When the ghost girl returned to the castle, she also brought back an unexpected but familiar guest. Mihawk did not bother to remember everyone he met, but this one he would not forget.
If the Lunar Angel was here, then her legendary master must have been on this island as well.
Considering the link that connected the Uzukage and his student, it was only logical that she was here.
His student, the green-haired rookie swordsman who had once foolishly determined enough to challenge him at the height of his power. The memory still amused him. Zoro had initiated the duel, bold and reckless, only to be defeated in the blink of an eye. Yet even in that overwhelming loss, the boy had refused to crumble. There had been something remarkable in that stubborn resolve.
Potential. Genuine, raw potential that most people lacked.
That was the reason Mihawk had taken him as a student. A twist of fate, perhaps, or simply curiosity that had turned into something more meaningful. He had trained the young swordsman with deliberate severity, molding his ambition, sharpening his skill, and watching that unyielding fire evolve into strength worthy of acknowledgment. The intention was clear, so that one day, that boy would return, stronger and unbreakable, to challenge Mihawk again and take from him the title of the greatest swordsman alive.
The strange irony of grooming his own successor was something Mihawk often contemplated in silence.
So when he learnt that Monkey D Naru herself had arrived on the island, right under his roof, he decided to confirm it with his own eyes. This was his domain, after all. If someone with her reputation was wandering about, he would at least see what chaos she was not creating for once. Yet before he could take a single step toward the training grounds, the estate shook beneath a sudden explosion. The thunderous crack of it rolled through the stone walls like an unwelcome announcement.
He paused. Listened. Waited.
When the ground finally stopped trembling and silence reclaimed the air, Mihawk calmly made his way toward the source of the disturbance.
Upon arrival, he found the two culprits laughing over something that clearly only made sense to the intoxicated. He did not care enough to investigate their joke, but he certainly noticed the overwhelming scent of sake that clung to the air like a fog. The training ground was littered with empty bottles, scattered across the earth in a pattern that resembled a battlefield of defeated beverages. It was a scene of both chaos and indulgence.
His eyes moved across the terrain with a sharp gaze. Trees stood severed as if struck by impossibly precise blades. The ground bore scars from violent clashes. Scorch marks painted the dirt. Craters gaped open like wounds. Broken debris lay everywhere he looked. The destruction was extensive and absolute. It would take considerable effort, and even more time, to restore the field to its previous condition.
He quietly noted that the damage could have been much worse. If Naru had been foolish enough to summon the fox, his estate would have been nothing but rubble and ash. He pictured a crater the size of the courtyard replacing his home and released a silent breath of relief.
At least she had shown a small amount of restraint today.
His golden gaze fell upon Garp's granddaughter just as she turned toward him. The flush of alcohol tinted her cheeks a rosy hue, and the grin she wore was far too energetic to belong to a sober person. In an instant, Mihawk was struck with a familiar sense of irritation and amusement. Her reckless enthusiasm mirrored a certain red-haired pirate captain he knew. She waved an empty sake bottle at him as if greeting an old friend.
"Oh, it's you! Come! Join us~"
Yes. Very similar indeed.
She tossed the empty bottle aside with no care at all. In a blink, a new group of full bottles appeared at his feet, materializing out of thin air in a small puff of smoke. Zoro did not seem to find this strange in the slightest. He merely reached for one, cracked it open, and raised it toward Mihawk with a broad smile.
"Oi, Hawkeye! Come join us!" he called out cheerfully.
Mihawk, already trained by years of Shanks forcing wine and camaraderie upon him, released a barely audible sigh. He crossed the ruined ground with unhurried steps. With the practiced resignation of someone accustomed to being looped into spontaneous drinking sessions, he sat down beside them and accepted the bottle offered to him.
A drink was a drink. No sense in wasting good sake.
