"Take down Whitebeard?"
Even Bullet was stunned by those words and fell silent. Only after a long while did a grin slowly spread across his face.
"You're joking... right?"
Who was Whitebeard?
The World's Strongest Man. He was one of the Three Legendary Pirates of the old era, and the only one of them still alive today.
And that was only his past glory; now, he was one of the Four Emperors of the New World, the Yonko with the greatest prestige and arguably the strongest overall force. He commanded countless elite subordinates, and taking his head would be anything but easy.
"Do I look like someone who jokes around?"
Kojin's smile disappeared, and his voice turned cold.
"Select every officer in West Blue from the rank of major and above, along with every elite who's strong enough to take part. Then lead them all to Marine Headquarters."
After a brief pause, his voice grew even heavier.
"I've stayed in the shadows for long enough. It's time for the world to know... that I've returned. And it's time they saw our strength."
Bullet quietly listened to every word. Then, a smile slowly crept across his face. He hung up the Den Den Mushi and burst into laughter, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit while his body trembled with excitement.
Having commanded West Blue for so many years, he had long since grown accustomed to thinking from a Marine's perspective, and in an instant, he understood Kojin's plan.
"So Whitebeard is the stepping stone. Defeat him, seize control of the Marines, and finally carry out the plan we came up with all those years ago."
Bullet laughed loudly again.
"What a ridiculously long game of chess you've been playing! The World's Strongest Man... The Whitebeard Pirates... This will be a battle at the summit of the world itself! It hasn't even started yet, and I'm already shaking with excitement!"
Walking over to the window, Bullet looked down at the Marine base below. Training cries echoed through the grounds as countless Marines practiced with all their might.
"I can't even remember how long it's been since I last left this base, or how long it's been since I fought a battle that truly satisfied me. I can't wait."
He suddenly turned around. The coming war would shake the heavens and the earth, which naturally meant it would require extensive preparation. Mobilizing the forces of West Blue alone would take considerable time.
"Kojin, you want to shake the entire world with your own strength…"
Bullet spoke in a low voice, his eyes deep and resolute.
"And in this battle... the West Blue branch will astonish the world as well. Let them witness the overwhelming power we've quietly built up over the past twenty years."
A short while later, he met with Eveya, who was now well into middle age. She still had a graceful figure and delicate features, as time seemed to have left barely any marks on her face. After spending so many years in West Blue, Eveya had long since risen to an important position.
"Bring those two swords. We're heading to Marine Headquarters," Bullet said.
"Marineford?" Eveya blinked in confusion.
"Those are that man's orders," Bullet smiled.
"That man...? Senior Kojin?!"
She understood almost instantly, and her whole body trembled. Joy, excitement, and raw emotion all crashed into her heart at once as tears streamed down her face.
"Senior... you've finally returned?" she whispered.
At that moment, her emotions were in complete turmoil. She didn't know how many years she had waited for this day; on countless nights, she'd feared she would never see him again. For a while, it all felt like a dream. Only long after Bullet had left did she finally come back to her senses, a bright, happy smile slowly appearing on her face.
---
Meanwhile, aboard the 'Crocodile'...
Daz Bonez knelt on both knees, his forehead pressed firmly against the deck without saying a word. Kojin looked at Crocodile in confusion.
"What's he doing?"
Crocodile shook his head.
"I may be his superior, but I have no idea what's going through his head." As he said that, a faint smile appeared on his face. 'At least the guy isn't stupid.'
After eating the Dice-Dice Fruit, not learning swordsmanship would be the biggest waste imaginable. And the man before him, someone who could fight the World's Greatest Swordsman to a standstill head-on, was undoubtedly the best teacher he could hope for.
"Senior Kojin... Please teach me swordsmanship," Daz Bonez said in a low voice. He tried his best to sound calm, but everyone present could still hear the nervousness and slight trembling in his voice.
Kuzan's snores continued without interruption. Aside from that, the ship was completely silent as everyone's attention focused on the scene before them.
"You want me to teach you swordsmanship?" Kojin asked with a smile as he looked at the kneeling man.
"Yes," Daz Bonez answered simply. He was a man of few words, direct and straightforward. In that regard, he reminded Kojin a little of his younger self.
Kojin fell into thought, lightly tapping the armrest of his chair with his fingers. After a long silence, he suddenly smiled.
"I like your straightforward personality. From today onward... I'll teach you the sword."
Hearing those words, Daz Bonez's body shook. Without saying a single word, he kowtowed three times in succession, each impact so heavy that it left a dent in the deck. It was his way of acknowledging Kojin as his master.
Kuzan continued snoring as if nothing in the world could wake him. Since Kojin had nothing else to do at the moment, he decided to first test Daz Bonez's current strength. After seeing that Daz Bonez relied almost entirely on his Devil Fruit powers, Kojin frowned slightly.
