When Uchiha Hikaru appeared before everyone with Aokiji, Law, Jinbe, and Urouge were all terrified, as if facing a great enemy. If not for the relaxed look on Uchiha Hikaru's face, they would have thought Aokiji had captured him alive.
"Have you reconsidered my offer to join me?" Hikaru asked Aokiji. "Someone like you needs a reliable force if you want to put your ambitions into practice."
Aokiji glanced at the three behind Hikaru. "A reliable force? Just the four of you?"
Hikaru smiled lightly. "With you, that makes five."
Aokiji said coldly, "Then I'll consider it once you become reliable."
"What a shame." Hikaru looked disappointed. "By then, you'll only rank at the very bottom under me. How about giving me your word now? I'll reserve a spot for you."
Aokiji did not answer. He led the children slowly down from the Konoha. The children's physical conditions had been severely altered; they had clearly been forcibly changed through drugs. Aokiji believed much more of what Uchiha Hikaru had said.
Law, Jinbe, and the others behind Hikaru looked at one another. They had not expected Uchiha Hikaru to be so bold as to set his sights on Aokiji and try to recruit him. If someone like Aokiji joined any force, it would be enough to shake every faction in the New World.
What incredible courage. The three of them admired Uchiha Hikaru deeply, and his back seemed to grow even more imposing in their eyes.
After leading the children off the ship, Aokiji looked at Hikaru aboard the Konoha. Though he wore an aloof expression, Aokiji knew how deep the mask hidden beneath this young man's surface was. Neither wholly righteous nor wholly evil, he was impossible to fathom. He could recruit pirates under his command, yet he could also