When Uchiha Hiko appeared before everyone with Aokiji, Luo, Jinbe, and Urouge were so frightened that each of them faced a formidable enemy. If not for the relaxed look on Uchiha Hiko's face, they would have almost thought he had been captured alive by Aokiji.
"Won't you reconsider joining me?" Hiko asked Aokiji. "Someone like you needs to find a reliable force if you want to put your ambitions into practice!"
Aokiji glanced at the three behind Hiko and asked, "A reliable force? Just the four of you?"
Hiko chuckled lightly. "With you, that makes five!"
Aokiji said coldly, "I'll consider it when you become reliable."
"What a shame." Hiko looked disappointed. "By then, you'll only rank at the very bottom under me. Why not give me your word now? I'll reserve a place for you."
Aokiji did not answer. He led the children slowly off the Konoha Go. The children's physical conditions had been severely altered; clearly, they had been forcibly changed through drugs. Aokiji now believed much more of what Uchiha Hiko had said.
Luo, Jinbe, and the others behind Hiko exchanged looks. They had not expected Uchiha Hiko to be so bold as to set his sights on Aokiji and try to recruit him. If someone like Aokiji joined any force, it would be enough to shake every power in the New World.
What incredible courage. The three of them admired Uchiha Hiko deeply, and his back seemed even more majestic in their eyes.
After leading the children off the ship, Aokiji looked at Hiko aboard the Konoha Go. Though Hiko wore an aloof expression, Aokiji knew how deep the mask beneath that young man's surface ran. Neither wholly righteous nor wholly evil, he was impossible to fathom. He could recruit Pirates under his command, yet he