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

"Shut up. I'm not worried, so what are you afraid of? And don't even mention his Inner Ghost Sword Technique. You and that brat Sha Ying ruined my perfectly good disciple."

"...What did I do!"

"You dare ask?! Don't think I didn't discover you were secretly teaching Kazan Empire swordsmanship! Look at the crap he's using now, no one would believe it if I told them it was the Reverse Ghost Sword Technique!"

"Uh...hehe, so what did my senior brother do this time?"

"Can you believe that Kazan gained a little bit of dark magic after returning from the Shadow Labyrinth? His Iaijutsu is almost completely different! If I hadn't given him the Moonlight, his Iaijutsu would have turned into Iaijutsu Demon Slash sooner or later!"

"Hmm... Demon Slash is pretty powerful. I want to learn it but I can't."

"What are you learning! Get out of here, don't make me angry!"

west Lan cursed and told Nuo Yu to get lost. After Nuo Yu left, he drew a katana called 'Night Whisper Black Eye' from his waist.

This was Xilan's previous weapon. He has now switched to a katana called "Taiji Heavenly Emperor," which suits him quite well. As a result, this "Night Rain Black Pupil" has become useless for the time being.

Sha Ying's current state would be very bad if she wore the 'Night Rain Black Eyes', and Nuo Yu, being in the Empire, would attract unnecessary trouble if she carried the 'Night Rain Black Eyes'. Moreover, they both have their own swords that they have painstakingly found, and they will not be willing to exchange them so easily.

I was planning to give this katana to Kazan so he could get used to it, but before I could even give it to him, he was gone.

Alas, what a pity.

……

Behind the Yixin Dojo.

Seeing how hard Tiga and Kuina were practicing, Zoro couldn't sit still any longer. He walked up to Kazan, feeling a little embarrassed, and asked him for tips on Iaijutsu.

He simply didn't want to fall behind Kuina, and seeing Kuina getting stronger at an increasingly rapid pace, he was starting to get a little anxious.

"Hmm? Ah... okay, I'll demonstrate it for you, watch carefully."

Kazan glanced at the green-haired crew-cut guy beside him, smiled, then led him to a large rock and drew his black sword, Darkmoon.

Iaijutsu (a type of sword strike).

Swish.

Click.

Bang.

Kazan and Zoro stared blankly at the giant rock that had been shattered by this attack, unsure of what to say.

Kazan: Why does my Iaijutsu have black magic power? This is so damn similar to Oni-Giri!

Zoro: That move is so cool and powerful! I have to learn it!

While Kazan was still in a daze, he didn't notice that a new move called [Iaijutsu Oni-giri] had suddenly appeared in the active skill bar of his personal panel.

Chapter 124 Future Challenges

"Iai Onikiri...when did it get tainted by magic..."

Kazan was genuinely baffled by the fact that he possessed a tiny bit of magic within him, unable to understand when he had acquired such a thing.

However, this little bit of magic power had no effect on him; on the contrary, it strengthened his Iaijutsu, which was actually advantageous.

It has been more than a month since I entered Frostmoon Village. In fact, I had already decided to leave Frostmoon Village as soon as I finished resolving my own problems.

However, Kuina really didn't want Kazan to leave and begged him to stay a few more days, and before long, he stayed for a month.

In fact, if it were just a request from a young girl like Kuina, Kazan wouldn't have been so quick to bring his entire family to stay here for a month.

One of the real reasons was that Shimotsuki Koshiro had been kind to him, and he hoped to repay Shimotsuki Koshiro's kindness by encouraging and guiding Kuina.

Of course, the main reason was that he remembered that Kuina would probably fall down the stairs sometime a year from now.

Kazan realized that Kuina would get distracted whenever her emotions fluctuated even slightly.

So, in order to correct this bad habit of hers, Kazan would throw stones at Kuina whenever she was distracted while walking, causing her to trip over them. As a result, Kuina suffered quite a few minor injuries.

However, the effect is very obvious. Now, Kuina is basically not distracted when walking. Even when she is in a high mood, she will keep a close eye on the road and not give herself a chance to fall.

The time is almost ripe, and it's time to leave Frostmoon Village.

That evening, Kazan told Shimotsuki Koshiro about his impending departure. He originally planned to leave quietly to avoid being bothered by that little girl Kuina again.

“Mr. Koushirou, I have decided to leave tomorrow. I’m sorry to have troubled you for more than a month.”

"It's alright, Kazan-kun. The dojo has become much more lively since you arrived, which is great... It's time to leave, have you told Kuina yet?"

"No, that girl... she'll probably cause trouble again if she says anything."

“If you don’t tell her, she’ll be sad. Kuina’s admiration for you is almost as much as that for me, her father.”

"Ah... I'm really sorry about this."

However, she was overheard. Kuina had a bad habit of eavesdropping on her father's conversations with others to see if he was talking about her.

Especially in front of her older brother Kazan, whom she cared about a lot, Kuina didn't want her father to say bad things about her to him.

