Shower thoughts are a normal thing that happens to almost everyone as they shower. It's the natural process in which a person, who has become so relaxed in the shower, began thinking about random topics that they otherwise wouldn't think of during the day due to stress, work, and other worldly influences. During his time showering, one of his greatest contemplations was, I'm never using limitless when I shower, so it's strangely one of the best opportunity a cursed spirit or user has to take me down. And, truth be told, that was a real good question.
"Since yer out, the kitchens over on this way." An old mans voice directed Gojo to the kitchen as he had mistakenly walked into the empty living room before.
Let's catch you up to speed. A few hours ago, Gojo had defeated a man who was using children for daily chores while keeping them in tight shackles. After defeating that man, Gojo accidentally stumbles upon an old man telling the story of how the Tupheasant pirates invaded the island and turned it into what it is now. After revealing that the old man was a marine, one of the Tupheasant Pirate crew members attacked the man hoping to kill off just one more marine. However, because Gojo was there, he intervened in hopes of provoing a theory he had. That theory being: Can he steal other people's cursed energy? Answer; yes, he can. The downside to this, however, is that if he drains the cursed energy out of a person too quickly, there is a chance that the person may die. So, in hopes of reducing those chances, he decides it'd be best to just engage is combat with the person to slowly drain their cursed energy, which they call haki, over time.
Presently, Gojo had been using the shower in the home of the old marine after he had saved him.
"Young one, I implore ya! As an ol' man, inviting ya over ta rest and heal at my tiny home is the least I can do." The old marine expressed his gratitude for saving him by wanting to provide Gojo a meal for the day.
As of right now, Gojo thought to himself that if a divine entity such as karma were to exists, it only took him being sealed in a box and being locked in a cage for it to finally work in his favor. Not really having anywhere to go or any usable money since he he only uses his card, he accepted without any thoughts.
"Thank you," the old man said.
Now, it had reached sometime around seven in the evening as the sun had turned into a beautiful shade of red.
"Young man, and I don't want to seem as if I am bad-mouthing you, even though I invited you, but are you by chance related to the captain of the Tupheasant pirates?" He asked while stirring the stew that he had been making for the past hour. It seemed that even though this old man was a marine in the past, he was also one of the chefs onboard their naval ships.
"Is it due to my hair?" Gojo said while pointing upwards to his white hair that had flown down over his face, slightly covering his eyes.
"Well… yes. When you first intervened back there, I had initially thought that you were Brent Tupheasant himself who stopped Bahwiller from hitting me." The name of Gojo's opponent has been revealed, that of which, meant nothing to him. He couldn't care less for the name, aside from how absurd it sounded.
But going back on topic, Gojo quickly corrected the old marine.
"You have nothing to be wary about. I'm not Tupheasant, nor am I affiliated with them. From what everyone says about them, they must've been a rambunctious little group of pirates." He said while sitting down at one of the four chairs by the dining table. The kitchen wasn't all that large as the kitchen table had taken up half of the room. With the sun lower than during the day, the warm orange glow from the lightbulb had Gojo in a much more relaxed mood than he had though. In fact, he was feeling a bit exhausted after taking that shower—one that he very much appreciated.
"I know that I can trust you. But everything about you is indicating otherwise." The marine said while being as blunt and straightforward with Gojo as possible. As a former marine, he must've been trained to keep words as simplistic, descriptive, and narrow as possible. A trait that, while Gojo can respect, had also hated because it reminded him of the old ways Jujutsu society had tried to raise and educate their sorcerors. It was military-like, but they lacked any actual strength. Everything they did back when Gojo was still young was purely for show. It only became worse when Gojo himself became a sorcerer. The higher-ups simply looked towards Gojo with great interest, seeing him as their ultimate asset. After being nominated special grade, he ensured it to himself that he wasn't going to allow for such a weak society to rule over Jujutsu. He needed people who actually knew what it meant to be a sorcerer, people who knew what it mean to hold such power, and how to use it correctly. He didn't want anyone to ever feel as alone as he did.
But it was precisely because of these feelings that not once did Gojo feel lonely. Not after raising all of his students to become who they are. All he needs to do is not fail them they counted on him. Because, no matter what, he knew that his students would be there for him.
"I supposed I should've told you earlier," the white-haired said as he reached into his back pocket and held onto something soft. On the way towards this old marines house, he found a blindfold that was being dried from a balcony on the first floor of some random building. It wasn't his, but it just felt appropriate to have. He also has to repay the actual owner of this blindfold back, but for now, he thinking of it as a tavern tab of sorts.
"My name is Satoru Gojo, a man of no consequence." His decided to kept his introduction short and simple. The omission of his profession as Sorcerer was due to the severity in difference of culture. That, and he doesn't feel like exposing more of himself to a stranger. During the brief moment that Gojo had thought about Jujutsu High, his condolences for leaving Nanami behind made him feel kind of guilty. But, aside from guilt-tripping himself, he recalls Nanami's way of fighting. A questions quickly arose within Gojo's head. Would a binding vow even work in this world? As a sorcerer, making binding vows with oneself only requires the recognition of the vow, the restrictions, and the rewards. Nanami, for example, has a binding with himself that limits his cursed energy within his working hours at Jujutsu Technical College. Afterwards, he's able to access a larger reservoir of cursed energy than normal.
This process, however, is not present when making a vow with another person. For such vows, it requires that both participants are aware of their own cursed energy. A sorcerer simply can't just walk around Tokyo and make binding vows with anyone they see. Vows between sorcerers is a contract between that benefits both sides after they fullfil the conditions set to them from the opposing memeber. The greater the condition, the greater the reward.
"I'm supposing yer also a foreigner?" he said after pouring the broth into a small cup to taste the stew.
"A-hundred percent! In fact, I'm more than that of a foreigner! I'd like to say I'm more of a "castaway" as I have no idea where I am." He lightly waved his hand around as if to swat away fly while revealing his current status. As usual, he had tried to make light hearted humor about his situation, but it worked to no avail as the man only looked at him with dubious gazes.
"I'm having difficulty believing that a person as strong as yerself would be so clueless about what they're doing, especially in the grandline." He wanted to give Gojo benefit of the doubt, but it seems that the marine blood still flowed strongly within the old man.
"I'll be forward with you, old-man—"
"Call me Lown. That there's my name."
Gojo then stopped and stared at the mans name with a blank face.
"Lown? As in, like, financial loan?"
The old-marine then nodded his head.
Gojo then blinked twice before proceeding with his conversation. "As I was saying—I'm not too knowledge about this Grand Line, old-man. But, judging by how frequently I see sailors and, more importantly, pirates, I can be correct to assume that the Grand Line is an ocean?"
"Not just any regular ocean, ya see? It's tha' greatest body of water across the north, south, east, and west seas." Before the old man could continue explaining the Grand Line to Gojo, he had to put a pause on the old man real quick.
"Beofre we get to the grand line, tell me about the other four seas you just mentioned."
The old man then stopped cooking and stared back at the white-haired fella clad in clothes that he had left for him. The size was a bit larger for Gojo height wise, which made Gojo both impressed and a tad bit disappointed, but it felt better on him compared to a coat covered in soup, sweat, a bit of blood, and cursed spririt residue. The design being that of palm trees also made Gojo miss spending one of his summers at a resort near Okinawa. But, those days are long gone now, so recalling that far into the past was pointless. The last time he had done so, he was punished for it.
While staring at Gojo, the old man sighed. "I almost forgot how those clothes looked when worn. You fill it out completely."
He then stood up and walked over to the kitchen table. Gojo, having stood at the entrance of the kitchen, then made his way over to help the old man. It made Gojo feel a bit weird, not having to disrespect an old man who he knows work with some sort of authorities. Man. Got to make sure that I remind myself to never get sealed again if this is what I have to do.
Apparently, helping an old-man with ties to authority was less pleasant for him than being held captive inside a castle.
"Grab me some five plates er so from that there cabinet," the old-marine said while place the steaming pot of stew onto a denser layer of cloth in the middle of the kitchen table. Grabbing two more clothes, he sets then on opposing sides from one another, making Gojo sit across from him.
