The Sword Is Forged; Plans to Set Sail / The Final Song Before Departure! Koushiro's True Strength!

Zoro only came to challenge him about once every half month.

That gave him time to improve his Sword Forging.

"Got it!"

Kuina seemed to understand that what Dongze was about to do mattered. She answered obediently.

"Dongze!"

"What is it?"

"You were lying to me before, weren't you? You said even a girl could become the strongest!"

"No, I wasn't lying! I'm just an exception. Aren't you still beating up Moss Head? Master's told you how talented he is!"

"Who's talking about him?"

Dongze gave a rueful laugh as someone threw herself at him. Who else could it be but Kuina?

"Stop fooling around!"

They were nearly seven meters above the ground. Worried that the girl might get hurt, Dongze didn't dodge, and she landed squarely on top of him.

By the time he came to his senses, Kuina was straddling him. The softness against his waist left him momentarily dazed. She really was growing up.

Worse, she shifted against him twice.

Dongze nearly lost control. He hurriedly reached up to stop her.

"Hmph! So what if you're stronger than me now, stinky Dongze? I've still got you pinned!"

Looking at the girl, who resembled a victorious general, Dongze shook his head helplessly. "Yes, yes. Miss Shimotsuki is the strongest!"

"You don't mean it!"

"You're lying!"

"Dongze! Are you planning to leave?"

Dongze sighed softly. He hadn't expected a young girl to see through him.

"Yes. My Swordsmanship has hit a bottleneck. To improve, I need a weapon and real combat."

"There's no room for me to grow at Isshin Dojo anymore."

"I'll work hard too! Just don't die!"

"Silly. Why would I? I didn't inherit Master's stubbornness. All that talk of Bushido Spirit—staying alive comes first!"

"Stinky Dongze! Don't talk about Father like that!"

The days slipped by unnoticed. The clanging from the Sword-Forge Workshop grew louder, and lately it had barely stopped at all.

Looking at the long blade in his hands, Koshiro was filled with wonder. "I never imagined such a genius existed. In just a few months, he's reached this level of Sword Forging!"

Sword Forging was far from simple. Becoming a master without decades of practice was a pipe dream.

But Dongze had his Golden Finger. With its help, he had raised his Sword Forging to its limit in an astonishingly short time. Much of what had stunned Koshiro today was thanks to it.

The sword was complete, and it was time to put to sea.

Twenty-one days later, dark clouds suddenly gathered over Isshin Dojo at noon.

The Sword Classic said: "When a divine weapon is forged, thunder swings the hammer, rain quenches the steel, the blade takes in the power of the sun and the essence of the earth, and the smith's blood gives it spirit."

"Hey! Look at the sky! What's going on?"

"Those are storm clouds!"

"What's happening? The weather shouldn't be like this!"

"Right! It was clear and sunny just a moment ago!"

Crack!

Before the students of Isshin Dojo could say much more, lightning struck. In an instant, the Sword-Forge Workshop nearby was reduced to ruins.

The disaster left them too shocked to think. Screaming, they fled the scene.

At Isshin Dojo, Koshiro gazed at the black clouds in admiration. "With a spectacle like this, the boy must have forged an extraordinary weapon!"

Twenty-seven bolts of lightning struck the long sword, which resembled Yuanhong. Drawing on his own understanding, Dongze had blended seven kinds of rare ore to improve its sharpness, toughness, flexibility, and strength.

He was certain the sword was no worse than the Yuanhong he knew. At the end, he had bitten his tongue and used his blood to give the blade spirit.

As the final bolt fell, the clouds gradually dispersed. Amid the ruins, a long sword stood embedded in the forge.

The sword was about three feet long and sharpened on both edges. Even from a distance, its keen edge sent a chill racing up from the soles of one's feet. Special patterns left by countless rounds of hammering covered the blade. Styled after an ancient sword, it looked dignified, solid, and resilient. As Dongze approached, it trembled and hummed softly, brimming with spirit.

Dongze gripped the hilt and drew the sword from the forge. A strange feeling filled him at once. He sensed a remarkable connection with the weapon, as though it were an extension of his arm. Every movement came effortlessly, without the slightest resistance.

He ran a finger lightly along the blade, surprise flashing in his eyes. "Now that's an unexpected bonus!"

With the forging complete, Dongze finally relaxed. Throughout those days, he had kept his attention intensely focused. Even though his Sword Forging proficiency had reached its peak, the process could not have a single flaw if the result was to surpass a Skillful Grade Sword.

Fortunately, he had made no mistakes. When the sword was complete, lightning had struck and purged more impurities from it, raising its quality further. That was the bonus he had meant.

Now that it was done, he could no longer fight his exhaustion. He gave Kuina a brief greeting, then lay back and fell asleep.

"Female Tyrannosaur! Where's that thickheaded idiot? Is he all right?"

The thunder had reached not only the students around the Dojo but also Zoro, who had been training on the mountain behind it. He knew Dongze had been forging a sword these past few days.

The lightning had clearly struck the Sword-Forge Workshop. It was now a ruin, and Dongze was nowhere to be seen. Worried and unsure what else to do, Zoro had come to ask Kuina what had happened.

