"..."
Nao silently pulled the receiver a bit farther from his ear and said irritably,
"It's me, old man Garp. One of these days, you're really going to blow my eardrums out.
I only arrived in the East Blue a couple of days ago—how did you even know… Oh, you heard it from Gion while mooching dinner?"
Over the past two years, he'd only seen his wife and daughters in person a handful of times,
but their "video" Den Den Mushi calls had never stopped.
Since Garp frequently dropped by his parents' house to drink with his old man—and freeload off his mom's cooking—it wasn't surprising he'd found out so fast.
"Heh-heh…"
A dry chuckle came through the receiver, which basically counted as confirmation.
"Anyway, never mind that. Do you have some free time right now? The old man's got a small favor to ask.
If you're busy with official duties again, forget it—business comes first."
"I've got about half a month open," Nao replied cheerfully as he walked toward the dojo with Zoro in tow.
"Not doing much else right now, so I can make some time for you. What's the job?"
"It's that brat Luffy, who else!"
Garp let out a heavy sigh.
"I took some leave recently to go back to the East Blue and check on him.
During training, the little rascal got tired halfway through and secretly ran back to the village—
yelling about how he doesn't wanna be a Marine anymore, that he's gonna be a pirate instead!"
"I was so mad I gave him a proper beating right then and there.
But the next morning, since Sengoku kept nagging me to return to Headquarters, I just left without saying a word."
"Now that I think about it, I kinda feel bad for the kid. He's still just a little boy—what does he know about anything…"
"So you want me to go visit him for you," Nao said with a laugh,
"and maybe smooth over that tiny bit of guilt you're feeling?"
"Guilt…"
Garp grumbled but didn't deny it.
"I'm no good at that soft talk stuff anyway—you're better at handling people.
So I'll trouble you to drop by when you've got time. Bring a gift or two, anything tasty will do—
tell the brat it's from me as an apology."
"And while you're at it, make sure to drill it into his head—being a pirate's nothing good!
Even if he's just saying it out of childish rebellion, that kind of talk isn't okay!"
"No problem," Nao said with a nod.
Garp wasn't wrong.
Right now, Luffy was still in Windmill Village, cut off from the wider world.
His talk about "becoming a pirate" was just a tantrum to escape Garp's hellish training.
As for that future vow—'I'll be the Pirate King!'—
that wouldn't come until the Red-Haired Pirates arrived and spent a year or more in the village, leaving their mark.
"Oh, right!"
Garp's voice suddenly grew more serious.
"Intel from Headquarters says the leader of the Revolutionary Army—that bastard Dragon—has been active around the East Blue lately."
"You be careful out there.
And if you do head to Windmill Village, make sure to warn Luffy to stay away from that irresponsible father of his!"
"That brat saying he wants to be a pirate, that's one thing.
By the time he's old enough to go to sea, the whole Great Pirate Era will already be over—thanks to you, anyway.
But the Revolutionary Army is different. Dragon's a man even I can't control.
I'm just afraid that kid might follow in his father's footsteps…"
At that, Nao suddenly stopped walking. His expression froze for a second.
On the other end, Garp was still talking for a while before noticing the silence.
"Oi? Oi? Hey! What's wrong? You there, Nao? Something happen?"
"…"
Nao paused for a few seconds, then said quietly,
"Just now, you told me to be on guard for Dragon, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"…Looks like that won't be necessary."
Nao's tone turned oddly complicated as he slowly lifted his head—
And there, standing quietly under the glow of a streetlamp at the gate of the Isshin Dojo,
was a man with a calm, unreadable face…
"Because he's standing right in front of me."
...
Inside the Isshin Dojo.
Dragon had taken off his green hood, and Nao had removed his white one.
The two men sat across from each other at a low table on the tatami floor, silent.
Outside, in the courtyard, over a dozen figures stood watch—
Revolutionary Army officers, tense and alert,
ready to rush in at the first sign of a fight.