Following the mans request, he smoothly uses Blue to hover some plates over his way, completely forgetting to save his cursed energy. "Ah—" was all he could say as he used his limitless without thinking. Having lived this long with limitless, somethings were just automatic. Thankfully, the old man hadn't noticed him using limitless. For one reason or another, the feeling of exposing his abilities to anyone made him uneasy so he decided to hide it as well. Perhaps it was because he wanted to keep the old man ignorant? Or, perhaps he just wanted to keep it a secret. Either way, it was kind of thrilling not telling people his strengths until he really needs to. Perhaps it was because of his upbringing as a sorcerers. Per regulations, every sorcerer were to keep everything about them hidden from the public. A thought then sprung into Gojo's mind, but he decided to suppress the idea as the old-marine had begun talking.
"Tha' four seas, right?" he asked.
"Yes. I would like to know more about them."
The old-man then grabbed the ladle that was placed besides the pot on a separate plate and began serving himself some stew. After he grabbed enough, he placed it back and had started telling Gojo about what he wanted from the beginning.
"There exists four seas in tha' world, excluding tha' Grand Line and all tha' other jamble that I'll tell ya' later. Between those four seas, the North Blue is considered to be tha' strongest while tha' East Blue seems to provide the most troublesome groups of pirates. Each of tha' seas can access the Grand Line, a long strip of ocean alongside the equator of the world. It looks a little something like that." While eating, he points to the wall to the left of Gojo.
Following the direction that the man showed him, he noticed a large makeshift map of what seemed to be their earth hanging on the wall. The roughness of the paper and the markings of multiple lines being erased near the same spots suggested to Gojo that it must have been manmade without the assistance of proper guidelines.
"I made it during most my free times onboard the naval ships."
Looking at the map, it was evident that the Grand Line sliced right across the circumference of the earth. But what he wasn't told about was the line that traveled from north down to south and seemingly circles the earth perpendicular to the Grand Line.
"Old-man, what's this "Red Line" that you labled?"
"That there is how ya'd entere the Grand Line from tha' four seas," he said while pointing to the little x-mark in the part that bisected the Grand Line. "That little x-area shows the path that that sea can take to enter. One would go up those streams and then flow down the line parallel to the Grand Line."
"Then whats the other lines that are outlining the Grand Line?" Gojo said while carefully observing the rough sketch. At first it seemed like a failed first-sketch since the width was bigger, causing him to draw a different line inside. But, seeing how well shaded in the parts were, it didn't seem like a failed attempt.
"That there is what we call tha' Calm Belt. For many years, tha' calm belt has been avoided by Navy and Pirates alike for a simple reason: There's no movement there."
"I'm going to need you to elaborate a bit more on that."
"First, come sit down and eat yer food. Quit standing over there." the old-man said. Gojo then found himself dumbfounded at first, but quickly smiled and walked over. For the first time in a long time, he might learn to respect an elder.
"What I mean by, "no movement," literally means no movement. No wind, no current, nada. Completely calm. Detrimental for sailors, naval fleets, and pirate ships alike. There are also creatures under the ocean that we's gotta look out for out there as well. We call them Sea Beasts."
Now this, piqued Gojo's interest.
"The Sea Beasts that roams the ocean will strike anyone they like, especially within the calm belt where they claim as their homes. That makes the awful calm belt an even harsher environment. But, we navy have founded a way to cross those seas with the help of Dr. Vegapunk, the smartest man alive. Sadly, I can't tell you how it's done."
"Is it because that information is confidential?"
"No, it's because they figured it out after I retired."
"Ah."
"If you look back at the map, you can noticed that the Grand Line crosses the Red Line twice: Once at the entrance and ending to everything, and once half way through the Grand Line. This creates a separation between the two Grand Lines. The first half is what folks called, Paradise. The half after is what everyone commonly refers to as, The New World."
"And where are we?" Gojo asked.
"We are currently within Paradise. Where this island is located, it will take ya about five months to reach Sabaody Archipelago, the island that leads every sailor down to Fishman island to get to the New World."
"And where is Fishman island exactly? I don't suppose it'd be on land considering it's called Fishman island."
"Correct. It resides under tha' water because it was built and is inhabited by the Fishmans, a race that exists alongside we Humans."
"Are there any other species I got to be warry about."
"Ya really weren't kidding… you really know nothing." The sheer astonishment on this mans face pretty much told Gojo everything. That what he was being told was common sense. But, to Gojo, his pride matter les than information. What he was gathering here was far better than experiencing it without understanding it. So, swallowing his ego, he persisted and got the old-man explaining again.
"Ya must've been either locked away when ya were a child, or have lost yer memories."
"You can assume which ever one it is that suits you best. Just know that the information you're providing me has been extremely invaluable."
Shaking his head, the man continues.
"One the topic of species, yes, there are more races for you to take into account. In my time on the field, I have meet many groups of species through Sabaody Archipelago… From the top of my head, there exists the merfolks which are humans with fish-like tails, fishman, whom we've discussed before, the mink tribe which consist of human-like animals, the giants who are indispensable members of the marine force, and finally the skypians who have recently been confirmed to exists because of Urouge, a Skypian Pirate who made a nme for himself alongside the Super Rookies."
Gojo, having taken in as much information as he can, only found himself generating more questions than answers. So, he decided to hone in onto one aspect of this world that enticed him the most.
"Old-man, can you tell me more about the sea beasts? For example, some of their features?" Judging by its name, it's very easy to deduce that such creatures would be considered abnormal within the food chain.
Slowly twirling the ladle inside the stew, the man chooses his favorite pieces and placed them into his plate. Weirdly enough, there had now been more vegetables within the stew than meat.
"So that's all ya took from explaining, eh? Oh well. Tha' Sea Beasts, ya see, are creatures unlike any ya see on land. They range from all shapes and sizes, long and short. We'd only classify it a Sea Beast if it meets both these two criterias: Their aggresion towards ships, and how easily they can destroy it. Through my time on tha' seas, before we had tha' invention of those handy devices to ward them off, they'd sneak up on ships and destroy them in one fell swoop. Killing many who I've shared a meal with or made a meal for. They attack indiscriminately, causing everyone to loathe their presence." The old-man curses at his memory as he recalls the past. It wasn't often that the sea beasts would beat a marine ship, but the chances were never zero.
"So everyone curses these sea beasts, huh?" Gojo asked while taking the remaining pieces of vegetables in the stew.
"Yeah. Like I said, everyone loathes them."
From the basic premise of what the old man was saying, he was slowly beginning to piece the pieces together and was slowly forming a realization. The people of this world leak cursed energy from within their body outwards much like how a non-sorcerer would. However, that was where their similarities end. Normally, the leakage of cursed energy would form into cursed spirits, entities that take on a personified characteristic related to that negative emotion expressed by the non-sorcerers. That was were the world differentiated themselves as the cursed energy within this world didn't manifest cursed spirits. That was the belief that Gojo had taken on and had believed in. But, it seems to have been a mistaken.
Taken everything that he's understood so far about this world, it would mean that there is only one thing that everyone in this world seemed to have cursed the most: The Ocean.
Perhaps, and this was just wishful thinking by Gojo, but perhaps such negative emotions that were leaked out had been collected into the ocean and formed curse spirits in the shape of sea beasts. That would mean that the Sea Beast would be nothing more but a collection of cursed energy. In basic terms, the sea beasts were swimming batteries of cursed energy.
"Old-man, I have one more question to ask you."
"Shoot 'er away," he responded.
"Can I—"
Just then, the lights flickered in an incoherent pattern while the ceiling threatened to collapse downward. The house shook, causing picture frames and kitchen matierlas to all fall to the floor. In a desperate attempt, the old-man had lunged himself towards one of the falling portraits and had managed to grab hold of it before it had fallen too far from the shelf. Unable to break his fall, he lands directly on his shoulder wing. A piece of bone that was supposed to act as one giant piece now felt like it had nearly become two.
Looking around, having had his blindfold on this entire time, he should've noticed any mass of cursed energy moving, whether his six eyes were at full potential or not. After learning his lesson the hard way, he made sure to… He then felt it.
When did I stop using reverse cursed technique on my mind?! Gojo shouted in his head.
