"Ceremony complete!"
The Marine Staff Officer's powerful voice rang out. "We just expressed gratitude to pirates, which violates Marine law. Next, everyone will be punished with one month of town reconstruction work. As the leader, my sentence is three months."
"Yes!" The Marines' shouts echoed throughout the port.
On the gradually departing sloop, Hiroto retracted his gaze.
Suddenly, a smile appeared on his lips. Je felt the weather today made him much happier.
...
Two days later.
Inside the towering Marineford, in Vice Admiral Tsuru's office.
Tsuru, whose hair was gray and showed signs of aging, put down the report from Marine Base 153 and rubbed her temples, a headache brewing.
"What's with that expression? I'm just eating some senbei here, aren't I?"
Garp burst out laughing after speaking, "Even if you try to kick me out, I won't leave, Tsuru-chan. That scoundrel Sengoku is looking for me everywhere, but I don't want to escort any Celestial Dragons. I'd rather go wander the East Blue and see if there are any pirates worth teaching a lesson to."
"Because you're not an Admiral."
Tsuru shook her head helplessly. "Even if you refuse to carry out orders, they'll just dock a bit of your salary. But I'm not worried about that, it's about this person."
With that, she tossed the report over.
Garp frowned, intending to laugh it off and make a run for it, but when he saw Tsuru's gaze suddenly sharpen, he picked up the report and read it carefully.
Then, Garp's brow furrowed. "A 37 million bounty, and it's only his second bounty, and he's a swordsman. I haven't been back for a few months, and a kid like this pops up in the East Blue?"
He was a bit surprised. After all, with his frequent visits home, there were hardly any noteworthy pirates in the East Blue.
A few years ago, Smoker was stationed in Loguetown, so the quality and quantity of pirates produced in the East Blue were both low.
Now this Hiroto, judging from the report, seems interesting.
"Is that the main point, Garp?" Tsuru said, displeased.
"Alright, alright."
Garp chuckled. "This kid wants to take a seat among the Warlords, doesn't he?"
"Hanafuda was defeated by Fire Fist Ace, losing his Warlord title, and subsequently died from other pirates' revenge."
Tsuru said, "Countless people are eyeing that position, and Head-Chopping Swordsman Hiroto is one of them. However, I made arrangements earlier. Smoker has already gone to see him."
"That unruly kid?"
Garp stroked his chin, looking at Tsuru. "What do you mean?"
Tsuru sighed, "Smoker has been in Loguetown for these past few years, and it seems nothing has changed. Instead of wasting him in Loguetown, it's better to use this opportunity to transfer him under your command."
"Logia type Devil Fruit Users are extremely rare, and besides, don't you have experience teaching Logia type Devil Fruit Users?"
Garp laughed heartily, saying, "Hahahaha, that Kuzan kid wasn't someone I could teach to become who he is. We'll talk about this later."
He had heard some things about Smoker's reputation, perhaps he was a kid to his liking.
Seeing that Garp didn't flat-out refuse, Tsuru understood that the matter was halfway done.
In the entire Marineford, no one could force Garp to do something he didn't want to do. His seniority, the title of Marine Hero, and his lack of ambition were all reasons.
After some thought, Tsuru simply proceeded to adjust the bounty amounts for Hiroto's crew.
Since she wanted Smoker to advance, Hiroto's crew, serving as stepping stones, couldn't be too weak.
—
Several days later, with a gentle breeze and calm waves under a clear blue sky, a sloop sailed with the wind.
Hiroto sat cross-legged at the bow, Wado Ichimonji resting on his lap as usual, meditating.
These past few days, he had primarily been practicing the 'Breath of All Things', and with the 200x boost from [Effort King], it could be said that he had spent three years fully devoted to his training. Now, he felt he had touched that bottleneck.
Even with his eyes closed, Hiroto, sitting cross-legged, could clearly sense the undulating ocean waves, the gently blowing sea breeze, the seagulls soaring in the sky, and Nami, Carina, Johnny, Yosaku, and Zoro on the ship.
However, in his perception, these were all circulating and fluctuating 'auras'.
This was precisely the state Zoro was in when he faced Daz Bonez in Alabasta in the original story.
But for Hiroto today, this was already a common sight. He had reached this level on the second day of their voyage.
All the time since then had been spent trying to master 'Breath of All Things'.
From understanding what 'Breath of All Things' truly was, to forming his own interpretation, and now to its nascent emergence.
Three years of time, all spent on this.
And now, Hiroto had finally understood everything.
He suddenly opened his eyes, slowly stood up, drew Wado Ichimonji, and looked at the railing at the bow of the ship.
It was very fragile. With the sharpness of a famous sword, it could be cut with just a touch.
He raised the blade into a Kesagiri posture. At the same time, past insights flooded his mind.
In Zoro's teaching, the so-called 'Breath of All Things' could only be touched by a swordsman who had mastered his sword. By injecting one's own will into it, transforming the sword into an extension of one's limb and will.
So, why was this?
The answer emerged in Hiroto's mind: because humans are not inanimate objects. To understand the Breath of All Things, one must view it from the perspective of an inanimate object.
A sword is an inanimate object, yet also an extension of the swordsman's will. It is the swordsman's limb, and naturally, it can also be the swordsman's 'eyes' for observing all things.
He closed his eyes, Wado Ichimonji gripped tightly in his hand, and the aura in his perception became unprecedentedly dense. It gathered into a mass in his 'vision', vibrant and powerful like a beating heart.
That was—'The Life of All Things'.