"For someone with your reputation, you appear to have far too much time on your hands," Mihawk remarked, his voice smooth and flat as he swirled the bottle in his hand. "Especially considering the amount of damage you have inflicted upon the World Government recently."
"Mahhh, a lady deserves to rest once a while~"
Zoro leaned toward her, studying her expression with half-lidded eyes. His face was flushed and the scent of alcohol clung to his breath, yet his gaze remained sharp. He was not drunk either, simply relaxed.
"How long are you staying this time?" he asked.
Naru paused. She closed her eyes for a moment, a flicker of private thought dancing behind her lashes. When she looked at him again, she raised two fingers with a bright, carefree grin.
"Two days. Yue and I are leaving the day after tomorrow."
She glanced around as if only just remembering something. "Speaking of Yue, where did she go?"
Mihawk sampled his sake and silently acknowledged its quality. He would always prefer wine, but there was something refined and pleasant about this particular brew. He answered without looking up.
"With the ghost girl."
Naru blinked once, then nodded, remembering that she had indeed told Perona to keep Yue company earlier.
"Two days? That's quick," Zoro said.
"I have things to do and places that require my attention," she replied, finishing her bottle and popping open another with the ease of a seasoned drinker. Her tone turned playful as she added a wink that caused Zoro to stiffen and turn even redder. "I will be meeting up with my father and Sabo. I might run into one of your crewmates as well. Robin, right?"
She revealed about it so casually as if the enemy of her father's army was not sitting beside her.
But Mihawk merely took another sip of his drink.
The man was not a snitch.
He was not a messenger for the government. Nor was he their dog.
He minded his own affairs.
Zoro, however, sobered up quickly at the mention of a certain name. "You're going to see Robin?"
Naru nodded. "Sabo said she wanted to speak with me."
"For what?"
Naru shrugged. "Who knows?"
Zoro thought about it for a moment before letting out a slow breath. "Well... if you see her, let her know that I said hello. Or something like that."
Naru smiled. "Sure thing."
The three of them raised their bottles, the soft chime of glass echoing gently in the cool evening air.
And so the day came to a peaceful close. The warrior, the wanderer, and the weary swordsman drank together beneath the fading light. Despite the tangled paths that shaped their lives, they found themselves bound by unexpected camaraderie. They carried wounds from old battles, memories from distant shores, and ambitions that reached beyond the horizon.
Yet for that moment, with one more shared drink and one more companion among them, they allowed themselves a rare evening of quiet ease.
.
.
.
During the couple of days she stayed on the island, Naru spent most of her time sparring with Zoro. Mihawk, true to his personality, did not bother to involve himself in their increasingly destructive sessions. He simply sipped his wine from a safe distance while observing them like one might observe unusual wildlife. Meanwhile, Yue occupied herself with Perona and her small army of drifting ghosts, forming a strangely harmonious little group that floated from one place to another.
On the day of their departure, both Zoro and Perona accompanied Naru and Yue down to the shoreline.
"How exactly are you planning to leave this island when you don't even have a boat?" Perona asked, floating lazily above the sand as her curiosity got the better of her. She had grown surprisingly fond of Yue, bonding over their shared love for all things ghostly and adorable.
"Naru-sama will handle it," Yue replied in her usual gentle tone. Her eyes wandered toward the pair of tiny floating ghosts hovering around Perona's shoulders. They twirled around like happy little spirits. Yue silently wished she could take one home, something soft and supernatural to remind her of this strange yet comforting island.
Perona, catching the longing in Yue's gaze, gave a small huff and rummaged beneath her comically oversized hat. Without warning, she pulled out a miniature plush doll, a perfect little replica of her ghost companions. She pressed it firmly into Yue's hands.
Yue blinked several times, caught off guard by the sudden and oddly heartfelt action. She looked at the doll, then at Perona, whose cheeks were steadily turning pink.
