Sailing at Sea: The Breath of the Day at the Start

Guina fell backward, landing heavily on the grass, panting and covered in sweat.

Zoro's gaze was blank.

what happened?

Did she...lose?

She actually lost?!

"You've improved quite a bit to be able to withstand three swords from me now."

Ron looked at Guina and smiled.

"Now the score is 364:0."

Kuina glared at him and said angrily, "Next time, next time I will definitely hit you!"

"come on."

Ron said casually.

He then draped the bamboo sword over his shoulder and turned to look behind him.

When Ron saw that familiar green algae-like hair, he was somewhat surprised:

"I thought it was someone else, but it's you."

When Zoro saw Ron's childlike yet mature and calm face, a flood of memories rushed into his mind.

He stared at Ron, who was pointing at him, and said in utter astonishment:

"What a weird stingy person!"

"A strange stingy person?"

When Guina heard this title, she was taken aback.

A black line appeared on Ron's forehead:

"Hey you! Don't give people weird nicknames!"

17. The huge gap, Zoro's unwillingness to accept it (2/5)

under the moon.

On the corridor in the backyard of the dojo.

Three small figures were sitting there.

From left to right: Kuina, Ron, Zoro.

The three people were a blue-haired short-haired person, a black-haired person, and a clump of green seaweed.

"Ron, you're amazing!"

Zoro asked in surprise, "You don't look that much older than me. By the way, how old are you?"

Ron sat on the edge of the corridor, his hands supporting him on the floor, his legs dangling in the air.

Hearing Zoro's words, he looked up at the moon in the sky and smiled, "You should be nine years old this year."

In the blink of an eye, it's been almost a year since I came into this world.

A lot has happened this year.

"Nine years old? That's a year older than me."

Zoro counted on his fingers.

Kuina rested her chin on her hands, puffed out her cheeks, and said dejectedly, "She's a year younger than me."

"By the way, Ron, where's your knife?"

Zoro asked curiously.

“I left it inside; I certainly wouldn’t carry it with me at the dojo.”

Ron leaned back, resting his head on his arm, and turned to look at Zoro beside him, laughing, "So you've also become a new disciple of the dojo this spring?"

"Ah."

Zoro nodded, looked at Kuina, his eyes filled with boiling fighting spirit, and said, "I swear I will defeat her!"

Kuina glanced at him: "You?"

Her dismissive attitude instantly enraged Zoro.

"What did you say!?"

He immediately stood up and said angrily:

"Want to have another match with me now?!"

"Hmph, fine. But no matter how many times we compete, you will never be my match."

Guina stood up proudly.

Zoro gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

Their eyes met, and it was as if lightning flashed in the air.

After a while.

Zoro lay there on the ground in the courtyard, stunned, his bamboo sword flying far away.

"Hmph, you can't even hold a sword properly, yet you want to use dual swords? I think you should focus on building a solid foundation first."

After saying that to him, Guina looked at Ron sitting under the eaves and said, "I'll be waiting for you at the usual place tomorrow morning."

Without waiting for Ron's reply, she took the bamboo sword and left first.

Ron stood up, looked at Zoro lying on the ground, and laughed:

"Although Kuina is a girl, she is very strong and trains very hard. It will probably be very difficult for you to catch up with her."

"You need to have great perseverance and work twice as hard to have a chance."

After saying that, Ron also left.

Zoro was left lying face up in the courtyard, spread out in a starfish shape.

"I lost again..."

"Kuina is that strong, so strong that I have absolutely no hope of winning. Ron is much stronger than her, even though he's only a year older than me..."

He gazed at the night sky, gritted his teeth, clenched his fist, and slammed it hard on the ground, his face filled with resentment.

"Damn it!!! Why is the gap so huge?!"

…………

From this day forward...

Zoro began training harder than anyone else and quickly surpassed the other new disciples of his generation.

He challenged Kuina more than three times a day, and each time he suffered a crushing defeat. After each defeat, he would train even harder, as if he had gone mad.

After only two months of training, he was able to defeat a group of veteran disciples.

His skill level has improved by leaps and bounds, completely incomparable to when he first came to the dojo.

His perseverance and hard work earned him the respect of all his disciples, including Kuina, who changed her opinion of him and paid more attention to him.

……

this day.

Zoro, who was pulling on a rock under a tree to strengthen his arms, saw Kuina passing by with a bamboo sword and shouted without hesitation, "Kuina, fight me!"

Kuina glanced at him: "I'm busy right now."

She was about to leave when, as if remembering something, she took a step back and said to him, "Come with me."

"Eh?"

Zoro looked completely bewildered.

"Where?"

"Are you going or not? You might regret it if you don't."

Kuina looked mysterious.

Zoro's curiosity was piqued, so he immediately put down the stone, went to Kuina's side, and followed her toward the back of the gym.

The two arrived at the clearing in the woods behind the dojo.

Zoro saw two figures, one large and one small, standing in the open space.

"Director, and... Ron?!"

Zoro was somewhat surprised. "They're...dueling?"

Kuina looked at the arena and nodded, saying:

"And it was a real knife."