Konoha's Mission Master

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Chapter 443 The Final Journey Home (Part 2)

Why are you here?

Hawkeye subconsciously dropped the wooden sword in his hand. After losing his ambition, he developed Yakumo phobia, which manifested as inexplicable panic whenever he saw information about Yakumo.

Seeing Yakumo in person today intensified my fear; my heart started racing, and I broke out in a cold sweat.

"Can't I come? By the way, why are you afraid?"

Yakumo countered with a question, observing Hawkeye with some curiosity. After not seeing this "old friend" for many years, he had changed a lot, from his initial sharpness to his current composure and elegance. This change was very similar to Hatake Sakumo.

Kakashi and Zoro became close friends.

Hawkeye looks very similar to Sakumo Hatake...

Is it possible that there are some connections between every world?

"You'd better not leave too soon. The last person I want to see in my life is you. Besides, I'm not afraid of you, I'm just surprised."

Hawkeye regained his composure after a few seconds and said in a serious tone, while bending down to pick up the bamboo sword that had fallen to the ground, deliberately avoiding Yakumo's gaze.

"Cough cough."

Yakumo reluctantly accepted Hawkeye's explanation and took a half-step forward... Hawkeye immediately took a few steps back instinctively, widening the distance again.

“Dragon told me that a few years ago you went to great lengths to find me, and it seems that your strength has improved. You want to challenge me and reclaim the title of the world’s strongest swordsman,” Yakumo said with a smile.

Yakumo didn't suddenly remember Hawkeye; it was only because of Dragon's prompting that she remembered him... the first powerful figure to be defeated after descending upon the pirate world.

"I didn't, don't listen to his nonsense..." Hawkeye immediately denied it. He was indeed not good at lying, and when he denied it, he didn't even dare to look Yakumo in the eye, which undoubtedly made his explanation seem somewhat weak.

"You really didn't contact me? He can produce a lot of evidence."

Yakumo suddenly found Hawkeye in front of him quite interesting. Despite not being good at lying, Hawkeye stubbornly spouted lies that even children wouldn't believe.

"I did contact you, but not to discuss sparring."

Hawkeye knew that some evidence could not be erased, so he could only grit his teeth and admit that he had indeed searched for Yakumo, but in his heart he began to blame Ryu.

He... clearly promised to keep it a secret!

How dare he, with such a poor reputation, become the First Speaker?

"Haha, you seem to be blaming Long. He did promise to keep it a secret, so he hopes I won't tell anyone else."

Hawkeye's expression changed. He hadn't expected that besides swordsmanship, Yakumo's Observation Haki was also so terrifying that it had reached the point where he could read minds.

"He probably thinks he's funny?" Hawkeye said quietly.

"Maybe."

"What exactly do you want from me?" Yakumo asked.

"Catching up," Hawkeye replied instantly.

“Perfect timing, let’s catch up today,” Yakumo said.

Hawkeye practices his sword in the garden next to his castle, where many colorful flowers are carefully cultivated. At first, the baboons often liked to destroy Hawkeye's garden, and it was only after Hawkeye taught them a lesson a few times that the garden was barely kept intact.

From the center of the garden, a cobblestone path leads towards the castle. Some shady spots are covered with moss, and the castle walls facing the garden are covered with lush green ivy, occasionally blooming with a few purple trumpet flowers.

This is where Hawkeye lives in seclusion. Although the environment is open and the temperature is cold, it is full of life.

"Alright then, let's catch up," Hawkeye said somewhat helplessly.

Although he had given up the idea of ​​challenging Yakumo over the years, he never gave up practicing swordsmanship. After all, on such a lonely island, one needs a hobby to pass the long days.

Hawkeye's strength is several times greater than it was a few years ago.

He was a genius in swordsmanship, and with his years of dedicated practice, it was only natural that his strength would improve.

In the understated, rustic restaurant inside the castle, Yakumo and Hawkeye sat facing each other at a square table, with a rather ornate and exquisite crystal chandelier overhead, emitting a bright but not dazzling white light.

On the pristine white tablecloth lay silver plates, beside which knives and forks gleamed in the sunlight. On the plates sat roasted sea monster steaks.

The meat was cooked to perfection, and Yakumo was gnawing on it with his hands.

Honestly... he didn't understand these exquisite tableware. Most importantly, they affected his eating speed. The stemmed glass beside him contained red wine with a slight golden sheen.

"Saint Maya".

One of the three most precious wines in the One Piece world, this bottle is 350 years old, and there are only five bottles left... It is the most precious collection in Hawkeye's wine cellar, after all, you can't be too stingy when entertaining the world's strongest.

Yakumo casually picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.

Without making any gesture of tasting the wine, the latter paused, treating the glass of Saint-Máragi as just ordinary cold water to cleanse the palate.

"That's really inelegant."

