Uchiha Hikaru smiled faintly at Aokiji's words. "Personality isn't the issue. What I value is your character!"
A biting chill surged around Aokiji, whipping up snow and wind as his gaze turned cold. "Character? What character could the Death Surgeon and that Mad Monk pirate over on that ship possibly have?"
Hikaru's heart stirred. When he had first landed on the island, he had vaguely sensed that something was off. He had wondered whether Aokiji had arrived at Punk Hazard at a different time from the original timeline, which was why he had left Law and Urouge on the ship. Now, it seemed highly likely that Aokiji had arrived long ago and had secretly observed the two of them.
"Am I not trying to save their inner worlds?" Hikaru said. "To lead a pirate back from the twisted, dark path of the soul onto the bright road again—what in this world is more worth striving for than saving someone's soul?"
"Your words are just like your face—beautifully over the top!"
Hikaru scratched his head. "Uh... are you trying to say I'm handsome?"
"Azure Ice Rain!"
Aokiji answered Hikaru with a violent cyclone storm. All the water blasted onto the ground by Hikaru's Rasengan was swept up by Aokiji, instantly freezing into ice. The raging hurricane around them hurled those ice blades at Hikaru.
"Looks like I can only convince you with my fists!" Hikaru chuckled. With a wave of his right hand, the faint light in his eyes flared. Golden radiance surged from his body into the heavens, draping all of Punk Hazard in a faint golden glow.
On the distant Konoha, Law and Urouge watched the golden pillar of light shooting into the sky from the center of the island, and both their expressions changed. It was as though