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The south shore of Shimotsuki Village.
The villagers gathered on the shore.
"Village chief, were the pirates we drove away earlier really..." One villager asked tremulously.
Yes. Not long ago, a group of pirates attempted to raid Shimotsuki Village. Their combat strength was relatively weak, though, so the villagers united and drove them off.
But now...
"There's no mistake," said the village chief of Shimotsuki Village, an elderly man with snow-white hair and a beard.
He gazed out at the distant sea. The silhouettes of pirate ships gradually approached, riding the waves.
On each pirate ship's mast flew a pirate flag depicting a skull with twenty-seven stars beneath it.
"Each new warship adds a star to the pirate flag. Counting the flagship, this pirate fleet now numbers twenty-eight warships, second only to the 'East Blue Overlord,' Krieg, in fleet size."
"We've sent for him, Village Chief. But even Mr. Kōshirō might not be able to face an enemy of this scale..."
The villagers remained terrified.
They all knew that Kōshirō of the Isshin Dojo was the guardian of the Shimotsuki village, a role that had been decided by their ancestors when they first settled on the island.
To the common folk, the sheer number of pirate ships alone was enough to crush their spirits.
Just as the villagers' morale hit rock bottom,
"Hey, look over there!" one villager suddenly shouted. "It's Mr. Kōshirō, Zoro, and... wait, who's that person?"
Hearing this, the others quickly turned to look.
On a small hill on the southern shore, not far away, there stood three figures. Two of them were familiar: Shimotsuki Kōshirō and Roronoa Zoro. But the third figure, wearing a pig-headed mask, was someone they had never seen before.
"What's Dōjō Master Kōshirō doing there? What are they planning?"
The question hung in the air as naturally as breathing.
Of course, they couldn't have known.
"One strike?"
On the hill, Kōshirō and Inoshi were discussing the challenge in hushed tones.
"Yes, one strike," Inoshi nodded. "The outcome of my duel with Mr. Kōshirō will be determined by how many warships I destroy with a single strike."
Zoro stood nearby, listening intently with a grave expression.
Before today, he would have found their attitude unbelievable. Facing one of the strongest pirate crews in East Blue, these two were treating them merely as tools to test their own strength.
Moreover, their competition wasn't about defeating pirates but about sinking their warships.
But after witnessing his sensei's devastating strike moments earlier, Zoro had begun to grasp what true strength looked like at sea.
He remained silent, clenching his fists as he watched quietly.
"Very well, I'll go first," Kōshirō said, nodding and readily agreeing to Inoshi's proposal. Perhaps he simply didn't want the pirates to land and cause harm.
Kōshirō stepped forward to the small hill.
Then...
Whoosh!
He exhaled deeply.
Buzz!
Under Zoro's astonished gaze, it seemed as if Kōshirō's sensei's arm turned black in that moment. The strange black color continued to spread and flow, eventually enveloping the "One Heart" blade in his hand.
"Ryuo (Flowing Sakura)."
Watching this unfold, Inoshi nodded inwardly in confirmation.
As the son of Shimotsuki Kōzaburō, the blacksmith who forged Enma Iron, and a descendant of Shimotsuki Ryuma, the Sword God of Wano Country, it would have been astonishing if Shimotsuki Kōshirō hadn't mastered Ryuo.
And at that very moment...
The blade in Shimotsuki Kōshirō's hand flashed.
"... "
To everyone's astonishment, the strike produced no crisp slicing sound or ear-splitting blade screech. It was as if he had casually swung his sword, barely disturbing the sea breeze.
But then...
Buzz!
In the next instant, along the path of Kōshirō's blade...
The sea below and the drifting clouds above were split asunder!
Pushed by the force of the strike, the severed clouds partially obscured the sun, transforming it into a crescent moon.
Fine seawater glistened like falling frost under the scattered sunlight.
"One Heart Style Esoterics: Frost Moon Cut!"
The soft whisper fell.
Then...
Swoosh!
Everyone watched in stunned silence as the pirate ship speeding across the distant sea began to silently split apart.
The cut across the ship's hull was smooth and precise. In an instant, the massive warship collapsed onto the surface of the sea and began to sink.
But the sword slash didn't stop there.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One ship, two ships, three ships...
By the time the seventh ship was cleaved in two, the strike finally dissipated on the sea's surface.
At that moment...
Zoro and the villagers of Shimotsuki Village, who were watching from afar, stared wide-eyed. Their jaws practically hit the ground; they were speechless.
