One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 77 Enma Iron! Koushirou's Fighting Spirit!

Five days later.

The revolutionary army acted swiftly—after discussing and finalizing the cooperation, Lindbergh and Saab left first.

The former was to return to Xihai to take charge of the overall situation of the revolutionary army in Xihai.

The latter was to return to the Revolutionary Army headquarters, 'Baltico,' to report the results of the negotiations and, incidentally, to inform Dragon about his own background.

He has made up his mind to return to the Kingdom of Goa every now and then to try to find his lost memories.

As for Belo Betty, she began mobilizing the Revolutionary Army in the East Blue to contact the headquarters and started preparing materials and a deposit for the first transaction with the Twelve Constellations.

until today
"The deposit of 10 billion Berries is ready, but the materials will take two more days. To ensure that the government does not discover them, we will store the supplies in batches in the caves on the west side of this island. You can pick them up yourselves in five days."

After handing a note to Pig, Belo Betty decisively left.

The coordinates recorded on the note led to a deserted island in the East China Sea.

"As expected of the revolutionary army, they are indeed meticulous in their actions."

Looking at that note, even Ino couldn't help but sigh – there was a reason why the Revolutionary Army had been able to survive and thrive despite the World Government's relentless pursuit.

Such a large-scale transaction of goods and transportation of cash could not have gone unnoticed, so they would never have been delivered to Frostmoon Village.

It's not hard to imagine that whenever the revolutionary army stopped here in the past, they mostly used a similar method, completely separating people and supplies.

This is probably why Frostmoon Village has remained undiscovered for so many years.

While marveling at this, one can also clearly see the light screen beneath the eyes of the pig mask.

【Loy Amos (Sliced ​​Doppelganger - Pig)】

[Equipped Fruits: Swallow Fruit LV4, Slice Fruit LV3]

[Remaining Pelé: 3.91904 billion Pelé]

That's right.

Previously, after killing King Karamiro III and Snag on 'Candied Fruit Island', it was only natural for Zishu to plunder King Karamiro III's treasury—after all, the latter happened to take Snag to the treasury when he arrived, so he was just being generous and wouldn't hesitate to take it.

As mentioned before, although Candied Fruit Island is not a member state of the World Government, it is quite wealthy.

In addition, although Calamiro III squandered his wealth over the years, he also made a lot of money through his relationship with Bigom.

So, within the treasure trove of this small island nation, there are actually nearly 15 billion Berries of wealth.

Roy, of course, didn't hold back and promptly spent the treasures after acquiring them.

He enhanced several fruits, the most crucial of which were the 'Swallow Fruit LV4' and 'Slice Fruit LV3' that the boar currently possessed.

This huge expense caused him considerable distress for many days.

Fortunately, the Rat's hard work during this period had brought him considerable income, and the successful negotiation with the Revolutionary Army meant he was about to receive another 10 billion Berries, which naturally pleased him.

"With these Beli, it's enough to upgrade both the Buddha Fruit and the Wind God Pterosaur Fruit to LV4 before the Three Armed Forces Exercise."

Roy pondered in his heart how to distribute the money.

His goal was still very simple—he wanted to achieve a high ranking in the military exercises, preferably be promoted to lieutenant general, and then gain the authority to manage the detention troops.

This will make many things much easier for him.

"With my current strength, it's probably enough. However, the scale and rules of this martial arts competition are still uncertain. If we want to ensure there are no mistakes or oversights..."

As Roy pondered this, his eyes turned toward a direction of the dojo.

"As expected, we still need to get our hands on that thing."

While pondering, the Pig stepped into the sword training ground of the dojo.

At this moment, Zoro and Koushirou are practicing their swordsmanship as usual in the training ground.

"Mr. Pig?"

Upon seeing the arrival of the Pig, Koushirou was naturally taken aback.

Zoro, on the other hand, was looking at Ino with a hint of fighting spirit in his eyes—after being 'looked down upon' by Koushirou a few days ago, he had been wanting to prove his strength to his teacher.

However, at this moment, the Pig (亥猪) naturally paid little attention to Zoro.

He looked at Koushirou and took off his top hat: "Mr. Koushirou, my business negotiations with my trading partners have been completed, and I should be leaving Shimotsuki Village in a few days."

"Therefore, before I leave, I have a favor to ask."

His words remained elegant.

"Please tell me."

Koushirou smiled and nodded.

"I have heard people mention your father, 'Shimotsuki Kōzaburo,' before."

With a smile, Ino got straight to the point: "He is a legendary craftsman from Wano Country who forged two of the twenty-one Great Swords—one of which is this 'Wado Ichimonji'."

As he said this, he glanced meaningfully at the sword at Zoro's waist.

The words fell.

Shimotsuki Koushirou's originally gentle expression had become slightly serious.

"I never expected that Your Excellency would know so much about my father's life."

Clearly, he hadn't expected that the Pig would know these things.

It should be noted that their clan, as a branch of the Shimotsuki clan of Wano Country, left Wano Country and came to the East Blue fifty years ago.

Over the years, they have not deliberately concealed their identities.

However, due to Wano Country's closed-off status, very few people on the entire sea know their identities.

But at that moment, Zoro, standing to the side, showed a surprised expression.

"That old man is actually..."

Although he vaguely knew that the old man was a swordsmith and Kuina's grandfather, he had no idea that the 'Wado Ichimonji' was actually forged by him.

But Zoro hasn't asked yet.

