Chapter 12

Rayleigh froze for a moment after hearing that, then laughed. "What's so hard about that? The sea's full of those things. I can get them easily. But have you figured out how to store them? That stuff doesn't keep for long."

No matter how resilient Sea King flesh was, without refrigeration, it would start to stink after a month at most.

"Don't worry about that. I've got a way." Xunjing smiled mysteriously.

He planned to put it straight into the Space-Time Gate Space.

As for whether that would expose any secrets-there were all sorts of bizarre Devil Fruit powers in the Pirate World. Even if Rayleigh found it strange, he would only assume it was some kind of fruit ability. He would never guess Xunjing's true background.

Besides, opportunities to get so much Sea King meat for free didn't come along often.

He couldn't exactly send his mother out to hunt them, could he? With her abilities, she would probably have to use Susanoo. Genjutsu might work, but that was uncertain. Other Ninjutsu wouldn't be especially effective against the enormous, incredibly resilient Sea Kings.

More importantly, Uchiha Chisato's current physical condition made using Susanoo out of the question.

"Sure. I'm not doing anything anyway. Let's go!" Rayleigh waved a hand without asking any more questions.

"Hehe, great!" Xunjing nodded happily.

"I'm coming too. You haven't recovered yet, kid. It'll be trouble if anything happens." Uchiha Chisato stood up as well.

She still wasn't comfortable letting her son go off alone with Rayleigh. Once Rayleigh was busy fighting Sea Kings, he might not be able to keep an eye on Xunjing.

"Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Rayleigh." Uchiha Chisato gave Rayleigh a slight nod.

"Haha, it's nothing. Come on, we'll have Kuja Island's ship take us out to sea."

Rayleigh led Xunjing and his mother aboard Kuja Island's warship. After he exchanged a few words with Naki, who was leading the crew, the ship soon set sail.

After traveling a little over ten kilometers, the ship stopped.

Without another word, Rayleigh jumped straight into the sea.

Before long, thunderous rumbling came from underwater, and the sea began churning violently.

"Gurgle... splash!!"

Soon, a sea serpent Sea King a full hundred meters long and at least five meters in diameter floated to the surface, belly up.

Rayleigh surfaced beside the sea serpent, looked up at Xunjing on the ship, and shouted, "Young Xunjing, will this sea serpent be enough? Should I get a few more?"

"I'll need another ten about the same size. Thanks, Uncle Rayleigh!"

After saying that, Xunjing turned to look at his mother beside him.

Uchiha Chisato said nothing. She simply smiled, grabbed Xunjing by the back of his collar, and leaped off the ship, landing steadily on the water.

"Oh?"

Rayleigh and everyone aboard the ship froze. "She can actually stand on the sea?"

"Is it because of that strange energy? It really is mysterious!"

Rayleigh noticed the layer of chakra beneath Uchiha Chisato's feet. Though curious, he didn't press the matter and casually replied, "Then I'll get another ten, though they might not all be sea serpents like this one."

"No problem!"

Xunjing nodded. "As long as they're Sea Kings, that's fine. Sorry for the trouble, Uncle Rayleigh! I'll treat you to some good liquor when we get back."

He remembered that the wine cellar at home held plenty of fine liquor Rayleigh surely had never tried.

He was certain his mother wouldn't mind.

Trading a few bottles of liquor for this much Sea King meat would only make her happy!

"Haha! Sounds great. It's a deal!"

Rayleigh's eyes lit up, and he grinned.

By then, Uchiha Chisato had carried Xunjing over to the Sea King floating on the surface.

He pressed a hand against its body and, with a thought, stored the entire Sea King inside the Space-Time Gate Space.

Next, he used his authority over the space to kill the Sea King on the spot, so it wouldn't wake up and cause trouble.

With another thought, the Sea King was automatically broken down into chunks of meat and stacked neatly in the time-frozen storage area.

"That's..."

