"You little brat..." Kizaru shook his head, a look of pure, resigned amusement on his face.
"You're absolutely ruthless!"
All the premium cigars he had painstakingly saved up from his Admiral's special quota, a treasure trove of rare and aged tobacco, had just been 'looted' by his own adjutant in a single, shameless negotiation.
Still, he hadn't actually smoked in ages.
The cigars were just collecting dust in a climate-controlled vault at Headquarters.
"Fine," Kizaru said lazily, waving a dismissive hand as if he couldn't be bothered to fuss over such a minor loss.
"Go pick them up from my office when we get back. Just don't pester me about it again."
"Hehehehehe!" Mike grinned like a cat that had just been given the keys to an entire fish market, his face brimming with smug satisfaction.
The glorious days of unlimited cigar freedom were finally within his grasp.
Just the thought of it lifted his spirits, making even the ozone-scented air around him feel lighter and sweeter.
[Ding!]
[Host has acquired Admiral Kizaru's entire remaining premium cigar quota, successfully achieving cigar freedom for the foreseeable future. Mood: Extremely Elated.]
[Happy Points +5000]
"Listen, kid," Kizaru's eyes narrowed slightly behind his sunglasses, his tone carrying a hint of warning.
"Since you've extorted my entire collection, you better teach me properly. I want the full story on that technique."
"Of course! Of course!" Mike thumped his chest confidently, his voice brimming with the pride of a seasoned salesman.
"Payment received means quality service guaranteed!" His playful expression then faded, replaced by an uncharacteristic seriousness, his gaze locking onto Kizaru with a deep intensity.
"Admiral," he began, using the Admiral's formal title for dramatic effect.
"Your Amano Murakumo sword is formed from the pure, condensed energy of your Glint-Glint Fruit. That fact alone puts you at a massive advantage. It makes your blade far superior to any of the so-called 'Black Blades' forged with Armament Haki for this specific purpose."
"Because the move you witnessed, 'Mugetsu'..." Mike paused, his voice lowering with an air of profound mystery.
"Is all about the complete and utter integration of the sword's power into your own body—about becoming one with the blade itself."
He gestured with his hand, as if molding invisible energy.
"A physical sword, even a legendary one, creates resistance. It has its own will, its own physical limitations. But your sword is different. It is an extension of your own soul, your own Devil Fruit ability. It can merge seamlessly with your body, achieving the optimal state without conflict. The core of 'Mugetsu' isn't just about converting power into a slash; it's about a perfect, transcendent unity between the wielder and their weapon. It is the act of transforming your very being into the blade."
"Become the sword..." Kizaru stroked his chin, his eyes glinting thoughtfully behind his glasses.
"Interesting..."
"However," Mike continued, his gaze sharp with caution.
"Though I've managed to weaken this version to avoid the original's terrible drawback—losing your power as a cost—it still drains a tremendous amount of stamina. It's a last resort. Use it wisely."
"Oh~?" Kizaru's lips curled into a sly smirk.
"Since when did you become so generous with your 'family secrets'?"
"Heh, there's a condition~" Mike grinned slyly, his tone laced with teasing.
"Since you'll be taking the principles of 'Mugetsu' and combining them with your own swordsmanship to create a new, devastating technique..." He paused deliberately, letting the anticipation build.
"I get to name it!"
Upon hearing this, Kizaru raised an eyebrow, pondered for a moment, then chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.
"Hmm, that's fine by me. This old man has never cared much for fancy names."
"Admiral Kizaru..." Mike shot him a glance, his eyes gleaming with pure, unadulterated mischief.
"Then this magnificent, island-splitting new technique shall be called—" He paused for a final, dramatic flourish.
"Nine Swords—Six Thousand Miles!"
****
A fierce, unnatural wind swept through the sea, a parting gift from Dragon that propelled the Going Merry with alarming speed toward Whisky Peak and the entrance to the Grand Line.
Yet, at this moment, the Straw Hat crew's attention was entirely elsewhere, their minds utterly captivated by the impossible scene they had just witnessed.
The sheer might of that final slash was seared into everyone's mind, a brutal, humbling lesson that made them realize they were nothing more than rookie pirates in an ocean ruled by gods and monsters.
All their past skirmishes, all their hard-won victories in the East Blue, paled into utter insignificance before such terrifying, world-altering power.
"Is this... the top-tier strength of these seas...?" Nami murmured, her voice barely audible, her knuckles white where she gripped the ship's railing.
"It's downright terrifying..."
"Yeah..." Zoro responded quietly, still holding the telescope, though he was no longer looking through it.
His gaze was fixed unwaveringly on the distant horizon, but his mind was replaying the duel.
Everything he had believed was wrong.
Back in Loguetown, when Mike had dueled him, he must have been holding back an absurd, almost insulting amount of his true power.
Otherwise, with the sheer destructive force of that final slash, he wouldn't have just been defeated; he would have been vaporized.
'Lazy Justice,' huh? He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as a wave of profound realization washed over him.
'That really says it all'.
It wasn't laziness born of apathy; it was the profound, unshakable indifference of a being so powerful that most conflicts were simply beneath his notice.
Recalling his own captain, Luffy's 30 million Berry bounty—the highest in the East Blue—he now understood why Mike had treated it as nothing, completely unfazed by it.
Was this the bearing and magnanimity of a true powerhouse?
And that slash... that "Mugetsu"... was that something a human could even achieve?
Suddenly, a large hand clapped onto Zoro's shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He turned to see Luffy's excited face, his eyes sparkling with a boundless, almost insane optimism.
"That slash..." Luffy began.
"What's wrong?" Zoro looked puzzled.
Luffy's eyes sparkled as he said eagerly, "Zoro, you can definitely pull off that slash from earlier, right?"
"???"
"What do you mean?"
Luffy grinned widely, waving his arms animately as if to demonstrate.
"You were able to mimic that Captain's moves before, so you can definitely do this one too!"
He had already slipped into his own fantasy world, imagining his swordsman unleashing that same devastating slash—splitting the sky in two and sending their enemies running in terror.
'If Zoro could pull off something like that, it would be so freaking awesome!'
Thud—
A dull sound echoed as the back of Wado Ichimonji smacked Luffy squarely on the head, hard enough to leave an imprint.
"I'll slash your big head off!" Zoro's expression darkened with pure, unadulterated frustration.
"Do you think swordsmanship is as easy as picking cabbage from a garden?! Do you have any idea what we just witnessed?!"
He took a deep, shuddering breath, the frustration giving way to a raw, humbling admission that was more painful than any wound Mihawk had given him.
He had thought he had found a new mountain to climb, a new goal to strive for.
But what he had just seen wasn't a mountain.
It was the sky itself.
'You think I don't want to pull off a slash like that? The problem is... that "Mugetsu" technique…'
"I can't understand it," he said, his voice quiet but firm.
"Not even a single part of it. It's on a completely different plane of existence."
-----------------------------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator