The manicured lawn of the grand mansion was suffocated by a chilling, heavy silence. The gentle ocean breeze that usually carried the scent of sea salt through Syrup Village seemed to freeze entirely.
Klahadore—no, Kuro of the Hundred Plans—stood on the patio, adjusting his round glasses with the base of his palm. His polite, subservient posture had completely vanished, replaced by the lethal, coiled stance of a predator. Ten long, razor-sharp katana blades extended from the fingertips of his black gloves. They glinted dangerously under the midday sun.
Kaya fell to her knees, her frail hands covering her mouth as tears streamed down her pale cheeks. "Klahadore... is it true? All these years... you were just waiting to kill me?"
"Please, spare me the tears, Miss Kaya," Kuro sneered, his voice dripping with absolute disdain. "Playing the role of a pathetic, groveling butler for three years made me want to vomit. I endured your tedious stories and your naive kindness for one reason only: your massive fortune. Once my crew arrives, they will slaughter this village, assassinate you, and I will legally inherit everything. It was a flawless plan."
Usopp stepped in front of Kaya, his entire body trembling violently. He pulled his slingshot from his pouch, pulling the band back with a shaking hand. "Y-You bastard! I won't let you lay a single finger on Kaya! I have eight million men surrounding this estate right now! If you take one step closer, you'll be blown to bits!"
"Do shut up, you pathetic liar," Kuro sighed, casually waving one of his bladed hands. "Your absurd bluffs might work on the simpletons of this village, but to me, you are nothing but an insect."
Before Kuro could take a step toward the terrified pair, the heavy, rhythmic sound of boots on grass drew his attention.
Roronoa Zoro walked forward, casually rolling his shoulders. He unsheathed the Wado Ichimonji and placed the pristine white hilt between his teeth. With his hands free, he drew the Sandai Kitetsu and the Yubashiri from his hips.
"Oi, insect," Zoro mumbled around the blade in his mouth, his eyes burning with a fierce, battle-hungry intensity. "You talk way too much. My captain told me to take you down in ten minutes, but honestly, you're not even worth that. I'm just going to use you for a little practice."
Kuro's eyes narrowed, deeply insulted. "Practice? You insolent, backwater pirate. I was one of the most feared men in the East Blue. I will slice you into ribbons before you even realize you've been cut."
Zoro didn't bother replying. He simply smirked and burst forward, his legs kicking up clods of dirt and grass as he closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
"Too slow," Kuro mocked. Using his signature Stealth Foot technique, Kuro vanished from his spot, reappearing directly to Zoro's left, his bladed claws sweeping in a deadly arc toward the swordsman's ribs.
Zoro reacted instantly. He pivoted, bringing his twin swords down in a heavy, cross-shaped slash aimed right at Kuro's chest. As he swung, Zoro concentrated every ounce of his willpower, desperately trying to force his latent spiritual energy into the steel of his blades. He visualized the metallic, pitch-black coating that Luffy had demonstrated on the ship.
But as the blades descended, the steel remained a shining, pristine silver.
Damn it! No Haki! Zoro thought, his eyes widening in frustration.
In a move that defied all combat logic, Zoro forcefully halted his own attack. He strained his muscles, abruptly stopping the devastating slash a mere inch away from Kuro's collarbone.
Because Zoro had completely abandoned his attack and ruined his own momentum, his guard was left wide open. Kuro didn't hesitate. The cat claws raked violently across Zoro's left shoulder and chest, tearing through his green haramaki and drawing a spray of bright red blood.
Zoro grunted in pain, stumbling backward a few steps. Blood dripped down his arm, staining the green grass beneath his boots. Yet, despite the deep laceration, a feral, terrifying grin spread across his face.
Kuro paused, his bladed fingers dripping with blood, utterly bewildered by the exchange. "What in the world was that? You had a perfectly clear opening to strike me, yet you stopped your blade on purpose just to take my attack. Are you mocking me, swordsman? Or are you simply a suicidal fool?"
Zoro spat a small wad of blood onto the grass, tightening his grip on his swords. "If I cut you down with normal steel, it defeats the entire purpose of the captain giving me this fight. It's absolutely meaningless. I will not land a single slash on you unless my blades are coated in black."
Nami, who was watching from the sidelines alongside Luffy, let out a panicked shriek. "Luffy! What is he doing?! Why did he stop his attack?! He's going to get himself killed!"
Luffy stood with his arms crossed, watching the fight with a calm, completely unshakable expression. "He stopped because his swords didn't turn black. Zoro is a man of immense pride, Nami. He promised me he would become the strongest swordsman in the world. If he can't even coat his blades in Armament Haki in a real battle, he considers the attack a failure. He's treating this entire fight as a crucible."
Usopp's jaw hit the floor. "He took a lethal hit on purpose?! Are you guys completely insane?! That guy is a mass murderer!"
