"Sure. Consider it some post-meal exercise."
Shirou nodded slightly and said casually,
"You attack first."
"Okay, here I come!"
The moment she finished speaking, Kuina charged forward with her sword raised.
Shirou lightly turned the ice sword in his hand and caught her blade. He wanted to knock her back, but worried he might accidentally hurt her.
"Forget it. While I did say yesterday that only by constantly challenging strong opponents could one grow stronger, if the gap in strength is too great, it has the opposite effect."
Shirou lowered his ice sword and stepped half a pace back. He then looked at the surrounding CP0 members and asked,
"Is anyone here skilled with a sword?"
The next moment, two CP0 agents stepped forward at the same time.
"My lord, I am skilled in swordsmanship."
"So am I."
"Fewer than I expected." Shirou looked back and forth before his gaze settled on the CP0 agent to his left. "Guide Kuina for a while. Be careful not to hurt her."
"Yes. In that case, bamboo swords would be better."
"Fine."
With a thought from Shirou, two bamboo swords instantly appeared in his hand.
Kuina put away her real sword, took the bamboo swords from Shirou, handed one to the CP0 agent, and gave a slight bow.
"Please instruct me!"
Inside the White Mist Space.
"Help! Can anyone find some advanced swordsmanship?"
After shaking hands, all the Shirous present immediately understood.
"Are you afraid of leading her astray?" Mizukage Shirou asked with a smile.
"Of course! Since Kuina followed me out to sea, I have to take responsibility for her and pave her way toward becoming a great swordswoman."
Celestial Dragon Shirou paused, then sighed.
"The two CP0 agents on the ship are both at swordsman level, and they might not even be as good as Koshiro. Having them teach Kuina might work in the short term, but over time, they'd just be leading her astray."
"Unfortunately, none of us are good at swordsmanship, so we can't guide her."
"Sorry, the Holy Grail War has already ended. I can't help you." Tohsaka Shirou paused, then suddenly seemed to remember something and looked at Demon Lord Shirou. "How about it? Did you find Fuyuki City?"
"No." Demon Lord Shirou shook his head slightly. "It looks like the timing was merely a coincidence."
"So it really was A. What a shame. If you had been in the Fifth War, Sasaki Kojiro's Swallow Return would have been perfect for Kuina." Tohsaka Shirou let out a soft sigh.
Celestial Dragon Shirou nodded slightly in complete agreement.
Indeed, compared to the broad, battlefield-style swordsmanship of Artoria and Nero, Sasaki Kojiro's technical swordsmanship, created to cut down swallows, was better suited to her.
If he got the chance in the future, perhaps he could learn it and then teach it to Kuina. But for now, there was clearly no point thinking about it.
"What about the rest of you? Any good swordsmanship recommendations?"
The Shirous pondered for several seconds before speaking one after another.
"Sorry, as you know, samurai in the Ninja World have long since declined. The ninjutsu everyone uses is basically similar to magic, so there's no advanced swordsmanship at all."
"My side is about the same. In a world where dragon-slaying, god-slaying, and demon-slaying magic is widespread, swordsmanship simply isn't popular."
"Don't look at me. White Elder's swordsmanship is indeed good, but I don't think he's stronger than the great swordsmen of the Pirate World. At best, he's comparable to a somewhat stronger swordsman."
"Alright, you don't need to say any more!" Tsukimi Shirou said with a grin. "At a time like this, you need to look to me. I'll ask Sastin for swordsmanship advice later."
"Sastin?" Celestial Dragon Shirou showed a hint of disdain. "He may be an alien, but his swordsmanship somehow feels a little unreliable."
"You're underestimating Sastin too much, aren't you? He's the captain of Deviluke's royal guard, after all. He has to have some real skill."
"Uh... forget it. It's still better than nothing."
At that moment, Sakurai Shirou suddenly spoke.
"I have a way!"
"What?" Celestial Dragon Shirou hurriedly asked.
"Just like you told Kuina, a true swordsman can only grow through slaughter."
"I never said that! Forget it, it was close enough. Go on."
Sakurai Shirou rolled his eyes at him and continued.
"If Kuina wants to grow quickly, I have an absolutely feasible method: make her fight someone only slightly stronger than her every day."
"That way, she can improve a little every day. If she keeps it up for a few years, she'll soon become the strongest in the world."
When all was said and done, the best motivation was an opponent.
And an opponent only slightly stronger than oneself was the best kind of opponent.
"I thought of that method too, but where can we so easily find opponents only slightly stronger than Kuina?" Celestial Dragon Shirou sighed.
"No, they're very easy to find. They're practically everywhere."
The corner of Sakurai Shirou's mouth curled up as he smiled.