Because it was distinctly a human emotion to feel relaxation after washing oneself, Gojo hadn't realized that he was actually getting tired. Normally, Gojo would have reverse cursed technique running around the clock, twenty-four seven in his head, to ensure that he is always refreshed at all times, reducing the the chances of him ever getting tired. The only times he turns it off is at night to sleep, but even then he still had infinity to protect him.
"Lown, can you get to me?" Gojo asked as he stuck his hand out.
"Of course!" The old-man then pushed off his right leg and forced his way up while holding a portrait between his arms as if it was a baby.
Grabbing a tight hold of Gojo's hand, the old-man then wonders what exactly he was trying to do, until he sees a broken concrete stairway that had blood splatter layer over most of the concrete. Just a few hours ago, one of Brent Tupheasants lieutenants was beaten here by the person who he invited over for dinner. That of course had happened a few hours ago. The distance from here to his home was an hour's walk. It was now dark and the stairway was emptied, but that was not what perplexed the old-man.
"H…how?!" His eyes were in disbelief. He looked around and saw no one, which meant that this place was quiet. Whatever shook his home, was not an earthquake. And whoever took him here was no longer holding his hand.
"How'd you find me?" A white-haired man wearing a beach resort shirt, white shorts, and black blindfold said while standing on top a roof of some random building. People had now left their homes to wander the streets, looking for an explantation as to why it had shaken so violently near them.
Standing on the opposite side of the rooftop was a tall man with a well-defined and extremely conditioned body wearing an extremely similar cape—so much so that Gojo has gotten bored of it—on his back. The man wasn't someone whom he had met before. He wasn't Tupheasant, nor was he the one dude that he had thrown into the stairway not too long ago. Of the other two, this guy had a different feel to him. But he was not interested nor did he direct that question to the man standing in front of him. It was directed to a more timid and quiet lady that stood behind yet besides him. It was more like a pet clinging near their owner.
She stayed silent. However, the same could not be said about the man.
"How we found you is our business." The man wearing the cape then stretches his muscles around before taking the cape off, exposing his black shirt and grey pants underneath.
"Blegh," Gojo mouthed as his figure reminded him too much of that one person. To make it worse, he had been caught off guard as well, earlier. "This day just keeps on giving, doesn't it?"
"Let's keep this concise and get it over with," the little-lady said while shrinking further behind him.
"Yep. That's the plan!" The man then pulls out his sword and drops it beside the lady, rushing toward Gojo with nothing but a sheathe at a decent speed.
If he were to compare the speeds exhibited by this pirate to someone else he knew, he'd say the speed here is around Itadori's level, perhaps faster. But nowhere near that man, and it wasn't even close to Gojo's.
The edge of a sheath covered the mans cutlass then flew towards the left of Gojo's neck. Ducking down, he stared directly at the swordsman liver and clenched his fist with a minimal amount of cursed energy. While doing so, he also decides to omit lapse blue. In exchange, he would rather increase the input of cursed energy absorbed.
The swordsman, having noticed all of this, then quickly jumps to the right side of Gojo to avoid the jab.
"Normally, I'd read your eyes when fighting. But, you… you're just phenomenal. Covering your eyes while fighting… Man, I wish I had that when I saw that wormipede earlier—" The man then dodged another attack aimed for right arm, the arm holding his sword.
"Are you aware what a binding vow is?" Gojo asks while throwing a bunch of powerful quick jabs around the neck and shoulder area of the swordsman.
"Huh?" The swordsman replies while barely blocking the attacks which the side of his blade. He had tried many times to use the sharp end, but when that happens, Gojo quickly swipes it out of the way with the same hand before pursuing the same spot again.
"A binding vow is a restriction that one can make with themselves or another sorcerer. Binding vows work in a way that creates conditions, which are often limitations, that is imposed upon the sorcerer willingly."
Jumping backwards, the swordsman took in about as much informations as a person would while being punched. Having gained enough distance, the swordsman plunges the sword onto the floor of the roof and stood up. "What are you blabbering to yourself?"
"As of right now, I have been restricting myself from access to my limitless cursed technique. I have also decided to limit the amount of cursed energy that I can output to only sixty percent."
The swordsman, trying to comprehend anything he's saying, decides to cut the conversation sort and flick his cutlass up, causing debri to fly into the air. Seeing this made Gojo smile. It reminded him of something, but it didn't matter now.
"These limitations made it so that I can absorb as much cursed energy from you as possible. Those are the conditions that I have set myself."
"Again, why are you tell me this?" The swordsman said while kicking all the debri, causing them to fly in Gojo's direction.
"Because among sorcerers and spirits alike, we also have another binding vow—"
Gojo's hand then sneaked past the blade of the swordsman and made contact with his upper cheek, causing his head to flinch backwards.
"—By exposing the conditions or techniques imposed upon a person, it greatly increases the output!"
Upon fishing that sentence, eight more punches landed onto the swordsman body before two seconds could even ellipse. His body was sent flying backwards as his eyes rolled back. As he touched the ground, he made three solid rolls before coming to a stop. At first it seemed as if the body had turned into a ragdoll, but on the second spin, the swordsman hand slapped the ground, causing his body to fling upwards before spinning in the air and landing on his feet. Seeing this made Gojo happy.
"Good. You still have gas left in the tank."
Earlier, with around thirty seconds of cursed energy, Gojo had teleported whilst taking the old-man with him to someplace safe before teleporting himself back. To teleport another person without Gojo required more cursed energy than the trip with himself included. Plus, drawing a ritual circle on the ground to do so took too much time, so using four seconds of lapse blue to teleport back and forth was better than twelve seconds. However, that was earlier. As of right now, because of both his binding vows, Gojo had well over a minute of cursed energy. And that was only from eight punches. But, this rapid increase in cursed energy from the binding vow should not be something that Gojo relied on. Not until he can confirm whether or not he can defeat everyone he comes across. Until then, he cannot play cocky too early.
"Woah…" The swordsman then looked at his hands and legs. His body felt heavier like someone had put bricks into his shoes and gloves tied to the ground onto his hands. "My haki… it's… well. No matter. It's not like I'm good at using it with my sword anyways, unlike Brent."
"Done blabbering to yourself over there?" Gojo then threw a pieces of debris back at him to mimic what he had done earlier.
"Remadias, pass my sword back to me. I lost my other one," he said while reaching behind him. Right as he said that, before he could fully extend his arm backwards, she then accidentally threw the sword and its sheath in front of him. The two then look at each other with an expressionless expression.
"Sorry." She silently said.
A heavy laugh then came out of Conor's mouth as the two of them were unable to sync up. "I suppose we'd both be too distracted by the sight of the wormipedes to properly act tonight, huh?"
Picking up the sword, it only added to the weight. But that mattered little to Conor as this was one of the few chances he could use it.
"A katana? Or is it just similarly shaped?" Gojo thought to himself after observing the curvature and design placed onto the blade and handle. It had the design of a dragon from the guard to the hilt, while the blade was made by folding metal onto itself multiple times. Cursed Energy was also being emitted from the blade, but it wasn't like that of a sorcerer. When Yuta, Yuji, or any sorcerer infused their blades with cursed energy, it'll emit a more mist-like feeling. This one resembled that of a cursed spirits energy which usually bore an unpleasant feeling. It was like staring at clusters of color palettes that just doesn't work together; It's gross.
"Well, going by your flow earlier, I suppose I ought to explain myself as well! This sword was made half a century ago in a country named Wano. The original blacksmith who made this sword perished on this island to a disease twenty years before we got here. It was a gift to the original king which he had modified. Afterward, he then placed it away in his chambers as decoration."
While he was explaining his sword, Gojo couldn't help but wonder how it was that a weapon could be emitting cursed spirit energy. But his curiosity wouldn't live for long as the swordsman continued talking.
"The modification that the king had placed on this sword is what caused him to stash it away for good. We still don't understand how this works, but this here sword has been combined with a devil fruit by the help of Dr. Vegapunk!" Conor then lifted the sword upwards, which took great strength. "The fruit in question makes this sword incredibly troublesome to use. This sword can also be referred to as the conversion-conversion fruit, a paramecia-type devil fruit that can convert one thing to another."
