Here's the bi-yearly update you've all been waiting on! Drop a review (or a flame) if you enjoyed reading! (Or just flame me. I don't care either way.)
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
Chapter 4: The Season of Silence
Ain watched as the two swordsmen stared each other on. Keiro gripped his sword tightly while Zoro looked visibly more relaxed. Bored, even.
"Eustass Kidd. "Gluttonous" Bonney. "Rex" Drake. "The Eyes and Ears," and Captain Ackerman,' These are only some of the pirates who stand on top of this era, then there is just you."
Keiro's eyes narrowed, showing emotion for the first time.
"Simply pitiful, really."
"One of the 12 Supreme Grade swords, Mokusatsu, The Silent Killer." Keiro sped towards Zoro holding his sword at his side. His blade seemed to cut the air around him as he charged. "...But it is nowhere on the level of Shodai Kitetsu."
Zoro merely swung the blunt end of his sword in response, creating a shockwave that sent Keiro flying backwards and toppling hundreds of trees in the process. The ocean rocked around the island as several clouds were blown away.
"One sword style: Iron Dragon," Zoro called out, already resheathed his sword.
The rocking settled as Zoro observed the destruction around him. "Are we finished?"
Suddenly, a blade was swung behind him, in which he simply sidestepped it. The slash that was sent forward careened across the waters, creating an earsplitting sonic boom. Keiro slashed at Zoro who met his blade, the clash creating another earthshaking shockwave.
Ain and Tashigi stood their ground watching the battle with awe. Zoro fought on, showing little emotion in the face of the enormously powerful swordsman. Every attack was either blocked, dodged, or parried by Zoro, who has yet to counterattack.
The battle─ if one could even call it that─ lasted only a few minutes more before Keiro's slash was lazily knocked to the side. Taking advantage of the opening created, Zoro merely shoved him and sent him skidding on the ground.
"Ain. Tashigi. We're done here." Zoro said as he sheathed his sword and began walking back towards the Nebula.
Seemingly satisfied with the result, Ain and Tashigi went to follow him. A sudden growl brought all three's attention back to Keiro who was now standing again.
His brown cloak was tattered, and the tape that had covered his mouth had been removed, revealing the darkened stitches that sewed his lips together. His glare didn't leave the trio at all. They watched on as two copies of his body split off of him and entered into a combat stance.
"The Branch-Branch fruit." Zoro said in disinterest. "Even with copies of yourself, your power is still divided among your clones. Not very reassuring if I am your opponent…"
Rather than charge at Zoro, Keiro's clones took the group by surprise and grabbed both Ain and Tashigi. With their hostages, the clones proceded to Geppo towards the farther out islands within the archipelago.
"They'll be fine. They're strong. 3 copies should mean… the clones should be around 800 million berries worth of strength." Zoro said aloud, deciding not to chase them. "As for you…"he said, his gaze returning to the wounded Silent Samurai.
"Reversal" Ain
Ain landed with a thud. The land mass that Keiro dropped her on matched the main island's environment. Lush trees. No wildlife. But also an enormously powerful pirate standing over her and staring with his trademark wide-eyes.
Ain hurled a rock at the pirate, changing it into lava in the process. Keiro dodged it easily enough, but it created enough spacing between them as Ain rolled backwards. Reaching out with her Observation Haki, Ain gauged her opponent's strength.
"He should only be at a fraction of his original power." Ain thought. "But even at this level, he's worth 300 million more than me."
While bounty was only a rough estimation of one's strength, Ain knew that her opponent still heavily outclassed her. Keiro sent a large wind-slash towards Ain in which she dodged cleanly, but the sheer pressure from the blade nicked her leg and left her bleeding.
"Strong and fast. That's a bad combination."
Ain instantly responded by unloading her pistols on Keiro, in which he either dodged or deflected with his blade. As Keiro's blade met the next bullet, Ain caught the gleam in his eye and tried to lean her body prematurely to dodge his strike. However, her injured leg failed her in that exact moment as Keiro caught the final bullet with his sword before launching it right back towards Ain.
