Big brother, I want to become the strongest pirate in the world!

Am I using the mindset of a Sword Master... to wield the power of a Berserker?

There is only one truth, and that is now.

found it.

Chapter 122 Kazan

"call……"

In a small grove behind Frostmoon Village, Kazan sat on a large rock, his hands resting lightly on the blade of the demon sword Useless, his eyes closed in deep concentration.

Shimotsuki Koshiro said that by having "intimate contact" with one's own sword, one might be able to understand its feelings, especially with a demon sword, a strange and swift sword that is said to "have its own consciousness".

"Wow...no matter how many times I see him, he's so handsome..."

"Zoro, let me see!"

"Wait a minute, let me take another look."

Under the rock, the two little children, Kuina and Zoro, held Kazan's black sword, Darkmoon, their eyes shining as they gazed at it. Darkmoon, with its jet-black blade, held an unparalleled natural attraction for a swordsman.

Even the fallen moon was once a bright and beautiful moon.

Since gaining insights from his duel with Shimotsuki Koshiro yesterday, Kazan has decided to stay at Isshin Dojo for a while.

Of course, it wasn't a free meal or drink; Kazan voluntarily covered all the expenses of the Isshin Dojo during the monster family's stay, and it wasn't actually that much.

Kazan decided to resolve his issue with the Demon Hand here. With Shimotsuki Koshiro around, even if something went wrong during this time, it shouldn't make the situation worse.

Kazan had been sitting here all morning and hadn't sensed anything; the Demon Blade hadn't given him the slightest reaction.

Speaking of which, when was the last time Wuyong reacted...? It seems like it was when he killed a lot of people.

After thinking it over carefully, Kazan finally decided to take a walk on the island to clear his head.

He jumped off the large rock, took the knife from the two imps fighting over the Dark Moon, and then turned and walked into the dense forest.

Zoro glanced at Kazan's retreating figure, wanting to chase after him, but was immediately stopped by Kuina: "You're not allowed to go. If you go in, will you come out again? I don't want to go back in to find you."

"What did you say?!"

"Shut up, I'm going to go see."

"Me too... *coo coo coo*... never mind."

Zoro watched angrily as Kuina followed Kazan into the forest, and he was about to rush in himself when suddenly his stomach growled—he was hungry.

In the forest, Kazan immediately spotted Kuina sneaking up behind him. He noticed a small pebble on the ground ahead, twirled his black sword in his right hand, and threw the pebble at Kuina who was following behind him.

Snapped.

"what!"

A small pebble hit Guina's foot; it didn't hurt, but it tripped her.

"Guina, watch your step when you walk."

"Hmm...I know!"

Guina stood up, blushing, and patted her knees. She was a little embarrassed that she had been discovered, but her tone remained quite stubborn.

"Come along if you want."

"..."

Kuina had originally planned to leave directly, but since Kazan said so, she decided to reluctantly accompany him as a thank you for letting her watch the duel yesterday.

As Kuina tried to comfort herself, she became a little distracted. Kazan noticed this, sighed, and kicked a rather large stone to Kuina's feet.

Snapped.

"what!"

Guina tripped over a stone again, and this time she fell quite hard, scraping her hand.

"Kuina, didn't I just tell you to watch your step?"

"……I know!"

"If you really knew, you wouldn't have fallen a second time!"

"It's just a fall! You won't die!"

"What if you fall down the stairs?"

"……snort!"

"Be careful, sweetie."

Kazan saw Kuina huff at him in a fit of embarrassment and anger, and he felt as if he had suddenly gained another awkward younger sister.

"where are you going?"

"Just wandering around aimlessly."

Kazan held a knife in one hand, closed his eyes, and felt the wind flowing as he slowly walked forward in the direction the wind was coming from.

Suddenly... a faint smell of blood wafted into the air. Kazan frowned, but didn't open his eyes, and continued walking forward.

However, he did not realize that he had become distracted and was barely managing to continue moving towards the direction the wind was coming from.

Kuina, standing beside him, glanced up at Kazan, who was walking with his eyes closed, hesitated for a moment, and then asked in a low voice, "Kazan, do you think a girl can become the world's strongest swordsman? I'm worried about my future."

Kazan's ears twitched. The words sounded familiar. He remembered that his second senior sister, Nuoyu, had once told him, "Kazan, your senior sister is worried about your future. Sometimes it's okay not to be so stubborn."

Thinking of his second senior sister, Kazan stopped, halting his advance.

Kuina didn't get a reply from Kazan, but seeing that he had stopped, she assumed he had heard her and was thinking about his own problem.

"Don't worry... there are plenty of other options. Don't be so stubborn, try another one!"

Kazan opened his eyes, gripped his twin swords tightly, and calmly muttered to himself the words his senior brother, Shakya, had murmured when he lost himself in the Shadow Labyrinth.

He looked around, sniffed, and smelled the bloody scent lingering around his nose. He determined a direction, and the bloodshot in his eyes seemed to flow. The veins on his ghostly hand suddenly throbbed, as if... excited?

