Sakazuki

North Blue, an unnamed island

The sea breeze scattered the scorched smell.

On the ruined ground, a boy with an explosion of frizzed hair lay on his back, his chest heaving violently as wisps of black smoke still drifted from his mouth.

"You... cough... you bastard..."

Sakazuki forced out a curse, his voice hoarse but as unyielding as a flame that would rather break than bend.

Though the pain made him suck in cold breaths, he refused to close his eyes.

—That lightning strike had not only struck his body; it had struck his narrow little world.

For the first time, he clearly realized that what he considered "strength" was merely an insignificant speck in this world.

Rock sat atop a large boulder with one leg crossed over the other, as though watching a child throwing a tantrum.

His gaze swept over Sakazuki's battered body, and his eyes trembled slightly.

The next moment, he gently closed his eyes, and his Observation Haki spread like a tide.

In an instant, the entire island revealed itself in his mind without concealment.

—Burned trees.

—Split rooftops.

—Soil where bloodstains had not yet dried.

—Children and elderly people timidly hiding in corners.

The air carried the accumulated scent of fear.

Rock sighed softly to himself. No wonder the boy's eyes were as hard as stone.

No wonder he was so young, yet resembled a biting wild beast.

Because this was the North Blue, where pirates ran rampant, and no one could protect them.

Because this child had to be fiercer and tougher than pirates if he wanted to survive.

Rock opened his eyes and looked at the still-smoking Sakazuki, his tone turning light again. "Hey, kid, I told you already, I'm not a pirate..."

Sakazuki shot him a vicious glare. His words were stubborn but weak. "So... cough... what..."

"And you saw it too, didn't you? The gap between us."

He lazily raised a hand and made a casual gesture. "If I were a pirate, would you still be lying there whining? I'd have casually chopped you into charcoal already."

The boy's cheek twitched slightly. He wanted to retort, but he could not say a single word.

After a long silence, he decided to keep his mouth shut.

Resting his chin on his hand, Rock asked with great interest, "Sakazuki, what do you think justice—"

"Should be like?"

As soon as the words fell, Sakazuki's entire body trembled almost imperceptibly.

Silence... even deeper silence...

Until his fingers tightened around his short blade once more, his knuckles turning stiff and white.

At that moment, the air seemed to freeze.

At last, he squeezed out, almost growling, "Justice—!!!"

"Must be absolute justice—!!!"

With a roar that tore at his throat, he abruptly pushed himself up and pointed his short blade toward the distant sea.

"Pirates! They should disappear completely from this world!!!"

"Not... one... can... remain—!!!"

It was pain and obsession carved into his bones.

Rock clearly saw that what flashed through those eyes was not merely hatred, but an unconcealable sorrow.

As if his family had been taken from him;

As if the world had once made him experience true cruelty;

As if some irretrievable night had collapsed before his very eyes.

Rock's heart trembled slightly. He murmured softly, "Is that so..."

—The next morning

Sunlight shone over the shabby little village, and the air carried the mingled scent of earth and sea breeze.

Early in the morning, Sakazuki was already working in the fields with bandages wrapped all over his body. His movements were as rough and forceful as ever, utterly devoid of gentleness, as though the land owed him a huge debt.

"Huff... huff..."

Sweat dripped down, soaking patches of his bandages.

But barely a dozen meters away, Rock sat in a circle with the old people and children, like a storyteller who had traveled down from the clouds.

"And then, that Cloud Fish jumped too high and smacked right into my nose—bang! It knocked me straight off the cloud—haha!"

"Wow—! What did it look like when Brother Rock flew?!"

"Are there really glowing flowers in the sky?"

Rock nodded solemnly. "Of course, little ones. They're lamps specially made to light the way for angels~"

The old people laughed so hard their wrinkles nearly squeezed together, while the children's eyes shone with excitement.

Meanwhile, the vein at Sakazuki's temple began to throb, several blue veins bulging as his breathing grew heavier and heavier.

Finally.