"Sensei..."
Zoro's voice was hoarse.
But before he could finish, Kōshirō had already turned, sheathed his sword, and moved to his side.
"Lord Inoshi, it's your turn now. Let's go sit down in the back."
He called out to Inoshi, then led Zoro to a more distant spot to sit down.
In that moment, Inoshi cast a thoughtful glance at Kōshirō as if beginning to understand the Dojo Master's intentions.
Thus,
"Alright."
Inoshi nodded and stepped forward to the spot where Kōshirō had stood moments before.
"Zoro, watch closely," Kōshirō whispered in Zoro's ear.
"Watch closely?"
Zoro hesitated, but the scene unfolding before him didn't allow time for further contemplation.
He saw Inoshi extend his hand toward the distant sea.
Then, to Zoro's utter astonishment, a slashing strike materialized from Inoshi's palm!
Though he held no blade and made no swinging motion, a massive, palpable slashing strike erupted from the center of his hand.
As a swordsman, Zoro could recognize the aura of that strike.
"Is this the same strike Sensei used in the bamboo forest earlier?"
This revelation jolted Zoro's numbed nerves back to life. "What is this?"
But he had no time to speak because Inoshi had already acted.
With a flick of his fingers,
"Devour and Merge - Instant Hell Slash!"
The next moment, Zoro saw the slash in Inoshi's hand vanish into thin air.
"It disappeared?"
Just as this thought crossed his mind, he heard Kōshirō murmur in confusion beside him, "Hm?"
Simultaneously, cries of alarm erupted from the distant villagers.
Instinctively, Zoro looked up and scanned the horizon.
There, he saw...
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The familiar sound of slashes rang out again. The warships on the distant sea were being cleaved apart and sinking once more.
Zoro could hear the pirates' screams of terror and panic without needing to imagine them, as well as voices of utter bewilderment.
"When did that slash even reach there?"
Despite the incredible distance, he hadn't seen the slash's trajectory.
But clearly, that no longer mattered.
The village chief spoke gravely: "The Great Pirate with a bounty of 110,000,000 Beli, 'Skull Admiral' Roger himself!"
In the East Blue, where the average bounty was around 3,000,000 Beli, anyone with a bounty that high was undoubtedly a Great Pirate.
"We've already angered him. If a man like that lands here, our village is doomed." The village chief's lips trembled slightly. "Where's Dojo Master Kōshirō? Has he arrived yet?"
As warship after warship sank beneath the waves, Zoro's heart began to race with tension.
Naturally, he wanted to witness the outcome of the duel.
"It's close. Sensei's slash seems stronger, but it loses power in flight," he analyzed.
"Inoshi's slash is weaker, yet somehow it appears over there without any apparent loss of force."
But the next moment, he realized his analysis was meaningless.
Just as the slash sliced through another warship and soared into the center of the remaining vessels...
BOOM!
With a blinding flash, Zoro clearly saw the slash explode!
The violent explosion spread instantly, engulfing all the surrounding warships in a massive shockwave and inferno.
The sea surface buckled, sending towering waves crashing skyward, obscuring all vision save for the thick smoke billowing from the churning waters.
Zoro didn't even need confirmation to know.
"The remaining twenty-one warships... completely annihilated."
He stared incredulously at Inoshi, then back at the terrifying devastation wreaked upon the sea.
"What kind of technique was that, anyway?"
An exploding slash? How was that even possible?
Meanwhile, Inoshi slowly retracted his finger, nodding in satisfaction.
"As expected of myself," he murmured with a self-satisfied smile.
Before him, the light screen replayed the events that had just transpired:
[Paramecia·Munch-Munch Fruit LV4: Allows the user to devour anything, including non-corporeal elements like 'mist,' 'wind,' and 'slashes.' However, upon consumption, only the substance can be used, without gaining its Elementalization properties.]
[Paramecia·Bomb-Bomb Fruit LV4: Allows any part of the body, including exhaled breath, to be transformed into bombs. The bombs can detonate autonomously, and the user is immune to all explosive damage. At LV4, further Devil Fruit development significantly enhances the explosive power.]
[Paramecia·MarkDevil Fruit LV4: Allows the user to establish two Mark points within a certain range. Any attack targeting the user, whether from friend or foe, can be redirected to the vicinity of these Mark points.]
This was the power of "Inoshi."
