Grand Line — Banaro Island
One week after departing Marineford, the sea had finally delivered Portgas D. Ace to a place that felt no different from the last dozen stops he'd made.
Banaro Island was dry.
Dusty.
A little ugly.
The wind that moved across it carried grit instead of comfort, brushing over dead-looking earth and low stretches of scrubland that seemed to survive out of stubbornness alone. The sky above was bright, but the land beneath it felt worn down, as though too many people had passed through without ever caring to stay.
Ace sat on a weathered crate outside a half-collapsed building, one elbow resting over one knee as he tipped back a bottle of water. He swallowed, then lowered it slowly, letting out a quiet breath.
His hat sat low over his face, beads hanging at either side.
His expression was thoughtful.
'Blackbeard…'
He clicked his tongue lightly under his breath.
Days of tracking. Days of dead leads. Days of hearing the same useless fragments from frightened locals and drifters who either knew nothing or knew just enough to make things annoying.
He leaned back a little, staring out over the empty stretch of island road ahead of him.
"Should probably look somewhere else," Ace muttered to himself.
He lifted the bottle again—
Then paused.
Something had changed.
At first, it was subtle.
A rustle.
A faint spreading sound against the dry earth.
Ace's eyes shifted forward.
A boy was walking toward him.
No—
Not a boy.
A Marine.
Young, yes. Around his age. Maybe a little younger. Green hair. Marine coat hanging from his shoulders. A smug smile resting across his face like he had already won something that hadn't started yet.
And behind him—
Plant life bloomed.
Banaro's dead-looking ground came alive in his wake. Grass pushed up through the dust. Small flowers unfolded toward the sun. Vines crawled across broken stone. Life spread where his feet passed as naturally as shadow following a body.
Ace lowered the bottle.
His eyes sharpened.
'What the hell is this?'
The Marine kept walking until he was close enough for his face to be clear.
And then Ace recognized him.
"…No way."
The newspaper image had made him look sharper.
Meaner.
But the face was the same.
Ace let out a low whistle.
"Well, I'll be damned."
The Marine stopped a short distance away, hands in his pockets, shoulders loose, smile unwavering.
Ace looked him up and down once.
"Captain Tenjin, right?"
Tenjin's smile widened slightly.
"So you do know me."
Ace snorted.
"The whole world knows you, idiot. Punch a Celestial Dragon and suddenly you're on every front page from here to the Blues."
Tenjin took that with a kind of open pride that made Ace laugh.
Then, with the sort of composure only the truly troublesome possessed, the young Marine placed one hand lightly against his own chest.
"Marine Captain Tenjin," he said. "North Blue."
Ace raised the bottle in lazy acknowledgment.
"Portgas D. Ace. You look like you already knew that."
"I did."
The wind shifted between them.
Ace's gaze dropped briefly to the creeping plant life behind Tenjin, then rose back to his face.
"So what's this?" Ace asked. "You came all the way out here just to stare?"
Tenjin's expression sharpened just a little.
"No," he said. "I came here to capture you."
Ace stared at him.
Then laughed.
Just honestly amused.
"You serious?"
Tenjin didn't laugh.
"I'm a Marine," he said. "And you're the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. A man with a five hundred million berry bounty. A criminal. That makes this simple."
Ace smiled.
"No," he said. "It really doesn't."
Tenjin's brows lowered.
Ace took another small drink of water, like the conversation had not yet become worth the effort of standing.
"You've got guts," Ace said. "I'll give you that. But you came after the wrong guy if you think this is going to be simple justice talk."
Tenjin clicked his tongue.
"I don't care how strong you are."
Ace's eyes narrowed slightly.
"I don't care who your captain is. I don't care if you sail under Whitebeard."
His gaze hardened further.
"And I don't care if you're Garp-sensei's grandson. I'm still taking you in."
That got a real reaction.
Ace lowered the bottle completely now.
The amusement on his face remained, but it changed shape.
"Garp-sensei?" Ace repeated.
The way Tenjin had said it was not casual.
Not like a man referencing some legend out of a newspaper.
It was close.
Personal.
Ace looked at him again, really looked at him this time.
Then slowly stood.
The crate creaked as his weight left it. He rolled one shoulder loosely, hat casting a slight shadow over his eyes.
"Alright," Ace said.
The smile returned.
But now there was something behind it.
"Let's see what Grandfather's generation is raising."
He tilted his head.
"How strong it really is."
The moment the words left his mouth, Tenjin moved.
No warning.
The ground beneath Ace exploded upward in a burst of wood and snapping bark.
"Wood Cage."
Thick bars of hardened wood shot up from the earth in a perfect ring, curving inward like the ribs of some giant beast. They closed in fast, too fast for any normal man to escape once the trap had begun. The structure snapped shut around the spot Ace had been standing with a violent crack.
