The meeting with Naobito exceeded everything Zoro could have hoped for, even though he hadn't expected much. He had prepared himself for the worst, and yet the change was striking.
From that day on, their living conditions improved drastically. Their cabin had been renovated so thoroughly it was almost unrecognizable.
Even the smell wasn't the same anymore.
The ambient humidity had drastically decreased and the pests had disappeared.
It had been enlarged, and the rotten wood that had made it up was replaced. Naobito installed electricity and basic electronics.
A refrigerator to store food, lamps to see at night, and something that wasn't really necessary but still useful: a television.
Zoro no longer needed to hunt every day.
In fact, he couldn't hunt at all anymore. The brush around the cabin was cleared, and the number of wild animals had drastically decreased.
The former abandoned garden was now a haven of peace and serenity, perfect for relaxing but not so much for training.
But that wasn't a big loss, considering how they were treated now.
The caretakers who had looked after them were replaced with new ones. Being from outside the clan, their treatment of Toji and Zoro was obviously better than what they had before.
Starting with food. They finally got three proper meals a day, not the leftovers they were used to.
The sensation of eating real, well-prepared meat had even brought a few tears to Zoro's eyes.
And because he could no longer hunt, he realized one thing .
He didn't need to eat as much as he did.
At first, Zoro thought that One Piece bodies required absurd amounts of food to grow. He mostly used Luffy as a reference. But with time he realized he had been wrong.
The OPB, as he decided to call it, had the ability—depending on genetics—to store a lot of calories for later use. But eating that much was isn't required to increase physical capabilities at their current level.
For now, four to five moderately full meals were enough. The new caretakers no, I noticed nothing that far surpasses human reason —just a baby who ate a lot.
Notable enough to be surprising, but not enough to be shocked.
Once food was taken care of, the next issue was education. Zoro no longer had to rely on drawings to explain things to Toji or spend 30 minutes trying to describe something.
With the TV installed and the caretakers' help Knowing what something was and what it represented had become easy, and therefore learning had also become easy. Reading couldn't be solved instantly, but over time it would no longer be a problem.
Overall, life had turned rosy for Zoro and Toji, at least for a year. Small annoyances still happened, but generally, it was calm.
Too calm. Zoro couldn't help but worry about a hidden reason.
"What is Naobito planning?" Not a day went by without him asking himself that question.
He searched the entire house for microphones, hidden cameras, or traces of cursed energy using his haki.
But he couldn't find anything suspicious.
"There's no way Naobito is this kind without a reason. He must have something in mind."
According to his recollections of the manga and anecdotes given by the author, Toji shouldn't even have been isolated from the Clan to this extent.
"He was most certainly isolated from the clan on a personal level, but not as physically isolated. My birth most likely triggered a butterfly effect; even a single child without cursed energy was unacceptable to the clan. So two? Trying to erase our existence isn't very surprising."
After weeks of thinking, he never figured out why Naobito behaved this way.
Eventually, he gave up and focused on training, not just his own but Toji's as well.
Zoro
Today, I start Toji's training.
Now that I don't have to worry about food, I can finally spend time teaching him.
Convincing him to give up his new hobby of watching TV wasn't easy, but I managed to drag him outside.
For now, my goal is to help him exploit his Heavenly Restriction. His physical strength is already enormous for his age, and with our new diet, it's slowly catching up to me.
Without proper equipment, real physical training was impossible. Instead, I decided to teach him combat basics and how to use his senses efficiently.
By the time I thought of a training plan, Toji had finished warming up.
"Allete… Allete… Big brother… I'm done!"
Seeing him out of breath looked strange at first, until I remembered he had been running at moderate speed for twenty minutes.
"Good. You can take a break now."
He sighed deeply and dropped to the ground.
But the moment he touched the floor…
"BREAK IS OVER. GET UP, YOU LAZY BUM!"
Toji got up quickly and looked at me with betrayed eyes.
"That's not fair, big brother."
"Well, life isn't fair. Now copy what I do."
I started with basic stretches, which he copied perfectly.
After a few minutes, we moved to the real subject.
"Today I'll teach you how to fight. Stand in the position where you feel the most balanced."
He gave me his usual confused look.
"What does balanced mean?"
I realized then that this would be harder than I thought.
"Stand where you think you won't fall. No cheating. You must stay standing."
After a moment of fidgeting, Toji settled into a decent stance.
"There's room for improvement, but it's already very good. Is this kid a genius, or is it normal for those with a reversed Heavenly Restriction?"
I stepped closer and pushed him in the abdomen. He stayed firm. I pushed his shoulder next; his stance wavered slightly, but he didn't fall.
Finally, I went behind him and pushed his back. This time, he truly lost balance and almost fell, but I caught him just in time.
"It's not perfect, but it'll do for now," I said, moving back in front of him.
"Listen carefully. In the human body, some areas can cause instant defeat if hit. These are called vital points."
I touched his chin, throat, solar plexus, and liver.
"These are the points to protect in hand-to-hand combat. I won't cover weapons yet. But be clear: if someone attacks with a weapon, run. I doubt they'll catch you."
Toji nodded, reviewing the points I had shown him.
"I could explain how to protect them, but it's better to teach you through practice."
I took a standard boxing stance.
"No more formalities. Let's violence."
Author's note
Don't forget to send power stones, it gives me the willpower to continue.