"Sakura-nee~"
Under the vast, boundless, and ethereal clouds, the girl leaning on the sterncastle railing of the Leviathan, flying through the cloud layers, called out, her voice trailing off.
"Can't we enter the Grand Line from Reverse Mountain in the West Blue too? Why take the detour to the East Blue?"
Behind her, Sakura, holding a nautical chart, replied, "It's almost the end of the year. Let everyone have one last break, and by the way go see the legendary island of beginnings and endings."
"Once we enter the Grand Line, we'll truly face endless battles. Resting is good too."
Fisher Tiger, who also knew about the Grand Line, stepped forward and ruffled Kuina's head.
"Spending the New Year at the execution site of Sakura's former captain~ Sakura is so mean~."
Leviathan's lazy voice materialized in mid-air before she dropped down into Sakura's arms.
"Hahaha, Captain Roger won't mind!"
Sakura laughed heartily, turning the ship's wheel. The soaring Leviathan immediately descended, heading towards a town near Reverse Mountain.
Loguetown was not a very large island.
But as the place where a legendary figure's life both began and ended, it was famous worldwide.
The Marines had also racked their brains over it, stationing elites here, but they still couldn't stop pirates from risking a visit to pay their respects.
After all, this was where everything began.
And on this day, another group of pirates arrived.
A patrolling Marine on the coast of Loguetown felt the ground darken and instinctively looked up at the sky.
A huge shadow flashed across the previously empty sky. The shadow cast by its wings on the ground was even ten times his own height.
Then he saw the large skull emblem painted on the giant bird's belly, featuring crossed kunai and senbon.
The name of the pirate repeatedly mentioned in recent newspapers rose in this soldier's heart.
Immediately, he even dropped his weapon and ran towards the Marine base in panic. "It's terrible, Captain Smoker! Pirates are invading!"
On the other side, Sakura and the others landed in Loguetown.
To avoid causing a commotion, they had specifically disguised themselves, wearing dark cloaks with hoods covering their heads.
"Sakura~, I want to eat that~."
As it was the end of the year, the merchants in Loguetown had already set out their best goods on the streets.
Even the biting cold wind couldn't stop the bustling and lively scene in Loguetown. The aroma of food from the stalls on both sides made a certain greedy little bird drool uncontrollably.
"Go ahead!" Sakura took out money and gave it to her. "Uncle Tiger, please keep an eye on her. Don't let Leviathan get lost!"
"I won't!"
Leviathan stuck her tongue out at Sakura and was led by Tiger towards the food stalls.
Sakura, meanwhile, grabbed Kuina, who was about to follow them, and dragged her towards the town center.
"Sakura-nee, what are you doing? I want to go eat tasty food too!"
The girl, grabbed by the back of her collar, struggled and protested to Sakura.
"Of course, I'm taking you to the weapon shop to buy another sword. Don't you find it awkward using your family's sword style with just one sword?"
Sakura knocked on Kuina's head and helped her up to walk on her own.
Hearing this, Kuina stiffened for a moment, guiltily averting her gaze. "I just didn't want to trouble everyone~"
"The battles from now on can be fatal, not child's play!"
Sakura put a bit more emphasis in her tone, but seeing Kuina's expression, she didn't scold her too harshly.
The two proceeded along the central street, asking passersby for directions to Loguetown's most famous weapon shop, [Ipponmatsu Arms Shop].
The bald shop owner, Ipponmatsu, inside the shop, saw the two young girls enter and curled his lips into a cunning smile.
"Ara ara, welcome, guests. What kind of sword are you looking for?"
Sakura took Kuina's Muramasa and placed it in front of the owner. "A katana like this one. It needs to be lightweight, tough, and of high quality!"
After hearing this, Ipponmatsu almost rolled his eyes back into his head.
'You want this and that, why don't you just fly to the sky?'
'Besides, if I had a sword like that, I would have enshrined it long ago, not put it up for sale.'
Putting away his eye-rolling, Ipponmatsu was about to speak, but when his gaze swept over Kuina's face, he became timid.
"Ahem... Guest, all sales in this shop are final, no returns!"
Kuina scratched her head in confusion, not understanding what he meant.
But soon, she understood the owner's meaning.
The welcome bell at the weapon shop door was jangled violently as a bespectacled girl in a Marine uniform charged in angrily.
She raised the sword in her hand, drew it, and slammed the broken blade, now only half its original length, onto the counter.
"Shopkeeper, how can you cheat people like this? Didn't you promise this sword had the quality of a famous blade?"
The Marine girl looked up, saw the shopkeeper's stunned face, and curiously followed his gaze, turning her head.
Immediately, she saw a face identical to her own.
"Fate works in mysterious ways."
Sakura snickered, took the Muramasa back, and stuffed it into Kuina's arms.
Also stunned speechless, Kuina mechanically reached out and held the sword tightly.
The moment she saw the other girl, various possibilities flashed through Kuina's mind, finally settling on the kindly, bespectacled face of her own father!
'You old geezer, you have another kid outside?'
'No wonder you didn't want me to inherit the dojo before. So you were planning to leave the family business to your illegitimate child outside?'
"My name is Kuina! What's your name!"
The pirate girl bared her teeth, putting on a delinquent act, and grabbed the Marine girl's collar from a superior position.
"You... No, I... My name is Tashigi, no, wait, what..."
Tashigi, whose collar was grabbed, became tongue-tied, her small hands waving flusteredly in the air.
After a long moment, the corner of her eye noticed the Muramasa Kuina was holding. Instantly, her eyes lit up.
"This is… one of the 21 Great Grade Swords, the Muramasa! Oh my heavens!"
Tashigi snatched the Muramasa, treating it like a treasure, carefully drawing the blade from its sheath, gently stroving the 'Mass Burn' pattern on it.
Meanwhile, she muttered incessantly, reciting the sword's history, utterly enamored with it.
"She looks dumb, not very smart. Does one have to be an idiot to inherit the dojo?"
Kuina stepped forward and tapped Tashigi's forehead.
But Tashigi was engrossed in admiring the sword, showing no reaction.
"Whatever. I'm a pirate now anyway. I leave Father and the dojo to you!"
Snatching the sword back from Tashigi's hands, Kuina showed a relieved smile.
"What have you been talking about since you got here?"
Tashigi pushed her glasses up and stood. "Come to think of it, I seem to remember this Great Grade Sword was in the hands of the last descendant of the Shimotsuki Family. That person was recently wanted..."
Suddenly, Tashigi fell into complete silence, a trembling finger rising to point at Kuina.
"It's you! The pirate with an 80 million Berry bounty… Shimotsuki Kuina!"
"Ara ara, recognized!"
Sakura pulled her hood lower, grabbed a decent-quality katana from Ipponmatsu's shelves, threw down the money, and pulled Kuina into a run towards the shop exit.
Just before escaping the shop, Kuina looked back, raised her hand in a sword-finger gesture, placed it by her temple, and flicked it outward.
"Run the dojo well. Oh, and take care of that Moss Head for me, my little sister~"
"Who's your little sister?! No, wait... Stop right there! You evil pirates!"