Kaito stood where Shanks had disappeared, lost in thought. He wasn't angry that Shanks had been rescued.
Since Shanks had lost to him this time, he'd never get another chance to win.
But the method used to save him... now that was intriguing. Kaito guessed that the one who had intervened was most likely Imu. If it was him, then Imu definitely had some kind of connection to the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Imu was physically in Mary Geoise, yet had released Yomotsu Hirazaka across such a distance—that alone proved how undeniable his power was.
He had clearly been watching Kaito for some time now. What Kaito still didn't know was... what exactly did he want?
A flicker of purple light passed through Kaito's Rinnegan. Whatever Imu wanted, it couldn't be anything good. All the more reason for Kaito to focus on strengthening himself.
With that in mind, Kaito told Kalifa and Yamato to stay put, then opened the Door-Door Space and brought out Ace, who was carrying Luffy, along with Makino.
Luffy's eyes were still in a swirling daze. That Almighty Push Kaito hit him with earlier had been a bit too forceful—even with his rubber body, he still hadn't woken up.
Ace glanced around at the utterly destroyed landscape, then turned to look at Kaito—who remained completely unharmed—with a fiery gleam in his eyes. From inside the Door-Door Space, he'd watched the entire battle between Kaito and Shanks.
Even through the spatial barrier, the apocalyptic scale of the fight had shaken him to his core.
And when he saw Kaito slash through Shanks' arm with a single strike of that purple-scaled blade, Ace had trembled with excitement.
He'd only met Kaito twice, but those two meetings had already left an unshakable impression on the young Ace. At this point, Ace had become a die-hard fan of Kaito.
Naturally, his desire to join the Navy had grown to an almost uncontrollable level. But since Kaito had once rejected the idea, Ace hadn't dared bring it up again.
Kaito glanced curiously at the conflicted expression on Ace's face, then walked over to Makino. He gave her a small smile and said,
"Your call came at the perfect time. Even though Shanks escaped, taking one of his arms is still a pretty meaningful victory for the Navy."
Makino first looked him over seriously, only relaxing once she confirmed he wasn't injured. Then, as she met Kaito's teasing smile, her cheeks flushed and she murmured,
"I'm sorry for troubling you, Kaito-san... I was in a panic and you were the only one I could think of…"
"That means I'm reliable in your eyes, right? Well, I doubt Shanks will dare come back here anytime soon. You can settle down and live in peace now."
"Mhm! Kaito-san, you have to visit the bar whenever you're free. Drinks are on the house!"
"Haha, I'd love to. I'm a big fan of your orange juice, after all."
"As long as you enjoy it, Kaito-san!"
"Well, I've finished my task here. It's time for me to go. Goodbye, Makino."
Makino nodded, a trace of reluctance in her eyes. She wanted to say something to make him stay but felt it would be too forward, so she simply nodded again in silence.
...
But Ace panicked the moment he heard Kaito was leaving. If Kaito left now, who knew when they'd meet again? He couldn't exactly go asking Makino for that kunai again, could he?
Even if she gave it to him, what excuse would he use to call Kaito back?
He couldn't just say it was because he wanted to tell him about joining the Navy, right?
To Ace, it seemed like Kaito must've used some extraordinary method to reach Foosha Village from far away. It had to be a huge effort.
What Ace didn't know was that with a Flying Thunder God marker, Kaito could appear anywhere with just a thought.
So before Kaito could leave, Ace rushed over and shouted,
"Kaito! Can you wait a second? I have something to tell you!"
"Hm? Ace?"
Kaito turned to look at him. He'd sensed earlier that something was off—Ace had seemed like he had something to say but held back. Was he afraid of him?
He was a polite, well-mannered young man who respected his elders and cared for the young. Did he really seem that scary?
Ace came up to Kaito, looking at him with hopeful eyes.
"Kaito, can you take me to the Navy? I really, really want to enlist!"
Kaito blinked in surprise. Hadn't he advised Ace to consider joining the Revolutionary Army? And Ace had looked pretty interested back then. Why the sudden change?
When Kaito didn't answer right away, Ace's expression dimmed. As expected, someone like him was never meant to be part of the Navy. He shouldn't have bothered Kaito in the first place...
Kaito caught the shift in his expression and raised a brow. He hadn't expected Ace's desire to join the Navy to run this deep.
Given the situation now, Kaito figured it might actually be a good idea to let Ace enlist. After all, he and the World Government were already playing a game of mutual deception. Why not just go along with it? It would definitely annoy the World Government.
Besides, if Ace joined, Kaito wouldn't have to supervise him. Garp would undoubtedly love the chance to "train" his grandson. And Ace could even keep Law company.
With that thought, Kaito reached out and ruffled Ace's hair with a smile.
"Don't you want to visit the Revolutionary Army and see Sabo?"
The moment Sabo's name came up, before Ace could respond, Luffy—who had been lying on the ground—suddenly shot up in a sit-up and shouted as he looked around,
"Sabo!? Where's Sabo!?"
Makino hurried toward him, trying to help him up, but before she could reach him, Luffy sprang to his feet. Not seeing Sabo anywhere, he ran to Ace and asked,
"Ace! What happened just now? Where's the forest?"
Ace lit up when he saw Luffy awake and responded cheerfully,
"The forest was destroyed in the battle between Kaito and Shanks. Shanks lost. No one knows where he ran off to now."
As he spoke, Ace glanced at Kaito again, admiration radiating from his face.
Luffy was stunned to hear that Shanks had been defeated. He looked at Kaito in disbelief.
"Swirly-Eyes is that strong!?"
"Almighty Push."
Boom!
Luffy was blasted away again. This time, with no obstacles around, he vanished from view completely.
Ace looked in the direction Luffy had flown, a bit worried. He turned back to Kaito, about to speak but hesitated.
Of course, Kaito knew Ace was concerned. He chuckled and said,
"Don't worry. I just sent him back to Foosha Village."
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo