Today's Fortune: I Send You to the Underworld / The Night Is Deep; The Killing Begins

The Fortune Is Told Today; I Send You to the Underworld

The fight finally came to an end. There had been no dazzling, earth-shaking techniques, but everyone present had learned a very real lesson.

Today, the frogs at the bottom of the well had glimpsed the wider world beyond.

The fight had one downside, though: from then on, Kuina and Zoro hounded Dongze for endless matches.

Kuina and Zoro challenged Dongze twice every day.

At first, Kuina had not believed her father Koshiro. But when she faced the playmate she knew so well, she finally understood how Zoro had felt back then—and how frustrating it had been.

Training demanded both exertion and rest. Because of Kuina and Zoro, Dongze had to slow his practice of the Thirteen Forms of Basic Swordsmanship. Unexpectedly, the break helped him break through in all thirteen forms.

When his proficiency in the thirteenth form reached 1000/1000, the words "Basic Swordsmanship" changed to "Basic Swordsmanship EXP."

What came after was just what he had expected.

A faint line of small text appeared.

Swordsmanship (locked!)

"Swordsmanship?"

Dongze paced around, pondering what his Golden Finger meant.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. An idea had struck him.

He took his bamboo sword in his right hand, pressed the first two fingers of his left hand together, and rested them lightly against the blade.

Then the bamboo sword shot forth. A breeze rose, dark rain fell, and the Azure Dragon emerged. Light flashed along the blade as Dongze moved with it in one fluid motion.

At least, that was how he imagined it. In reality, he had thrown a bamboo sword with all his strength.

That was right: the ultimate move from Vertical and Horizontal Swordsmanship, Hundred-Pace Flying Sword!

Looking at the bamboo sword lying in splinters, Dongze scratched his head awkwardly. "I got a little carried away."

Just as his enthusiasm began to fade, a line of small text appeared before his eyes. He froze.

Swordsmanship—Hundred-Pace Flying Sword proficiency: 1/10000

The unexpected surprise nearly made Dongze shout.

"If that's how it works..."

Dongze licked his lips, his eyes shining.

But things were not quite as wonderful as he had hoped. With Crossing the Eight Directions from Horizontal Swordsmanship, he could not even perform the basic movements at his current level.

The technique required eight arcs of Sword Aura. For someone who had only just mastered Basic Swordsmanship, that was too great a leap. He would only hurt himself trying.

After a great deal of experimenting, he ended up with just three sword techniques.

The first was "Hundred-Pace Flying Sword."

The second was "Sword-Draw Technique."

The third was "Taiji Sword."

"Huh? What are you two doing here?"

Dongze was conditioning his body when he happened to spot Zoro and Kuina.

Seeing that his Iron Head Skill proficiency had stopped rising at 950/1000, Dongze halted.

Zoro and Kuina stood nearby, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.

"Hey, tomboy, am I seeing things? How did I lose to an idiot?"

Taking advantage of her height, Kuina gave Zoro a hard knock on the head.

"Moss Head, looking for a beating again?"

"Bastard! You're the one looking for a beating! I'm definitely going to beat you today!"

Zoro was like a firecracker: the slightest spark set him off. It was especially bad around Kuina. Every time she provoked him, he bristled.

Dongze was speechless as the two squared off.

"Hey! What did you two come here for, anyway?"

Perhaps he had interrupted at the wrong moment. Kuina and Zoro turned toward him together and shouted in unison, "Shut up!"

Dongze had finally had enough of them. "Damn. You two are idiots."

"Bastard! Who are you calling an idiot?"

Once again, they spoke in unison.

"Hey, Dongze, what are you doing?"

"Hey, have you gone crazy?"

The two looked at him as if he were an idiot, making Dongze's mouth twitch.

Damn it, do I look like an idiot?

"Looks like I need to loosen up with an extra workout today!"

Kuina and Zoro gave awkward smiles. "Then what are you doing?"

After a moment's silence, Dongze said, "Conditioning my body!"

"If you really want to learn to fight, you have to learn to take a hit first! Everything has its opposing sides, and attack and defense are no different. Without a body that can survive a hundred battles, even someone capable of cutting an opponent's throat may only get one strike against a master!"

"I doubt either of you wants to end up like that!"

"But isn't this a bit..."

"Hey, Dongze, are you sure this isn't self-harm?"

However grand Dongze made it sound, Kuina and Zoro were not fools. They could see the self-destructive streak in his training and did not believe he was simply conditioning his body.

Dongze felt awkward. Conditioning his body really was his goal, but he had to admit that what he was doing was embarrassing. Still, he refused to acknowledge it and kept talking, hoping to steer the conversation away.

When it came to bluffing people, knowing the story gave him an advantage from the start!

"You can't face the greatest dangers without doing the hardest things first! If you lack even that much courage, your ambitions don't amount to much!"

At Dongze's words, Kuina and Zoro both flushed.

As Dongze's proficiency climbed, his strength was becoming monstrous. Every move carried tremendous force.

In their previous match, Kuina had lost in two moves because he had overwhelmed her with sheer strength. She was already as strong as a grown man, yet she still could not withstand his second strike. Even Zoro would have struggled to take a sword blow backed by that kind of power.

Fine! Fine!

He had the stronger fists, so he got to be right!

The two stopped arguing. After all, even together, they were no match for Dongze now.

"Father wants to see you!"

After a moment's silence, Kuina spoke up.

Dongze paused. He had not been to the Dojo in some time since mastering Basic Swordsmanship, and Koshiro had let it slide. He had not expected Koshiro to summon him today.

"Did he say why?"

Kuina shook her head. "I don't know. Father didn't say!"

Dongze narrowed his eyes and thought it over. At Isshin Dojo, Shimotsuki Koshiro was probably the only person who could see through his current level. If Koshiro had called him over now, he had likely noticed Dongze's bottleneck. Dongze suspected this visit would bring good fortune, not trouble.

"Oh, Dongze! You're here!"

"Master."

"I'm ashamed to say I haven't truly taught you anything substantial, even after all your training!"

"Don't say that. If you hadn't taken me in, I might not be here today!"

Dongze meant it. When he had first woken up, a group of bandits had come to raid Shimotsuki Village. Powerless to defend himself, he had nearly died under their blades. Koshiro had driven them off and taken him in.

"At your current level, you can go and take your revenge!"

Dongze narrowed his eyes. "You mean...?"

"A sword is a weapon meant to kill. If you want to go further, practice alone won't be enough..."

Dongze fell silent. After a long while, he said, "So that's it. No wonder..."

There was a reason he had kept grinding Iron Head Skill proficiency. Ever since the three sword techniques had unlocked, nothing he tried had increased their proficiency. Koshiro's explanation finally made things click.

Koshiro was right. He would have to test his sword techniques in a real fight to see what they could do.

Dongze then borrowed a sword from Koshiro and left with resolute steps.

Facing the setting sun, Dongze murmured in a low voice, "Bandits..."

"Today, I've drawn your fortune: a trip to the underworld!"

The Night Deepens, and Slaughter Descends

East Blue, Shimotsuki Village.

Thin trails of cooking smoke rose as warmth settled over the little village once more.

Silhouetted against the setting sun, a short figure stood on a branch of a towering tree, a long sword hanging at his waist. He gazed toward the bandits' stronghold in the distance.

He slowly drew the sword and ran a finger along its spine. Sword was not quite the right word for it, though; with its single cutting edge, it was more like a blade.

Koshiro had told him it was called Wado Ichimonji.

It was the blade from the original story, one of the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords. Its blade and sheath were both white, and it measured about eighty-eight centimeters long.

Though Dongze had spent the past year strengthening his body, the blade was still a little long for him. Fortunately, that did not keep him from wielding it.

He was about Kuina's age and two years older than Zoro, making him roughly eleven. Years of training had brought him to around 1.6 meters tall, so the blade was only slightly too long for him.

It would be more than enough against those bandits. With Observation Haki, he soon had a clear picture of their entire lair.

Well, this is East Blue.

Of the Four Blues, East Blue was the weakest. It did not even have a major pirate worthy of the name, and was known as a sea of peace.

Or should I credit Garp? Did his iron fists sweep East Blue so thoroughly that pirates became a rarity?

There were 127 people in the Bandit's Lair, most of them young or middle-aged men. Only a few were women, and they did not appear to be faring well. Dongze guessed the bandits had abducted them during their raids.

In a chaotic world, the weak had no choice at all.

Thinking of everything he had seen since arriving in this world, Dongze sighed softly.

There was only one gun in the lair. Everyone else carried blades, and the bandit chief held the gun.

It was probably how he kept his men in line.

After all, when the people wielding them were equally weak, the advantage of a gun over a blade was obvious.

"Ah."

His long sigh scattered on the wind. In the fading light, Dongze slid down from the tree, steadied his breathing, and crept silently toward the bandits' lair.

Built against the mountainside, the stronghold was crude but backed by the terrain, making it easy to defend and hard to attack.

Unfortunately for the bandits, years of easy living had dulled their vigilance. There was not a soul at the lookout post, and Dongze slipped inside without trouble.

That, too, spoke to how peaceful East Blue was.

But today, blood would stain this place.

There were too many bandits for Dongze to face head-on. He was not the sort to charge in recklessly. One against 127 called for caution.

They would clash eventually, but preparation would greatly reduce the chance of a nasty surprise.

So Dongze found a corner and waited quietly for the sun to set and night to fall.

Soon, the sun sank below the horizon, and darkness covered the island.

Dongze rose quietly and stretched his stiff limbs, ready to put his plan into motion.

Just then, his eyes narrowed as two voices reached his ears.