Newcomer

Onigashima—three years seemed to have brought no change to the island. The enormous Skull Head still silently gazed toward the distant mainland of Wano Country.

Beside the Skull Head, on a Training ground built in an Open space, two figures were locked in fierce combat.

A girl wielding a Spiked Club and a boy carrying a greatsword.

"Ha, isn't it about time you admitted defeat?"

The boy looked about ten years old. His black hair seemed not to have been cut in a long time and was tied into a small ponytail behind his head, bouncing constantly as he darted and weaved.

A trace of baby fat still lingered on his face, but his handsome features were already beginning to show. Wearing a bright smile, he swung his greatsword one-handed in an endless barrage of slashes.

His opponent was a tall girl, half a head taller than him. Her features were still youthful, but her captivating beauty had already begun to emerge.

Her white hair faded into green and was likewise tied into a ponytail. Gripping her Spiked Club with both hands, she met the boy's greatsword head-on.

"I won't surrender!"

The girl roared, "Thunder Bagua!!"

The Spiked Club tore through the air, smashing toward the boy with a piercing howl.

But the boy was no slower. No longer holding his sword one-handed so casually, he gripped the hilt with both hands, planted his feet, and unleashed the strength of his entire body in a vertical slash.

Clang!!

The Spiked Club collided with the greatsword.

The ground beneath the girl's feet shattered, thick cracks spreading outward like a Spider Web.

The violent force crashed down through her, sending her slender body staggering backward.

The boy also took two steps back, but quickly steadied himself.

He did not rush to pursue her. Instead, he flicked his greatsword up onto his shoulder and said with a grin, "Looks like I'm stronger now, Yamato."

The two were, of course, Sirius and Yamato.

Three years had passed. Sirius was now nine, while Yamato was eleven.

"Sirius! Don't get so smug!"

Yamato puffed out her cheeks indignantly. "I haven't lost yet!"

"Then let's go again."

Sirius chuckled, kicked off the ground, and came flashing forward like lightning with his greatsword dragging behind him.

Clang!

The Spiked Club and greatsword clashed once more.

Three people watched the battle from the sidelines.

The much-grown Jack and Black Maria, along with Teacher King, who was giving them lessons.

Three years later, eleven-year-old Jack had grown even taller, already surpassing five meters in height.

Black Maria was no less impressive. A year older than both Jack and Yamato, her once-flat figure had gradually become more shapely.

Teacher King, meanwhile, was as unchanged as ever.

Even if he had changed, no one could have seen it. He still hid himself beneath his leather clothes and mask.

As they watched, Jack and Black Maria commented on the fight.

Black Maria exclaimed, "Sirius is incredible! Even without using his ability, he can actually suppress Yamato now!"

"Of course he can!"

Jack watched without blinking and casually replied, "Sirius has always trained far more than Yamato! Not to mention that he only has to keep eating to grow stronger!"

"Honestly, Yamato's the real monster for managing to keep up without being completely left behind by Sirius!"

Three years had changed many things. At the very least, Jack himself had long since been unable to keep up with Sirius's rate of progress.

On the battlefield, Yamato had already fallen into a disadvantage. Sirius's greatsword was unbelievably heavy, and every direct clash left Yamato feeling miserable.

"Alright, that's enough sparring."

Teacher King, who had been silently standing to the side and putting on an expert's air, finally spoke. "Stop."

Sirius casually sprang backward, retreating in a single leap. He planted his greatsword into the ground and said to King outside the arena with a grin, "I won, right, Teacher King?"

"I haven't lost!"

Yamato wrinkled her nose and shouted, "Right, Uncle King?"

Teacher King calmly stepped onto the field, stopping in front of Sirius and looking down at him. "Feeling proud of yourself?"

"No."

Sirius waved his hand with a smile. "Yamato was never my opponent to begin with."

As early as three years ago, Sirius had already defeated Yamato, though he had relied on his Devil Fruit ability at the time.

"Sirius!!"

Yamato stomped her foot unhappily. It was clearly an adorable gesture, yet she stomped a hole into the ground.

