Stairs Could Never Kill a Future Great Swordsman

Shimotsuki Village, Isshin Dojo.

"Again!"

Zoro charged with a yell, brandishing three wooden swords.

Smack!

The next second, he was crouched on the ground, clutching his forehead and gritting his teeth so hard they almost cracked.

"Two thousand and—"

"Shut up! I don't need you to count for me!"

Kuina lowered her sword, her eyes curving into crescents.

Ever since Koshiro had spoken with her, she had been training even harder than before.

At the first hint of dawn, she would stand in a practice stance with her sword, and at night, even after wiping it down, she insisted on practicing ten more sets of footwork before resting.

Koshiro no longer told her things like "girls should take it easy." He taught her as he saw fit, rapping her wrists without mercy whenever she made a mistake.

"You raise your shoulder too high when you strike."

Koshiro demonstrated with a wooden sword, turning his waist and hips as he swept the blade out with a rush of wind.

"More strength isn't always better. First, learn to bring the force of your whole body together in one line."

Kuina copied his swing, and her eyes lit up at once. "Like this, Father?"

"Ten more times."

Beside them, Zoro secretly tried to copy them too and nearly wrenched his back, making Kuina snicker.

The thing the two kids were most eager to do each day now was corner Ron.

"Let me see that move from yesterday again!"

"I've figured out how to counter it!"

Ron yawned and casually picked up a wooden sword.

Smack! Smack!

He struck each of them once on the forehead, the blows ringing out sharply.

"Did you counter it?"

"No!" Zoro gritted his teeth.

"Then go back and keep practicing."

Kuina refused to accept it. "What about tomorrow?"

"Depends on my mood tomorrow."

"That's what you said yesterday!"

Ron turned and slipped away, leaving the two kids arguing behind him over which of them had been hit first.

The dojo had been lively these past few days, and Koshiro had to brew an extra pot of tea every day.

That evening, rain suddenly began to fall, pattering against the windows.

Kuina remembered that she had left the whetstone in the attic, so she gathered a few old sword cloths and went upstairs.

After finding the whetstone, she wrapped it in the cloths and carried it in her arms as she headed down.

The wooden staircase ran alongside a window, and rain blew in through a gap, wetting the top few steps.

With her arms full, she was still thinking about Ron's upward sword flick from that day. It had looked terribly slow, yet she hadn't been able to block it no matter what.

Tomorrow, I have to ask him exactly how he does it.

Lost in thought, she took a step down, and her foot suddenly slipped.

"Ah!!"

The whetstone fell from her hands first. Her body tipped backward, and the back of her head hurtled straight toward the edge of a step!

At the other end, Ron was drinking tea with Koshiro beneath the veranda.

His teacup had just touched his lips when he abruptly froze.

Through his Observation Haki, that familiar presence suddenly flared, plunging straight down in terror.

There was no time to speak.

Click!

Just as the back of Kuina's head was about to hit the step, an Air Door suddenly opened behind her!

She fell headfirst through the door, sword cloths and all.

The next second, another door opened beside the tea table.

Ron reached out and caught her, using his other hand to support the back of her head just in time.

Crash!!

The whetstone slammed into the bottom of the staircase, splitting the lowest wooden step on impact and sending splinters flying everywhere!

Koshiro sprang to his feet, knocking over his chair.

He looked at his daughter's deathly pale face in Ron's arms, then at the shattered corner of the step. His lips moved, but he couldn't get a single word out.

It had been close.

So very close!

Ron had already quickly checked her head, neck, arms, and legs. "Where does it hurt? Can you move?"

"I can..."

Kuina's voice was still trembling, and her eyes were red-rimmed.

Apart from a little scrape on her wrist, she had no other visible injuries.

Only then did Ron breathe a sigh of relief, his face uncharacteristically stern.

"Little girl, you've practiced swordsmanship for so many years, and you almost lost your life walking down some stairs?"

"I, I slipped..."

"If you want to become a great swordsman, first you have to stay alive."

Ron gently tapped her forehead with his knuckles.

"You were carrying something this heavy down the stairs on a rainy day, and you still let yourself get distracted?"

"Next time, watch your step first. Do you hear me?"

"...I know."

Only then did Koshiro walk over and bend down to gather his daughter into his arms, his hands trembling.

"Kuina..."

"Father?"

"From now on, be sure to take your time going up and down the stairs."

Kuina was taken aback. Slowly, she reached up, wrapped her arms around her father's shoulders, and buried her face against him. "I'm sorry I worried you."

Koshiro said nothing, only holding her a little tighter.

Ron quietly got up to inspect the staircase.

The window beside the stairs had come loose, and rainwater was dripping down the frame onto the steps.

He found a plank and nailed the window shut for the time being, then called over a young dojo disciple to wipe the steps dry. Once the rain stopped, they would have a carpenter reinforce the railing.

After seeing Kuina settled, Koshiro also crouched down and personally checked the steps one by one.

"Nothing like this has ever happened before..." he said softly.

"Just because it hasn't happened before doesn't mean it won't happen in the future."

Ron stood beside him, wiping his hands. "No matter how skilled a swordsman is, one careless step can still bring them down."

Koshiro nodded solemnly.

"Thank you for this."

"Don't thank me yet."

Ron raised his chin toward the banister. "First, make sure that's fixed up strong. Your daughter still has to go up and down these stairs every day while she chases her goal of becoming the world's number one."

"What?! Kuina almost fell to her death?!"

