The Legendary Okama King

His eyes suddenly lit up. If he remembered right, Sabo's boat had been blasted apart by a Celestial Dragon, and Dragon had saved him afterward!

Could it be this very Celestial Dragon? If so, it should happen tonight!

"Hm?"

Just then, he sensed something. He turned toward the stern and stared gravely at the distant sea.

"What's wrong, Kuta?"

Kuina noticed the change in him and followed him to the stern, puzzled.

"A ship. A very big ship."

"A ship?"

Iku came over too and looked out beyond the harbor in confusion. There was nothing there but clouds, waves, and seagulls soaring freely overhead.

He turned back and gave Kuta an astonished look. The boy's Observation Haki was incredible!

Iku was one of the old men who had followed Kozaburo here from Wano Country. He knew exactly what it meant that Kuta could sense something he himself could not.

A commotion suddenly broke out inside the cabin.

Ahua and the other kids had climbed aboard one after another, then rushed into the cabin, shouting excitedly.

The senior disciple leading them looked all around before finally finding Kuta and the others at the stern.

Seeing them staring into the distance, he said nothing. He simply followed their gaze out of curiosity.

Then a faint black dot appeared on the distant line where sea met sky.

As time passed, the dot grew clearer. Straining their eyes, they could make out an enormous sailing ship dozens of meters long, rising more than ten meters above the water, with a giant dragon coiled around its hull.

From afar, it looked like a living dragon swimming across the sea toward the harbor.

The sailing ship moved fast. Before long, it had reached the bay.

When Kuta saw the huge figure at its bow, excitement spread across his face.

It really was them.

The Legendary Okama King As the enormous dragon-headed sailing ship drew closer, everyone on the dock stopped what they were doing and turned to look.

"That ship's huge!"

"Yeah! It's been ages since I've seen one that big."

"Hey, is that a face at the bow?"

"Yeah, but what a weird, enormous face! Is it a kite?"

"It's too far away to tell."

The morning sea breeze did nothing to quiet the murmurs on the dock. Everyone watched the approaching ship with curiosity.

The dragon-headed ship was too large and drew too much water to enter the harbor, so it stopped outside the bay.

A small boat was lowered from the ship. The big-faced figure who had stood at the bow lightly jumped down into it.

Bang!

The little boat rocked so violently it looked ready to capsize, but it stubbornly steadied itself in the end.

Several people in matching black robes followed him down the gangway.

Now that they were closer, everyone could see that the figure really was a person. His face alone was as large as the bow of the small boat. Everything but his face was hidden beneath a black robe, and he looked to be over four meters tall.

His exposed face had long, thick eyelashes and an outrageously large mouth. Pale blue eyeshadow and purple lipstick colored his eyes and lips.

The kids who had been moving fish in the cabin with Zoro and Kubi heard the commotion outside. They dropped their work and rushed out to see what was happening.

Leaning over the railing, Ahua pointed in surprise at the little boat rowing toward them. "See the person with the gigantic face?"

"Yeah! I've never seen anyone like that before," A-Tao said, eyes wide.

A-Luo added, "Look, that ship's gigantic too."

"Mm-hmm..." The other kids nodded.

Zoro came out of the cabin with a tuna bigger than himself over his shoulder. Kubi followed, carrying a basket of fish in each hand.

Zoro looked around. Not seeing Kuta or Kuina, he called to Ahua and the others, "Have you seen Kuta and Kuina?"

"At the stern."

Ahua turned to him and pointed excitedly out to sea. "Zoro, look at the giant-faced weirdo!"

Zoro glanced where he was pointing and immediately lost interest.

"Zoro."

"What?" Zoro turned toward Kuta and the others, who were approaching from behind.

"You've always wanted to know how strong I am, haven't you? Today, I'll show you."

Zoro saw the excitement on Kuta's face and grew puzzled. In the past year, he had never seen Kuta this worked up.

"Ever since my breakthrough, I've barely had a proper fight. And whenever I go to Master, he never gives it his all."

Kuta turned excitedly to Iku. "Today, I can finally go all out and see what I'm capable of. Uncle Iku, sorry for the trouble, but please keep them safe." He glanced at Ahua and the others.

"Hey, Kuta! Don't look down on us! We don't need protecting!"

"Yeah! We're strong too!"

The kids waved their arms and shouted. A-Luo even jumped forward and flexed his muscles.

"Quiet, brats! You can't handle the people over there."