"Moss Head! Itching for another beating?"

"Damn it! I'm going to beat you today!"

The two were just as they had always been, ready to clash at the slightest provocation.

"Good! I was looking for a fight!"

"Huh? What's this?"

Zoro raised an eyebrow at the long sword beside the table.

"Stinky Dongze made it!"

Another voice interrupted them. Koshiro had arrived without either of them noticing.

"What a fine sword. Tempered by lightning... it may well surpass the Fifty Skillful Grade Swords!"

"But he was reckless. Sharpening both edges makes it as dangerous to its wielder as to an enemy. What a waste of such fine material!"

"Both edges?"

"Ordinarily, we sharpen only one edge to fight with. The other side protects the wielder. With both edges sharpened, this weapon can only be used to attack. It can no longer be called a proper Famous Sword!"

Kuina and Zoro did not fully understand Koshiro's explanation, but it sounded convincing. They nodded in turn.

Unfortunately, Dongze was already asleep. Otherwise, he would have sighed. What he had forged was a sword, not a saber. A sword was the gentleman of weapons; a saber was the boldest of them. They were never the same thing.

It was funny, really. In this world, people held sabers while claiming to practice Swordsmanship.

Dongze had already considered the possibility that even this world's strongest Great Swordsmen had never touched the realm of intent.

In other worlds, such as The Legend of Qin, Gao Jianli's Shuihan could freeze everything for miles with a single stroke.

He thought Swordsmanship in this world had gone astray, pursuing nothing but destructive power.

And in the end, that was all it amounted to.

As someone from another world, Dongze's knowledge and thinking were not confined to this one. Of course he would not choose a saber for his weapon.

The next day arrived, and Dongze slowly woke, ravenous. He had been unable to step away during the final days of forging for fear of making a mistake. Now that he could finally rest, hunger hit him all at once.

The sun was already high, though, and there was probably no food left at the Dojo. He tidied himself up and went to a restaurant in Shimotsuki Village.

Fortunately, his trip to the Bandit's Lair had netted him quite a bit of money—several million Beli by his count. Otherwise, he would have been in trouble.

He quickly worked through the food on his table as the surrounding chatter reached his ears. It was here that Dongze felt particularly keenly that he was in the world of pirates.

"Did you hear? Someone killed those Bandits a while back!"

"No way! There were a thousand of them!"

"Nonsense! My uncle passed by there the day before yesterday and found them all dead. He said there were only a little over a hundred!"

"Tch! Just a hundred or so? I could've killed them all myself!"

"Wuso, all you ever do is brag! You? Last time they came by, you nearly pissed yourself!"

"Bullshit! I was hot! It was just a little sweat!"

"I heard they were all beheaded. Maybe whoever did it was some vicious monster."

"Bullshit! Good riddance. If I were strong enough, I'd have cut those bastards to pieces myself!"

"Come on, your wife's back, isn't she? Why are you still thinking about that?"

"Bullshit! Were you a bandit yourself? How can you say that?"

"Idiot. If someone like me could join the Bandits, would you lot have been afraid of them? You'd have beaten them to death ages ago!"

"I heard something these past few days. A group of Fish-Men arrived in East Blue a year ago! They're a rare sight from the Grand Line. People there say they're vicious, though. They're even charging protection money like common thugs!"

"That's nothing. A while back, that Devil Child, Nico Robin, brought disaster on another ship! Its captain had a bounty of fifteen million Beli!"

"Nonsense. A distant relative of mine was on that pirate ship. He told me their captain's bounty was thirty million Beli!"

"Hey, Keda! Didn't you say you were an orphan? Where did this relative come from?"

"Hahaha..."

Dongze soon finished his meal and finally satisfied his hunger.

The owner rubbed his hands together gleefully at the towering stack of plates. "That'll be twelve thousand Beli!"

"Damn! That kid can eat!"

"Hah! You haven't seen anything. He's a student at Isshin Dojo. A green-haired kid came here before and ate fifty thousand Beli worth of food!"

"Mr. Koshiro, the Dojo's owner, had to pay for it!"

"Damn! Is that kid even human? Could he be—"

"Quit talking nonsense. He eats a lot because he's strong. He's tougher than some grown men already!"

"Hey, kid! Do you know that green-haired boy?"

A diner called out when he saw Dongze getting up to leave.

At the door, Dongze waved a hand. "Sure. His name's Zoro. He's one of the strongest at our Dojo!"

"See? Told you!"

Once outside, Dongze narrowed his eyes and began to work out where they were in the timeline.

Nico Robin hasn't gone to Crocodile yet. Arlong has already arrived in East Blue. The wheels of fate have started turning. It's about time I left.

The final bout before departure: Koshiro's true strength!

"You've made up your mind?"

"Time passes too quickly. How can I waste it here?"

"Before I leave, I'd like to ask Master for a little guidance."

"You've truly decided?"

"Please teach me, Master!"

"Dongze, you should know the gap between us. You haven't reached that level yet, and I don't want this to become an obsession. It would affect your future."

"..."