Chapter 133: Itachi's Thoughts
Night — A Small Courtyard Behind the Dressrosa Palace
The courtyard was one of the few places near the royal plateau that had escaped the day's destruction. The main battlefields had been concentrated in Acacia and along the coastal districts, and this quiet corner—tucked behind a crumbling garden wall and shaded by ancient olive trees—had survived almost untouched. Moonlight filtered through the branches, silvering the worn cobblestones and the terracotta tiles of the little house beyond.
Inside, the injured were sleeping.
Luffy lay sprawled across a makeshift bed of cushions and blankets, his rubber limbs splayed in every direction, a sleep bubble expanding and contracting on his nose with each slow breath. Beside him, Usopp was wrapped in enough bandages to mummify a lesser man, his swollen face peaceful for the first time since the Birdcage had fallen.
Around them, the Tontatta had made their own nests. Leo was curled against Luffy's shoulder. Lan Lan and Kaka had somehow wedged themselves into the crook of Usopp's elbow. Dozens of tiny warriors were scattered across the room like fallen petals, their exhaustion finally overcoming their endless Tontatta energy.
Robin sat with her back against the wall, her arms wrapped around her knees, her expression soft in the candlelight. Sabo had been talking for nearly an hour—stories of three boys who had sworn brotherhood over stolen sake, of a treehouse in the Gray Terminal, of dreams too big for their small bodies to contain. Even Zoro, who could sleep through a hurricane, was still awake. His single eye was fixed on Sabo with quiet attention, a half-empty bottle of sake dangling from his fingers.
"I can't believe you were all brothers," Zoro said. "We always thought there was only Ace."
"I was the first to set sail, actually." Sabo scratched the back of his head with a rueful grin. "Didn't get very far. My ship got shelled by a Celestial Dragon on my first day out."
He shrugged, as if being bombarded by a living god was just one of those things that happened sometimes.
"Turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Dragon—the boss—he pulled me out of the water. Gave me a new life. A new purpose." His grin sharpened. "The Revolutionary Army was exactly where I was always meant to be."
"That's really something." Zoro took a long drink.
"Are you seriously still drinking at this hour?" Robin asked, though her tone was more amused than reproachful.
"Of course!" Franky burst in before Zoro could answer, raising a frosty bottle of cola with enough enthusiasm to rattle his metal joints. "We won a SUPER victory today! That's worth celebrating no matter what time it is!"
He clinked his bottle against Zoro's sake flask with a resonant clank.
Outside the courtyard, in the cool night air, Itachi sat cross-legged on the moss-covered stones. His eyes were closed. His breathing was slow and measured—the rhythm of a man in deep meditation. But his ears were open, and the faintest ghost of a smile touched his lips as Sabo's voice drifted through the open door.
"Speaking of which... with Luffy's trouble-loving personality, he must have caused you all endless problems along the way. Sorry about that." Sabo laughed. "But..." He glanced toward the courtyard. "You've got some really reliable people on your crew."
Robin followed his gaze toward the meditating figure outside. Her smile deepened. "Hmm. We do."
The Courtyard
The gate creaked open. Law stepped through, a satchel of medical supplies slung over his shoulder. Rebecca followed close behind, her arms full of fresh bandages and herbal poultices scavenged from the palace's abandoned infirmary.
"Itachi-ya." Law lowered himself onto the stones beside the meditating shinobi with a grunt of discomfort. His own injuries were far from healed—the Seastone shackles Doflamingo had used on him had left deep tissue damage that even his Devil Fruit abilities would need time to repair.
"You haven't been examined yet. Let me check your injuries."
Itachi opened his eyes. The Sharingan had receded to its dormant state, the crimson replaced by deep obsidian that reflected the moonlight like still water.
"Treatment? I don't believe I need any."
"Don't need—" Law's eyebrow twitched. "You fought an Admiral. For five hours. By yourself. And you don't need treatment?"
"It's not that there were no injuries. They've simply healed already."
"Already?" Rebecca tilted her head, her pink hair swaying with the motion. "How is that possible? The battle only ended a few hours ago."
Law's eyes narrowed. Something clicked behind his exhausted expression.
"Wait. Is this... no, it can't be. The Root Fruit? The Spirit of the Tree World?"
"Yes."