"Sensei… who are all these people?"
Having just returned with Nao, Zoro looked completely baffled. He tugged lightly on Koushirou's sleeve and whispered,
"Why are there so many guests at the dojo today?"
Koushirou gave a weary smile, rubbed Zoro's head, and didn't answer.
Instead, he picked up the kettle boiling on the stove in the corner and quietly went inside to pour tea for the two visitors.
"Thank you."
Nao accepted the teacup and, looking up at Koushirou—who was now preparing tea for Dragon—spoke slowly:
"Zoro told me you ended classes early today and went out.
Your students thought you were visiting a sick friend,
but in truth, you went to help the Revolutionary Army gather and transport supplies."
He gestured toward the piles of flour sacks stacked high outside the courtyard, his expression carrying a faint, amused smile:
"Though I suppose, who could have guessed—
that the master of the Isshin Dojo would secretly be working so closely
with the man the World Government considers its greatest threat?"
Koushirou's movements froze for a brief moment.
After a pause, he turned back around, his face once again calm and composed as usual.
Pushing up his glasses, he sighed softly and said,
"It seems my luck really isn't very good today, being caught red-handed by you, White Dragon…
Are you here to arrest me on behalf of the World Government?"
"I don't work for the Marine anymore," Nao replied casually, taking a light sip of his tea.
"And besides, you know that's not why I'm here, don't you?
Otherwise, you wouldn't be serving me such fine tea right now."
Setting down his cup, Nao stretched lazily, then finally turned his gaze to the man sitting across the table—
Dragon.
Since entering the room, Dragon hadn't spoken a single word,
but the overwhelming aura radiating from him was impossible to ignore, no matter how well he tried to suppress it.
And that aura—
—was exactly the same as the one Nao had sensed from afar earlier.
As for Koushirou, though his manner carried the poise of a swordsman,
Nao could tell at a glance that his actual strength was only decent at best—
roughly equivalent to a Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral.
So it really had been a misunderstanding earlier — the powerful aura he'd sensed, one close to that of a Yonko, wasn't Koushirou's at all, but Dragon's.
As for his initial judgment of Koushirou's strength, it seemed he hadn't been wrong after all.
Pulling his thoughts back, Nao smiled faintly.
"I've heard Vice Admiral Garp mention you more than a few times over drinks back at Headquarters.
To finally meet you in person today, Dragon — it's an honor."
"The old man actually talked about me? Now that's surprising."
Dragon grinned. The network of jagged scars on his face made the expression look more menacing than warm.
"But you, White Dragon — I've known of you for quite some time.
Though, you got one thing wrong — this isn't our first meeting."
"Oh?"
Nao raised a brow in mild surprise.
"Years ago, on Hall Island in the New World," Dragon said, tilting back his teacup and downing the steaming contents in a single gulp.
"When you and Kaido were fighting like hell itself had opened, I was nearby, watching the whole thing."
"So it was back then…"
Nao chuckled quietly, then realization dawned on him. His brows lifted slightly.
"If you'd seen me then, you must've recognized me the moment I arrived on the island.
Yet instead of slipping away under cover of night, you followed Koushirou back to the dojo.
Interesting… Were you waiting for me to come to you?"
Koushirou's expression shifted subtly, and he couldn't help glancing toward Dragon.
Dragon smiled.
"The eastern supply line's been waiting on me to deliver that shipment for days — I should've finished and left already.
But once I knew you were here, I had to come.
Do you know why?"
"Why?"
Nao tapped his knuckles lightly on the table.
"Because you were once a Marine… and so was I.
Not hard to guess, right?
What — you thought I came to recruit you instead?"
"Recruit's not quite the word," Dragon said with a faint smirk, pouring himself another cup of tea.
"Let's call it cooperation.
After all, we're the same kind of people, aren't we?
"Since you left the Marine two and a half years ago, you've devoted yourself to hunting pirates.