Devil Fruit? Conversion? Both those words meant nothing to Gojo so he tuned them out. But what he did understand was the name he had shouted earlier, Vegapunk. Judging by how highly the old-man had regarded this person during his tiny lecture, it would be safe to assume that this Vegapunk person is most likely a marine.
While lost in thought, it took Gojo a millisecond later to realize that the swordsman in front of him had a tried to warn Gojo of something. He lifted his blade and rushed towards Gojo, but his eyes were staring beyond him. The sound of air being shredded apart and the atmosphere being violently pushed apart filled his ears. The rupture of air sent ripples through his chest, while the searing sensation of hot iron rushing from deep within his neck violated its way through Gojo's body before exploding out of his eye.
Two more shots were then fired into Gojo's back, accumulating a total of three bullets peircing him. The first had struck his head just above his neck while exiting through his eyes, the second had gone straight through his chest just below his heart, while the third and final shot missed his body but directly struck the center of his right palm.
"John! Why would you do that!?" Conor's blade swung in a white-cressent shape like slash before being directed to the ground. One the moment of impact, chunks of the roof had floated upwards as if gravity had no longer existed. But, it very much did. The reason they floated upwards and continued levitation was because of the sword.
The moment the debris began floating, both parties stopped moving as they had equally prepared their weapons. The reason why nither of them had decided to swing or shoot was because of a level of mutual respect between the two. John and Conor were pirates on the same crew, fought the same battles, and lived on the same ship together ever since they joined Brent.
"John. Answer me and answer me well. Why?"
"Captain orders," John answered. "It was either he died a man, or died a slave to the celestials. And I wouldn't want the former to happen to anyone."
"That's why I was sent here, John! It was a battle for his life. Plus, I wanted to exchange a deal with him." The roof top then went silent before John ultimately drew his pistol back and placed it into his holster. Following his movements, Conor did the same and slid his blade back into its sheath, causing the levitating rocks to fall.
It was then that John noticed something.
"Conor, weren't you here with Remadias?" He asked.
"Yeah, we followed him here using her trace-trace abilities. It was pretty easy as all we had to do was follow the sheer magnitude of punches left on him back to the stairs, and then from there back to his home." He then turns around to look at her, but it was then that he realized why John had asked. It was because she was no longer there. Alongside her not being seen, an even larger problem arose.
"Where!?" Conor then drew his blade once more as he no longer saw the body of the white-haired figure on the ground.
"I was sure I shot him through the head," John says, confirming his accuracy. Within the crew, his accuracy was one of the better ones, aside from Gina who had observation haki to help him. Because John's levels of haki were below that of an average person, he couldn't resort to utilizing any form of it. However, what he does have is a devil fruit, the sound-sound fruit. While one wouldn't assume that an ability such as the manipulation of sound amplitudes to be efficient at improving ones accuracy, John had found a way to cause great confusion among people by simply increasing the volume of his weapon. The sheer sound can rupture one's ear, halting them from moving as if paralyzed. And hitting a still target is much more preferable for any hunter.
Conor's body then disappeared from view. For John, it would be as if Conor had simply jumped into the air using all his strength. But, that was impossible as the speeds in which he went up did not match the stillness of his body. Not once did he use any strength to jump.
If anything, John thought to himself, it looked as if Conor was simply… picked up.
Floating in the air beyond the ledge of the roof was a man who held a destroyed blindfold in one hand and the unconscious body of two familiar figures in the other. He wasn't even necessarily holding the bodys with his hands. It was more as if they were simply levitating in space, unbothered by the reality beneath them.
"Boy am I glad I can sense your cursed energy," Gojo said while apathetically staring at the frozen gunsman below him. Without the blindfolds, it was nearly impossible to miss the burning steam that was being emitted from Gojo's reformed eyes. At the moment of impact, it had exploded into multiple tiny chunks of meat. The blood and the chunks on the floor below John proved it as well. So, if that was the case, then what in the world was the pair of eyes before him?
The moment it had completely healed, John's body took one step back. That was his first mistake.
"Sit." At the moment of command, John's legs disappeared.
He then fell onto his back. That was the second mistake.
"I said sit, not fall." Gojo's hand then fully lifted John's entire body weight up by simply holding his forehead.
"Aaargh!" John was finally able to scream as Gojo had allowed him to. Everything that had transpired happened at speeds incomprehensible. To John, it'll be as if he simply tripped before being held up by the head.
As a Sorcerer, their bodies—although not completely different—are incredibly complex and function in a distinct manner to that of a nonsorcerer. Every sorcerer has a form of acknowledging their cursed energy within their bodies, a feature that many regular humans do not. They also have a way of comprehending their innate cursed technique, if they have one, within their own bodies as if it was their own limbs due to the cursed technique being engraved within the prefrontal cortex. Much like how you wouldn't think about raising your arm to grab a cup of water, they can do the same with their cursed technique. But, that actionof using cursed techniques drains their cursed energy reserve much like how raising that cup of water uses energy. Do it enough times and you can no longer do it without giving it time to rest.
The same happens to every sorcerer, no matter how strong they are. The same concept applies to Gojo as well.
Normally, sorcerers can gather cursed energy on their own like how an athlete sits down to recover stamina. This concept has forsaken Gojo.
So Gojo found another way.
"AAAH-NK!" Conor screamed as oxygen forced tried to force their way out his lungs.
John had stopped making noises a while ago. He was the first. Gojo, having increased the amount of cursed energy he can absorbed through physical contact, forced his way into the entire resivor of haki within John. The sudden surge of haki leaving his body was enough to knock him out. Because of his low levels of haki, he barely gave Gojo a satisfactory amount. During that process of absorption, Conor had awoken and swung his katana at Gojo. This is how he ended up on the ground, face first, having his haki drained as Gojo held his throat into the floor.
"RRAGK—" Conor tried screaming, but it only worsened his situation as Gojo pressed down even further.
As of right now, Gojo had been in an extremely unpleasant mood. Having used reverse cursed technique to recover his body, he had nearly fallen down to less than a second of cursed energy. He had forgotten the sheer amount of energy needed for reverse cursed healing.
"You should be thankful I'm a sorcerer. Had this been anyone else, your necks would've snapped a long while ago. And, unlike Yuta, I can't heal any of you."
When the swordsman's body had gone to sleep, Gojo released his grib and noticed the very obvious red marks on his throat. But he did care as he walked over to the girl who was still unconscious. She was the first person he had taken cursed energy from. But, seeing as her haki levels were less than that of a pirate, it was only enough for Gojo to float and hold them in the air using Lapse Blue.
He then felt a surge of cursed energy that belonged to that of a cursed spirit. It was a vile feeling, but he knew it all too well.
"So that's what you guys are," Gojo said as he observed the barely alive John raising the strength-levels of his cursed technique behind him. Or would it be appropriate to call it his devil fruit instead of technique? Whatever the answer was, it meant nothing because Gojo's was sent flying through the air. When standing next to a speaker, one can physically feel the force of the sound waves passing through and around them. The same idea worked here, just on a grandiose level as the entire building also fractured, forming cracks along the floor and walls.
It was a simple punch. John, while holding himself up with one arm, had simply thrown a punch into the air. It was the volume of his fist moving across the air that had sent Gojo flying. A volume that was thousands of times higher than what is required to kill a human being struck Gojo, sending him flying through the air.
Had Gojo not enforced himself with Infinity, he would've gon splat against a wall. Thankfully, he had done just that which allowed him to see another day. With reverse cursed technique, his hearing came back immediately. However, the same could not be said about that swordsman or girl that traveled with them. The sound had nearly shredded their bodies and the amounts of cursed energy was dissipating from their bodies, so it was pretty easy to conclude that they were dead. But, Gojo cared not for that. His expression gleamed with excitement and his twisted smile grew as he saw and observed it. It was a magnificent scene, one that made Gojo wnat to jump up in joy.
