Ace Joins the Whitebeard Pirates

"So, Ace, you two ultimately decided to become Whitebeard's children?"

On the Moby Dick, Yota took a sip of juice and asked.

Hmm, Garp really did have foresight. Pirate King or World's Strongest Man, no matter who you were, in the end, wouldn't you still be a generation beneath me?

"Yeah... I think I can find more meaning in life with Pops Whitebeard." Ace's face reddened slightly. Maybe it was because a young man's dreams had been shattered and he had come to accept reality. Or maybe he was excited after finally seeing his own heart clearly.

Of course, Yota thought it was more likely that Ace was simply thin-skinned. After all, when he had first boarded the ship, he had said so much and acted so confident. He had even bragged to Yota, saying he would definitely defeat those Sea Emperors and become the strongest man on the seas.

Yet now he had become someone else's son...

Honestly, the other members of the Spade Pirates had nothing to say about it. After all, Ace was their backbone; the rest of them were basically just accessories. If Ace went down, they had no grounds to object.

Yamato was easy enough to persuade too. That girl had lacked affection since childhood, and the journal of Kozuki Oden, whom she admired most, had already taught her about the Whitebeard Pirates. Now that she had become Whitebeard's daughter, who knew how happy she was inside!

After all, she was getting the same treatment as her idol!

Oh, Whitebeard and Oden were brothers? Then that was fine. If I took a little loss and rounded things off, I was basically Oden's "son"!

But when faced with Yota's words, Ace found himself unable to say anything.

The difference was that without Ace, the other little hangers-on from the Spade Pirates would never have been able to come to the New World. Being able to join the Whitebeard Pirates already counted as good fortune for them.

But even without the Spade Pirates, Yota could still live very well. Whether he joined another of the Four Emperors' Pirate Crews or went to the Marines, he would have room to develop.

So Ace always felt that he had held back Yota's future.

Ace himself might not have fully understood that feeling, but Yota saw through it easily.

Of course, Ace likely had other thoughts as well. Seeing the hesitation on his face, Yota had a pretty good idea.

"All right, let's put this meaning-of-life stuff aside for now." Yota took another sip of juice before asking, "Isn't there something else you want to tell me? We're about to go to war with the Beasts Pirates, after all. Come to think of it, this war was caused by us."

A bitter smile appeared on Ace's face. "Seriously, I can't hide anything from you."

Yota rolled his eyes. People in the Pirate World were too easy to read. Most people wore every thought right on their faces. Even with Yota's ordinary intelligence, he could absolutely be considered smart in this world.

If he were in the Naruto World, Yota's intelligence... well, all right. His intelligence might not have been especially high in the Naruto World, but it definitely wasn't low either. At the very least, he wouldn't be sold off and still help count the money!

After all, the people in that world had rather strange ways of thinking. Their intelligence was extremely high in certain details or in battle, but once it involved politics or social structures, they became utterly ridiculous. Averaged out, Yota could actually be considered one of the sensible ones.

"Go on. It should be about Pops Whitebeard's health, right? Let me guess. Did Marco and the others ask you to come to me?"

"H-how did you know?" At that point, Ace finally couldn't hold it in any longer and asked.

"Was that really hard to figure out?" Yota rolled his eyes. "Don't forget, I'm an excellent doctor myself. Whitebeard looks strong and healthy, but the moment I saw him, I knew he must have many old injuries. By now, his body is already on the verge of collapse."

"For a Great Pirate like him, his health isn't just his own concern. That's why the ordinary pirates in the Whitebeard Pirates must have been kept in the dark."

"But Marco is Whitebeard's right-hand man, practically the chief steward, and he's also the ship's doctor aboard the Whitebeard Pirates. You could say he understands Whitebeard's physical condition best and cares most about his health."

"With Captain Whitebeard's prideful personality, he would never take the initiative to bring this up to you. So Marco must have been the one to mention it!"

"They probably want me to treat Captain Whitebeard. More importantly, they want me to bring it up myself, so as to spare that old child's pride."

After thinking it over during this time, Yota had gradually come to understand Whitebeard's mindset. Whitebeard did not have any issue with him. On the contrary, it was precisely because that prideful old man wanted him to join the Whitebeard Pirates that he did not want to mix in any other self-interested motives.

How should he put it? That way of thinking felt a little childish. But there were plenty of childish people among pirates. It was not annoying; if anything, it felt a little warm.

"Uh... was something like that really so easy to analyze?" Ace scratched his head and asked.

Yota rolled his eyes. He had studied psychological analysis as part of his ninja courses in the Naruto World.

Basically, as long as a ninja was outstanding, their ability to read people's expressions and behavior could never be too poor. (Naruto: Huh?)

"All right, leave this to me." Yota patted his butt. "Isn't there a perfect opportunity right now?"

On the deck of the Moby Dick, the banquet was nearly over. Most of the pirates were already snoring away.

"These guys really don't have even the slightest sense of danger. What if the Beasts Pirates launched a surprise attack right now?" Yota looked at the pirates sprawled all over the ground and complained speechlessly.

"Didn't they leave people on watch?" A blue-haired female pirate heard Yota's complaint and replied with a cheerful smile.

"There's no need to worry too much. These men are all excellent warriors. If a battle really breaks out, their instinctive Observation Haki will make them get up immediately."

Yota did not argue with her. After all, his previous knowledge of war came from the ninja world and the real world. The real world had no supernatural powers, and he had never participated in war there, so he had no real basis to speak.

Although he still had not participated in a war in the ninja world, he had at least studied knowledge related to warfare. And the ninja profession was practically the complete opposite of pirates—one orderly, the other chaotic. At the very least, something like drinking before a battle would never happen among ninjas.

Their values were completely different due to the environments they had grown up in, so Yota naturally did not want to waste effort explaining anything to her.

After exchanging a few words with the blue-haired female pirate known as the Ice Witch, Yota headed toward Whitebeard's captain's room.

He had just reached the door and was about to knock when Whitebeard's deep voice came from inside the captain's room. "Come in. The door isn't locked."