The year 1504 of the sea circle calendar.
Some where in the east blue...
"Alright," Kenji said, leaning against the mast with a grin. "So we agree—finding Hale is the first thing we do, right?"
Ryu rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. "Eventually. Yeah."
Kenji smirked. "Good. I'd hate for all that training to go to waste."
The sea stretched endlessly before them, calm and deceptively peaceful. The island Jiro had left them on was long gone behind the horizon. The wind filled the sails steadily, carrying them forward into open water.
For the first time since leaving, it felt real.
They were on their own.
That feeling lasted exactly two days.
The problem became obvious on the morning of the third.
They were lost.
Not the dramatic kind of lost — no storms, no wreckage, no screaming into the void. Just… directionless. The quiet, humiliating realization that neither of them knew how to properly sail.
Ryu stood at the front of the ship, staring at the horizon like it might offer answers.
Kenji stood at the wheel, turning it slightly left.
Then right.
Then left again.
"…I don't think this thing is doing anything," Kenji muttered.
Ryu frowned. "It's a wheel. It has to be doing something."
"I know that. I just don't know *what*."
Ryu glanced down at the compass Jiro had left them.
The needle spun lazily.
Useless.
"Did Jiro ever teach you navigation?" Ryu asked.
Kenji snorted. "Jiro barely taught me how to stand still without getting hit."
They stood there in silence, the ocean stretching endlessly around them.
No landmarks.
No ships.
No islands.
Just water.
Ryu exhaled slowly.
"We made a mistake."
Kenji nodded. "A big one."
They had training.
They had weapons.
They had Haki.
But they had absolutely no idea how to sail.
By the third day, they were arguing.
"Turn left."
"I *am* turning left!"
"Then why does everything still look the same?"
"Because the ocean doesn't come with street signs, Ryu!"
By the fourth day, they stopped arguing.
By the fifth, they barely spoke.
That was when Kenji finally broke the silence.
"We're going to die out here, aren't we?"
Ryu didn't answer.
Not because he didn't want to.
Because part of him wasn't sure.
---
Land appeared just before sunset.
A dark smudge on the horizon.
Then smoke.
Then rooftops.
Kenji nearly fell over the railing in relief. "That's land. That's definitely land."
They reached the island by nightfall.
It wasn't large. A modest port town, quiet, almost too quiet. Boats were docked, but no lanterns were lit. Doors hung half-open. Crates lay scattered.
Ryu felt it immediately.
Fear.
Not from one place.
From everywhere.
"Something's wrong," he said.
Kenji nodded slowly. "Yeah… people are hiding."
They moved inland carefully.
Then they heard it.
Screaming.
A group of pirates had gathered in the town square — a rough-looking crew of about fifteen. Weapons drawn. Laughter echoing as they dragged supplies from homes. Villagers were tied up, kneeling, trembling.
One pirate kicked an old man to the ground.
Another raised a pistol at a woman shielding a child.
Ryu didn't speak.
He moved.
In a blink, he crossed the distance and struck the nearest pirate with a Haki-coated punch.
The man flew backward into a wall.
Kenji was already moving, sweeping another pirate off his feet before he could react.
"What the hell—?!"
Ryu stepped forward, eyes calm.
"Leave," he said. "Now."
The pirate captain laughed.
Short. Thick-necked. Scarred.
"Who do you think you are—"
Ryu vanished.
The captain doubled over as Ryu's fist drove into his stomach. He collapsed instantly.
The rest panicked.
Some ran.
Some raised weapons.
None of them lasted long.
Kenji moved with precision, predicting attacks before they happened. Ryu struck with controlled force, never wasting motion.
Minutes later, it was over.
No villagers were hurt.
The pirates lay unconscious or fleeing.
A bounty poster slipped from the captain's coat.
**3,000,000 Beli.**
Kenji picked it up and stared. "That's it?"
Ryu looked around the square.
At the terrified villagers.
At the broken crates.
At the damage.
"That was someone's nightmare," he said quietly.
That night, they sat by the shore.
The villagers had offered food. Shelter.
But Ryu barely touched it.
"Did you feel that?" Kenji asked.
Ryu nodded.
"It was… easy."
Too easy.
Kenji exhaled. "That scares me more than the fight."
Ryu stared at the water. "There are thousands like him."
Kenji glanced at him. "So what are you saying?"
Ryu looked up.
"I don't want to be a pirate. I don't want fame. I don't want a crew."
Kenji tilted his head. "Okay…"
"I want to hunt them."
Silence.
Kenji smiled slowly. "So… bounty hunters?"
"Or pirate hunters," Ryu said. "Doesn't matter."
The sea whispered behind them.
And somewhere beyond the horizon, the world waited.
---