Hawkeye thought to himself that compared to Yakumo, he was much more formal, wearing a clean white napkin around his neck, and first using a knife to cut the steak on the plate into small pieces, then gently putting them into his mouth with a fork.

Occasionally, I would pick up my glass and take a small sip.

Hawkeye seems to be the embodiment of elegance, much like a gentleman.

The two individuals presented a stark contrast in their states of being.

Yakumo took another piece of meat from the grill next to him and chewed it in big bites. With his current physical strength, he would need to eat about five pounds of meat per meal to feel full.

"Hawkeye, don't you think...eating like this is a waste of time?"

After Yakumo finished his steak, Hawkeye began to chew on his second piece in small bites. Given his constitution, he needed at least a few more pieces to feel full.

"Elegance, elegance, do you understand?" Hawkeye slowly forked a piece of meat, put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly.

"I really don't understand. I'm going to take a nap first."

Yakumo stood up, casually found a sofa, lay down, and fell asleep in less than half a minute.

After he left, Hawkeye's tall and straight body relaxed instantly, and when he ate the steak on his plate, he no longer chewed it as slowly as before.

He knew very well that elegance was for outsiders to see... once the steak was in his stomach, it belonged to him.

Hawkeye's speed was still slow. He was thinking about why Yakumo would suddenly come to him. He didn't want to believe that it was just a simple reminiscing. Could it be that he was trying to make up for the mistakes of the past and get rid of him, the only survivor?

He is a miracle, the only strong person to survive Yakumo's attack.

Could it be... that Yakumo dislikes this miracle and wants to silence him?

Hawkeye drew his own conclusion, picked up the bottle, and took another sip of the legendary Saint-Maya wine.

An hour and a half later, the sun shone brightly outside. Hawkeye finally finished his breakfast and drank the rest of the Saint Maya. If Yakumo's purpose in coming here was really to silence him... then he had no regrets.

When Yakumo woke up from his sleep, Hawkeye was sitting on the sofa, elegantly holding a white porcelain teacup and sipping hot black tea.

"You're finally awake?"

"Hmm, what's wrong?"

Yakumo looked at Hawkeye with some strangeness. Hawkeye seemed to have accepted some kind of inevitable bad fate. His face was full of frustration and resentment, but he managed to put on a very calm appearance. He even had the leisure to brew a pot of hot tea to improve his demeanor.

"Nothing much, but why did you come?" Hawkeye pressed.

"Reminiscing about the past."

"I do not believe."

"Okay, it is indeed a small matter," Yakumo could only admit.

"I knew it."

Hawkeye felt both pleased that he had guessed Yakumo's plan and furious that his life was nothing to Yakumo—an anger of being slighted.

But he would never surrender easily. A true swordsman dies by the sword and would never allow a wound on his back.

"I actually come from another world. I felt that this world was too distorted in some ways, so I cooperated with the dragon to overturn this world."

Yakumo plans to give a brief introduction first.

"I see."

Hawkeye nodded, appearing calm and collected, as if the news hadn't affected him at all, but in reality, he was screaming inside.

"So...so...so he came from another world!!!"

"I knew it...his swordsmanship system is different from this world's!"

"Ahem." Yakumo coughed lightly, reminding Hawkeye to be careful.

"Now Luffy knows that I come from another world. He plans to build a ship that can travel through space to explore the stars and the sea, so he wants to invite you to join him. That's why he asked me to make this trip for him."

Yakumo explained the current situation and continued.

"That ship will be built by Vegapunk, combining his technology that is five hundred years ahead of the world with the Devil Fruit system. Traveling through space should not be a problem."

"Ah...that's all!?"

Hawkeye was somewhat surprised, but couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

It turns out he was wrong all along... Yakumo's trip wasn't to take his life at all, but to act as a persuader for Luffy.

Now he was no longer flustered. He crossed his legs, sipped his black tea, and his eyes regained their brilliance, displaying the spirit of the world's strongest swordsman.

“It’s nice to live in seclusion here. I have no reason to agree to board that spaceship that may crash at any time.”

"Tsk, when you clearly know that the universe is vast and contains countless new worlds different from the pirate world, those worlds may have many powerful swordsmen, allowing you to learn from each other and improve further, wouldn't you be tempted?"

"Not tempted..."

Hawkeye replied that it would be a lie to say he wasn't tempted.

But he wanted to see what other arguments Yakumo could come up with to persuade him.

"Goodbye."

Yakumo immediately got up and prepared to leave.

"I'm just trying to persuade him; I don't care whether it works out or not."

"No, no, no..."

Hawkeye immediately stood up and anxiously tried to stop him. He was really worried that Yakumo would disappear from the spot in a flash, and he wouldn't know where to look for the Straw Hat Pirates.

He chose to live in seclusion because in the world of pirates, there was no longer any swordsmanship for him to pursue or to inspire his fighting spirit.