You blink against the sudden glare of unfamiliar sunlight, the scent of salt and damp earth thick in your throat. "Where...?" The word rasps out, thin and childish. Your hand – small, too small – trembles as you push tangled white hair from your face. Gold eyes dart across towering, moss-covered trees, vines thick as ship's ropes, and the distant roar of unseen surf. This isn't the sterile quiet of the hospital room you last remember. This is wild. Alive. *Dangerous*. A sharp crack echoes nearby, snapping a branch. Your heart hammers against your ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the vast, unknown silence. *"Okay,"* you whisper, forcing the tremor from your voice, *"Survival first. Figure out the rest later."*
You scramble behind the broad trunk of a banyan tree, pressing your back against the rough bark. The air hums with insect life, the rustle of unseen creatures. Your mind races, colliding past-life knowledge with the terrifying present. *One Piece. Grand Line. Pirates. Sea Kings. Death.* The sheer scale of it threatens to choke you. But beneath the fear, a spark ignites – fierce and stubborn. You didn't survive one death just to be eaten by jungle fauna. *"Strength,"* you mutter, clenching your tiny fists. *"i Need strength. And fast to."* You scan the forest floor, searching for anything useful – a sturdy stick, a sharp stone. Anything to turn from prey to something less vulnerable.
Minato awakens as a child in the Grand Line jungle, disoriented but quickly realizing her perilous situation. Remembering the dangers of the One Piece world, she resolves to survive and gain strength, immediately seeking makeshift weapons and shelter amidst the unfamiliar, threatening environment.
A low growl rumbles from the dense undergrowth to your left. Your newly awakened Observation Haki prickles like static across your skin, a raw, instinctive warning. *Danger. Close.* You freeze, holding your breath. Through a gap in the giant ferns, you spot it: a creature resembling a massive, scaled boar, tusks glinting wetly as it roots in the damp earth. Its small, red eyes flicker towards your hiding place. *"Too big,"* you think, heart pounding. *"Can't fight it. Run? But Where?"* The beast snorts, nostrils flaring, catching your scent.
"Easy now," you whisper, the sound barely a breath. Instinctively, you reach for the faint, new power humming within you – the Sound-Sound Fruit. Mimicry. You focus, straining to recall the deep, guttural cough of a much larger predator you'd heard earlier echoing through the trees. Your throat vibrates unnaturally. A low, resonant *"HROOOOM"* rolls out from a spot twenty feet to the beast's right, distorted by your inexperience but loud enough. The scaled boar jerks its head up, startled, tusks swinging towards the phantom threat. It hesitates, snorting again, confused.
Minato encounters a large, dangerous scaled boar and uses her nascent Observation Haki to sense its threat. Unable to fight or flee easily, she instinctively employs her newly acquired Sound-Sound Fruit to mimic a larger predator's roar, successfully confusing the beast and creating a diversion.
Seizing the opening, you explode from the ferns. Not away, but *towards* the creature, low and fast. Your bare feet slap the muddy ground as you dart under the massive belly, aiming for the thick jungle on its far side. The beast bellows, a sound of rage and surprise, its heavy body pivoting clumsily. A tusk scrapes the air where you just were. You feel the wind of it. *Too close.* You don't look back, weaving through giant roots and hanging vines, the primal fear fueling your legs. Observation Haki screams a warning – it's charging. You throw yourself sideways behind a moss-covered boulder just as the boar thunders past, crashing into the undergrowth beyond.
"Stubborn brute!" you gasp, chest heaving. You need distance, height. Your eyes scan the towering trees. *There.* A thick vine dangles low from a massive canopy giant. You sprint, leap, and grab it with both hands. The scaled boar has recovered, spotting you again. It lowers its head, scraping a hoof. You scramble up the vine, muscles burning. The beast charges the base of the tree. *THUD.* The impact vibrates through the trunk, showering leaves. You cling tighter, hauling yourself higher onto a broad branch, finally out of immediate reach.
Minato exploits the distraction caused by her sound mimicry to dart under the scaled boar, narrowly avoiding its tusks. She flees deeper into the jungle, using agility and Observation Haki to evade its renewed charge, and escapes by climbing a vine into the safety of a tall tree's branches.
Below, the boar snorts and paws the earth, its small, furious eyes fixed on you. It circles the trunk. "Alright, ugly," you mutter, catching your breath. "Let's see how you like some noise." Focusing your Devil Fruit power, you amplify the sound of snapping twigs and rustling leaves – not from your position, but from a dense thicket twenty yards away. The beast's head whips around, distracted. You mimic the low, guttural growl of a jungle cat, layering it over the rustling. The boar hesitates, torn between the prey in the tree and the potential new threat.
It takes a step towards the thicket, then another. You push harder, adding the sharp crack of a breaking branch. The distraction works. With a final, suspicious snort in your direction, it turns and crashes into the undergrowth, pursuing the phantom predator. Relief washes over you, cold and sudden. You slump against the trunk, your small hands trembling. "Note to self," you whisper to the empty air, your voice raw. "Avoid oversized pigs. And find... real weapons. Soon."
The jungle canopy shifts above, dappling the forest floor in shifting patterns of light and shadow. Below, the boar's frustrated squeals fade into the distance. You scan the surroundings with your Observation Haki, stretching your senses outward. Beyond the immediate clearing, you detect the faint, rhythmic pulse of running water – a stream. Water means a path, maybe a safer route, perhaps even resources. Carefully, you descend the thick vines, your bare feet finding purchase on the rough bark. The forest feels quieter now, watchful, but less immediately threatening.