Seeing such an enormous Sea King vanish from the sea with a single touch from Xunjing, Rayleigh, Hancock, and the others all felt their pupils contract sharply.

"You really do have a trick up your sleeve, kid! Haha!"

Rayleigh gave Xunjing a searching look. "Since you've got that kind of storage ability, I can stop worrying. I'll go get the rest."

With that, Rayleigh plunged back into the water.

Uchiha Chisato took Xunjing back aboard the ship first.

She was worried that another Sea King might surface and hurt him.

"Xunjing! Xunjing, what was that ability? Is it some kind of spatial Devil Fruit?"

Hancock came running over to ask curiously.

"Something like that."

Xunjing smiled and nodded.

"That's amazing! I never thought you'd eaten a Devil Fruit!"

Hancock exclaimed in admiration.

At this point, Hancock wasn't yet the insufferably arrogant Pirate Empress who would later eat the Love-Love Fruit. She was much livelier and easier to get along with.

With his body in its current state, Xunjing had better not go looking for trouble.

As for Conqueror's Haki, the guidance Rayleigh had given was mainly intended for people who had already awakened it. The book did briefly mention how to awaken it: a sufficiently firm will, strong resolve, and imposing spirit might give someone a chance to trigger it. Even Rayleigh believed it was something you were born with. Either you had it or you didn't; if you didn't, no amount of effort would help.

But after reading those notes, Xunjing thought differently.

He felt it had something to do with willpower and the mind. Though that sounded vague, finding the right approach might make it possible to develop it through training. With his Heaven Rewards Hard Work talent backing him up, he felt a little more confident. He believed that sooner or later, he could figure it out and develop a complete method for training Conqueror's Haki.

"Hahaha, you've got a point!"

Rayleigh laughed heartily at those words. The people beside him laughed too, their faces full of agreement.

"But you really understood it after seeing it just once? You're not pulling my leg, are you?"

Rayleigh stared at Xunjing, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"Of course I did."

Xunjing nodded as though it were only natural, his tone certain. "I have a good memory, and I'm pretty quick on the uptake."

"Oh?"

Rayleigh raised an eyebrow slightly, a smile playing on his lips. "Then I'd like to see what you can pull off once you're better."

"Just wait and see, Uncle!"

Xunjing grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.

"Haha! All right! I'll be waiting!"

Over the next five days, Xunjing spent most of his time in the Pirate World, staying at Shakuyaku's shop. Every day, he practiced the Life-Nourishing Art and Meditation Method, and his health visibly improved day by day.

Uchiha Chisato had to make time each day to return to the Ninja World and handle clan affairs. Fortunately, the war hadn't started yet, so there wasn't too much to deal with.

In the blink of an eye, fifteen days had passed.

Ten days earlier, Xunjing and his mother had said goodbye to Rayleigh and the others and set out from the Sabaody Archipelago, heading straight for Drum Island. After ten days of travel, they had finally arrived.

Over those days, Xunjing's congenital weakness had eased considerably. With a steady diet of Sea King meat to nourish him, his body grew sturdier every day. He no longer looked sickly and scrawny as he had before; he practically changed by the day. In just over two weeks, he had even grown ten centimeters taller, finally reaching a height of one meter ten-at least enough to meet the minimum standard for children his age.

[Uchiha Xunjing]

[Talent]: Space-Time Gate, Heaven Rewards Hard Work

[Lifespan]: 27 years, 5 months, 12 days (congenital weakness, life origin: 6.13/10)

[Chakra nature]: Water, Wind, Fire, Earth, Yin

Xunjing had barely reached the doorway with his mother when Dr. Kureha's gaze swept over them.

The old woman's eyes were remarkably sharp. Almost instantly, she had a fairly clear grasp of both their conditions.

She raised an eyebrow, a trace of surprise in her voice. "One born with a weak constitution, the other with damage to her life origin. But you both seem to be recovering quite quickly. You shouldn't need my help, should you?"