He tried to turn it off. He tried to suppress the Haki that had saved his life so many times.
Don't look for the threat, he told himself. Look for the rhythm.
Hours bled into days. He sat until his legs went numb. He listened to the wind. He listened to the leaves. And slowly, agonizingly, he began to understand what Koushiro meant.
He stopped trying to sense the rock and started trying to feel the vibration of the earth it sat upon.
It wasn't a voice. It was a hum. A static existence.
One evening, as the sun began to set, painting the forest in orange and purple, Argentus opened his eyes. He didn't look at the rock with intensity. He looked at it with acceptance.
He picked up a regular, fragile bamboo sword—not his iron spear.
He stood up, walked to the boulder, and swung. He didn't swing hard. He just matched the "hum" he felt in his head.
Thwack.
The bamboo didn't shatter. It didn't bounce off.
It bit into the stone.
It was only an inch deep—a pathetic scratch compared to what a master could do—but the bamboo sword remained perfectly intact.
"Heh," Argentus breathed, sweat dripping down his nose as he walked away. "I heard you."
Koushiro stood in the fading twilight long after Argentus had gone inside to wash up. The master of the Isshin Dojo stared at the mossy boulder. He reached out a hand, his fingers tracing the shallow but distinct groove etched into the stone.
It wasn't a smash. It wasn't a chip caused by brute force. It was a cut.
Koushiro looked down at the bamboo sword Argentus had left leaning against the rock. He picked it up and inspected the edge. It was smooth. Unblemished.
"Impossible," Koushiro whispered to the empty forest.
It was merely the entrance to the realm—a toe dipped into the vast ocean of the Breath of All Things, but the boy had done it in a month. It was a concept that baffled veteran swordsmen for decades. It was the barrier that separated the skilled from the masters.
"I thought he was a monster," Koushiro murmured, his glasses reflecting the moon as it rose. "But he is far more terrifying. To grasp the silence of the stone so quickly... his soul must be incredibly loud, or incredibly empty."
He sighed, a mix of pride and apprehension settling in his chest. "The world is not ready for what that boy will become."
________________________________________________________
Late that night, the dojo was silent. The only sounds were the rhythmic chirping of crickets and the gentle rustle of bamboo in the wind.
Argentus lay in the guest room on the second floor, his breathing shallow and controlled. His body was exhausted from the mental strain of the day, but his mind remained sharp.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open.
He didn't gasp. He simply lay there, staring at the wooden ceiling, his pupils contracted.
His Observation Haki, which he kept on a low-level "hum" even while sleeping, had just been triggered. It wasn't the sharp, killing intent of an assassin like the one on the last island. It wasn't the clumsy, loud spiritual pressure of Zoro snoring in the dorms.
This presence was massive.
It felt like a sudden drop in air pressure. It felt like the sky itself had lowered to touch the earth. It was wild, turbulent, and ancient.
And it was familiar.
Argentus sat up slowly, the sheets rustling softly. His mind flashed back to Dawn Island. To the Grey Terminal. To the day the massive fire had been mysteriously parted by a sudden blast of wind, allowing people to escape. To the night the Celestial Dragon arrived, and the air had felt heavy with a revolutionary storm.
It's him, Dragon, Argentus realized, a cold thrill running down his spine. The man with the tattoo on his face.
Argentus didn't sneak. He didn't creep. He walked with the heavy, rhythmic confident stride. He reached the sliding door where the presence was strongest—a chaotic, vibrant energy that swirled beneath the heavier, storm-like pressure of the other entity.
Clack.
He shoved the door open.
The room was dimly lit by a single lantern, casting long, strange shadows against the paper walls. But the figure standing at the door required no light to make an impression.
It was a giant. Or at least, a man with the proportions of a giant squeezed into a human's role. He wore a revealing, reddish-purple leotard with a high collar, fishnet stockings, and a cape.
But it was the face that took up all the space in the room—a massive, arrow-shaped jaw, eyes with lashes so long they looked like fan blades, and a towering afro of indigo hair that practically brushed the ceiling.
The figure turned, striking a pose that defied both anatomy and gravity, his hands on his hips.
"HEEE-HAW!"
The shout was whispered, but it carried enough force to rattle the tea cups on the table. The large man leaned down, his face inches from Argentus's, his massive eyelashes batting with a sound like rustling paper.
"Vat is this?" the Okama asked, his voice a flamboyant rollercoaster of pitch. "A little candy-boy wandering the halls past his bedtime? You were expecting perhaps... the tooth fairy?"
He blinked, and a literal shockwave of air pressure—a suppressed Death Wink—blasted Argentus's hair back.
"I am Emporio Ivankov," the man announced, spinning on one heel. "And you, little boy, have interrupted my skincare routine. This is a crime against beauty!"
Argentus stood his ground, his hand hovering near the dagger at his belt.
"You're not him," Argentus said, his voice flat, refusing to be intimidated by the spectacle.
Ivankov froze. The goofy expression vanished for a split second, replaced by the sharp, calculating look of a Revolutionary Commander. Then, the grin returned, wider than before.
"Mmm... clever candy." Ivankov leaned back, looking Argentus up and down. "You have good instincts."
From the center of the room, behind Ivankov's massive afro, a deep, gravelly voice spoke up.
"Let him in, Iva."
Ivankov stepped aside with a dramatic flourish.
Sitting by a table, shrouded in the green cloak, was the man Argentus had originally sensed. Monkey D. Dragon looked up, his tattooed face illuminated by the flickering lantern light.