The seastone bullet ignored her armament haki and pierced through her body entirely. "Shit." Ain thought to herself as she fell to her knees. She let out a cough of blood as her vision began to blur.
"He probably coated that bullet with his own Haki through his sword…"
As if seeing their battle drawing to a close, Keiro sent a concussive blast of wind towards her next and Ain crashed into a tree. Her armament was strong enough to prevent her from being cleaved entirely in two, but it still left a huge cut across her torso. As her vision began blacking out, she thought back to her training session earlier that day.
/
"Oomph!" Ain was sent skidding across the ground again.
"The more I think about it, the more interesting your Devil-Fruit powers become, Violet," Zoro said as he looked wistfully into the wind.
"When are you going to stop calling me that?!" Ain shouted, infuriated by how lightly he was taking her.
"When you make me."
Ain rolled her eyes. "And what do you mean by interesting?" she asked.
"It seems as there are countless uses of the Reverse-Reverse Fruit, even with how much you've already shown me. Like for example, have you tried infusing your powers into your daggers or bullets?"
Ain hummed in thought.
"A power that could use the essence of time and eternum to reverse anything."
"By reversing their age before they even existed, right?"
"Like what you almost did to my crewmates when we last fought?" Zoro asked rhetorically, but he continued. "But I want to teach you is the pinnacle of all Devil Fruit powers. It is called "Awakening."
"Awakening?" Ain asked with a confused look.
"You've sailed the New World for years now, not to mention being apprenticed by an Ex-Admiral, but you still haven't heard of awakening your Devil Fruit powers?"
Ain shook her head.
"Alright then, listen carefully. In this world, there are Devil Fruit users, and then there are the really good Devil Fruit users. Then there are people even better than that. Those who learn to tap into their powers can affect the very environment around them. Still, this ability is exceptionally rare outside the deeper end of the New World."
"And it seems that you have some idea how to use it… even unconsciously."
Ain noticed that her scrapes and bruises from being sent to the ground earlier had healed. Zoro grinned.
"Reversing wounds on your body that weren't there before… and that doesn't look like the most you can do. A very versatile Devil Fruit..."
Within seconds, the minor injuries on her body had healed.
"Focus on you powers. Imagine as your abilities seep into every crevice and crack around you. Feel your spirit will the battlefield to your advantage. That is the key to 'awakening' your powers."
/
Keiro had turned away, believing his battle was won. His head perked up as he heard a rustle from behind him.
"You're… not getting rid of me… that easily…" panted Ain as she slowly rose to her feet. The bullet wound on her chest was slowly closing as was the massive cut that ran across her torso.
Keiro's eyes widened at Ain's ability. He was off-guard only for a moment as Ain materialized in front of him with a Soru. Keiro clumsily slashed with his sword only to fall into Ain's trap as she disappeared once again.
Shunk.
"Temporal Knife." Keiro grunted has he felt a dagger enter his back.
He fell to his knees as he felt Ain's Devil Fruit powers seep into his body. "I poured my powers into my dagger. Every cell in your body will disappear as they begin to lose their age." Keiro's eyes narrowed at Ain as he slumped to the ground.
"I've won…" Ain let out a sigh of relief as she also fell to her knees. "Shit… I didn't think that my attack would take that much energy." Then again, reversing 2 life-threatening wounds wasn't something that she did everyday.
"I don't think I would have won if he wasn't off guard. I was lucky this time…" Ain said to herself. "The body should decompose soon, I should head back to Zoro…" A low chuckle behind Ain caught her attention.
"You're quite talented, learning to Awaken your powers so quickly. Shame you're wasting time with Vergil, kid."
Immediately, Ain had a dagger at Keiro's throat. He made no attempt to stand up.
"No need to kill me, this body is about to die anyway. All I'm asking is for you to hear me out for a few minutes."
Ain noticed that though she could hear his voice, his mouth did not move.
"Observation Haki," said the Silent Samurai, mimicking the first meeting between Ain and Zoro. "You may not be reaching out with your Haki, but you can still hear me because I'm forcing my thoughts into your mind. 'Been told my "voice" is just that loud."
