In the midst of a big storm a lone marine battleship found itself being tossed to and fro by the giant waves that surrounded the vessel. From above lightning shot through the sky as heavy rain battered the ships crewmen as they battled with the high winds in order to get a grip on the ships sails. It was complete chaos.
Inside however it was almost completely quiet, the only interruptions being the occasional creaking of the ship and the constant clicking of Kizaru's nail clippers.
The admiral continued his nail clipping only to pause every now and then to glance up from his desk over to his subordinate.
Sentomaru was seated on a nearby couch staring out of the adjacent port hole watching the storm go on. The man hadn't said a single word since Kizaru had mentioned they would be heading to Wano. Normally Sentomaru would be making his rounds on the ship making sure everything was in order or discussing strategic plans for the battlefield, but he just sat there with a look of worry. Kizaru himself was starting to worry about the well-being of his subordinate, that being said Kizaru returned his nail clippers back into the drawer of his desk.
"Sentomaru is everything alright? You haven't said a word since we departed from Mariejois." Kizaru asked.
"Oh, uncle…I'm fine, I've….Just been distracted, nothing to be concerned about." Sentomaru replied.
But this had made Kizaru even more worried. Sentomaru was clearly troubled by something.
"Sentomaru something is clearly bothering you. Does it have anything to do with Wano?" Kizaru asked.
Sentomaru stood up and walked closer to the window.
"Yeah, I've been remembering the day I left Wano. The day I left just so happened during a storm much like the one out there tonight." Sentomaru responded.
As Sentomaru watched the storm he remembered that very night. He had nothing but the robes on his back that day; his only mode of transportation was a makeshift wooden raft. Even as he stood there inside of the battleship Sentomaru could feel the coldness of the wind and rain chilling his bones. His neck hairs stood on end as he watched the giant waves move closer to the ship, as they closed in the waves gave the appearance of a giant mouth wanting nothing more than to swallow the vessel whole. Sentomaru was quickly reminded that on that day he didn't have the protection of the giant vessel as the waves slammed into the side of the warship shielding those inside from the sea's force. On that night Sentomaru had to battle the waves with only his natural strength as he tried to maneuver the small raft through the vast raging ocean. He had struggled for what had felt like hours before the ocean had finally consumed the raft and its occupant. The waves tossed Sentomaru around like he was a ragdoll, the young man had tried to keep his head above water. The last thing Sentomaru had remembered from that night before blacking out was the light coming from a lighthouse.
"I remember that day; you had washed up on the shore of the Marine base I was stationed at. You looked like you had been through hell, we weren't sure you were going to survive through the night from that big gash you had on your face." Kizaru added on.
Sentomaru traced a finger over the stitches from the bottom of his eye to the corner of his mouth.
"It was very hard to adjust to this new world, Wano from the day I left it wasn't as advanced as the outside world, your technology had me very confused I didn't know what to think of it all." Sentomaru said.
"And yet here you are today not only as the body guard for the smartest man in the world but also as the commander of the marine's science unit." Kizaru remarked.
Silence fell upon the room once again. Sentomaru faced Kizaru in utter silence before he finally spoke.
"Uncle, before we reach Wano there is something I need to tell you."
Kizaru looked on in interest.
"This mission, I know we've been ordered to only observe what has been going on in Wano at the moment, but…" Sentomaru paused.
He stood there tense. Sentomaru took a deep breath in before slowly exhaling.
"There's something personal I need to take care of in Wano." Sentomaru continued.
Kizaru raised an eye brow.
"That's very unlike you to want to break protocol, what is so important for you to go against orders?" Kizaru asked puzzled.
"I need to find my daughter." Sentomaru answered.
For the first time since Sentomaru knew him Kizaru's smirk faded into a look of shock and disbelief.
"Daughter?" Kizaru asked baffled.
"Yes uncle I have a daughter." Sentomaru said.
Kizaru stood there generally surprised, out of all the things he could have guessed about his subordinate, being a dad never crossed his mind.
"I had to leave her behind when I left Wano, she was too young to make the journey and I didn't want to put her in danger." Sentomaru said.
"Sounds reasonable, is she with her mother there in Wano?" Kizaru asked curious about the hidden past of his subordinate.
"No, things were really bad in Wano; I had to constantly work as sumo wrestler just to be able to put food on the table and unfortunately didn't have the means to afford a doctor. My wife passed while giving birth." Sentomaru said a hint of sadness in his voice.
"I am very sorry for your loss Sentomaru, is that why you left Wano?" Kizaru asked.
"Yes, on top of the poverty we also had to deal with Kaido and his men. I lived in the Kuri district which was overlooked by Jack from Kaido's headliners. He would come through for no reason at all and wreck the place just because he was bored or just wanted to terrify us. I left Wano in hopes of finding someone who would be able to free my country from the hands of Kaido and the Shogun or at the very least be able to help me get my child off of that island. I tried to file a permission form to go on a rescue mission to retrieve her two years ago but by the time it had reached Sengoku he had already stepped down from his position as fleet admiral." Sentomaru added.
"And because of that you would have to go through the process again." Kizaru stated.
Sentomaru gave a nod in agreement.
"Even if I was somehow able to skip the reviewing period I doubt that Sakazuki would warrant the request important enough to approve. I don't know why but something is telling me that my daughter is in danger. I'm running out of time." Sentomaru said feeling uneasy.
Kizaru faced Sentomaru with a serious look on his face.
"So, would you be willing to AWOL in order to save her then?" Kizaru asked concerned.
"Yes." Sentomaru replied confidently
Kizaru let out a deep sigh.
"Then I guess I have other choice, as admiral I order you…" Kizaru began to say.
Sentomaru tensed up thinking Kizaru was going to deny him leaving and readied a counter argument.
"To rescue your daughter." Kizaru finished.
Sentomaru shook his head not believing what he just heard.
"What?" Sentomaru asked.
Kizaru's grin returned.
"You can't be considered AWOL if you were only following orders. Let me take the heat from Akainu." Kizaru said
"Why are you going to cover for me?" Sentomaru asked confused.
"Since the day you arrived, you have worked nonstop serving the marines and world government despite the fact that you came from an isolated nation. Yet your strong will allowed you to not only adapt to this new world but thrive, I think it's time for us to return the favor." Kizaru said with a wink.
Hearing this, a small smile formed on Sentomaru's face. He bowed his head in gratitude.
"Uncle I can't thank you enough for this." Sentomaru said trying to restrain the joy he felt.
Kizaru placed a hand on Sentomaru's shoulder.
"Think nothing of it, you're a father you have the right to want to protect your child." Kizaru said with a warm smile.
The two's conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Admiral Kizaru sir we are approaching Wano." Said a soldier.
"Guess that is our cue to get going." Sentomaru said as he headed for the door.
"Guess so. By the way you never told me your daughter's name." Kizaru said.
"It's O- Toko." Sentomaru replied warmly.
"O-Toko, But I thought you just said you had a daughter." Kizaru said confused by the name.
Sentomaru chuckled at this.
"I do but in Wano tradition girls usually have an O in the beginning of their name. I named her Toko because one of the definitions of the name means endless and she has brought endless happiness into my life." Sentomaru replied.
The two walked out onto the deck of the ship. The waves had started to settle down but it was still raining heavily. Up ahead the island of Wano could be seen through a small patch of fog.
Sentomaru stared at the island with a determined look on his face.
"Toko I promise we'll be reunited soon." Sentomaru said to himself as he looked on ahead to the outline of Wano.