Luffy just laughed, his signature grin returning. "Shishishishi! Don't worry, Usopp. Zoro won't lose to a guy like this."
Back on the battlefield, Kuro's face contorted into a mask of pure, unadulterated rage. His aristocratic facade shattered entirely. "You are treating me... Captain Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates... as a mere training dummy?! I will make you suffer for that arrogance!"
Kuro vanished again, his speed pushing the limits of the human eye. He appeared behind Zoro, slashing at his back.
Zoro spun around, swinging his blades with ferocious power. Again, he squeezed his spirit, trying to force the Armament Haki out. The steel glimmered, but the black coating refused to manifest.
Tch. Still nothing, Zoro cursed internally.
Once again, Zoro forcefully pulled his strike at the very last millisecond. The sudden halt threw him off balance. Kuro laughed maniacally, driving his claws into Zoro's right thigh and kicking him hard in the chest.
Zoro skidded backward across the dirt, panting heavily. He was bleeding from three different places now, his breathing growing slightly ragged. The physical toll of constantly halting his own full-power swings was almost worse than the cuts themselves.
I'm relying too much on my sight, Zoro realized, closing his eyes tightly. When Luffy was beating me with that club on the ship, I only managed to dodge when I completely shut out the visual world. I need to feel his intent. I need to sense his spirit before he even moves.
To the absolute horror of everyone watching—Kuro included—Zoro stood perfectly still, lowered his swords, and firmly kept his eyes shut.
"What are you doing now?!" Kuro screamed, his voice pitching high with fury. "Are you accepting your death?! You dare close your eyes in the presence of Captain Kuro?!"
"You're too loud," Zoro muttered, keeping his eyes firmly shut. "Your footsteps are quiet, but your killing intent is as loud as a cannon. Come on. Try to cut me."
"Die, you arrogant brat! Shakushi!"
Kuro completely abandoned his refined movements. He dropped his arms, letting his bladed hands hang limp, and began to sway back and forth. In an instant, he disappeared. This was his ultimate technique—a speed so chaotic and fast that even Kuro himself didn't know what he was going to cut.
Slash!
A deep cut opened on Zoro's right bicep. Zoro didn't flinch. His eyes remained closed.
Slash!
Another cut tore through Zoro's left pant leg. He gritted his teeth, completely ignoring the searing pain. In the darkness behind his eyelids, the world was no longer made of grass, stone, and sky. He was searching for the 'spark' Luffy had taught him about.
"Zoro!" Nami screamed, her hands covering her mouth as the swordsman was methodically sliced from all directions. Blood was pooling at his feet. "Luffy, stop the fight! He's bleeding too much! He's going to die!"
"Watch closely, Nami," Luffy said, his voice surprisingly gentle but firm. "Look at his posture. He's not flinching anymore. He's finding the rhythm."
Luffy was right. Despite the mounting number of minor injuries, Zoro's breathing had steadied. The chaotic, invisible flurry of Kuro's Shakushi was a terrifying storm, but Zoro was slowly finding the center of it.
There, Zoro thought, his heart beating in perfect synchronization with his mind.
In the absolute darkness of his vision, a sudden, bright spark flared. It was the distinct, undeniable sensation of a malicious presence aiming directly for his neck.
Without opening his eyes, Zoro tilted his head sharply to the right.
Kuro's blades sliced through empty air, missing Zoro's jugular by a millimeter. Kuro reappeared from his high-speed movement, his eyes wide behind his glasses in absolute shock. "You... you dodged the Shakushi? Impossible! I don't even know where my blades are going!"
Zoro slowly opened his eyes. The feral, bloodthirsty grin on his face had transformed into an expression of absolute, terrifying serenity.
"You may not know where your blades are going," Zoro said, his voice rumbling like an approaching thunderstorm. "But your blade carries your murderous intent. And right now... your intent reeks of fear."
Zoro raised the two swords in his hands, crossing them over his chest. He bit down hard on the Wado Ichimonji.
"Now that I can see you..." Zoro breathed out a heavy cloud of air. "...I can finally cut you down."
Zoro channeled the absolute certainty he had just found through his Observation Haki directly into his Armament. He didn't try to force it like before. He simply commanded it. The spiritual energy flowed from his core, down his arms, and poured into the steel.
Before Kuro's horrified eyes, the shining silver blades of the Sandai Kitetsu and the Yubashiri darkened. A metallic, pitch-black sheen crept up the steel from the hilts, enveloping the blades completely. The Wado Ichimonji in his mouth followed suit, turning into a solid, black blade of destruction.
Luffy smiled broadly. "Shishishishi! He finally did it."
Kuro took a step back, a cold sweat breaking out across his forehead. He had never seen a blade turn black before, but his survival instincts were screaming at him that if those swords touched him, he would die instantly.