Swish.

The wooden door was pulled open, and Guina walked in dejectedly, her head down, looking unhappy.

"Brother Kazan..."

"Guina, how many times have I told you not to eavesdrop on other people's conversations?"

"Brother Kazan! I will keep working hard and hard, and one day I will find you, defeat you, and become the world's greatest swordsman!"

"...Alright, I'll be waiting for you on the Grand Line."

Kazan really wanted to say: You can't become the world's greatest swordsman just by defeating me.

In the future, he will be a non-pure swordsman who uses blood energy as his main means of damage. If he wants to become the world's greatest swordsman, he should challenge pure great swordsmen like Shanks, Mihawk, and Koushirou.

However, Kazan didn't want to disappoint the little girl's high expectations, so he accepted the challenge from the future, figuring he could just fight without using his blood power.

"Hey! Zoro, you have something to say too, right?"

Kuina smiled happily when Kazan agreed to wait for her, then turned and called out to the shy green turtle that jumped out behind her.

"I...I...I will defeat you too! I am destined to become the world's greatest swordsman."

"Alright, alright, I'm waiting for you to challenge me."

Kazan reached out and ruffled the short, green hair in front of him, once again accepting a child's ambitious challenge.

Shimotsuki Koshiro slightly opened his eyes and looked at the scene before him, feeling a faint envy in his heart. This was something he, as a 'father' and 'master', could never have.

"Tomorrow, the two of you must come to the port closest to Shimotsuki Village."

Kazan looked at the two little kids in front of him and felt that something was missing. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration when he thought of the ring he had given to the three little ones in Windmill Village.

A memento symbolizing an encounter and the future.

The port the next day.

The monster family members busied themselves on the ship, some cooking, some cleaning, others organizing supplies and conducting daily training.

Kazan sat alone atop the dragon's head on Caroso, quietly watching the group from Isshin Dojo approach below. Leading the way were the two little devils, Kuina and Zoro.

"Hey! Here you go."

Kazan picked up a black and white jade pendant with two hooks from beside him, broke it in half, and then threw it down.

This was the very same pretty jade pendant that Kazan had obtained from the Goa Kingdom's treasury. It was of no use to him, so Kazan used it as a token.

The white magatama and the black magatama fell into the hands of Kuina and Zoro, respectively.

"When you feel you have the strength to challenge me for the title of the world's greatest swordsman, then use that thing to challenge me."

Kuina and Zoro each clutched their own magatama, which must have held different meanings for them.

"Kuina, when you go to sea in the future, will you take your Wado Ichimonji with you?"

"Ok!"

"So that means Zoro doesn't have his own sword yet... Although Mr. Koushirou probably won't let you go without a sword, but... here you go!"

Kazan tossed a jade-green sword at Zoro. This sword was one of the fifty fine swords he had taken from the Krent Kingdom's treasury.

I didn't know its name at first, but Kazan asked Shimotsuki Koshiro about it not long ago.

"One of the fifty finest knives, the 'Deer', is for you. Take it with you when you go to sea, and I hope it will accompany you all the way to me."

The deer, both in color and name, seems to be a perfect match for Zoro.

Zoro caught the deer with both hands, drew his sword from its sheath, and the blade, faintly glowing with a bluish light, flashed in Zoro's eyes. That's how the man and the sword became acquainted.

"Kuina, don't fall down again, especially when going up or down the stairs. Watch where you're going. Zoro, stop running around all day. It's tiring looking for you."

"So verbose!"

"So verbose!"

"Hahaha... Well... I'm leaving."

As Kazan finished speaking, Carroso also began to leave the shore and head towards the sea.

"Brother Kazan! I will definitely become the world's greatest swordsman!"

"Then you must study hard..."

Chapter 125 1509

Frostmoon Village is located in a very remote area of ​​the East Sea. It is one of the villages that is furthest from Reverse Mountain. Even if Caroso were to travel to the Red Line at his own pace, it would take him almost half a year.

Moreover, their monster family doesn't practice immortality cultivation or abstain from grains. Basically, they have to stop and search for supplies every time they pass an island, selling steel products that Kazan has smelted in his spare time and various spoils of war hunted at sea.

Sometimes, Perona and Sugar would get tired of boating and need to find a place to rest and stay for a few days.

It's conceivable that at this speed, it might take a long time to enter the Grand Line; barring any unforeseen circumstances, the year 1509 of the Sea Calendar might be spent in the East China Sea.

At this moment, on the Carosso, Kazan was lying on the sun lounger where Robin usually lay, enjoying grapes being fed to him by his secretary Monet, which were already peeled.

"Oh my, Monet is becoming more and more virtuous. She will definitely be a good wife in the future. I can't bear to marry you off."

"Monet doesn't want to get married. Monet will always stay by her brother's side."

Monet peeled grapes with his slender fingers while chatting and smiling with Kazan; his brother's praise was a great reward for him.