"Talk," Ain spat.
"He's using you, kid. You are nothing but a small hammer in the construction of his goal."
"What do you mean?"
Another chuckle. "You may have had your own reasons as you searched for the legendary Roranoa Zoro, but who doesn't? But YOU are special. And that's why "she" led you to him. Vergil wanted you to find him."
Ain sheathed her dagger as she stepped back, but Keiro opted to simply continue laying on the ground.
"The Eyes saw you looking for him and the Ears heard your intentions, and everything is connected. Otherwise, you may have never found Vergil."
A few seconds of silence passed between the two of them before Keiro spoke again.
"You still look a little confused, so let me help you: Who gave you the tools for your search such as an unsinkable ship? A map that doesn't actually exist? And word has it that he wasn't quite surprised that you showed up on his island. He may have sensed that you were coming, but how did he know your goals before arriving?"
As Ain's mind worked in overdrive to solve this man's riddle, she finally responded.
"So you're telling me that there's more to just sailing in a friendship circle with some of the most dangerous pirates on the planet? I couldn't have figured that out on my own," she said with a hint of sarcasm. An image of the previous night, one where Tashigi, Zoro, and herself sat laughing around the table appeared in her mind. Like a family. "I have my own reasons for sailing with them."
"Of course, but consider this a warning. Follow him and only heartbreak and despair will come your way."
Another brief silence took place.
"How I know all of this, you may wonder. It's because I stood against the Straw Hat Pirates before. Because I fought Zoro before. They manipulated the Marines into believing that I am a criminal who's real danger lies in what he knows, and so I was almost Blacklisted."
Keiro began coughing violently as the body shriveled. "At the very least, carefully question about every decision as the 3 of you continue travelling together. Otherwise, you'll have killed every last one of us."
With that, the clone faded out of existence and left Ain with many more questions as she focussed the rest of her energy to patching up her wounds. When she felt decently recovered, she leapt into the air and flew back to the main island.
Tashigi
This pirate was fast. Very fast.
Tashigi barely dodged the multiple flying slashes that were sent towards her, stumbling from the staggering shockwave that was sent with each one. The redirected slashes each cut down trees as thick as a ship's mast.
And strong.
Tashigi had already come to the conclusion that Keiro was fighting at a fraction of his usual power—that was usually the case if a person were to "split." But what she hadn't accounted for was the sheer difficulty of battling such a powerful pirate.
"This guy would destroy the Humandrill Boss and he's not even fighting at full power!"
With great effort, Tashigi parried the next slash and with a push, she created a sizable gap between them. As Keiro skidded to a halt, his eyes widened as Tashigi sheathed her sword and held a basic drawing stance.
With a hearty battlecry, she quickly unsheathed her sword and re-sheathed it in one fluid motion. The wind blade careened towards the Samurai who made no motion to intercept it.
Instead, the slash fizzled out shortly before arriving. Tashigi heard a low chuckle. "Little marine, I believe your swordsmanship still needs some work…"
Before she could realize where the voice came from, an enormous flying slash appeared, towering over her and utterly destroying everything in its path.
/
"Mihawk-sensei, are we close?"
"You'll see soon, Tashigi…"
Mihawk and Tashigi had sailed for days on the small raft. Tashigi remembered earlier that week as Mihawk awaited her at the dock instead of their usual training grounds. He said that they would take a trip somewhere to meet with an "old friend." Currently, Tashigi was monitoring the log pose, as Mihawk sat on his chair.
Tashigi's eyes widened suddenly as she felt an enormously powerful aura approaching them. Even though her Observation Haki wasn't comparable to most Vice-Admirals, even she could feel the strength of the threat that was quickly approaching. Whoever this was, they easily outclassed even the Yonko.
"Mihawk-sensei! There's—"
"Let me show you something, Tashigi…" Mihawk interrupted as he slowly got up from his chair.
Yoru was drawn and with a quick swipe, the world seemed to freeze for a moment. Suddenly an enormous green wave zoomed across the waters into the deep fog ahead.