"You have changed since we last met," Dragon said, his voice low and rumbling like distant thunder. He pulled the hood back slightly, revealing more of his stern, tattooed visage. "To think you were able to sense me, even though I relaxed my vigilance on this island... You have grown massively, boy."
Ivankov stepped in, his massive head tilting to the side with exaggerated curiosity. "Vat is this? You have met this candy-boy before, Dragon? A secret love child? A long-lost fan?"
"I just gave him a ride," Dragon replied calmly.
"All these changes are thanks to you leaving me there," Argentus spoke up, his voice cutting through Dragon's dismissal. He walked further into the room, leaning casually against a wooden pillar.
Dragon finally raised his eyes. "Is that gratitude I hear? Or resentment?"
"Neither. Just a fact," Argentus said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Because shortly after you vanished, I ran into someone else."
Argentus looked Dragon dead in the eye.
"Your old man was incredibly loud and noisy."
The room fell into a heavy, confused silence, broken only by the sound of the wind rattling the window frames.
Ivankov blinked, his massive eyelashes clicking audibly. He looked from Argentus to Dragon, then back to Argentus.
"Old man?" Ivankov repeated, his voice losing its theatrical lilt for a moment of genuine confusion. "Dragon, my dear, who is this 'loud and noisy' old man he speaks of? You didn't tell me you have a family?"
Dragon didn't answer Ivankov immediately. For the first time, the stoic mask of the Revolutionary Supreme Commander cracked. A vein pulsed visibly on his tattooed forehead, and he closed his eyes, letting out a long, weary sigh—the sigh of a man who carries the weight of the world, but finds his family to be the heaviest burden of all.
"So," Dragon rumbled, his voice dry. "He found you. I dropped you off far enough from the village. I didn't expect him to return for a vacation."
"It wasn't a vacation. He was visiting your son in the Village," Argentus said. "I was just unlucky enough to be entangled with your son. He always comes out of nowhere, laughed like a maniac, eats all my dried meat, and punch me into the ground with a 'Fist of Love' just because I glared at him."
Argentus's eyes narrowed at the memory.
"He said I had 'eyes like a rebellious brat he knew.' I assume he meant you."
Ivankov's jaw dropped. His mouth opened so wide it looked like he could swallow a watermelon whole.
"Son?!" Ivankov shrieked, his voice cracking. "You?! Dragon! You have a son too?!"
"Keep your voice down, Iva," Dragon commanded, though he looked pained. He rubbed his temples. "Yes. I have a son, and that 'loud and noisy old man' is Marine Hero Garp who is also my father."
Ivankov looked like he was about to faint from the sheer scandal of it all. "Hee-haw! So, it's in the bloodline! No wonder you are so... intense!"
Dragon ignored his commander and turned his piercing gaze back to Argentus.
Dragon said quietly. "My father's 'love' is not something a normal child survives without scars. But you... you imply these changes are thanks to him?"
"He trained me along with Luffy and Ace," Argentus said, the hard edge of his voice softening. A small, nostalgic smile tugged at the corner of his lips—a rare expression for someone usually so guarded. "He threw us into jungles, tied us to balloons, and beat us daily. All to make us 'fine Marines'."
Argentus let out a short chuckle, shaking his head.
"He failed, obviously. Ace wants to be a pirate. Luffy wants to be the King of the Pirates. And me... well, I'm here."
Dragon froze. The swirling pressure in the room seemed to stop completely. The mention of the name "Luffy" cut through his stoic demeanor more effectively than any blade.
"Luffy..." Dragon whispered the name, testing the weight of it and a smile appeared on his face. "So, all of you got along just fine."
Ivankov looked like his brain was short-circuiting. "Luffy?! Ace?! Who are these people?! Dragon, you have a marine father?! And your son is... a pirate-wannabe?!"
"It seems my father's teaching methods remain consistent," Dragon said, ignoring Ivankov's panic. A faint, ironic smirk touched his lips. "He tries to forge Marines with hammer blows but only succeeds in shattering the chains of authority. He creates fine and just soldiers, but they are free spirited like him."
Dragon walked over to the window, looking out toward the East Blue sea, perhaps imagining the Windmill Village.
"If you grew up with Luffy and Ace under Garp's fist, then you are not just a stranger anymore."
He turned back to Argentus, his expression serious once more.
"I will ask you again, Argentus. Knowing what you know, and carrying the fire you carry...Do you still want to walk along the path you told me about?
The small, nostalgic smile that had been on Argentus's face when he spoke of Garp and his brothers vanished. The warmth left his eyes, replaced by a gaze as cold and hard as the steel he sought to cut.
He stopped leaning against the pillar and stood to his full height. The air around him seemed to settle, becoming heavy and still.
"Luffy draws people in like the sun," Argentus said quietly. "Ace burns bright to prove he exists. I acknowledged them as my brothers."
He placed a hand over his chest, right over his heart.
"But make no mistake, Dragon. My ambition isn't something that can be shared or diluted."
Argentus looked the Revolutionary leader dead in the eye, his expression unyielding.
"Even if people enter my heart, they cannot change my decision. Not Garp. Not my brothers. Not you. I will sail to the end of this world, and I will take everything it has to offer. My path is absolute. No one steers this ship but me."
Dragon held Argentus's gaze for a long, tense moment. Then, slowly, the corners of his mouth lifted in a genuine smile.
"Good," Dragon said. "A storm that changes direction for every ship it meets is just a breeze. A true storm moves where it pleases."
He reached into his cloak and pulled out a small, vivre card—a piece of paper that pulsed with a faint life force.
"If you ever find that your path and mine are aligned against the World Government... use this. It will lead you to me."
(END OF CHAPTER)
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