Itachi produced a shuriken from the pouch at his waist. The metal gleamed in the moonlight.
"Watch."
He drew the blade across his palm. A thin line of red welled up along the cut—not deep, but unmistakably real. Rebecca flinched. Law leaned forward.
Itachi closed his eyes. His breathing shifted—deepened—and something stirred beneath his skin. Energy that was not quite chakra and not quite anything else pulsed through his meridians. The roots came next. Thin tendrils of living wood extended from his palm, burrowing gently into the soil beneath the courtyard stones.
The wound began to close.
Not slowly. Not gradually. Rebecca watched the skin knit itself together like water flowing uphill, the edges of the cut drawing toward each other until nothing remained but a faint pink line. Within thirty seconds, even that was gone.
"Just as the Devil Fruit encyclopedia described," Law breathed. "The Root Fruit's ability to absorb energy from the earth itself. But this—this goes beyond simple energy absorption. Accelerated tissue regeneration. Cellular repair at visible speed. It's..."
"Unexpected. I agree." Itachi withdrew his hand from the soil, flexing his fingers. "So far, I've identified three applications of this ability."
He raised one finger.
"First: energy absorption. I can draw vitality from the earth through direct contact or root networks. It replenishes my chakra reserves and accelerates physical recovery."
A second finger.
"Second: accelerated growth. I can force surrounding plant life to grow at vastly increased rates. This can be used to restore damaged flora or to create sudden environmental obstacles."
A third finger.
"Third: Wood Release techniques. Wooden constructs generated from my own body. Offensive, defensive, and utilitarian applications."
"Wood Release?" Law repeated the unfamiliar term.
"This." A wooden shuriken materialized in Itachi's palm—identical in shape to the metal one he had used moments ago, but carved from living timber. He flicked it into the night, and it embedded itself in the garden wall with a satisfying thunk.
"That's already formidable, Itachi-ya." Law's surgeon mind was racing. "Combined with the modifications I made to your physiology at Punk Hazard—connecting your ocular chakra network to your body's natural energy systems—and now this..."
He shook his head slowly.
"You could theoretically maintain combat effectiveness almost indefinitely. Your stamina issues should be effectively eliminated."
"That does appear to be the case." Itachi touched his chest—the spot where the crooked old man of Rilke Callander had pressed the Spirit of the Tree World into his heart. "But there's more to this power than I currently understand. The old man said I would undertake a mission. Whatever it is... I suspect this ability is connected."
Law was quiet for a moment. Then: "I want to run a full diagnostic. Blood work. Chakra mapping. Tissue analysis. Whatever tests I can adapt from my medical training."
"You want to dissect me."
"I want to understand you. There's a difference."
Itachi allowed himself a faint smile. "Perhaps later. When everyone has recovered."
The door to the courtyard opened. Sabo and Zoro emerged, the former stretching his arms above his head, the latter still cradling his sake bottle.
"What are you two whispering about out here? Planning another conspiracy?" Sabo's tone was light, but his eyes were sharp.
"Nothing so dramatic," Law said. "Just discussing Itachi-ya's current physical condition."
"Oh?" Sabo's grin turned sly. "Is Trafalgar Law, captain of the Heart Pirates, moonlighting as the Straw Hats' personal physician now?"
"Would you like me to examine you as well?"
"Absolutely not." Sabo waved both hands. "I've had enough of needles and scalpels for one lifetime. Besides, I'm not injured. Didn't participate in the heavy fighting."
It was true. Throughout the battle against the Donquixote Family—through every clash, every crisis, every moment when a well-placed Revolutionary strike might have turned the tide—Sabo had held back. The Revolutionary Army's forces in Dressrosa had done only two things: evacuate civilians, and protect those who could not protect themselves.
"By the way, Itachi." Sabo's voice shifted. Some of the lightness drained away. "I've been meaning to ask you something."
He clenched his fist. Orange flames kindled between his fingers—the Mera-Mera Fruit's power responding to his will with eager warmth.
"Why didn't you let us fight? The Revolutionary Army could have made a difference. We could have ended things faster. Saved more people. Why hold us back?"
"To help Fujitora."
The answer came without hesitation.
"Help... Fujitora?"
Robin had slipped through the doorway, drawn by the conversation. Franky's massive frame filled the space behind her, his metal arms folded across his chest.