Smack!!!

In anger, he slammed his hoe viciously into the ground.

He could not help roaring, "How much longer are you going to mooch around here, you bastard?!!!"

Rock slowly turned back, shooting him a sidelong glance with a cheerful tone. "Hey, hey, hey~ I'm only staying here temporarily."

The old people hurriedly spoke up for Rock. "Don't be mean to young Rock! He fixed our well and our houses!"

The children also rushed over. "Brother Rock tells us stories about the sky too!"

How did you all come to like this suspicious guy so much?!!

Sakazuki grudgingly picked up his hoe and flung off a clump of dirt.

"Tch—!!!"

His wound pulled, and he let out a muffled groan, his body trembling slightly.

Seeing this, Rock rubbed his forehead and sighed. "This stubborn turtle... who are you putting on this act for?"

At noon, Rock dragged a gigantic lightning-grilled fish from the sea, along with two wild boars he had casually "electrocuted" and brought back—

The entire village instantly erupted. Children screamed as they ran everywhere, women bustled about in a frenzy, and the old people grew so excited their eyes reddened.

"This fish... we haven't eaten one this big in three years..."

"Meat... so much meat... the children can finally eat their fill..."

"It's been so long since we had such liveliness..."

As those words reached Rock's ears, his smile slowly gave way to faint daze.

Looking at the scene before him, he suddenly felt an indescribable ache in his heart.

A village once ravaged by pirates until only its skeleton remained had regained its life through a casual act of his.

—They only wanted to live well.

—Yet in this world, even "living well" was so difficult.

The sea breeze carried the scent of meat through the village dyed red by the sunset. Voices rang everywhere, and the long-lost bustle made the place seem as though it had finally awakened from a lengthy nightmare.

Leaning against a tree trunk, Rock smiled as he watched everyone feast happily, but his gaze gradually drifted toward the most inconspicuous patch of shadow.

—Behind the tree.

There stood a boy's silhouette, rigid as stone.

Sakazuki still gripped his short blade, his back straight as he kept his eyes fixed on the village entrance and the edges of darkness around them, refusing to let the slightest movement escape his ears.

His injuries had clearly not healed, and he was clearly starving to his limit.

Yet he still... did not take a single step into that laughter.

Children's laughter drifted over, the old people ate while crying, and hot soup bubbled in the pot... while Sakazuki was like a chunk of iron sunk into shadow.

Rock sighed softly. "Sigh... this kid."

He casually grabbed a skewer of grilled meat thicker than a child's arm, grease dripping onto the ground with a sizzling sound.

Then he strode toward the back of the tree.

"Hey, kid." Rock stopped in front of him.

Sakazuki frowned tightly and said in a low voice, "I'm not hungry."

His stomach: "Grrr—!!!"

The sound made the leaves tremble three times, and the air fell silent.

Rock raised a brow, his face saying, Quit messing around. "I'm telling you, eat something. How are you supposed to protect everyone without any strength?"

As soon as the words fell, Sakazuki sharply turned his head away like a hedgehog whose tail had been stepped on. "I said, I'm not—"

Rock directly anticipated him, pale blue lightning flickering from his fingertips. "If you don't eat, I'll shock you."

Sakazuki's entire body jolted!

The next instant—

"Give it to me!!!"

Like lightning, he snatched the meat skewer from Rock's hand and began wolfing it down, so fast that scraps of meat flew everywhere.

His mouth was stuffed full, yet his eyes remained locked on the ground, stubborn to the extreme.

The corners of Rock's mouth lifted slightly as he quietly watched him for several seconds.

The child's shoulders were stiff as stone, but as he swallowed bite after bite of meat... that tension stretched to its limit finally loosened a little.

Rock said softly, "Now that's more like a kid."

Sakazuki paused, neither looking up nor talking back.

He simply kept eating.

But no longer with the frantic hunger of a wolf.

Even the future Fleet Admiral was, at this moment, merely a boy finally allowing himself to eat a meal.