A single Ikoku Sovereignty strike sent Doflamingo plummeting.
The Donquixote Family was busy fishing him out, while the battleships were tangled into a mess, and the sea had frozen into an ice plain...
No one in the entire sea could pursue the two any longer.
With the aid of Sakura's ability, the Leviathan swiftly broke through the massive waves and disappeared from everyone's sight.
"Sigh..."
On the warship, Tsuru watched the girl depart without any troubles and sighed.
'Since the Ohara incident seven years ago until now, she had grown even stronger.'
"What's wrong, Tsuru-nee? Still troubled by that pirate from earlier?"
A female officer in a deep V peach-colored top and hot pants, with a spider tattoo on her thigh, stepped forward and placed her hands on Tsuru's shoulders.
"Tsk, Gion, I've told you so many times, a girl should mind her manners!"
After tidying up the appearance of this newly promoted Vice Admiral who lacked propriety, Tsuru pulled out a Den Den Mushi from her chest and dialed.
Gacha!
A deep but rational voice came from the other end of the receiver: "Tsuru-chan, what is it?"
"The Witch escaped. She took the Ope Ope no Mi User with her. You late-arriving Admiral, can you be any slower?"
Facing her contemporary, Tsuru's attitude was not nearly as kind as it was toward her juniors.
"Sorry about that. We had actually caught up to her, but we didn't expect her to knock Smoker into the water!"
The purple-haired man on the other end of the Den Den Mushi was scolded like a rookie, apologizing and laughing nervously.
He absolutely didn't dare tell her that he had let her escape because he wanted to train his students.
But Tsuru had long since knew her old friend's nature. From the moment he mentioned his student's name, she could even deduce his pursuit process.
"Stop tormenting your students. Prioritize the mission!"
"Judging by their course, they will definitely pass Swallow Island. Head there directly!"
Feeling mentally exhausted by this old comrade, Tsuru repeatedly instructed him, finally hanging up the Den Den Mushi after he swore an oath.
She then took off her military jacket and personally led people into the water to break the ice.
Meanwhile, the two aboard the Leviathan, sailing on the ocean, enjoyed the free wind blowing between the sea and sky.
"Ahhh-!"
Gazing at the incredibly vast sea, Law stood at the bow and shouted unrestrainedly.
He shouted until he was exhausted, then lay back, collapsing onto the deck.
In his upside-down view appeared a pink-haired girl wearing sunglasses and lying on a deck chair.
"I've made up my mind, Sakura-san!"
Sprawled on the ground in a starfish shape, Law suddenly spoke.
Sakura pushed her sunglasses down, her gaze looking over the frames at him.
"I'm going to become a pirate! To seize the great treasure that connects everything!"
"I'll leave my name in history. That way, Cora-san's name will be remembered by the world too!"
'If you actually succeed, Corazon will indeed be remembered by his Marine colleagues for a lifetime.'
Barely suppressing the urge to complain, the girl swallowed those words.
"Fine, as long as you don't regret it!"
Sakura pushed her sunglasses back up and raised the Eternal Pose in her hand.
Under the sunlight, its tip pointed toward the final island in the current… Swallow Island.
Catching the northwest-flowing current from Swallow Island would allow them to leave the southeastern North Blue and head toward its center in the shortest distance.
"Alright, let's set off!"
Sakura increased her ability output, and the Leviathan's speed picked up.
…
After several days of sailing, an island with a giant swallow-shaped rock gradually came into view for Sakura and Law.
"We're here, Sakura-san!"
Over the past few days, aside from studying medicine on the ship, Law had been trained by Sakura to use his Devil Fruit's ability, which had bored him to tears.
Now, seeing land again, his youthful nature made him extremely excited.
The Leviathan slowly approached the coast and finally dropped anchor just outside the shallows.
Sakura stored the Leviathan in a scroll and took Law ashore from a secluded spot.
However, a sharp slash suddenly crashed down.
Sakura grabbed Law and stepped back.
The ground was directly torn open into a bottomless chasm. Marines from the elite training camp, armed with guns and swords, rushed out from the jungle behind the beach, surrounding the two.
And from a gap purposely left in the encirclement, a bare-chested man with purple hair walked slowly forward.
The Marine Elite Training Camp's instructor, Zephyr, made his bold appearance!
"Hey, hey, hey, Sakura-san, this situation doesn't look good, does it?!"
Law swallowed hard and whispered.
The man blocking their path was no weakling.
He was a monster who had once borne the title of Admiral! A Marine legend who had made countless pirates tremble in fear across the seas.
"Wait, I'll clear a path for you. Use your ability to escape. I'll find you after I deal with this!"
Sakura pressed down on Law's hat, whispering a reminder, but suddenly felt someone grab the hem of her clothes.
Looking down, she saw Law, desperately holding back his tears.
"Sakura-san, you must... you must survive!"
"Don't worry, I have no intention of ending my journey here."
Sakura smirked defiantly. An exquisite ice gown began to materialize around her.
"Witch, Haruno Sakura! We finally caught up to you!"
Zephyr in the distance crossed his arms, his tone condescending.
"You can rest assured, your journey ends here. Next, we'll arrange for you to check into… Impel Down!"
Cracking his wrists, Zephyr shattered the ground underfoot, his body shooting toward Sakura like an arrow.
"Now!"
Sakura shouted, her Conqueror's Haki roaring skyward.
The surrounding soldiers, irradiated by this immense willpower, collapsed to the ground, eyes rolling back.
Seizing the opportunity, Law expanded his [Room] and teleported several dozen meters away.
"Trying to let the Ope Ope no Mi User escape? I won't let you have your way!"
While throwing a punch at Sakura, Zephyr shouted two names.
"Smoker! Hina!"
"Don't even think about chasing him!"
Sakura bit her finger, quickly formed hand signs, and slammed her palm onto the ground. Intricate patterns spread out!
Summoning Technique!
Bang!
A massive cloud of smoke billowed upward, revealing a towering figure the size of a small hill.
"What!"
The sudden change stunned the three Marines who could still maintain consciousness.
Zephyr's punch slammed into the creature's body, his Haki exploding internally, but it only blew off a small chunk of flesh.
The dislodged flesh split into smaller slugs, quickly crawling back onto the giant slug's body and instantly repairing the wound.
"An immortal monster!"
Zephyr's expression turned grave, his eyes fixed on Sakura standing atop the slug's head.
"Katsuyu, stop those two ahead! Acid Spray!"
"Understood, Sakura-sama!"
Katsuyu's mouth swelled as it gathered a large amount of acid infused with natural energy and spat it out.
Before the torrent of acid even hit the ground, scattered droplets dissolved small pits in the sand.
"Strong acid!"
Zephyr's heart sank. His gaze swept over the numerous unconscious Marine trainees. He nearly ground his teeth to dust.
"Despicable!"
"Smoker! Hina! Fall back and rescue them!"
Zephyr yelled loudly, himself turning into a streak of light, roughly kicking unconscious Marine trainees out of the acid spray's range.
In the distance, Smoker and Hina, hearing the second command, could only abandon their pursuit and turn back.
They respectively launched smoke and black iron spears to block the acid torrent.
"Hmph, you Marines used hostage tactics first, and now you have the nerve to call me despicable?"
Sakura crossed her arms, standing atop Katsuyu's head, snorting coldly.
Below, Zephyr, having finished rescuing people, raised his tiger-like eyes. Flames seemed to burn within his pitch-black pupils.
"Despicable pirate, surrender now!"
The former Marine Admiral, fueled by rage, charged once more.