Early the next morning, Zoro rushed into the dojo with three wooden swords, his face darker than yesterday's rain clouds.

"Hey! What's wrong with you, you idiot?!"

"You're the idiot! Why are you yelling so loud?!"

Kuina was sitting beneath the veranda while her father applied medicine to her wrist. Hearing Zoro, she immediately snapped back.

"Didn't we agree to become the world's number one?! Who told you to go running around the stairs by yourself?!!"

"I was just going to get the whetstone!"

"You were just going to get the whetstone when you almost fell to your death?!"

"Aren't I sitting right here, perfectly fine?!"

Zoro opened his mouth, his face turning bright red, and finally forced out, "Today's challenge isn't canceled!"

Kuina burst out laughing.

"Of course it isn't. You still owe me your next defeat!"

"Who's going to lose?!!"

Leaning against the doorframe, Ron smiled as he watched the two kids arguing again.

"Moss Head, if you lose, you're in charge of cleaning the stairs."

"Why should I?!"

"Because you're definitely going to lose," Kuina immediately chimed in.

"You're the one who's definitely going to lose!"

Ron laughed and stepped in. "All right, whoever loses cleans."

Koshiro stood to one side, watching the two making a racket in the courtyard, and smiled as well.

Last night, she had almost come to harm, and today they already had the energy to bicker again.

That was good.

As for which of them would become the world's number one?

He would let the two of them fight it out in their own time.

Meanwhile, on Amazon Lily.

The new emperor's coronation ceremony had just concluded. Eighteen-year-old Boa Hancock sat upright on the throne, her snake-patterned cloak draped over its side.

Her two younger sisters stood on either side of her. Both had grown into young women's... figures, no longer the little girls who had followed behind her, crying.

Gloriosa gazed at the young woman on the throne, lost in thought for a moment.

Two years ago, they had still been trapped in a cage in Mary Geoise.

Now, Boa Hancock had become Kuja's new emperor.

Proud and strong-willed, she hated being controlled more than anything...

Yet when she looked at the people of Kuja, there was a softness in her eyes that even she hadn't noticed.

She had also kept the promise she had made to that marine in the Holy Land all those years ago: once she got out, she would never take the initiative to do evil.

A few days after her coronation, Boa Hancock summoned all the warriors of the tribe.

"In the past, the women of Kuja had to go out to sea and raid to survive."

She stood on a raised platform, facing the whole island. "But from today onward, Kuja's blades must never again be turned against innocent civilians!"

"Whatever you want, fight for it with your own strength."

She formally announced that Kuja would no longer live by plunder and would instead reorganize as the Kuja Adventure Group.

They would explore sea routes, provide escorts, and trade, earning their living through their own abilities.

A flurry of discussion immediately broke out below the platform.

"No more raiding? Then what are we going to eat?"

"Didn't she just say? We'll escort ships at sea and do business!"

Boa Hancock swept a cold gaze over the crowd.

"Anyone who objects can step forward now."

The few who had been muttering just moments ago immediately fell silent.

Two enormous swimming snakes pulled Kuja's warship through the Calm Belt.

Just after they entered the waters beyond it, the lookout spotted a merchant ship ahead under attack by pirates.

When the pirate captain saw that the opposing ship was full of women, he burst out laughing and slapped the rail. "A ship full of women? Hahaha! Looks like we're in luck today!"

Boa Hancock stood at the bow, her cloak billowing high in the sea breeze.

She raised her hand, a faint pink light glowing at her fingertips.

"Mero Mero Mellow!"

Heart-shaped waves of light swept across the opposing deck. Most of the pirates stiffened instantly, becoming motionless stone statues.

Before the rest could react, Kuja's female warriors had already leaped across with their swords and quickly defeated the remaining pirates.

Boa Hancock walked up to the statue and glanced down at him.

"Weren't you laughing pretty loudly just now?"

She kicked out!

Bang!

The statue shattered with a crash, its fragments tumbling into the sea one after another.

After that battle, word of the Kuja Adventure Group quickly spread on the sea breeze.

During the voyage that followed, the Kuja Adventure Group took on several pirate crews notorious along the edge of the Calm Belt.

They returned all the confiscated loot whose original owners they could identify, delivering it along the way.

Of the remaining spoils, some went toward replenishing the ship's supplies and medicinal herbs, while some was distributed to villages along the route that had suffered at the pirates' hands.

In a general store at a port, the owner caught sight of Kuja's flag and hurriedly dived beneath the counter in fright.

"D-don't kill me! Take whatever you want!"

A Kuja Warrior frowned.

"We're here to buy food."

"Buy?"

The shopkeeper froze.

The warrior slapped a bag of Beli onto the counter.

"What, can't people from Kuja spend money?"

The shopkeeper stared at the bag of Beli, not daring to reach for it for a long time.

"You... really came here to buy something?"

"Why else would we be here?"

"But weren't you pirates before?"

The warrior raised her chin.

"We were. We aren't anymore!"

"Remember, we're the Kuja Adventure Group!"

The shopkeeper opened his mouth, but couldn't bring himself to ask anything else.

Boa Hancock leaned against the ship's railing. Hearing that, she smiled faintly.

The wind stirred her long hair, and in the distance, the sea stretched as far as the eye could see.

She hadn't forgotten what that young Marine had said back then, nor had she forgotten her own promise.

The sea was vast, and there was more than one path to take.

The women of Kuja would naturally take the most glorious one.