After that, Yang Ning shifted his focus from swordsmanship to Haki—specifically requesting to train under Koushirou.
Koushirou was surprised, but not enough to refuse.
*After all,* he reasoned, *they'd paid a fortune. He couldn't let them walk away empty-handed.*
He explained upfront that he only knew Observation Haki and Armament Haki—and wasn't particularly skilled in either.
Yang Ning didn't mind. Just having access to Haki training at all was more than he'd hoped for.
So began his new routine: learning Haki under Koushirou by day, and sailing out to hunt nearby pirate crews by night—boosting his combat stats and clearing the waters in the process. He also made frequent trips to neighboring villages, where he shamelessly freeloaded food and drinks, living quite comfortably.
During one such raid, he and his crew stumbled upon an unexpected prize.
After wiping out a group of pirates, they found a longsword aboard their ship—clearly no ordinary blade.
Yang Ning and Old Johnny, both rough-around-the-edges types, stared at it for a long moment before finally agreeing on a single, profound assessment:
"It's a good knife."
*Wait—why not ask Sealy and Willie?*
Yang Ning glanced toward the deck, where the Sylvester brothers were happily sharing barbecue like nothing had happened. His eyelid twitched.
*…Never mind. Not worth the emotional investment.*
Back in Shimotsuki Village, as usual, Yang Ning handed over another generous portion of treasure to Koushirou—and presented the sword for inspection.
Koushirou drew the blade with reverence, as if handling a sacred relic. He studied the patterns along its edge in silence for so long that Yang Ning began to grow anxious.
Just then, an elderly man stormed out from the inner room.
"Give that here! Do you even *know* what you're looking at? You disgrace to the Shimotsuki name!"
Before Koushirou could protest, the old man snatched the sword, weighed it in his palm, and ran a practiced eye along its length.
"The Twenty-One Great Grade Swords… the famed *Kotetsu*!"
He clicked his tongue in disbelief. "Unthinkable—that such a blade would end up in the hands of some East Blue gutter pirate!"
"Hey! Who you calling a 'gutter pirate,' old man?" Yang Ning snapped, offended.
The elder merely shot him a withering glance.
"Did this sword *grow* out of the sea? Didn't you just loot it from some two-bit pirate?"
"…Huh."
Yang Ning scratched his head. His anger fizzled out.
*…Actually, yeah. That's exactly what happened.*
After another thorough examination, the old man sheathed the sword and tossed it back.
"It's a fine blade. A shame it's stuck with *you*."
With that, he turned and walked away without another word.
Koushirou quickly stepped in with an apologetic smile.
"Please forgive him—that's my father. He was once a master swordsmith. Any noteworthy blade makes him… excitable."
He lowered his voice slightly. "He's getting older. His temper's become a bit… eccentric. I hope you'll bear with him."
Now that the dojo master himself had apologized so humbly, Yang Ning couldn't stay upset. Besides, he'd already guessed the old man's identity: **Shimotsuki Kozaburo**—the legendary forger of *Ame no Habakiri* and *Enma*.
*So the old bastard really is hiding out here in Shimotsuki Village…*
What Yang Ning *didn't* notice was that Old Johnny, who'd been leaning quietly by the doorway, had straightened up the moment Kozaburo appeared—his usual slouch gone, if only for a second.
---
Later, back outside, Yang Ning couldn't stop fiddling with *Kotetsu*, grinning like a child with a new toy.
The sword was about 1.5 meters long—1.2 meters of blade, nearly 30 centimeters of hilt.
Its brass guard was round and solid, the pommel matching, and the bright yellow wooden grip wrapped in dark orange cloth strips, spaced with neat oval gaps.
The blade itself was sleek and minimalist—no ornamentation, just a clean, sharp edge that gleamed under the sun.
Visually, it wasn't as striking as *Shusui* or even *Gokudo Fireline*—but the moment you held it, its weight and razor-sharp presence screamed *quality*.
After admiring it for a while, Yang Ning wandered over to where Esdeath was training.
She'd moved past brute-force sword drills and now sat cross-legged on a boulder, eyes closed in deep meditation.
"Hey, Esdeath!" he called. "I've got a good sword—want it?"
Without opening her eyes, she reached out, caught *Kotetsu* mid-air, and tossed it right back.
"I have my own sword. This one isn't suited for me."
Yang Ning glanced at the massive greatsword lying across her lap and sighed.
"You ungrateful brute! This is *Kotetsu*—one of the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords!"
"So what?" she replied, indifferent.
Yang Ning groaned, tucked the blade into his waist, and slumped down beneath the boulder.
"Ugh… we've been here too long. I'm getting bored. How much longer do you need?"
Esdeath opened her silver eyes, thoughtful.
"Three more months. My understanding of kendo is still too shallow. I need that time to solidify my foundation."
"…Fine," Yang Ning grumbled, pushing himself up.
He knew better than to rush her—she was one of his strongest assets. Three months was nothing.
Besides, he wasn't idle. In the meantime, he'd nearly eradicated every pirate crew within a hundred-mile radius.
---
**Meanwhile, at the 18th Naval Division Base…**
Inside a clean, sunlit office, a comically muscular man was wedged into a chair far too small for his frame.
Before him stood a stern naval lieutenant commander, epaulets marking his rank.
The officer slammed a thick stack of files onto the desk with a weary sigh.
"My lord… pirates have practically vanished from our jurisdiction."
The burly commander blinked. "Isn't that a *good* thing?"
"No," the officer said flatly. "Not when they've been wiped out by an even *more* dangerous pirate crew."
He pulled a wanted poster from the stack and slapped it onto the desk.
"The *Windbreaker Pirates*. Captain: 'Death God' Yang Ning. Bounty: **8 million Berries**."
The commander's eyes lit up as he stared at the poster—where Yang Ning's face had been crudely drawn to resemble a string of candied hawthorns.
"This guy looks *brutal*!"
"He is," the officer confirmed, adjusting his non-existent glasses. "Every crew he targets is annihilated—*no survivors*. In just six months, he's destroyed over ten pirate groups.
"Thankfully, he's never attacked civilians. Otherwise, his bounty would be *much* higher."
The commander suddenly shot to his feet, fists clenched.
"Then we must hunt him down immediately! I *will not* tolerate such brutality!"
The lieutenant commander took two silent steps backward, eyeing his superior's muscle-packed head with resignation.
"My recommendation? Let him be—for now. Let him clean up the small-time pirates for us. They're like mosquitoes: weak, but endless. And they *love* preying on civilians."
"…Huh. That actually makes sense." The commander squeezed back into his chair, muttering, "You're pretty smart for a navy guy."
---
**Back in Shimotsuki Village…**
Yang Ning received the latest newspaper—and his very first bounty poster—delivered by a News Coo.
He unrolled it… and his face turned beet red.
"**Only 8 million Berries?!**"
He remembered clearly: Luffy had debuted with **30 million**.
And *he*—after six months of relentless pirate-hunting, growing so strong even *he* feared himself—was lumped in with petty bandits like **Sig, the Bandit King**?
The Navy had practically seated him at the *same table* as third-rate thugs!
"This is… *infuriating*!" he roared, crumpling the poster into a ball and hurling it into the distance.
"Are they *mocking* me?!"
Koushirou and Old Johnny exchanged glances—then shared a quiet, helpless smile.
They couldn't understand why Yang Ning was so upset over something so trivial.
But Yang Ning?
He was already plotting his next move.
*Eight million won't cut it. Not for the man who's rewriting fate itself.*