"But my father said that girls are naturally not as physically strong as boys and it is impossible for them to become the world's strongest swordsman."

Upon hearing Kazan's words, a glimmer of tears and hope appeared in Kuina's eyes, but she still cared about her father's words and denied the possibility of her future.

"(Kazan...Is the limiter heavy? It's very heavy, isn't it?) So, in order to overcome this weight, you have to keep working hard, working hard, and working even harder."

Master Xilan... I'm sorry, I'm probably going to embark on a different path, but I will continue to work hard.

Kazan's blood-red eyes, which had been burning like flames, suddenly began to shrink, but he felt nothing. He continued forward with his knife in the direction he had chosen, without any hesitation.

Seeing Kazan suddenly start moving, Kuina quickly followed, still pondering what Kazan had just said.

When Kuina came to her senses, she found that Kazan had stopped and turned to her with a smile, saying, "Kuina... are you going to deny all your efforts all this time? Since you've decided to do it, then give it your all and show your father the truth that he's wrong, won't that be enough?!"

Kuina stood there, stunned, watching as Kazan's eyes had turned black sclera and red pupils, before shifting her gaze to what was behind Kazan.

A rabbit, exhausted and on the verge of death, stood next to a dead weasel. It looked as if the weasel had been kicked to death by the rabbit several times.

At this moment, the veins in Kazan's hand had calmed down and stopped twisting.

Chapter 123 Iai Ghost Killing

"Brother Kazan! Look, look! How was my Iaijutsu move?!"

"Hmm...not bad...but the speed is still a bit slow. When it comes to Iaijutsu, speed might actually be more important than strength."

On the back mountain, Kazan rested his chin on his hand and smiled as he watched Kuina follow Tiga, learning the Xilan Style Iaijutsu that he had once mastered.

Meanwhile, Zoro was training his physique on his own. Ever since Kuina went to the grove with Kazan a week ago, she has been particularly close to Kazan since they returned.

Whenever there's a problem with her swordsmanship, her first thought is to find Kazan, as if Kazan were Kuina's father.

At that time, Shimotsuki Koshiro was like this: ?

Another thing that surprised everyone was Kazan's changing gaze. It seemed that his outward madness was being suppressed, but the sense of oppression from those eyes was even stronger.

Kazan has changed, and Kazan himself knows he has changed, but judging from his personal panel alone, there is no change.

However, he recently discovered something interesting: he can use his demonic hand to sense the demon sword's 'mood'.

For example, right now, Kazan gently placed his demonic hand on the blade of the demon sword, and an emotion similar to 'boredom' emanated from it.

Back to Zoro, he felt that his daily duels with Kuina had suddenly become a bit strange this week.

The stubborn Kuina used to always choose to meet his attacks head-on in duels, taking every blow he struck, but things have changed recently.

Kuina has learned to dodge, and in the instant she dodged Zoro's slash, she seized his moment of weakness and delivered a fatal blow.

The fastest battle lasted less than twenty seconds.

Now, Kuina no longer trains at the dojo; she spends all her time following Kazan around, learning swordsmanship with Tiga.

This is also what baffled Shimotsuki Koshiro. At first, he thought that Kazan used a dual-wielding style, and Zoro is also using a dual-wielding style now, so maybe Zoro could learn something from Kazan.

As a result, Kuina, who only had a knife, went to learn swordsmanship with Kazan, while Zoro was still training his physical fitness on his own.

Today, Zoro decided to skip his daily training at the dojo and see what Kuina was up to.

You wouldn't believe it until you see it—Guina is actually learning techniques?!

You little wench with thick eyebrows and big eyes, we agreed to fight our way to becoming the world's strongest swordsman, but you betrayed me!

Suddenly, Zoro felt his hair turn green... even greener, and he wanted to secretly learn from him, so he was peeking at it with his eyes right now.

Kazan didn't mind at all; the more people willing to pass on this swordsmanship, the better.

"Tiga, today I'll teach you the Reverse Ghost Sword Technique. This is the most essential part, so you must learn it carefully. When you're learning, clear your mind... It's okay, just stay where you are now."

"Kuina, you're quite agile, aren't you? You should learn the Ghost Sword Technique from Tiga too. Also, I learned a move called Swift Shadow Slash from my senior sister. Although I haven't mastered it, it should be enough to teach you."

Kazan smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the two earnest little ones in front of him. Although Kuina and he did not have a formal master-disciple relationship, he could be considered Kuina's mentor in a way.

"My Hidden Demon Sword Technique has lost its essence; it can only be a facade now. Watch closely. As for the essence of this move, it is different for everyone. You just need to integrate your own ambition and will into it on your future path."

……

At this moment, inside an ordinary swordsmanship dojo on the continent of Arad, a handsome, decadent man, who was drinking heavily while holding a gourd of wine, was chatting with a beautiful woman with an elegant demeanor wearing a veil next to him.

"Master, so many days have passed, and we still can't find Kazan! What are we going to do! Kazan is so stupid, he hasn't even mastered the Reverse Ghost Sword Technique yet, what if he gets eaten by ogres!"