But Ace was already gone.
High above.
A burst of fire had launched him skyward in the same instant the cage formed.
Tenjin's eyes widened a fraction.
Then Ace came down.
His arm drew back in the air, flames condensing around it in a growing inferno.
"Fire Fist!"
The island lit up.
A colossal wave of fire came roaring down from the sky, swallowing the wooden cage whole and crashing over Tenjin like a descending wall of the sun itself. The ground cracked beneath the impact. Heat blasted outward in all directions, bending the air and blackening everything it touched.
For a few terrible seconds, Banaro Island disappeared inside fire.
Then the flames thinned.
And Tenjin came sprawling out of them.
He hit the ground hard, rolled once, and slammed shoulder-first into a broken patch of stone before stopping. Smoke rose from his coat. His sleeve had burned open in several places. The skin along one side of his face and neck was reddened and raw. One hand trembled slightly as he pushed against the ground.
He was badly hurt.
Seriously hurt.
Ace landed lightly a short distance away, one hand still smoking.
He looked down at the younger Marine and gave a low, understanding whistle.
"Ah," Ace said. "So that's how it is."
Tenjin glared up at him.
Ace smiled.
"Looks like fire really is the weakness of your Devil Fruit." He rolled his wrist once, embers drifting from his fingers. "Then you've found yourself a pretty troublesome opponent."
Tenjin clicked his tongue.
---
Holy Land, Mariejois
The hall was large enough to make kings look temporary.
Everything about it was excessive. High polished walls, vast open floor, elegant columns, rich drapery, and the sort of carefully arranged grandeur that only existed in a place built for people who believed themselves born above consequence.
At its center, seated alone with one leg crossed over the other, was a silhouetted man.
A glass of wine turned slowly in his hand.
The liquid inside caught what little light there was, glimmering darkly as he swirled it.
Before him stood a Cipher Pol agent in a mask, posture perfectly straight, voice kept respectfully low.
"The real mother of the boy is dead," the agent reported. "The woman who raised Tenjin-sama was not his birth mother. She was the dead woman's closest friend. She disguised herself and raised him in her place."
The man in the chair went still.
Then—
He smiled.
A wide, cold smile.
"So," he said softly, "Pakudo is dead."
He leaned back further, the wine still turning in his hand.
"Serves her right," he said. "Running from me… taking my son with her…"
There was no grief in his voice.
Only contempt.
"And now all her efforts will go down the drain." His smile deepened. "How truly unfortunate for her."
The Cipher Pol agent remained silent.
The man lifted the glass to eye level.
"Once I get my hands on Tenjin," he said, "with a power like his… our family's influence will grow even further."
He took a sip.
---
Water Seven
The sea train city moved with its usual energy.
Voices, tools, gulls, shipwrights, shouting, water, steam. The sounds of Water Seven layered over one another until the city itself seemed to breathe in machinery and salt.
Nearby, in a more open area not far from the docks, Koby was talking.
A lot.
And Luffy was listening with the sort of wide-eyed interest he usually reserved for meat, fights, and things that sounded like they might become fights.
"I'm serious, Luffy-san," Koby was saying. "Captain Tenjin is incredible. He learns unbelievably fast. He's strong, he's confident, and the way he carries himself. He makes people believe in him."
Luffy sat with his usual relaxed posture, staring at Koby with bright curiosity.
"Really?"
"Yes!" Koby said, nodding enthusiastically. "He's almost like you, Luffy-san…"
He paused.
Then added carefully—
"…if you were a Marine. And maybe a little more dangerous."
Luffy burst into laughter.
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
From nearby, Zoro looked over from where he had been leaning and gave a small snort.
"It means the guy sounds like trouble."
Sanji, standing close by with a cigarette in hand, exhaled smoke and glanced sideways at Koby.
"You've been talking about him for a while now," he said. "So either this Tenjin guy is impressive… or you've lost your mind."
Koby flushed slightly.
"He really is amazing."
Luffy's grin widened.
"I wanna meet him."
That was when Garp walked over.
His laugh arrived before the man himself fully did.
"Hahahaha!"
The group turned.
Garp folded his arms and grinned.
"That brat really does do whatever he wants," he said.
Luffy raised a brow.
"Who? Tenjin?"
"Yeah," Garp said. "Right now he should be fighting Ace."
Koby stiffened.
Zoro's eye sharpened.
Sanji lowered his cigarette slightly.
Luffy blinked once.
Garp went on, as if this were ordinary.
"Even though his bosses specifically told him not to."
For half a second, there was silence.
Then Luffy laughed.
A bright, easy, completely certain laugh.
"No matter how strong Tenjin is," Luffy said, "there's no way he's beating Ace."
---
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