Hai Zhu continued, "As I mentioned before, I am also a blacksmith, so I naturally know about your father, a legendary blacksmith."

He quietly steered the conversation toward the real topic: "Of course, I have little interest in Wado Ichimonji."

"What I wish to ask about is another great sword forged by your father—'Yama'!"

As he uttered the name, Shimotsuki Koshiro's eyes narrowed: "Enma?" "That's right, that sword named after the King of Hell has the characteristic of absorbing Haki to activate 'Ryuo,' and is a 'demon sword' that will take its master's life."

The Pig said in a deep voice, "What I want to know is how the effect of activating 'Flowing Cherry Blossoms' is achieved?"

He then added with a smile, "By the way, I heard by chance that Mr. Kousaburo left behind some relics, including some records of sword forging. If you, Mr. Kousaburo, do not know any clues about Enma, I would like to borrow or purchase them."

"For this, I am willing to pay the price in exchange."

His words were very sincere.

Zoro, who was standing to the side, was initially very surprised when he heard this.

Enma—just from the name, you can imagine a sharp and powerful blade. But the question is... what is Haki? And what is Ryuo?
But before he could react, the pig's next words immediately made him look panicked.

That's right, the keepsake left by Kousaburo was exactly what he had told Inozo about before.

Incidentally, he learned about the contents of these relics from Kuina—they had even secretly looked through the sword-forging manuals together when they practiced swordsmanship at night.

"This guy actually said it out loud!"

For a moment, Zoro felt extremely guilty.

"."

And sure enough—after hearing what Ino said, Koushirou glanced at Zoro, clearly guessing who the culprit was.

but
After giving Zoro a deep look, Koushirou seemed to have made up his mind.

Then, he turned his gaze to the Pig.

“Mr. Haizhu, those sword manuals only contain my father’s sword-forging insights from years ago, and there is no record of ‘Yama’.”

"According to my father's last wishes, they were placed in the dojo's study, and all students of the dojo can look through them if they wish—if you are interested, you can go and see for yourself."

At this point, he changed the subject: "However, I do know something about 'Enma'. Please come with me."

After saying that, he turned and walked deeper into the dojo.

However, halfway there, he turned to Zoro and said, "Zoro, come along too."

".yes!"

Zoro quickly responded, then glared at Inu, saying, "Hey! You bastard... you didn't tell me you were asking for these things!"

He was clearly annoyed.

"Don't mind him, Zoro."

The pig chuckled and said, "Isn't Mr. Koushirou not angry?"

He said this, but his eyes beneath the mask clearly showed a hint of surprise.

He had even planned that if Koushirou refused to tell him Enma's secret, he would try to persuade Koushirou through the Revolutionary Army.

But things seemed to be going more smoothly than he had expected.
"Ok?"

Just as the pig was pondering to himself, he followed Koushirou.

He was suddenly taken aback.

Because at that moment, Koushirou in front of him had stopped.

In front of the Pig was a bamboo forest.

Deep in the bamboo forest, there was a simple wooden hut with an offering table in front of it. They were now standing in front of the offering table.

But the problem is.
"."

Looking at the prototype site outlined by the surrounding bamboo forest, and then at the armor and weapons placed not far away.

The pig realized what kind of place this was—it was clearly an outdoor kendo training ground.

And it was at this very moment
"This is my father's former residence."

He heard Koushirou's voice.

At this moment, the usually gentle headmaster of the Isshin Dojo picked up a box from the offering table: "I can tell you that the special nature of 'Enma' comes from a mineral that my father forged."

He opened the box, revealing the strange, pitch-black object inside.

It was a mineral that resembled neither gold nor stone.

"It will autonomously devour the domineering aura within any living being it comes into contact with, and release it as flowing cherry blossoms."

"Whether it is a blacksmith who forges a sword or a swordsman who uses a sword, they must be strong enough to truly control power, otherwise they will surely die - hence my father named it 'Flowing Cherry Blossom Stone' or 'Enma Iron'."

"After forging Yama, because this forging material was too dangerous, my father sealed and destroyed the method of manufacturing it, leaving only this last piece."

At this point, Koushirou stroked the last piece of 'Enma Iron' in the world.

The moment he touched that pitch-black object, his hand quickly turned white, and a dark, domineering aura began to flow across the piece of Yama Iron.

But Koushirou didn't care about that.

He seemed to be recalling his father.

He once asked his father—since the decision had been made to seal and destroy the Yama Iron, why leave this piece behind?
His father did not answer him at the time.

But as time goes by, Koushirou has gradually come to understand.

As a craftsman, he forged an unparalleled and powerful metal and knife, but due to their danger, he had to seal them away and destroy them.

That sense of resentment was the reason his father left behind this piece of 'Yama Iron'.

Perhaps he was also hoping that one day a true strongman or blacksmith would obtain this piece of Yamato Iron and then use it to make his name resound throughout the sea?

so.
"I must confirm, Mr. Pig."

At this moment, under Zoro's solemn gaze.

Koushirou slowly took off his glasses and placed them on the offering table, and then...
"Qiang!"

He drew a knife from his waist and turned to point it at the pig.

"Defeat me and prove to me that you are worthy of taking it."

His eyes, however, now held an unprecedented sharpness and burning fighting spirit.

　This chapter is a bonus chapter for reaching 1000 monthly votes in November. I figured we should be able to reach 1000 today, so I added it early.
　　A total of 1.2 words were updated today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)