"A cursed spirit?!" His pupils honed in on the spirit and his crazed gaze glowed a harsh neon blue in the darkness of the skies. The spirit had seemingly left the girls body after she had died. Not moving from where he landed, Gojo silently observes the cursed spirit walking on all fours. Its actions were almost like that of a dog. It would smell the ground, walk around in circles, and move its nose as if it were tracing something. Its head then jolted upwards and stared somewhere down the streets. It sniffed and sniffed until it stopped.
The cursed spirit then slowly approached a tree and stared upwards, as high into the tree as it could. And then, it slowly morphed itself into a thread of cursed energy. It was like watching smoke traveling upwards in a single file line. Its body was deforming and had turned into pure cursed energy. As the slow line of cursed energy traveled up the tree, Gojo's expression widened as his six eyes were showing him something he could not believe. The spirit was becoming a cursed object.
"So she was a vessel, much like Yuji…"
As the cursed energy flowed into the tree, an apple close to the tree began changing forms. It went from a red fruit to a purple colored one before ultimately turning into a blue apple that had a neon-blue river-like design flowing all around the entire fruit. The fruit was now a cursed object.
Gojo's body was then pushed deeper into the wall. It was another sound-punch, identical to the one that had sent him flying earlier. This time, his Infinity and six eyes had prevented the sounds from reach his body.
"I'd recommend you stop," Gojo said while standing directly where he had been punched to. The sound-user, with only one available hand, then punched again, and again, and again, and again, and again. But to no avail as Gojo remained unmoving from his spot.
"You've shredded your friends to pieces. Congratulations."
Gojo then lifts the sound-users entire body once again. This time, instead of the forehead, it was the arm that the sound-user had been using to punch those shockwaves at Gojo.
"Take a look at your friend's face. It's not even attached to the head anymore," Gojo said while forcing him to look at Remadias's petite face which was stripped from her head and lying faced up on the ground. John stopped moving.
Perfect, Gojo thought before tossing John onto the ground. "Now look at him," Gojo said, lifting and pointing his gaze to Conor.
"His head is about as flat as a basketball. It must be mush in there right now," Gojo said before throwing John across the roof. Landing on his knees, John screamed his pare muscle and exposed skin scrapped across the floor.
"Because you're a vessel, much like her, I suppose it gives me the authority to exorcise you." Pointing a finger at the crawling man trying to escape, he whispers a chant to himself.
"Red."
Maybe it was because this world wasn't one that he was used to. Maybe it was because he realized that this world wasn't his. Maybe it was because he hated the thought of being looked down upon. Maybe it was the feeling that it was his fault for everything to have happened. Maybe it was his incompetence to do things the correct way, forcing others to help him find it. Maybe it was because he didn't actually cared for people. Maybe it was because he had to kill his best friend. Maybe it was because he regretting losing to his fake and ended up being sealed. Maybe it was because he hated the fact that he couldn't use his full strength. Maybe it was because he had to make a binding vow just to survive. Maybe it was because he was reminded of being unable to fulfill his promise and defeat the cursed spirits at Shibuya. Maybe it's actually nothing that was influenced Gojo. Whatever it was, Gojo had briefly lost something that he never should've. Although it was only for a few moments, he had lost it to emotion, something that he taught Yuji, Megumi, Yuta, and Hakari to never do.
He had lost to his emotions, even if it was only for ten minutes. He had lost it.
Upon this realization, he quickly pointed his finger upwards. The spherical shape of red mass moved towards John at incredible speeds, traveling directly over Johns head. Missing him, and instead, hitting the empty skies high in the atmosphere. It was like staring at red fireworks. A new birth. Or was it appropriate to say rebirth? Whatever it was, Gojo was born once more for the third time. This was no longer the same unstoppable Gojo that everyone looked up to. This was the Gojo that had been defeated and was now releasing his frustration onto anyone he could. Finding an excuse to harm those whom he deemed worthy of it.
"Are you Satoru Gojo because you're the strongest? Or are you the strongest because you're Satoru Gojo?"
"I think I'm starting to finally understand what you meant back then, Geto…"
At what point had he been Satoru Gojo, and at what point had he been the strongest?
He was only five years old at the time, but by then he had already learned to differentiate the varitions of cursed energy using his six eyes. It was easy for him to determine what was a cursed technique, plain cursed energy, or an object imbued with cursed energy, without the need of directly seeing them. It wasn't until he turned six that he was able to apply Infinity to parts of his body such as his hand, legs, and torso. A few months before his eigth birthday, he had learned to use Lapse Blue. And by the time he had turned ten, he taught himself how to apply Falling Blossom Emotion to himself to defeand against Domains. By the age of eleven, he mastered Infinity. When he was fourteen, he had mastered Blue. And when he reached fifteen, he became a semi-grade 1 sorcerer after exorcizing a grade two spirit by himself. When he reached the age of eighteen, he had learned reverse cursed technique, enabling him access to Hollow Purple.
He had believed that his growth as a sorcerer was driven because he was Gojo, but was granted the rights to do so as he was the strongest. And while that was partially true, half of his beliefs were parts that he forced himself to believe.
Not once in his entire life had Satoru Gojo been Satoru Gojo. Since birth, he had always been the strongest.
And that was all he could be.
"Before you are anything, Satoru, you're my son. My one and only one, okay? Never forget that, okay? …Mommy loves you. She loves you so much, okay?"
Gojo's eyes flickered ever so slightly.
The crowd of people on the streets had all but fallen to the floors, and clenching their heads as their ears rang and blood escaped their skulls. Many had dark red lines of blood flowing from out their own ears. Others simply had scratches or wounds from the falling rubble or flying pieces of glass. Some had all of what was listed above.
Despite the screaming and wailing of people below him, he sat motionlessly on top the rooftop with the dead bodies of two pirates and an incompasitated captive.
For approximately one minute, Gojo had become Gojo. It was the first time in a long while, but the feeling was still the same. Twelve years ago when he fought against Toji Fushiguro, it was at that time that he had truly become Gojo. He had lost himself, high in the moment. He was drunk on the exacerbated feelings of uphoria. He has drowned himself in his technique, closing himself off from the world. He secluded his mind into areas as deep as he can, as far away from humanity as he could, forgetting to live, forgetting to die, forgetting to fight, forgetting to save. He simply neglected what it meant to be strong and fought to bring forth the real Gojo.
Satoru Gojo is a man who simply wants to fight.
The clouds above head moved southwards as the wind had begun picking up. It seems like the island was currently experiencing low pressure weathers as the beginning stages of a cumulonimbus was forming far off shore. Seagulls and wild animals scattered about in the middle of the night as they too, struggled with the lost of hearing.
"Perhaps I should've placed down a curtain before battling…" Gojo said to himself before finally laying on the ground, spreading his arms and legs in every direction to stretch.
After he sapred the pirate of a swift death, Gojo took time to recollect himself and alayize why he had lost to his frenzy. Normally, Gojo wouldn't be one to lose his cool unless he truly felt like he needed to. This battle was not one that needed a crazed Gojo. He could've swiftly and efficiently dealed against these vessel and haki users without needing to over do it. The death of the two pirates around him, he could've prevented had he defeated John at the same time he did Conor. But his pride got the better of him. He wanted to show John that it was a mistake to think that he could've defeated him.
"Ha… hah. Haha. Hahahahah." Gojo laughed to himself as he held his eyes with one palm.
It took Gojo two seconds after thinking about it to form a conclusion. One that was so absurd and stupid tht he couldn't help but laugh. He had come to the realization that this all happened because he stopped refreshing his brain with reverse curse technique in hopes of saving cursed energy.
"I must've been set off after getting shot through the head. It hit near my right side too, so it must've triggered my right prefrontal cortex to go into a form of overdrive mode to keep me alive."
"Remadias…?!" A different voice called out nearing the edge of the ledge. It was feminine and gentle, unlike any of the other voices he heard before.
"Hmm? You're not that girl who saw me in my cage earlier…" Gojo points out while observing the person. The girl in front of him was shorter than the girl who Brent was friendly with before he pointed his gun at him. She also never told him her name, so he had no reference to go off of. The girl here had short brown hair that only reached the bottom of her glossy lips. Her clothes consisted of shorts as the humid weather would make anyone dread wearing longer sleeves.
