"Hey, old man in the mask."
Luffy's voice was terrifyingly low, his questions seeming to rise from the deepest pits of hell:
"If even a sip of water can kill you here, if this country has already turned into this nightmare..."
"Then why do you insist on staying here?!"
"Why make Tama suffer in these ruins that are worse than hell?!"
Faced with Luffy's almost tangible fury, Tengu Samurai shook his head bitterly.
He reached out and gently stroked Tama's pale cheek, a heartbreaking stubbornness threading through his sigh:
"Do you think I don't want to take her away? Most of the Land of Wano has been reduced to scorched earth, but there are still places a little better than this, where we could just about survive. But..."
Tengu Samurai paused, his gaze growing distant:
"But this child is too stubborn."
"She refuses to leave these ruins, no matter what."
"Because she's waiting for someone here."
"She made a promise with a pirate that he'd take her out to sea once she became an alluring female ninja."
"She's afraid that if she leaves, that pirate won't be able to find her when he comes back."
"The person she's waiting for... is a pirate named Ace!"
"Ace?!"
The moment that name was spoken, it struck Luffy like a thunderbolt crashing down on his head!
Luffy jolted, his eyes widening as far as they could go, disbelief written all over his face.
He grabbed Tengu Samurai by the shoulders, his tone urgent and earnest, even his voice trembling slightly:
"You mean Ace?! Portgas D. Ace, the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates?!"
Startled by Luffy's sudden, violent reaction, Tengu Samurai nodded in bewilderment:
"Y-yes, that's him."
"He stayed here once and brought this despairing village a brief spell of laughter and