"With our control, wouldn't it be extremely easy to injure someone until they're only slightly stronger than Kuina?"
One-Time Sparring Tools
Celestial Dragon Shirou froze for a moment, then looked at him speechlessly.
"You really are something. Only you could come up with such a ruthless method."
"This is the fastest and most suitable method, isn't it?" Sakurai Shirou retorted.
Celestial Dragon Shirou had no answer and could only remain silent.
Theoretically speaking, it truly was the most suitable method.
Still, it was a little too ruthless.
"I personally don't have much of an objection to using this method, but I'm not sure whether Kuina would agree."
"What a boring insistence." Sakurai Shirou sneered. "In that chaotic world where the strong prey on the weak, growing stronger by any means necessary is the proper path."
"Enough! Just because your moral standards are low doesn't mean you should treat everyone else as if they were like you. Besides, Kuina is only a child."
"Heh... precisely because she's a child, she needs to be taught from a young age, so she doesn't grow into an idiot who can't stop talking about justice."
"What's wrong with being an idiot? What's wrong with justice?"
"Do you even need to ask? Idiots are easily exploited, and justice is an obvious weakness. If an idiot who kept talking about justice appeared before me, I'd absolutely swindle him out of everything he owned, leave him buried in debt, and make him treat me as his greatest benefactor."
This guy!
Celestial Dragon Shirou took a deep breath and said no more.
He could understand Sakurai Shirou's feelings and personality, but they simply could not see eye to eye.
"When we encounter pirates, I'll try your method."
"Oh...? I thought you would completely ignore it."
"I'll try it first, see the results, and then see how Kuina reacts."
"An unnecessary concern. She may be a real child, but you aren't. There should be plenty of ways to talk her into happily agreeing, right?"
"I don't want to play mind games with my friend."
"Then just tell her the truth. Sometimes sincerity moves people more."
"Yeah. I'll give it a try."
When he came back to himself, Celestial Dragon Shirou found the other Shirous sitting in chairs around him, cracking sunflower seeds.
"What are you all doing?"
"Do you even need to ask? Isn't it obvious? We're watching the drama unfold." Slime Shirou teased.
"Where did you get chairs and sunflower seeds?"
"Of course I prepared them! Don't forget, I'm a Slime."
"Was the show any good?"
"Not good! You were too weak. You weren't Sakurai's match at all and got persuaded after only a few exchanges."
"Can't be helped. He's lived longer than I have, after all."
Celestial Dragon Shirou smiled helplessly. Though they were the same person and had identical memories, their environments had shaped different speaking skills, schemes, and other traits.
Pirate World.
"My lord, pirates!"
"Good. Capture them all. Don't kill a single one."
"Yes!"
Before the pirate ship could even approach Shirou's luxurious vessel, a group of CP0 agents rushed over.
In only a few minutes, every pirate on the ship had been tightly bound.
"Kuina, do you want to improve your swordsmanship quickly? This is an opportunity." Shirou said with a smile.
Kuina turned back to look at Shirou and asked,
"What do I need to do?"
"Stake your potential on it. Defeat the enemy before you and welcome a stronger version of yourself."
"I understand, but didn't you say this morning that if the difference in strength is too great, there would be no benefit? These pirates are either too strong or too weak. There's no one who is only a little stronger than me."
"There will be soon."
Shirou slowly stepped forward and swept over every bound pirate with Observation Haki, roughly ranking their strength.
The man who looked like the captain was a bald, burly fellow wielding a massive cleaver. With his strength, even if he lost one leg, Kuina would still struggle to defeat him.
The lackeys sprawled across the deck and groaning were all weaker than Kuina. Fighting them would be a complete waste of time.
"You, stand up!"
"M-Me...?"
A pirate wearing a hat, his hands tied behind his back, shakily stood up and fearfully glanced at the surrounding CP0 agents.
"What weapon do you use? What position do you hold on the ship?"
"My lord, I usually fight with dual blades, and I serve as the first mate. My lord, we failed to recognize your greatness..."
"I didn't ask you anything else."
Shirou stepped back slightly and said to the CP0 agent beside him,
"Break one of his arms, then return his weapons to him."
"Yes!"
The CP0 agent stepped forward, broke the hat-wearing pirate's left arm, then picked up a pair of dual blades from the pile of weapons on the ground and tossed them before him.
"Kuina, he is now slightly stronger than you, but your combat experience is nowhere near comparable. If you truly fight him, there's a high chance you'll lose."
Shirou paused and said in a deep voice,
"So before fighting him, you should simulate the battle in your mind first. Also, even if you die at his hands, I will not save you."
"Okay."
Before you continue