On the vast ocean, the Thousand Sunny sailed smoothly across the waves. Under Merry's control, the crew didn't even need to steer manually—the ship could go wherever they wanted.
Of course, Nami, as the navigator, still needed to keep an eye on the weather conditions.
"Ah~"
"When will we reach the next island?" Meiser muttered, his dead-fish eyes staring blankly as he sat by the ship's edge, fishing.
A whole day had passed, and there wasn't even a glimpse of land in sight. Other than fishing, Meiser really didn't know what else to do.
"Traveling from one island to another actually takes quite a long time," Merry explained, sitting beside him.
"How do you know so much?"
"Hehe, because I'm a Ship Spirit~" Merry giggled. "Naturally, I understand how sailing works."
Even before gaining a physical form, she had accompanied her crewmates from island to island on their adventures, so she knew exactly how long voyages could take.
"Fine."
Meiser sighed in resignation but didn't press further.
Still, he noticed that the little one had been sticking close to him lately—she could sit with him fishing all morning. Maybe it was because he had used Chakra to revive her, creating some kind of natural bond between them.
Casually tossing the fishing rod to Usopp as he walked by, Meiser hopped down from the railing with Merry in tow.
"What, done fishing?"
"Yeah."
Meiser shook his head, setting Merry down before looking at her seriously. "Merry, how's your progress with the Ninjutsu I taught you?"
Ever since reviving Merry, Meiser had noticed a strange energy within her body.
It wasn't Chakra, but... who knew? Maybe she could still learn Ninjutsu.
"Ninjutsu?!" Usopp's eyes lit up. "Merry can learn Ninjutsu?"
"Not sure, but it's worth a try, right?"
After explaining to Usopp, Meiser glanced down at Merry, noticing a hint of embarrassment on her face.
"Merry-chan, don't tell me you haven't been practicing?"
"I have been trying!" Merry pouted. "But I just can't do it... None of those Fire Release or Water Release techniques you mentioned—I can't use any of them."
She really wanted to learn, but the problem was that she just couldn't. All that stuff about manipulating Chakra to perform Ninjutsu? Impossible for her.
"Maybe it's too soon..." Meiser pondered for a moment before saying, "Merry, take out the Summoning Scroll."
"Okay."
Obediently, Merry pulled the Summoning Scroll from her pocket dimension and placed it on the deck.
Poof!
A puff of white smoke erupted, and the scroll instantly expanded in size!
"Whoa?!"
"It can grow bigger?!" Usopp gasped. "Meiser, what kind of technique is this?"
"A type of Sealing Technique..." Meiser stared intently at Merry. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Make the scroll bigger."
"Isn't this what you taught me?" Merry tilted her head. "You told me how to open the Summoning Scroll before, remember?"
"I haven't forgotten, it's just..." Meiser frowned and said, "Why can't you learn Ninjutsu, yet you can use Sealing Techniques?"
Meiser couldn't understand. Could it be because Merry had some special connection with this scroll?
"I don't know either. I just could open it after you told me about it." Merry spread her small hands, equally clueless about what was happening.
It felt more like... an instinct.
"What's going on? What's going on?"
Luffy and Chopper ran over, crowding around the three of them with puzzled expressions. "What's this scroll?"
"It's a Summoning Scroll—the vessel that allowed Merry to survive," Meiser explained, pointing at the scroll.
"So it's because of this?"
"Exactly!"
After his explanation, Meiser pointed at the scroll again. "Merry, try to see if you can activate the Reverse Summoning Technique."
His name was inscribed on this scroll. If Merry could use the Reverse Summoning Technique, the possibilities would expand dramatically!
Meiser then taught Merry how to perform the Reverse Summoning Technique, curious to see if she could master it.
To his astonishment, Merry learned the ability in no time at all.
"Reverse Summoning Technique!"
Poof!
A puff of white smoke appeared, and Meiser—who had deliberately run out to the sea moments earlier—reappeared right beside Merry.
This sudden change left Luffy and the others utterly shocked.
"Whoa... that's amazing!!"
The three stared at Merry in disbelief. How could this little one have learned Meiser's Ninjutsu?!
This... shouldn't be possible!
"I never thought it would actually work..."
Meiser, too, looked at Merry in surprise. He hadn't expected her to master the technique so quickly. But then why couldn't she learn other Ninjutsu?
"Hey, Meiser, why can Merry learn Ninjutsu but not us?" Luffy asked.
"Yeah, Meiser! I wanna learn Ninjutsu too..." Chopper clung to Meiser's leg, staring up at him with pleading eyes.
"Honestly, I don't know why," Meiser mused, stroking his chin. "I tried teaching you before, but none of you could grasp it."
These guys couldn't even refine Chakra, let alone perform Ninjutsu.
"Then how come Merry can?"
"Maybe... because Merry is a Ship Spirit?" Usopp suddenly suggested. "And don't forget, Meiser saved Merry using special means—he nearly died at sea back then."
That might be why Merry could learn some of Meiser's techniques.
"Probably," Meiser agreed after a moment of thought. "Merry's state of existence is indeed unique, completely different from all of you."
No... to be precise, Merry wasn't like anyone else.
Strictly speaking, she wasn't even human—she was a spirit!
Glancing down at Merry, he noticed how delighted she looked, clearly thrilled about being able to use Ninjutsu.
"But why can't she learn other Ninjutsu...?"
Meiser studied Merry, his mind racing until an idea struck him.
Could it be... that this girl can only use Ninjutsu based on Summoning Scrolls?
Recalling the scene when they had saved Merry, Meiser gradually confirmed his thoughts—perhaps this girl really used her abilities based on this.
"Could it be... because I didn't try hard enough...?" Merry suddenly lowered her head and said.
The smile on the little one's face vanished, replaced instead by a hint of self-blame.
"That shouldn't be the case. Merry's already amazing." Meiser patted Merry's small head and said, "The problem probably lies with the scroll."
"The scroll?"
"Right." Meiser pointed at the Summoning scroll. "I think, for Merry to use Ninjutsu, she must rely on this as a foundation."
"But if that's the case, the things she can use will be very limited."
Based on this, the only techniques she could likely employ were the Sealing Technique and the Summoning Technique.
"Th-that's still something to be envious of!" Usopp said. "We can't do anything at all!"
"Yeah, yeah, don't be sad, Merry. You're already awesome," Chopper chimed in, moving closer to Merry.
"So that's how it is..." Merry thought for a moment, then raised her head to look at Meiser. "Then... can I write the names of other ships on it?"
"That depends entirely on you."
Merry pursed her lips, glanced down at the Summoning scroll, then closed her eyes and began concentrating, sensing something carefully as she placed her hand on the scroll.
A moment later, something astonishing happened—the Summoning scroll slowly began to display glowing blue characters.
Thousand Sunny!
"I-It... actually worked?!"