"... Conor!?" The girl fell to her knees as she held the palm of his hand, trembling in place as she does so. Placing Conors hand onto her forehead, she silently observes the beautiful ring that hugged his finger. The name of the ring had belonged to Remadias. "Please protect my sister there as well, Conor," she cried.
Her cries and pain did not reach Gojo. For him, it was the same feeling as excorsizing a cursed spirit or a transfigured human; they were his enemies. Whether or not they survive the battle is up to their strengths.
Just like her cries which faied to touch Gojo, so did the countless number of swords that struck his Infinity.
"Now!" One of them shouted as they all jumped back, taking their swords him them. Just then, the sound of a canon could then be heard from a faraway distance before quickly striking the roof, causing the entire building to collapse onto the people below. But before the canon was fired, a different group of people quickly swopped in and took the girl along with John who was still alive and ran away from the building while the swordsman were trying to stab him through his Infinity.
After refreshing his brain a little bit with reverse cursed technique, it was evident that he was running out of cursed energy and fast.
But, even with a fresher mind, his soul felt tired. Ever since remembering his mothers parting words, Gojo's mind had been distracted. The voice was from long ago, around the time Satoru had begun training to become a sorcerer. When he was born, he was immediately placed in line for head of household due to being blessed with the Six Eyes. For generations, the Gojo clan had tried for Six Eyes bearer but to no avail. That was until Satoru's father met and fell in love with an outsider from a nonstarter family; his mother Chisato Uehara. Even though she wasn't a sorcerer, her body bore great levels of cursed energy and held great genetics for sorcery despite lacking the skills to do so herself.
After Satoru, the first child in hundreds of years to have been born with both Six Eyes and Limitless cursed technique, was established into the world, she was immediately taken in by his uncle who was the former head of the Gojo clan and was forced to remarry in an attempted to bear more children in hopes of producing a son to inherit the Gojo clan after his uncles passing. Satoru's mother killed herself during her first pregnancy just three months before the baby was born. Satoru's father killed his own brother in a fit of rage, which then prompted for the execution of his father. Without anyone to take the seat, it laid open for three years, allowing anyone with enough reputation within the household to become head until Satoru was old enough. But, because no one would take the seat in fear of being assasinated, Satoru ultimately became the head of the household at the age of ten. Every assassination attempt from other sorcery families had failed. And although no sorcerer clans had ever admitted to their attempts, Satoru paid it no mind as it was great fun for him to pass the time.
—Gojo moved around the battlefield as if he was a piece of leaf avoiding the hands of people who have tried to catch him.
The Limitless cursed technique was the most prestigious technique passed through the three clan heads. The second being that of the Ten Shadows techniqued passed within the Zen'in clan, while Pericing Blood was with the Kamo clan. He remembers when Megumi first spared against Gojo. At first, Gojo was amazed to how such a little kid could have such excellent levels of cursed energy levels at a kid. It wasn't an explosive amount of cursed energy, but it could've easily passed as grade three.
—The body of three pirates were then drawn to one another before ultimately crushed themselves into one large chunk of meat.
His eyes widen as Megumi's shadow grew beneath his feet. It traveled far into the light while retaining its dark-shadow like appearance. Then, almost as if the shadow itself was liquid, the formation of a white haired dog stuck its head out before immedeatly lashing at Gojo.
"The Ten Shadows, huh?!" Gojo's smile widen as he caught the dog with his hand. Stuck inside his Infinity, the white dog wiggled around and tried slashing Gojo with his claws, all to no avail.
—A body then falls to the ground and laid motionless as Gojo drops him after absorbing all the cursed energy the pirate had. "Next," he said while emoitonlessly staring at the army of swordsman and gunsman standing before him. All of them slowly taking one or two steps backwards instead of advancing.
"I know you're only ten, but I won't coach you through this like a child." Gojo's hand then lands a solid blow onto the white dog, causing it to turn into a dark liquid like substance and flowing back into Megumi's body.
"Damn it!" Megumi then rearranged his hands and clasped the sign of a dog once more. This time, chanting a name alongside with it. "Demon Dog!"
Gojo then crouches down and trips Megumi by swiping his knee caps on the side with his palm. In mere seconds, Gojo had covered the distance between the two them immedeatly and was now in close combat with the young Megumi.
—The field laid with the countless bodies of pirates who can no longer move. Breathing heavily, his chest shrinks and expands against his now ripped shirt. He had limited himself from using cursed energy, Blue, or Red too frequently. But, in doing so, had caused him to use a lot of stamina in its place.
"You lost because you were relying too much on your cursed technique," Gojo pointed out as he held Megumi upside down by the legs.
"Okay! I get it! Let me down!" He shouted.
Ignoring him, Gojo flicks his sunglasses down and stared directly at Megumi's eyes. "We're going to make you become a strong sorcerer who can fight alongside his Shikigami's. Much like someone I used to know."
"Was he strong?" Megumi asked.
Gojo then stops and drops Megumi, which caused him to land on his shoulder due to Gojo's reckless behavior.
"Ah! We'll get that checked out by Shoko later," Gojo whistles as he noticed the crying Megumi holding onto his now cracked collarbone. "But yeah. My friend, he was strong."
"Yep. He's strong alright," an old man with a large white coat hanging off his shoulders said as Gojo peered endlessly into the sand beneath him.
Since when did we get to the beach? Gojo thought to himself as he looked around him. The breeze of the ocean graced his body as the morning sun devoured the skies. It was now morning. Gojo had been completely unaware of how long it was that he was fighting.
"Sir! Pirates have been spotted fleeing from the other side of the island!" A kid with pink hair wearing white and blue enforcer uniform then saluted to the old man who wa speaking of Gojo's strength.
"Oh, good job Koby. Get the second ship and go after them," he responded as he threw the pink-haired kid a weird-looking snail.
"Without you?" Koby then began sweating. "Sir, this pirate has a bounty of one hundred million! I… I am not qualified to chase after such pirates on my own!"
"Do you not remember going after my grandson at Water Seven? I'm pretty sure his bounty was even greater than this random pirate, you prick. Now buzz off!" The white-capped man said as he grabbed the pink-haired kid and throwing him towards the ocean. With a not so pleasant crunch, the kid landed on the ship and people wearing blue and white all began boarding the ship as to not get thrown as well. "Now where was I? Or, yes, officer Lown. This is the man you talked about?" He asked to the other old man standing beside him.
"Yes, Garp. He's tha' one." Lown then pointed directly towards Gojo with a proud smile on his face. "That's tha' lad that single-handedly took care of an entire pirates army. He saved this island, Vice-Admiral!"
"He must be one hell of a lad then! Hahaha!" Garp laughed as he approached Gojo.
Having restricted the usage of cursed energy, his mind had been exhausted to a great amount. The time he felt that had elapsed did not match the time that had actually passed. For him, it was only a few minutes. To everyone else, hours have passed by. It was akin to falling asleep, a comparison that explained it perfectly. To him, it was a strong variation of sleepwalking while also dreaming of a time in the past when all he had to worry about was training a small kid with the potential to best even him.
"You, son, have shown a level of strength that we simply cannot ignore."
Gojo's eyes then narrowed towards the old man as to get a better look at him. Despite his frenzy and multiple light injuries sustained due to keeping his Limitless technique off for as long as possible, Gojo was fully aware of just how strong this man was. Unlike any other pirate he's seen before, this mans cursed energy levels were significantly larger. It also had a sharp edge to his cursed energy, something that Gojo once saw a long while ago with Hakari. But, unlike Hakari's spikey bat like cursed energy, this one was more like a giant hammer.
"What's your stand in this whole 'charade,' strong-one?"
Gojo hadn't answered right away, which Garp took with patience, understanding that the fellow right in front of him had just fought for an entire night.
But it wasn't the exhaustion that kept him from talking. In actuality, he was becoming more and more aware as the seconds passed.
"Hm?" Garp said as he noticed the steam coming off Gojo's scars. It was as if the scars themselves were evaporating into the air. It left no mark behind as it fully vanished from view. Gojo had completely healed himself.
"Sorry for not answering you right away, old-man number two," Gojo said as he swiped the dust and rubble out of his hair and shoulders.
