It was now about twelve days after the Loguetown incident.
The Going Merry left the East Blue and, with the help of Issho's gravity, headed for Drum Island in the Grand Line.
Such jumping behavior was naturally to avoid the Marines' eyes and pursuit.
According to Hiroto's thoughts, the current Marines should hate him to the core, and once he showed his head, it might attract a huge blow. Even having an Admiral come out to hunt him down was not impossible.
Furthermore, the three Devil Fruits on Drum Island attracted him, especially the one suspected to be a Logia type. He could vaguely guess that it might be a Devil Fruit very suitable for Nami.
At this moment, on the Going Merry which had just landed, a fierce battle was unfolding.
After arriving at the planned target sea area, Hiroto once again sent an invitation for a sparring match to Issho.
Along the way, whether it was Hiroto, Zoro, or Carina and the others, they all took turns to request sparring matches with Issho.
Issho was worthy of the impression of being the closest to an "honest man" in the original story—generous, gentle, and enthusiastic.
He would take every challenge from everyone seriously and give explanations afterwards, benefiting everyone on the Going Merry greatly.
The best representative among them was Zoro.
After learning Armament Haki not long ago, he had also learned Observation Haki with the help of [Effort King].
In terms of combat power, he sat firmly as the second in Hiroto's crew, with the third being Van Augur and Carina tied.
The two were good at different directions, but their combat power was already not to be underestimated.
Van Augur was very skilled in the use of Observation Haki, and could already achieve the level of hitting a seagull several kilometers away with a casual shot, as he did when he appeared in the original story.
He had quite a prominent talent in Observation Haki: Wide-Range Scanning.
Especially Carina.
After Hiroto's guidance, she began to develop her Devil Fruit ability towards conceptualization.
Combined with [Effort King] and [Genius Trader], she created a special move that could slide away an enemy's strength.
She also made considerable progress in movement and speed.
And Hiroto himself had also made progress in his battles with Issho.
For example, now, as the Going Merry just landed and splashed up a towering column of water, the battle on the deck was just about to stop.
Hiroto took a step back to open up distance, and before he could react, Issho, holding Yakuza Kasen, struck down from above. Hiroto parried with both arms and was then sent flying several meters, with another conspicuous white mark added to his arm. There were as many as a hundred such marks on his arms.
Because the Armament Haki covering his arms had always been maintained at a low output power, every one of Issho's slashes could leave a conspicuous scar on Hiroto's arm.
But it was also because of this that Hiroto felt more and more that he had gained some insight.
The accumulation of this period of time was pushing him to continue forward.
Swoosh—
Swoosh—
Swoosh—
Issho's offensive continued, constantly slashing out, but gradually the white marks on Hiroto's hands became shallower and shallower. Until finally, not a single trace was left.
This was certainly not without reason, but rather an application of Armament Haki—Hardening.
By continuously outputting Armament Haki and solidifying the flowing Haki, one could obtain harder and more powerful Hardening characteristics for the same amount of Haki.
"It's done."
Seeing that his sword strike fell without causing a white mark, Issho knew that this sparring session was over.
He looked at Hiroto with a complex gaze, not of previous envy, but of a subtle emotion that was hard to describe. It was a subtle feeling similar to "you finally didn't make another huge leap in front of me."
Even so, Issho understood that Hiroto was still that incredible genius. In such a short period of time, he had mastered Armament Haki: Hardening.
But at least, Issho didn't feel the awkward sensation of his common sense collapsing yet again this time.
"Armament Haki: Hardening... I've indeed mastered it."
Hiroto repeatedly felt the solidified Armament Haki on his arm, confirming once again that he had become proficient with Hardening, and then revealed a satisfied smile.
He looked at Issho and sincerely said, "I've troubled you during this time."
"It's no trouble."
Issho shook his head, he didn't mind helping Hiroto and the others as a sparring partner. After observing for this period of time, he could be sure that everyone in this team was a relatively good person.
Compared to the energy he expended, Issho was more looking forward to how far Hiroto and the others could go and what kind of changes they would bring to this world.
After the two exchanged a few pleasantries, Issho took the opportunity to bid farewell, as his deal with Hiroto had ended.
"Then, goodbye."
Issho said goodbye to everyone on the Going Merry, and then, with a burst of purple light, he disappeared.
If only I could recruit him.
Hiroto watched Issho leave, feeling a sincere regret.
However, although he had the idea of recruiting Issho, he also knew that he didn't have the capital right now.
Issho had his own path and his own ideas. Perhaps in the future, they would have a chance to be fellow travelers. But for now, he should do what needs to be done.
Hiroto looked at the outline of Drum Island emerging in the distance.
"Target, Drum Island, set sail."