By the way, at that moment, the two Mark points logged by his Mark Devil Fruit were: one naturally located on a distant warship, and the other... inside his own mouth.
"Any attack directed at me is transferred to my mouth by the Mark Devil Fruit, where the Munch-Munch Fruit digests it and incorporates it into my body."
"All my attacks, including slashes, are part of my body, allowing them to be transformed into tremendously powerful bombs."
"The Mark Devil Fruit's effect ensures that my attacks and bombs almost inevitably hit their targets."
Beneath his mask, Roy remained satisfied with his skill combination.
Just as he had told Kōshirō earlier, Inoshi's abilities were indeed extremely dangerous!
From the moment Kōshirō agreed to this duel, his defeat was sealed.
With sinking warships as the objective and a competition focused on destructive power, Inoshi's abilities were practically tailor-made for this challenge.
However...
"He probably doesn't care anyway," Inoshi thought, glancing back at Kōshirō behind him.
From the moment Kōshirō first led him into the bamboo forest to their sudden, inexplicable battle, Inoshi had always felt something was off, even though the reasons given seemed reasonable enough.
The reason was simple: in a battle between experts of their caliber, Zoro's presence would only be a hindrance.
This future first mate of the Pirate King hadn't even set sail yet and was still far too immature. To put it bluntly, Inoshi could kill him with a single breath.
Engaging in battle with Zoro present would inevitably force them to hold back.
Kōshirō knew this, yet he insisted on fighting anyway, which Inoshi found deeply puzzling.
But after arriving here and witnessing Kōshirō's reaction to his proposal, Inoshi could almost guess the man's true motive.
And the truth was exactly as he suspected.
"Zoro."
Zoro, his fists clenched tightly, heard his Sensei's voice beside him.
"How are you holding up?"
He turned to see Kōshirō's face had regained its usual gentle expression.
"...I understand now, Sensei."
It had to be said, Zoro wasn't stupid.
By this point, even Zoro had realized Kōshirō's intentions.
"The true powerhouses of this sea... like you... like that guy," he said, his voice low and somber.
"Facing them, if I recklessly challenge them, I'll die." He didn't hesitate to admit it.
"Hmm." Kōshirō nodded in satisfaction, then asked again, "Do you still want to set sail?"
He gazed at his most promising disciple beside him.
Not long ago, Zoro had been brimming with confidence, believing his Three-Sword Style was enough to conquer the seas.
Youthful ambition was naturally a precious thing, but on these seas, it was also the easiest way to lose one's life.
Especially after Zoro met Inoshi and developed a longing for the Grand Line.
Kōshirō realized he had to show Zoro the true nature of this sea.
That was why he had done everything he did today.
And his ultimate goal was to ask this very question:
Having witnessed the sea's true powerhouses, having learned how immature his swordsmanship still was, and having understood all the cruelty and harsh truths of the world…
Roronoa Zoro, would he still set sail?
The answer... was obvious.
"Naturally!"
Zoro answered without hesitation.
He raised his hand to grip the white katana at his waist, named "Wado Ichimonji."
"Sensei, thank you," he said.
"I'll stay in the East Blue for now, honing my swordsmanship. When I'm strong enough, I'll enter the Grand Line."
At this, he grinned. "I'll become the World's Strongest Swordsman!"
"After all, I promised that guy I'd make my name resound throughout Heaven!"
He spoke of his long-held ambition, as he always had.
But this time was different from all the others.
This time, he had already glimpsed the arduous path ahead and the monsters he was destined to face.
This time...
"I've been prepared for this all along."
After all, it was a promise.
After all, it was ambition.
Kōshirō finally smiled wholeheartedly.
He looked at Zoro again, and for a moment, he seemed to see three shadows superimposed upon him:
Exceptional talent, a tenacious will, boundless ambition, and that stubborn, unyielding spirit.
"Papa, I'm going to become the World's Strongest Swordsman!"
That was his daughter, Kuina.
"Sensei, I will become the World's Strongest Swordsman!"
That was his disciple, Zoro.
"Father, I will become the World's Strongest Swordsman!"
That was the young Kōshirō himself.
His eyes welled with tears.
But he quickly wiped them away and stood up.
"Since you've made up your mind, then set off."
He sheathed his sword at his waist and turned to leave.
"And... don't thank me, Zoro."
Only a lingering voice reached Zoro's ears: "It's been so long since I've swung my sword so freely."
(End of Chapter)