Because of his unconscious frenzy, Gojo was unaware of how just many seconds it was that he had accumulated that night. All he knows was that he felt great as he delved deeply into his cursed energy reserves.
"That was one hell of a trick, young man!" Garp commented as he approached the Gojo with his hands balled into tight fists. Cursed energy then flowed from Garps stomach into his fist, creating huge spheres of cursed energy around his hands. It was similar to Yuji's control of curse energy, just at a much higher level.
"Young one, tell me just who you are exactly!" He shouted with a beaming smile directed towards Gojo.
He then watches as Garp flies higher and higher into the air. "That's one hell of a jump, old man," Gojo said as he watched Garp leap directly towards him.
It was then a powerful blow landed directly onto Gojo's chest.
"HAHAHAH!" Garp laughed as he watched Gojo's body go flying through the rubble and now emptied buildings. His wild smile filled the air as Gojo coughed out blood. Of anyone, this marine had done the most amount of damage. If Gojo was even a split second late in using his Limitless, he would've needed to use reverse cursed technique to put his chest back together.
A second laugh could then be heard from beneath the rumble and dirt, which caused Garp to hold in his laughter and smile deeply towards his opponent.
"Now this is a fight worth battling," Garp said while uncliping his coat from his shoulders and throwing it to the wind.
Garps eyes then widen as he saw the figure of a man slowly rise out of the rubble with a single hand raised to the air. That one hand was holding what seemed to be an incredible amount of rubble, large enough to build five whole three story houses.
"What monstrous strength! Or is it a devil fruit?!" Garps shouted in Gojo's direction as both their smiles grew tenfold.
"The first one, old man!" Gojo's replied as he exposed his maniacal face before throwing the large pile of rubble towards him. Truth be told it was actually his cursed technique. Using Lapse Blue, he held the rubble into one giant ball as he threw it his way. Also because of Lapse Blue, Gojo was able to perfectly control where ever he wanted the rubble to go.
Seeing this, Garp readies the same attack that he had used on Gojo earlier.
"You know, that ability reminds me of someone I work alongside with!" Garp then grasped onto his right fists with his left hand as his haki levels rose to extreme heights.
What beautiful control over his cursed energy, Gojo tought to himself as the rubble exploded into every direction, hitting Gojo as well.
"Galaxy Impact!"
The world flew in every direction. The rocks that laid dormant on the ground either shattered into grains of sand or flew as far from the battle field as possible. The sound of cannons would like ants trying to talk to whales in the face of such explosive ability as the old-mans cursed energy both imploded and exploding in a perfectly spherical shape of energy, blasting everything away without discrimination.
"How many times will I be blown away today?" Gojo pondered while laughing to himself. Stretching, he simply stands up from the attack and brushes the dust out of his Infinity.
But as exciting as these interaction were for Gojo, it didn't take a genius to figure out that the longer they continue, he'd run out of cursed energy before he'd even left the island. Using it all right after obtaining it would be incredibly stupid. Another thing that amazed Gojo to a far larger degree was the clear level of skill evident in that old-mans use of cursed energy/haki. Yes it was explosive, but it was a simple "push everything away," kind of explosion.
"That punch destroyed the rubble and everything wihtin that sphere from the inside outwards. It's like he planted hundreds of tiny explosive inside the rocks themselves while setting them off right away, all without the usage of a cursed technique—ah, I'd suppose the term "devil fruit" applies here instead of technique," Gojo corrected himself as he shook his head. "All in all, that magical usage of cursed energy is something that I'd like to try at least once."
"Done talking to yourself, young-man?" Garp asked as his fist appeared out from the layer of fog and mist.
"You're fast!" Gojo complimented as he dodged the punch by falling to the floor. While laying down, Gojo simply points towards the left, causing the curious Garp to look in that direction before realizing that it was coming right towards him—would be and incorrect assessment as it wasn't flying to him. In reality, it was hehimself who had been thrown through five buildings as an unidentifiable force was pushing him.
"If anything, I'd like to keep the damaged buildiungs to a minimal," Garp said Gojo's eye widen.
What is this, he asked himself as a chill had suddenly befallen Gojo. It wasn't a physical attack as Gojo's Infinity was still on, preventing it from ever hitting him. Even if it was a cursed technique, it would have still been stopped by Infinity as well. So what could've gone through?
"Oh? You're tougher than I thought!" Garp shouted as his shadow covered Gojo. Looking up, Garps figure could be seen outlined by the purple-red morning sun. It was as if his punch was that of the sun itself.
"Galaxy—!"
Even after seeing it for the third time, Gojo couldn't help but be amazed by the level of proficiency that the old-man was showing him. Seeing such abilities can only means that Gojo could become even stronger still. It made him even more excited knowing that it was simply just the application of energy, and not a technique itself.
"But I think I've seen enough," Gojo said holding Garps arm.
Dumbfounded. That is the single best term applicable in describing Garps expression as Gojo had appeared directly behind him. No amount of haki could surpass that of the speed of light. But for Gojo, teleportation was simply a more complicated way of walking.
"Cursed Technique… Reversal Red." Garp couldn't see the face of Gojo due to the sun behind him. But even the sun dwarfed in comparison to Gojo's blue eyes.
"Damn—!"
It was now Gojo who alone, stood proudly within the air.
"Garp?" A pink-haired kid shouted as he slide across the floor to immediately tend to the fallen old-marine.
"It's nothing, kid!" Garp laughed as he clutched his left side of his chest with his bloodied hands underneath the gazes of a bright sun above head
"He's one tough dog, kid," Gojo said as he sat atop a piece of rubble a good distance away from Garp. Tending to him was about a dozen or so navy doctors who acted quickly yet methodically to ensure the survival rate of Garp increases, even if it was already at 100%. Seeing all that, Gojo had opted to stay get out of their way and allow them to do their business. Weirdly enough, during the interval before anyone could come and assist Garp, Gojo sat directly next to him and asked him if he could heal using that haki of his. Garp simply looked at Gojo as if he was talking nonsense until he realized that Gojo was completely healed—probably because he was never hit once during their battle. The injuries he had sustained had came from the army of pirates he had fought all night due to his body unconsciously using that binding vow he used against that swordsman who got shredded by his crewmate earlier.
"So you're unable to heal yourself using a flipped variation of your haki?" He asked as Garp laid comfortably against the ground.
"Nope. Got no idea what your Reverse Cursed Technique is either, Kiddo," Garp replied.
That was where their conversation ended as the two bathed under the early rising sun in silence. Gojo at this point made a full recovery. Anyone who observed the scene would only believe that Gojo was a bystander who went to aid Garp first before anyone did. The only reason they can doubt Gojo being a bystander was his torn clothes and bloodied fists that had since hardened due to his night battle having happened a while ago.
"It's the morning, so the air is still chilled. Thank goodness for that," Garp said as he really began bathing under the sun.
"You're a strong old-man, old man. What the hell did they feed you in the military?" Gojo asked while flicking the rocks next to him.
"Not enough, thats what," Garp said as he laughed with tears shooting from his eyes. Wiping them away, he rests his hand on the rocks around him and another wave of silence befell upon the two. Now, looking directly at Gojo, Garp removes the smile from his face and relaxed his entire body.
"I like your attitude and strength, kiddo. But I still can't tell what you are. Having fought you, you had so many chances to kill me, and yet you refrain from doing so. Even after having killed countless amount of pirates, you stop at mine?" Gojo made no attempt to respond, but he was fully listening to the old-mans remarks. Seeing this, he continues. "To put it bluntly. Are you a friend, or are you a foe to the marines?"
"I only have one friend. And I already have too many foes. For you, I am whatever answers fits best for you." Gojo then stands up and walked towards a bigger piece of rubble upon hear the shouts of marines marching closer towards their location.
The beachside where the two had fought had turned into nothing but a desert that had pieces of buildings acting as cactuses. The sound of ocean waves crashing ashore gave Gojo a peace of mind as he leaned back onto that rubble that acted as a chair.
"Garp?" A pink haired kid shouted as he slide his way towards Garp.
"Sir, shall we pursue the pirate?" A marine soldier asked as he unseathed his blade.
"Huh? Didn't I already tell you to go after them?!" Garp replied as he sat his head up to get a better view of the marine from beyond his foot.
