said, slowly sheathing her sword, a rare admiration in her eyes.
Kuina was panting, beads of sweat like rain on her forehead. She stubbornly straightened up. "I... can still continue."
Just as Gion was about to speak, a familiar voice came from the door. "Kuina, let's stop for now."
The two turned around and saw Roy leaning against the doorframe, standing against the light, a familiar smile on his face.
"Mr. Roy," Kuina quickly sheathed her sword and bowed.
Gion nodded slightly. "Roy, you came just in time. Her swordsmanship is already close to mine."
Roy approached the two, his gaze calm as he looked at Kuina. "Your swordsmanship is indeed impeccable, but your stamina... is still your bottleneck."
Kuina's fingertips trembled slightly, and she lowered her head slightly, a hint of unwillingness and struggle in her eyes. "Stamina... it's still stamina..." she murmured to herself, her voice almost bitter. "I've been practicing and training with all my might, increasing my training intensity every day... but the limits of my body are just there."
She suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with a suppressed anger. "Just because I'm a 'woman,' am I destined to never be able to catch up to them?"
A brief silence. Roy seemed to have seen through her thoughts. He took out a golden box from his coat, without a trace of teasing, placed it in front of her, and slowly opened it. "So, I've brought you the 'answer'."
In the box, a strangely shaped Devil Fruit lay quietly—its purple-black skin was covered in spiral patterns like blood vessels, like a slowly beating heart. The very air seemed to have dropped in temperature.
"Zoan-type Bat-Bat Fruit, Mythical Model: Vampire."
Gion recognized it at a glance, her expression instantly becoming grave. "A Devil Fruit?! And a Mythical Zoan at that?!?!"
Roy nodded, his tone calm yet undeniable. "Eat it, and you will gain physical fitness and regenerative abilities that surpass human limits."
"At night, your strength will be doubled; and in every battle, you will be able to restore your peak state and continue to fight by absorbing the enemy's blood."
Kuina was stunned, her eyes fixed on the fruit, her breathing rapid. It was the "answer" she had been longing for, an opportunity to break through her stamina limit, to compete with male swordsmen on an equal footing, and even to surpass them. But... her fingers paused at the edge of the box, and she did not move.
"But..." she said in a low voice, her voice trembling, "if I eat this, can I still be considered... a pure swordsman?"
"All my life, I have pursued victory through sword skills, through perseverance, through training."
"If I win with the power of a Devil Fruit, then... is that still me?"
Her voice grew lower and lower, and her gaze became more and more lost. "If I take this bite, I might become stronger... but I will also lose the conviction I once held..."
"...Is it worth it?"
Roy did not rush her but just quietly watched her. That fruit, which symbolized desire and a price, lay between her and "power." The air seemed to be solidifying, and Kuina's hand, trembling slightly, was still on the line she had not yet crossed.
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