"T-that is a gift. For a friend," Perona stammered, quickly trying to salvage her pride. Her voice leapt into its usual lofty register almost immediately. "Hmph. I am only giving it to you because you appreciate how cute my precious ghost friends are. Unlike certain sword-brained idiots." She shot a pointed glare at Zoro.
Said swordsman merely clicked his tongue in response, refusing to rise to the bait. Instead, he turned to Naru with a raised brow. "So, what's the plan? You gonna dash across the ocean like some ninja?"
He sounded oddly eager as he asked his question.
"No. That would drain my chakra far too quickly," Naru answered with a calm shake of her head. She could indeed run across water, but she had no desire to sprint over an entire ocean. Even she had limits, and she was not interested in collapsing halfway to her next destination.
Before anyone could ask another question, a crimson aura surged around her body. It rippled outward, gathering intensity like a rising storm, until it expanded into a towering spectral form. A massive humanoid fox with nine sweeping tails materialized behind her. Its blood-red eyes stared down at the group with a quiet, terrifying intensity.
"Eeeep?! Th-That's the Nine-tailed Fox!" PPerona shrieked, her voice cracking as she pointed at the enormous creature. She had only ever seen illustrations in obscure marine records. Seeing the actual beast standing before her was an entirely different story, one far more terrifying than ink on old parchment.
But when she noticed Yue standing calmly at her side, not even flinching, Perona sucked in a deep breath and forced herself to remain composed. If Yue was not panicking, she would not either. Pride demanded it.
"Whoa! What the hell?! How did you do that?!" Zoro asked, visibly startled by the beast's sudden appearance.
Naru just laughed softly. Meanwhile, the fox let out a low growl in Zoro's direction, triggering the man's reflexes as his hand instinctively hovered near his sword.
"This is Kurama," she said. "He's my partner."
"…Don't tell me you're planning to ride this thing across the ocean," Zoro muttered, genuinely baffled.
"She is, you dimwit," Perona scolded him while smacking the back of his head. "There was an entire article about how that fox carried the Uzukage across the sea like it was nothing. Honestly, try to read something once in your life."
"For real?!"
Kurama's eyes narrowed with immense offense. "Are you foolish enough to underestimate me?" he growled.
With a disdainful snort, he leaped forward. The colossal weight of his body descended onto the water's surface with a sound like a soft thunderclap, yet he remained perfectly balanced. He stood on the sea as easily as if it were solid earth.
"The fox just talked!" Zoro shouted in disbelief, as if he did not have a crewmate who was a talking reindeer or another who was literally a living skeleton. The irony was clearly lost on him.
A heartbeat later, Naru and Yue vaulted onto Kurama's back with smooth, synchronized movements, settling in place with the ease of long practice.
"Well then, we're off!" Naru looked down at them with a bright, radiant smile that practically sparkled under the morning sun. Zoro was immediately reminded of a certain rubber-brained captain and felt a surge of nostalgic irritation. "See you in the New World!"
Zoro crossed his arms and returned her smile with a confident smirk. "We will catch up. Wait for the whole crew to regroup and make our grand comeback."
"You better take care of that doll!" Perona called out at Yue, her voice cracking slightly with emotion as she watched her new friend hug the plush to her chest with both arms. Yue gave her a warm, gentle nod.
"Until our next meeting," Yue said softly, her voice carried away by the gentle wind.
Kurama pushed off with a mighty leap and began racing across the water. The waves parted beneath his paws, leaving behind a vast trail of mist and churning foam. Zoro watched in silence, eyes fixed on the shrinking figures of his childhood friend and her mysterious companion.
Perona eventually floated in front of him, waving her hand. "Oi. Stop spacing out and get moving before you wander into the woods again. I refuse to spend another hour dragging you out."
Zoro blinked, then grunted as he tore his gaze away from the horizon. "Tch. I'm not that hopeless."
He took a confident step forward.
Perona pointed with an accusing finger. "You are walking in the wrong direction, you idiot!"
"WHAT?!"