"Understood!" His men said as they circled Gojo in mere moments.
"Hm?" His eyes then counted the heads of the people around which amounted to a solid nineteen soldiers. "I'm really hoping that none of you shoot me flying away again," Gojo grinned as he cracked his knuckles.
"What the hell are you doing, idiots?! Chase after the pirates! Not after a civilian! Koby! Didn't I tell you to take a ship and chase after the Tupheasant Pirates?" Garp shouted as a piece of rubble left his hands and flew directly onto Koby's forehead, causing him to fly pretty far back.
"We did—!" Koby said while holding his head. "—But they had taken hostages and the cloak that we came here for." Garp's eyes then widen at Koby's response. "It wasn't large enough to cover the ship, but it did cover the aft of their ship, causing the cannons to bounce off. Once they were far enough from land, they threw off all the hostages onboard, forcing us to stay back and collect them."
"The cloak, huh?" Garp then dropped his head back onto the ground as their mission had failed. "Call off the reinforcements, but keep the medical ships coming. Tell them we will be personally pursuing them," Garp said as he waved away one of the medical doctors treating him. "We will be returning with the feather-feather cloak."
As the sun grew in the skies, medical tents and buildings were set up to help heal the injured civilians who had either lost their hearing due to that one vessel guy earlier, or from the fallen rumble. Thankfully, when Gojo and Garp fought, every civilian within the area had already retreated, which made Gojo glad as he had completely forgotten to check before fighting. As Garp was getting his treatment inside the ships, Gojo had decided to accompany them as to engage in conversations with both the old-man and with Garp. They had pretty much brief Garp on all the details retaining to who Gojo was.
"But there's one thing that I hadn't told you earlier, old-man," Gojo said while looking at Lown before looking at Garp. "While explaining it in detail to either of you would harbor little to no use, I can briefly describe to you my previous occupation before my current situation."
Old-man Lown then raised an eyebrow at this statement.
"Where I'm from, people who can do this—" Gojo then raised a hand towards a singular lit candle in the room and crushed it entirely with an invisible force. Turning a once tall piece of wax stick into a tiny sphere the size of a pea. "—People who can apply cursed energy or utilize cursed techniques are known as Jujtsu Sorcerers. Long story short, we fight creatures that the average person cannot see."
Both of them then looked at Gojo witht he expression that said 'bull shit'. But, both their thoughts and opinion meant nothing simply due to his pure strength.
"Long story short, I'm not from here. And when I say here, I don't mean island or even planet. I mean dimensions."
"You know, this is one of them few times that I had wished I pursued a higher form of education after completing my marine training," Lown commented as Garp simply nods his head.
Garps eyes then turned soft as he entered his memories.
"Long ago, there was this fellow who I could've gone to with my questions that I had in the past. He was extremely knowledgeable—Well, they were all extremly knowledgeable. But, that's precisely why…" Garp's eyes then fell downwards as his mind played its way with Garps emotions.
"Is there a way to still reach them?" Gojo asked, curious about who such a person was. Perhaps this was related to that vegapunk person that he kept hearing about.
"No. Not anymore."
Lowns eyes then widden at Garps expression. "You can't mean that man!"
"Yes. I'm talking about the island which inhabited the tree of knowledge. A beautiful place called Ohara."
"Rayleigh, what do you think Robin is doing right now?" Swaying side to side was Luffy's head which had been blindfolded. Having been going at this for nearly twenty minutes, Luffy had decided to make small talk while dodging the infinite barrages of attacks aimed at him by Rayleighs haki-imbued twig. The speeds that the twig was flying at were not slow one bit. In fact, by the time one swing is finished, five more would've been thrown at roughly the same time. This was a form of training aimed at keeping Luffy's concentration sharp. Hence why to hear Luffy converse so freely made Rayleigh smile.
"Ah, you're talking about that archaeologists within your crew, correct? Well, while I cannot claim to know much about her or her abilities, I can guarantee you that her personality is the sharpest within your crew."
"Yup! I already knew she was incredible, but I just wonder what they would be doing right—YEOUCH!" Luffy shouted as he got flung through about nine and a half trees before stopping.
Clicking his tongue and shaking his head, Rayleigh's smile widened as he landed a solid blow to Luffy skull. "You lost focus. Keep getting hit like that, and you'll really become the dumbest in your crew, captain."
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Luffy cried as Rayleigh's haki really hurt. "But. You gotta get up. You can't let what happened to Ace happen to any of them. Ain't that right, Monkey D. Luffy!" He said as he stood up from the ground, reaching for the hat that no longer sat on top of his head. Rayleigh had hit him so hard, that he forgot he took it off. Embarrassed, he waddled his way back to Rayleigh, just to get hit for taking too long.
"Oh? Was someone talking about me just now?" She says while looking up from her book.
"Miss Nico, is there an issue?" A female clad in a beautiful fur coat then asks as she observes the elegant Nico Robin sitting outside while reading a book. As of right now, they had been aboard a ship traveling to a place that she held dear to her. It was a place that held both great memories, yet horrors that no child should ever experience.
Placing her finger to her head, the fur-coated lady thought hard and long before ultimately arriving at a realization. "Oh! Perhaps you're feeling homesick because you're returning to Ohara?" She said while her eyes gleamed with admiration towards Robin who sat beside the mainmast.
"I suppose so, Hiawana," Robin smiled as she responded to her female colleagues. "It is my vacation after all. Plus, I came here to retrieve something."
"Do you want tea? I can make some—"
"Let her read her book, Hiwana," a different voice said, cutting her off. It was a person clad in the form of armor that wasn't bulky enough to be considered heavy. It was extremely light, almost like chain armor, but was more solid than that. Robin couldn't help but compare him to a knight that she once read from her books who wore light armor and perished in battle—although the young man feigned ignorance at whether or not he was one.
"No, no, she's fine, Lance. I enjoy company, after all." The fur-coated lady then chucked a mean stare back at the young man while hiding behind the smiling Robin who defended her.
As if the young man wasn't enough, a fourth voice barged its way in into the group. A voice that Robin was much more comfortable around. "Robin. I would like to inform you that we should be reaching Ohara sometime within the next five weeks."
"Is that so? Well, thank you, Sabo." The boy then walked over to the two companions by her side and lifted them like pets. With pleaing eyes, Hiawana had tried to asked for Robin's help once more with praying hands, but had only received a smile from her as Sabo gave the two of them jobs to do.
As the two disappeared, Sabo silently watches the rest of the crewmembers working around the clock to ensure that no one could be trailing them. Naturally, when sailing over the sea, ones gaze would naturally fall over the ocean. The interval of silence allowed his mind began taking over his thoughts. As if playing like a film inside of his head, visions of the time he would spend playing and messing around with a young boy who always wore a straw hat alongside that of another boy who had held the group together, all under the same sun. What he was remembering were of his brothers. Noticing this, Robin places her book down and leaned further back into her chair, taking the time to think about Luffy as well.
"Do you resent Kuma?"
His question was something that he had refrained himself from asking. But the longer he stayed silent on this matter, the more it would've eaten him from the inside out. To think that someone whom he cherished could become an enemy to his brother's friends, much less an enemy of his brother himself, brought Sabo great distraught.
No matter her response, Sabo would accept it. However, even if he accepted it, if Kuma were to become the Straw hat's enemy, he knew that he would do everything in his power to prove Kuma to be a valuable friend. Despite knowing what he will become in the near future.
So, riding these waves of uncertainty, he silently awaits her response, wishing to calm his heart. The last he wanted was to have Luffy feel as if Sabo had betrayed him when they met again for the first time in years.
"Sabo." Her words caused him to snap out of his mind. With a soft voice, Robin saves Sabo from his mind. "It'll be fine. I think that by now, everyone must've noticed what Kuma had actually done."
As the warm breeze of the afternoon sun greets the world, the waves that crash against the ship conceal the conversations held between that of Nico Robin and Sabo. Whatever they said to one another meant naught as neither of them realized these were some of the last few times they could be allowed to safely exchange dialogue like this. With every passing day, pirates slowly began disappearing, and bounty posters became less and less frequent.