Iku's expression had changed abruptly as he shouted.

The moment he saw that face, he had thought it looked familiar. It had been too far away to make out before, but now that he could see it clearly, he finally remembered.

"What's wrong?"

Kuta knew perfectly well, but asked anyway when he saw Iku's expression change.

"I remember now."

"Remember what?"

"I remember who that big-faced man is."

"Who?"

Everyone looked at Iku curiously, waiting for an answer.

Iku took a hard pull on his pipe before speaking with a grave expression. "If I'm not mistaken, that's someone who's become a legend in recent years."

"A legend?"

"Yes. They say his medical skills are so great that he's saved patients doctors had given up on, even a country on the brink of death. He's the Okama King behind the 'miracle of salvation' legend: Emporio Ivankov."

"What? So he's just a doctor."

Ahua pushed up his glasses and cut in eagerly. "But what's an okama?" Clearly, that interested him more.

"Hmm... an okama... how should I put it? Maybe someone who's half human, half demon?"

A-Luo nodded, rubbed his chin, and put on the air of an expert.

Thump!

Thump!

Iku raised his pipe and rapped each of them on the head. "Don't interrupt, brats."

A-Luo and Ahua immediately stood straight, bowed, and said, "Sorry!"

Iku paused for a few seconds, then narrowed his eyes. "Don't mistake him for an ordinary doctor. The Marines have put a bounty of eighty-five million three hundred thousand Beli on his head."

"Eighty-five million three hundred thousand?"

Silence fell. Everyone froze. They had paid little attention to talk of okama and doctors, but they knew what a bounty that high meant. After all, the highest bounty in the East Blue was only around twenty million Beli.

Kuta had known from the start that the man was the Okama King, Emporio Ivankov.

That was exactly why he was so excited. Ivankov would not attack civilians, and he was strong enough for Kuta to fight without holding back. Afterward, Kuta could smooth things over as a misunderstanding.

Hmm... perfect plan.

A sea breeze swept past, and the frozen scene came to life. The shouting began again.

"Are you kidding, Kuta? You're going to fight a monster like that?"

"Yeah! Even you can't beat someone with an eighty-five-million-Beli bounty!"

"All right, settle down. It's not a fight to the death. I just want to spar with him."

He gave the noisy kids a casual explanation.

Then he looked at Kuina. "Kuina, lend me Wado Ichimonji."

Kuina tightened her left hand around the sword and looked at him with concern.

Seeing her worry, he rested his right hand on her head and said gently, "Kuina, as long as I don't want to be hurt, no one can hurt me."

That's right. No one can hurt Kuta. Kuina slowly relaxed, took the sword from her waist, and handed it to him.

"Go all out, Kuta. I want to know how far apart we are too."

"I will!"

His voice was firm.

Kuta took the sword and raised it before him in his left hand. Gripping the hilt with his right, he slowly drew it a little way. The blade made a clear ringing sound as it slid against the sheath.

Shing!

Wado Ichimonji was one of the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords. Its hilt and sheath were white, its design simple and unassuming. It was a blade that concealed its true worth. According to Tenguyama Hitetsu, Shimotsuki Kozaburo had forged it alongside Enma.

"Good sword."

Kuta gently slid it back into its sheath.

Click!

He then removed the ordinary sword from his left hip and tossed it to Kuina. "This one can't withstand a swing at my full strength."

He fastened Wado Ichimonji at his waist, glanced up at Kuina and Zoro, then turned and jumped from the ship with his left hand resting on the sword.

Zoro quickly dropped the fish and ran with Kuina to the side of the ship. They leaned over the railing and watched Kuta run across the sea.

Behind Ivankov, a young man in a rabbit-eared hat was rowing hard. Suddenly, he stared ahead in astonishment.

"Hey, look! Someone's running across the sea toward us!"

Smack!

A large hand cuffed him neatly on the back of the head. Another young man behind him cursed, "Yifu, what are you dreaming about in broad daylight? Who the hell can run on the sea? If anyone can do that, I'll eat an oar right here."

A few seconds passed before he noticed the sudden silence around him.

He stopped rowing and followed everyone's gaze. His eyes went so wide they nearly popped out.

"Uh..."

Someone really was running across the sea.

Yifu turned to him and laughed triumphantly. "See? You remember what you just said, right?"

With that, he held out his oar.

The young man behind him hastily composed himself. He turned his head from side to side, looking dazed, and muttered, "What? Did I say something just now?"