"Don't mock me!" Kuro roared, desperately launching himself forward for one final, all-or-nothing strike, plunging all ten of his bladed fingers toward Zoro's heart.
Zoro crouched low, the black blades gleaming ominously in the sunlight.
"Three-Sword Style..." Zoro muttered, the air around him seeming to distort from the sheer pressure of his Haki.
As Kuro closed the final meter, Zoro vanished.
"Purgatory Oni Giri!"
The sound of clashing steel rang out like a thunderclap, followed immediately by the sickening sound of metal shattering.
Zoro reappeared ten feet behind Kuro, slowly standing up straight.
For a long, agonizing second, nothing happened. Then, the ten katana blades attached to Kuro's gloves cracked and shattered into dozens of jagged pieces, falling harmlessly onto the grass.
Kuro stood frozen, his eyes wide and vacant. A massive, cross-shaped gash suddenly erupted across his chest. His pristine black suit was shredded. Without a single word, the infamous Kuro of the Hundred Plans collapsed face-first into the dirt, completely unconscious and thoroughly defeated.
Zoro let out a long, heavy breath. He allowed the black Armament Haki to fade from his swords, the steel returning to its natural silver. He carefully sheathed his blades, wincing slightly as the pain of his numerous cuts finally registered. He dropped to one knee, blood dripping heavily from his wounds, but he threw his head back and laughed.
It was a laugh of pure, unadulterated satisfaction. He had done it. He had manifested and maintained Haki in a real battle.
Luffy walked over, a massive grin on his face, and slapped Zoro on his uninjured shoulder. "Shishishishi! That was awesome, Zoro! You took way too much damage, but you finally nailed it!"
Zoro smirked, looking up at his captain. "Yeah. It finally clicked. I can bring it out whenever I want now. Though... I'm definitely going to need a lot of booze to numb all these cuts."
Usopp and Kaya rushed over, completely ignoring the unconscious pirate on the lawn.
"T-That was incredible!" Usopp stammered, his eyes shining with a mixture of terror and awe. "You let him cut you on purpose just to train?! You guys really are monsters! But... thank you. You saved Kaya. You saved the whole village."
Kaya knelt in the grass, ignoring the blood, and bowed her head deeply. "I can never repay you for this. You saved my life. Please, let me call my doctors to treat your wounds immediately!"
Nami ran up, placing her hands on her hips, though her face showed profound relief. "Honestly, Zoro! You gave me a heart attack! If you die before we even reach the Grand Line, I'm going to kill you myself!"
Zoro just chuckled, letting Kaya's medical staff, who had finally rushed out of the mansion, begin wrapping his wounds in bandages.
"Well, that takes care of the local pest," Luffy said, stretching his arms above his head. "Now we just need to figure out how we're going to get to our next—"
Before Luffy could finish his sentence, the bright afternoon sun was suddenly blotted out. A massive, imposing shadow fell over the entire mansion, plunging the lawn into darkness.
Everyone looked up, their eyes widening in sheer disbelief.
Floating silently in the sky, suspended perfectly above the estate by glowing, blue anti-gravity thrusters that defied all logic, was the Flying Raijin.
"O-Our ship?!" Nami gasped, pointing up at the massive white galleon. "How is it flying?! It was just sitting in the water this morning!"
Luffy's expression darkened into a comical pout. He shook his fist at the sky. "Oi! You damn thief! Bring my ship down right now before I come up there and punch a hole through it!"
The blue thrusters hummed loudly, and the Flying Raijin slowly, gracefully descended, coming to a gentle hover just a few feet above the expansive lawn of the estate. The boarding ramp hissed, lowering slowly to the grass with a heavy thud.
A figure emerged from the shadows of the ramp.
He didn't look like a fearsome pirate or a Marine Admiral. He was an older man, wearing a pristine, high-tech white lab coat. The most striking feature about him was his abnormally large, elongated head, which had been modified and capped with an apple-shaped metallic antenna. He walked down the ramp with an eccentric, bouncing step, holding a glowing tablet in his hands.
He looked around the lawn, his eyes lingering on the defeated pirate, the bleeding swordsman, and finally settling on the boy with the straw hat.
"Fascinating! Truly, utterly fascinating!" the man declared, his voice carrying a manic, excited pitch. "The architectural integrity, the biometric security protocols, the localized gravity manipulation... this vessel boasts technology that is at least five hundred years ahead of this current era!"
He stopped a few feet away from Luffy, pushing a pair of eccentric goggles up onto his forehead.
"I apologize for the unauthorized test drive," the man said, offering a wide, eccentric smile. "But when my sensors detected a technological marvel sitting in the weakest sea, I simply couldn't resist a closer look."
He gave a slight, theatrical bow.
"I am the lead scientist of the World Government's Special Science Group. You may call me Dr. Vegapunk. And I simply must know... who in the world built this magnificent ship?"