"Then, let's begin."

Teacher King placed a hand on the hilt at his waist and slowly drew his sword.

"I've been waiting for this, Teacher King!"

Sirius grabbed the hilt of the sword beside him and pulled it free. The next instant, he lunged straight at Teacher King.

"The food was prepared for you long ago. You're ready to be beaten half to death, right?"

Teacher King swung his sword.

Clang!

The crisp collision of blades marked the beginning of their clash.

Compared to three years ago, Sirius's improvement had been exponential. Strength, speed, technique—every aspect of him was utterly different from before.

A mere stomp would crack the ground beneath his feet, and that force propelled him forward at a blinding speed, leaving afterimages in his wake!

His heavy yet keen greatsword sliced through the air with a piercing boom.

Like a cannonball, Sirius thrust his sword at Teacher King.

Teacher King's reaction speed was absurd. He merely calmly raised his blade and deflected Sirius's sword with perfect timing.

But Sirius stomped down hard, twisting with the momentum and unleashing a powerful horizontal slash.

Teacher King raised his blade vertically, blocking the astonishingly forceful strike, and even took a slight step back himself.

Just as before, he still wasn't using strength far beyond Sirius's.

Sirius caught that opening and immediately kicked at Teacher King.

Sirius's swordsmanship had inherited Teacher King's teachings in full.

There were no flashy techniques. It didn't matter how he swung the sword, as long as it could hit someone.

Even if the sword wouldn't do, teeth, claws, and legs worked just as well. Every part of the body could be a weapon. Over these three years, Sirius had gradually begun to develop his own style of swordsmanship.

Well, for now, he would call it Wolf Sword Style.

But thinking such a move could hit Teacher King was far too naïve.

Teacher King simply reached out and grabbed Sirius's leg.

"Whoa."

Sirius exclaimed.

"You've already steeled yourself to be cut down, haven't you, brat?"

Teacher King raised the blade in his hand high.

"Who's going to just stand there and get cut?!"

Sirius grinned and swung his sword to meet him.

After an exhilarating battle—or rather, a one-sided beating—

Sirius lay on the ground covered in blood, struggling to lift his head as he looked at the completely unscathed Teacher King before him. "As expected, the gap is still way too big, Teacher King. Fighting you feels no different from three years ago."

Teacher King merely looked at Sirius calmly and said nothing.

Yamato, who had been watching from the sidelines, had already run over carrying a food container. "You're bleeding so much again. You won't be able to wear those clothes anymore."

"Are the clothes really the issue here?"

"Quit talking nonsense. Open your mouth and eat!"

Sirius turned his head into that of a wolf and opened his jaws wide. Yamato cooperatively lifted the enormous food container and dumped all the food inside into Sirius's mouth in one go.

Chew chew.

Gulp.

Sirius stood up and stretched. "Let's begin, Teacher King. We can start the physical training. Where are the new weights? How much did you add this time?"

Sirius no longer grew tired of dull morning drills or physical training, because over these three years, he had truly felt himself growing stronger.

But today's physical training never began, because at that very moment, dark clouds suddenly began churning across the sky.

A massive Azure Dragon descended from the clouds and entered Skull Head through the eye socket of the giant skull.

Sirius smiled. "Uncle Kaido is back? Looks like he failed to kill himself again this time."

Uncle Kaido was never one to stay put. Every so often, he would run off somewhere—probably to try killing himself.

Just as the training ended and they were about to eat, a pirate came to say that Uncle Kaido was holding a banquet.

Teacher King led the others toward the banquet hall.

"Worororororo!"

Before Sirius had even entered the hall, he could already hear Uncle Kaido's booming laughter.

Looks like he got quite a haul this time, laughing that happily.

That was what Sirius thought.

Once inside the hall, Sirius saw Queen dancing to liven up the atmosphere.

But the real focus was, as expected, the two brats standing beneath Kaido, who sat high in the seat of honor.

A boy and a girl—they looked like siblings.

Oh, newcomers had arrived.

Thanks to big shots "Lin Shen" and "Dong Luomo" for the massive 100 rewards!!