Outsiders think you're still the same righteous Vice Admiral White Dragon who hates evil,
but you can't fool us.
"Your endgame is clearly aimed at overthrowing them."
He pointed upward toward the ceiling, then looked straight at Nao.
"It's no easy task.
But if you joined us—or we joined you—our combined strength would raise our odds,
however small they might still be."
"That's impossible."
Nao didn't even hesitate before rejecting the offer.
"You're mistaken, Dragon. We're not the same kind of people."
"Not the same?"
Dragon frowned, genuinely puzzled.
"Are we wrong about you?
You've never thought of overthrowing the World Government,
of rebuilding a new order for the oppressed across the seas?"
"No."
He shook his head slightly.
"I don't believe you mean that.
I've studied your life — especially what happened in White City.
With your temperament, there's no way you could witness such tragedy
and not desire change.
"Otherwise, why would you leave the Marine you'd served for years?
Why walk away knowing it would cause a mutiny of tens of thousands?
Why give up a position that would've made you an Admiral?"
Dragon's voice grew more impassioned,
but Nao finally raised a hand to cut him off.
"What I said was—our ideologies are different."
"…Ideology?"
Dragon was momentarily taken aback.
"Mm. Ideology—or you could call it a difference in approach."
Nao folded his hands beneath his chin, his calm gaze fixed on Dragon.
"Since the day the Revolutionary Army was founded, you've been active all over the world—
helping civilians overthrow their rulers, expanding your reach, rallying more and more people to join your cause of resistance."
"To put it simply, your strategy is to gather strength little by little,
to gradually reshape the world's map from the bottom up—
surrounding the Red Line from the four seas until, one day,
the spark you've lit becomes a blaze that engulfs the world."
"A single spark can start a prairie fire…"
Dragon unconsciously repeated the phrase, his eyes lighting up slightly.
"A fine saying. I didn't realize you understood us so deeply.
So then—what's wrong with that?"
"Plenty," Nao said flatly.
"You know about the uproar when I resigned from Marine Headquarters—
hundreds of thousands gathered to protest, branches across the seas joined in,
the whole Marine was nearly paralyzed."
"But have you ever thought about why I never tried to rally all those Marines who supported and idolized me?
And how that whole mutiny was eventually quelled?"
"Wasn't it… Fleet Admiral Veil's apology and resignation that settled it?"
"Veil? He didn't have that kind of pull."
At the mention of the former Fleet Admiral, Nao's tone dripped with disdain.
"It was me. I wrote a letter myself, asked Gion to deliver it to Sengoku.
Sengoku read it publicly, and only then did the situation begin to calm down."
He leaned back slightly, voice low but steady.
"You're right about one thing—my goal is to overthrow the World Government and establish a new order.
But I have never intended to drag ordinary Marines, or mid-ranking officers, into it."
"Why?"
Dragon frowned.
"Because they're your comrades—your subordinates—and you can't bear to see them die?
But a revolution always demands sacrifice.
Without bloodshed, without people willing to—"
"That might be true in a normal world."
Nao interrupted him quietly.
"But this world isn't normal.
"Here, those with transcendent power stand at the summit.
One man like Whitebeard can stand alone, and armies of a hundred thousand are powerless before him.
Numbers mean nothing in the face of absolute might.
"Those who die in such struggles—their blood is spilled in vain.
Even if you drag millions into the fight, against such power, it's no more than a scratch."
"So…"
Dragon's tone wavered, uncertain.
"So, as I said, our paths are completely different."
Nao pointed to himself, meeting Dragon's eyes squarely.
"What I want is to become the strongest being in the world—
to smash Mary Geoise from above with a single blow,
seize control of this world,
and then change it entirely."
"In other words…"
"You work from the bottom up.
I'll do it from the top down.
Do you understand now?"
Under the dim candlelight,
Dragon stood frozen, staring blankly at him in silence.
...
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