Education Ace

"Jack, what happened?"

Queen the Plague looked at Jack, who had just been fished out of the water, and could not help feeling annoyed. Ace and Yamato, whom Jack had been assigned to guard, had both vanished without a trace.

"The Marines! It was the Marines!"

Jack gritted his teeth in hatred. "That guy knocked me into the sea the moment he showed up! It had to be the Marines—I'd never mistake that coat!"

Kaido had returned as well. When they saw the glaring word "Justice" on the ground, the atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point.

"The Marines..."

Kaido said nothing more, but the gleam in his eyes grew increasingly vicious.

"You used my coat to frame the Marines, didn't you?"

After the Moby Dick sailed out of Wano Country's waters, Tashigi finally came to her senses. Even if the coat had been damaged in battle, it could not possibly have ended up like this!

Combined with Rune's earlier shout of "The Marines are here," it was hard not to suspect that he had set them up.

Even Kaido and the Beast Pirates, aside from that brainless Jack, probably would not believe such a crude attempt at framing them.

But...

Just as the Whitebeard Pirates could not rashly go to war with the Beast Pirates, Kaido did not have the nerve to wage an all-out battle against the Whitebeard Pirates right now either.

Not to mention that his daughter was still in Rune's hands.

The word "Justice" Rune had left behind gave Kaido the perfect target for venting his fury.

Of course, based on Rune's understanding of Kaido...

He probably would not dare take the initiative to cause trouble for the Marines anyway.

"How could that be called framing?"

Rune smiled faintly, reclining halfway in his chair. Seeing Tashigi's displeased expression, knowing she could do nothing about him, he could not help finding it amusing.

"Don't make that face. Next time we come to Wano Country, after we liberate it, I'll lend you Wano Country's Enma for a couple of days."

Rune had little interest in the famous blades of this world. As long as one's Haki was strong enough, it made no difference whether one had a weapon or not. Just look at Garp—even with nothing but his fists, he still ranked among the world's strongest.

Besides, the swordsman track was far too crowded. Mihawk, the current greatest swordsman, and Zoro, the future greatest swordsman—Rune could not be bothered competing with them for that title.

After placating Tashigi, Rune looked toward Yamato beside him.

Yamato was probably a little stronger than Rune right now. A Mythical Zoan Fruit, the Three Types of Haki, and even Conqueror's Haki Coating. Rune would need to find another Mythical Zoan Fruit before he could trade blows with Yamato.

But...

Yamato probably would not join his squad, right?

After all, Ace was here.

Thinking of Ace gave Rune a headache. That guy was far too good at causing trouble.

Once he woke up, Rune would beat him senseless and knock some sense into him, so he would stop stirring up trouble!

The Moby Dick docked for resupply, while the Thousand Sunny was anchored nearby. Rune looked at the silent Yamato and smiled softly.

"You can choose any squad you want to join. In the Whitebeard Pirates, there is only one iron rule: you must not harm your companions."

After saying that, Rune jumped onto the Moby Dick. Spotting Ace, who had just woken up, Rune walked straight over to him.

"Ace, do you never think about the consequences of your actions?"

Rune's words made Ace feel somewhat ashamed. He had indeed caused trouble this time, but now that everything had been resolved, Ace did not think it was such a big deal.

To become stronger, wasn't one supposed to constantly challenge powerful opponents?

Seeing Ace's expression, Rune knew he was not taking this incident seriously. That casual attitude made Rune even more displeased.

"Come on. Let's go to that deserted island."

Rune pointed at a nearby island. "If I don't beat some sense into you this time, you'll only bring even greater disasters upon this family in the future."

Ace froze for a moment, then Rune dragged him to the island without giving him a choice. Marco hovered in the air, while Jozu and Vista watched from beside the ship.

On the Thousand Sunny, Yamato watched Rune and Ace facing off, completely confused.

Weren't they companions? Why were they fighting?

Hadn't they said that the Whitebeard Pirates could not harm their companions...

"Don't worry."

Kuma and Bonney appeared beside Yamato. Kuma smiled faintly as he looked at Rune and Ace.

"This is an experience necessary for growth. Letting Rune beat him up might make him truly understand something."

On the island.

"Rune, it was thanks to you this time..."

"Cut the crap."

Rune's gaze was icy. "Use your full strength. Let me see what gave you the confidence to challenge Kaido all by yourself."

As soon as the words fell, Conqueror's Haki wrapped around Rune's hand. He opened with Conqueror's Haki Coating, showing no mercy whatsoever.

"Rune..."

A punch came crashing toward him, and Ace barely managed to dodge it. However, Rune's next attack followed immediately after.

"Rune, I don't want to fight you."

Ace kept dodging, frowning slightly. Rune merely shot him a cold glance as Conqueror's Haki wrapped around both his hands.

"You think I want to fight you?"

Rune stared at Ace. "Do you even know how much trouble your identity would cause if the Marines captured you?"

"I..."

"Words are useless. If you can't even beat me, then stay on the ship and train with Pops! When you can defeat me, then you can go pursue those ideals of yours!"

Rune charged again, his fist wrapped in Conqueror's Haki as it smashed viciously toward Ace. Seeing that Rune was serious, Ace gritted his teeth and unleashed the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit.

Flames erupted. Fire Fist collided with Rune's fist, but the fist wrapped in Conqueror's Haki suddenly opened into a palm. Black currents swirled around it as Rune seized Ace by the throat.

Ace's Fire Fist was completely absorbed by Rune's darkness.

The instant Rune grabbed Ace, his other fist, carrying Conqueror's Haki, slammed brutally into him.

That punch made Ace cough up blood. His eyes widened as his body flew backward and crashed hard into the ground.

"Use your strongest attack. You're not convinced by losing to me like this, are you?"

Rune stood at a distance, watching Ace slowly rise. He had just used the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit to extinguish Ace's flames directly. Ace had yet to learn the technique of Conqueror's Haki Coating.

Ace gritted his teeth as flames ignited around his body. He raised an enormous fireball in one hand, as though a second sun had appeared over the island.

Rune raised one hand as well, just like Ace.

Dark energy gathered, and the Black Star, like a black hole, hung high in the air.