The waves rocked as an equally large, but red wave met with Mihawk's original slash. The red wave overpowered Mihawk's slash and continued off into the horizon.
"That was a flying blade attack, further empowered by one's intent and armament haki working in harmony. Only a handful of swordsmen can actually reconcile the two, even within the Grand Line." Mihawk lectured. "Now let's go forward, you're going to love who we just sailed into!" he said with a hearty laugh.
/
Shortly after returning to Kuraigana Island, Mihawk began teaching her the specialized flying blade attack, however she never produced anything more than a blunt wave that failed to cut through even wood. She was perfectly capable of performing a regular flying blade attack as she remembered her battle with Monet a few years back. However, infusing one's haki into the slash as well? That took another level of focus entirely.
/
Tashigi was below deck training with the shadows that the Nebula produced. She panted as she felt her technique grow, but was still incapable of inflicting much damage.
"Dammit!" she cursed out loud as she sent another one, which unsurprisingly ended in failure as well.
"You need to sharpen your intent," came a voice behind her. "I did say that producing these attacks is a lot harder than cutting mountains, didn't I?"
"The ship—" Tashigi started, but was interrupted by Zoro.
"Ain has taken over the helm. And I did promise you that I would help."
She let out a sigh. "Have you ever tried balancing on a tightrope, where even a single misplaced thought can send you crashing to the floor below?"
"Put down your sword," he ordered. As Tashigi did just that, the room was suddenly drained of all light. A single candle was lit.
"Sit," Zoro ordered. "Until the wax has melted, do not take your eyes off of the flame."
Quoting a mantra from Mihawk, Zoro continued. "It's useless to train your strength without sharpening your focus first."
"The flames extinguish themselves if you glance elsewhere." Zoro said as he closed the door behind him. "Tomorrow, we'll increase the number of candles."
/
The memories flashed by in a span of a seconds as she was brought back to the present. Even after the long nights of training, she has yet to perform a proper haki-infused flying blade attack. It was do or die.
"My first one was a dud, and if this one fails as well, I'm dead," she thought as she took a kneeling stance. She closed her eyes and focussed on drawing out her intent as the massive slash was now only a few meters away.
"Here goes nothing!" she shouted, opening her eyes and drawing her sword in a fluid motion. An equally large slash was produced and overpowered Keiro's slash. Keiro, caught off guard, could only raise his sword in defence as Tashigi's completed technique flowed through him.
Tashigi was breathing heavily as she noticed the sheer destruction that she caused. She essentially cut the island in half. Her panting slowly came to a halt as she finally rose to her feet. "Swordsmen truly are destructive beings…" she thought.
A dry laugh came from Keiro's motionless body. A deep cut ran down his body, and it was only time before he bled out.
"Little swordsman, by defeating me you have brought ruin to the world…" Tashigi slowly approached Keiro, her sword still drawn.
"Would you care to find out how?..."
Zoro
Zoro sat cross-legged in meditation. Glowing red chains tied the defeated Silent Samurai to a nearby tree.
As if sensing what had happened, Zoro spoke aloud, "They won't fall for your mind games, Keiro. They're stronger than you think."
A deep laugh came from the Keiro. "I never imagined that you would be this strong, even after our last battle. I honestly thought the gap was smaller this time, but I was wrong." Another chuckle. "But at the very least, the seeds of doubt have been planted."
Zoro narrowed his eyes.
"And given the road that your journey will take, it will be very easy to nurture those seeds. They will all eventually grow into betrayal."
Zoro ignored him. "I doubt it, Keiro. The kids are stronger than you think."
"Whatever you say," Keiro laughed into the sky. "Let's see who's theory comes out on top, Vergil..."
Zoro chose not to respond as he quietly meditated. Keiro's laugh continued to echo into the horizon.
A/N: And so Keiro is defeated and we're (finally) moving on to the next arc! Thank you everyone for putting up with my erratic update schedule. A mixture of attention to detail, desire for perfection, and sheer laziness is the only explanation for the delay. No worries, I've already started working on the next chapter! The Straw Hats are finally going to appear next time! Stay tuned!