"Itachi, why would you want to help the Navy?" Franky's voice was incredulous. "That Admiral had SUPER terrifying combat power! He was trying to arrest us!"
"He's different."
"Different how?"
"Different from the Navy I knew." Itachi's gaze drifted toward the distant lights of the city, where Fujitora was still coordinating relief efforts. "He's nothing like Kizaru."
And so Itachi told them.
He told them about the uninhabited island on Green Bit's southeast coast. About the moment during their first battle when Fujitora had sensed the Tontatta hiding in the forest—and had pulled his strike to avoid harming them. About the conversation in the Flower Field, where the Admiral had revealed his true purpose: the abolition of the Warlord system, the reformation of the Navy's bounty structure, the dream of a world where justice meant something real.
He told them about CP0. About the agents who had been watching Fujitora from the shadows, recording his every move, waiting for him to make a mistake. About how the Admiral's original plan would have gotten him killed.
And he told them about what he had done instead. The illusion. The false battle. The hero's mantle he had draped across Fujitora's shoulders.
When he finished, the courtyard was silent.
Zoro broke it first.
"That uncle..." He was staring at his sake bottle as if it contained answers. "Back at the casino restaurant, when we first met him... he wasn't really a bad guy at all, was he?"
"What an incredible decision, Itachi." Robin's voice was soft with something that might have been admiration. She had always understood the value of subtlety—of actions that shaped history from the shadows rather than the spotlight. "To see all of that so quickly. To act on it so decisively."
"I think it's a good thing," she continued, "that someone like him exists within the Navy."
"I believe so as well."
Franky was crying. Not his usual theatrical weeping—real tears, streaming down his metal chin, glinting in the moonlight.
"So that's how it was!!! That Admiral... he's been fighting his own battle this whole time! And you—" He pointed at Itachi with a trembling metal finger. "You helped him win it without anyone even knowing! THAT'S SO SUPER!!"
Sabo let out a long, slow breath. When he spoke, his voice was different. Quieter. More thoughtful.
"The way that Admiral acted... it's completely different from the World Government lapdogs I've seen before." He looked at Itachi with new eyes—not the easy camaraderie of a fellow warrior, but something deeper. Something closer to respect.
"I have to admit, Itachi... I didn't expect this from you."
"What did you expect?"
"I don't know." Sabo laughed—a short, self-deprecating sound. "Someone colder, maybe. When I first heard about you—six hundred million bounty, 'Hellfire,' the guy who nearly killed Blackbeard—I figured you were just another monster. Another predator who happened to be on our side."
He shook his head.
"But you're not. You're something else entirely."
Itachi was quiet for a moment.
Then, barely audible: "I was colder once. A long time ago."
The silence that followed was comfortable. The kind of silence that exists between people who have fought together and bled together and learned to trust each other without needing to say it aloud.
Then Sabo grinned, and the moment passed.
"Anyway! The world's going to be talking about what happened here for years. An Admiral kneeling to a deposed king. A Warlord brought down by pirates and civilians. The Birdcage. The toys turning back into people." He ticked them off on his fingers. "I give it two days before the papers are calling it the 'Dressrosa Miracle' or something equally dramatic."
"They'll probably leave out the part where we almost died seventeen times," Law muttered.
"That's what they always do." Sabo stretched, his joints popping. "Anyway, I should check in with Kerla and the others. The Revolutionary Army needs to finish our withdrawal before the Navy starts asking questions we don't want to answer."
He paused at the courtyard gate.
"Itachi."
"Hm?"
"Thank you. For looking after my little brother. For... all of it."
He didn't wait for a response. Just raised a hand in farewell and disappeared into the night.
Zoro yawned. "I'm going to sleep. Someone wake me up when there's food or a fight."
"Those are your only two settings," Robin observed.
"There are others?"
He wandered back into the house. Franky followed, still sniffling. Rebecca excused herself to check on the Tontatta. Law lingered a moment longer, then pushed himself to his feet with a wince.
"Get some rest, Itachi-ya. Even with your regeneration, your body needs time to process everything."
"I will."
Law nodded and limped back inside.
Itachi remained in the courtyard. The moon had climbed higher. The stars were very bright. And somewhere in the distance, the sound of a kingdom beginning to heal drifted across the night air.
(End of Chapter)
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