Six Paths Pirates

Bright, horrifying blood kept gushing out, spraying all over the young man.

He let out a hysterical scream. His childhood friend had suddenly died right before his eyes—something he had never imagined would happen.

Gato had long since moved aside and impatiently cut him off. "Enough. This much is enough to make you lose your composure? Being a pirate isn't some game for brats like you."

"If you don't clean this place up quickly, then although I really hate going back on my word, I'll take back my decision to spare your life."

The young man began cleaning up in a panic. Fighting down the urge to vomit, he threw the other two into the sea before wiping away all the bloodstains.

Even after he was done, he was still trembling all over in fear, standing there blankly with no idea what to do.

Gato patted him on the shoulder and said, "Not bad. Don't be scared—I promised I wouldn't kill you. Take this and hold on tight."

Gato fetched a piece of driftwood and handed it to him. The young man instinctively gripped it tightly.

Before he could ask what it was for, Gato grabbed his wrist and hurled him over the side of the deck.

An irresistible force surged through his wrist. It felt as though the slightest resistance would snap it apart.

But he had no time to wonder what would happen to him. His body shot away like a cannonball, and he had no idea how far he flew before crashing into the sea.

Gato smiled in satisfaction. "This doesn't count as breaking my promise, does it? I'll leave your life or death up to fate. If you die, you can't blame me—I already gave you a chance to live."

With the ship finally quiet and only himself left aboard, Gato at last had time to consider his next objective, as well as the name of his pirate crew.

As for his grand goal, it was naturally to become the One Piece. He had decided that long ago.

"Hmm... What should I call it? The Tailed Beast Pirates? No, that won't do. My name is Gato, and if my crew is called the Tailed Beast Pirates, wouldn't that make us a cheap knockoff of Kaido's Beast Pirates?"

"The Ten-Tails Pirates? It feels a little awkward. The name doesn't seem imposing enough."

"I've got it! We'll be called the Six Paths Pirates!"

The power of the Six Paths was a power only gods could control, and it was also the goal Gato strove toward.

If Gato could master the power of the Six Paths, then never mind becoming the One Piece—even becoming the king of the world would be no challenge.

If he could obtain the Rinne Sharingan, a single Infinite Tsukuyomi could make every powerhouse in this world lose themselves.

This was an ambition far more distant than becoming the One Piece, and the relationship between the two was complicated.

Kaguya surely knew that this was Gato's aspiration, but so what? In her eyes, it was merely a summer insect talking about ice.

Setting aside the difficulty involved, even if he could succeed, the moment he showed even a hint of that possibility, Kaguya—currently a temporary ally—would very likely strike against him at once.

She would never allow anyone to share authority over this world with her.

Even without considering Kaguya's resistance, this world itself would prevent him from becoming such a powerful existence. Kaguya's arrival was a perfect example.

So becoming the One Piece was not his ultimate goal. It could only be considered a lofty goal. Becoming the One Piece would merely mean that he had overcome the people of this world.

Mastering the Six Paths, on the other hand, meant surpassing gods like Kaguya—and the world itself.

"Gahaha! The Six Paths Pirates, then. It rolls off the tongue pretty well. Now, my pirate flag will be easy to draw."

Gato had never learned to draw, but a pirate flag only required a few simple lines. After trying a few times, he managed to make something that looked fairly decent.

"Hmm... Finished!"

A snowy-white skull occupied the center of the flag, with two crossed bones beneath it—the classic pirate flag design. The only difference was the scarlet, bewitching Nine-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan in the skull's forehead.

Compared to some of the overly flashy pirate flags out there, this one was simple and monochromatic. Aside from the single red eye as an accent, it somehow possessed a strange beauty.

It was as if the skull's third eye could ensnare one's soul.

Gato was very satisfied with his masterpiece and could not help indulging in a bit of narcissism. "Looks like I'm a genius at everything I do!"

One man, one ship, one flag. And just like that, the Six Paths Pirates—who would one day stir up bloody storms and become so infamous that their name could stop children from crying at night—were simply founded here.

By the time he finished everything, night had completely fallen. Gato's first day officially at sea thus came to a perfect end.

"Whew, whew... This is exhausting. As expected, handling such a large ship by myself is still too much."

Even though Gato was practically invincible in the Four Seas, his current vessel was not easy to handle.

A ship this large required more than a dozen fairly strong sailors just to raise the sails. Then there was the daily maintenance, cleaning, steering, and all manner of other tedious tasks—jobs that would normally require nearly a hundred ordinary pirates.

His combat strength was great. Even hundreds of ordinary pirates would not be his match, but that did not mean he possessed more stamina than several hundred pirates combined.

The Lightning Living Body Technique focused more on training his body's explosive power and endurance. Naturally, stamina could be trained as well. After all, where someone else might exhaust all their strength lifting a hundred-pound object, he could do it easily—the difference in stamina consumption was evident.

But stamina was not solely about physical fitness. More often than not, it was a subjective factor. Sometimes, stamina seemed to depend even more on one's willpower.

Many people had experienced this feeling: while exercising, they would feel completely drained, as if taking another step would kill them from exhaustion.

Yet when they truly took that step, they discovered another burst of strength welling up from within, as though fresh stamina had been injected into their bodies.

Therefore, training stamina was more like training willpower. Only by using the most primitive methods to push one's stamina to its limits could it grow sufficiently.

The Lightning Living Body Technique did not have that function. On the contrary, it would only make one increasingly energetic.

Put simply, the Lightning Living Body Technique could reduce the stamina consumed by each movement, but it was not much help in increasing one's total stamina.

Through all this labor, Gato felt that his stamina had been thoroughly trained. But continuing like this was not a solution. If he wanted to train, there were always more efficient methods, and it was not right for the captain to handle every last trivial chore himself.

Besides, some tasks required professionals. Maintaining and repairing the ship required a shipwright. Sailing the seas required a navigator.

A doctor was also essential. Unless he reached the Six Paths level, even Gato could fall ill, and injuries were common at sea.

There also had to be a cook and an artist. He had not gone to sea merely to suffer. On the monotonous ocean, these two professions were indispensable.

Fine food soothed the body, and art soothed the heart.