"Your attacks are sharp, and your one-strike kill style is very effective. That's probably because of your background as an assassin," Kojin noted. "But relying too much on your Devil Fruit is also your biggest weakness. From this moment on, start over from the beginning. Forget that you're a Devil Fruit user, and learn swordsmanship from scratch."
Daz Bonez froze for a moment before nodding heavily.
"A true swordsman doesn't need a sword to be dangerous. His own body is his greatest weapon. Watch carefully." As he spoke, Kojin brought his index and middle fingers together. There was no flashy display, no extra movement; he simply traced them through the air with what looked like a slow, but was actually incredibly fast, slash.
'Bzzzt!'
The air itself seemed to split apart. Then, across the rolling sea, an enormous trench appeared, stretching far beyond the horizon.
Everyone aboard the ship from Baroque Works gasped in shock as they stared at the man standing there with two fingers extended. Daz Bonez's pupils contracted, and he stood there completely speechless.
"Swordsmanship isn't just about physical strength," Kojin smiled. "It's also about understanding this world, understanding its laws, and understanding the state of mind behind the blade. Feel the breath of all things. Listen to their voices. Let your body sense the rhythm of the world. See the world's flow with your own eyes, then follow that flow and swing your blade. Only then will your sword move exactly as you wish. It will cut whatever you want it to cut... and leave untouched whatever you don't."
Confusion filled Daz Bonez's eyes. Kuina also listened attentively; she had already learned these lessons long ago and moved beyond this stage of training, but hearing them again still gave her new insights.
Kojin offered no further explanation. Instead, he raised a hand, and an orange flew out from inside the cabin straight into his palm. His hand rested on the hilt at his waist, and in one smooth motion, he drew his sword and slashed the floating orange.
'Whoosh!'
The blade passed cleanly through its center. Kojin sheathed the sword and smiled. "Take a closer look."
Still puzzled, Daz Bonez caught the orange. The instant he examined it, his pupils shrank. The orange had clearly been cut by the blade... yet there wasn't the slightest mark on it. It remained perfectly intact, as though that slash had never happened.
"Only when your swordsmanship reaches the point where you can control it exactly as you wish can you truly be said to have stepped through the gate of swordsmanship," Kojin said with a smile. "And when you reach that level, the power of your techniques will increase tremendously."
Daz Bonez fell into thought. He recalled his recent battle with Pirate Hunter Zoro. When Zoro had cut through his steel body... he seemed to have already crossed that threshold.
"I understand." He nodded slowly, determined to experience that state for himself.
Under Kojin's guidance, Daz Bonez truly set aside his Devil Fruit powers. Like an ordinary swordsman, he spent every day swinging weighted training swords and practicing his technique. Whenever exhaustion overtook him, he would sit cross-legged and, under Kuina's instruction, try to grasp the deeper realms of swordsmanship. He longed to reach the level of Senior Kojin, the level where two fingers alone could split the sea.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
"We're almost there." The ever-lazy Kuzan suddenly sat up from his deck chair, stretched, and looked ahead.
Kojin stood with his arms crossed, wearing a faint smile as his gaze shifted toward another direction. Far beyond what ordinary eyes could see, a pirate ship with a skull-and-crossbones flag was sailing toward the same deserted island ahead. Although approaching from different directions, both ships shared the same destination. It was one of those strange coincidences that happened out on the sea, perhaps simply because the world itself was round.
"You guys don't need to come. I can handle this myself." Kuzan slung his bicycle over his shoulder and jumped off the ship, and in the blink of an eye, he was already riding across the sea.
Watching his old friend, Kojin smiled. "You all head on ahead. I'll catch up in a bit." The moment he finished speaking, his body turned into a bolt of lightning, instantly catching up to Kuzan.
"Hey, hey! My bike isn't built for two people!"
"Quit complaining and start pedaling!"
The two voices rang out one after another. The bicycle wobbled a few times before continuing forward at its usual leisurely pace.
"Carrying you makes me work a lot harder," Kuzan grumbled lazily.
"For a vehicle that runs on two bowls of rice per hundred kilometers, you sure complain a lot," Kojin shot back with a look of disdain.
"Then why don't you pedal?" Kuzan retorted immediately.
"Hurry up!"
Even two Admirals showed no mercy when bickering with each other.
A short while later, they arrived at the nameless island. At almost the exact same time, a small ship with a sheep figurehead pulled up to shore.
"Hm?" Kuzan slowly turned his head toward the group jumping off the ship, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Meanwhile, Kojin broke into a grin.
The Straw Hat Pirates.
They had finally met.
(End Of This Chapter)
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