Bellamy's crude words made Koushirou's face flush red. If he hadn't suspected he might not be able to win, he would have thrown Bellamy out long ago.
"Please take back your tuition fee. Isshin Dojo cannot teach you."
"Consider that money as compensation then." Bellamy didn't care about such a meager sum. "I also gained some insight from our debate."
A pity they weren't enemies. Such a conflict of ideals couldn't be resolved by words alone. Without a true, life-or-death battle, Koushirou would absolutely not be convinced. Of course, Koushirou could equally use his strength to subdue him. Bellamy was actually quite looking forward to Shimotsuki Ryuma's descendant picking up a sword and fighting him. However, Koushirou clearly had no such intention; he had too many concerns – his disciples, the dojo, the village, the family's honor, all sorts of scruples. These things weighed down on Koushirou layer by layer, making it impossible for him to completely let loose.
"You keep saying your heart holds only the Way of the Sword, but clearly, even you yourself haven't achieved that." No wonder he had been cooped up in this small village for so long. The Way was always there, simple and clear. But how many could truly achieve it? Thinking of this, Bellamy had an epiphany. "Those who can truly achieve it have probably already stepped onto the true path of swordsmanship." This should be what was called a Great Swordsman. Bellamy suddenly had a deeper understanding of the path he himself was to walk. This trip had not been in vain. As for this swordsmanship, it was fine not to learn it.
"Drake, go to the village and resupply. We're preparing to leave."
"Yes, Captain."
This barbaric fellow was finally leaving; Koushirou let out a great sigh of relief. If the dojo was broken, it was broken; he could just rebuild it. This barbarian was truly not someone to be trifled with. Just Bellamy standing there, the overwhelming scent of blood he exuded, which couldn't be concealed no matter what, had left Koushirou unsettled for a long time. When they had clashed earlier, the terrifying killing intent had made Koushirou prepare for martyrdom. Unexpectedly, this fellow turned out to be surprisingly easy to talk to.
"'Mad Dog'… such an epithet isn't very accurate."
"'Barbarian' fits him just right."
It was still early. The first mate was preparing supplies, so Bellamy, with nothing to do, thought of wandering around. He was still very interested in Shimotsuki Village.
"Mr. Koushirou, are there any interesting places in Shimotsuki Village?"
"Interesting places?" This was just a small village; apart from Isshin Dojo, there really wasn't anything special. "Perhaps you could go for a stroll by the seaside. There's a place called Wind Howl Ravine that's somewhat interesting."
"Then, I'll take my leave." Bellamy readily accepted his suggestion and headed quickly towards the coast.
"He's finally gone." Koushirou looked at the ravaged dojo and let out a helpless, bitter smile. "This is even more disastrous than several waves of bandits attacking."
"I hope he never comes back again."
Shimotsuki Village was located on a small, nameless island. The island itself wasn't large, so very few people paid any attention to it. Wind Howl Ravine was a very strange place. Its terrain resembled a strait but was slightly different. Large swathes of rock had been eroded by the seawater into a honeycomb of holes. Whenever a strong wind blew through, it would produce a loud howling sound.
Bellamy leaped onto the highest rock, listening to the howling wind while taking in the scenery. He had no particular purpose for this trip, simply wanting to relax and pass some time.
"What an awful sound." The scenery here was quite nice, but the wind kept howling incessantly; listening to it for a long time made his ears ache.
"Time to go."
Bellamy turned to leave when the corner of his eye suddenly caught something strange.
"Huh?"
"This appearance?" It looked like a fruit, wedged in the pile of rocks below. How could a fruit appear in such a place? With this curiosity, Bellamy went to investigate. Soon, he dug out an oddly shaped fruit from the pile of rocks.
"Spiral-shaped circular patterns."
"Holy crap! This is a Devil Fruit!" Bellamy stared blankly at the fruit, somewhat in disbelief. He had just come out for a stroll and actually stumbled upon a Devil Fruit. This was too surreal.
Wait a minute. It had an ordinary banana-like appearance, with no additional distinguishing features. This was most likely the trashiest kind of common Zoan. Paramecia types showed characteristics related to their abilities on the fruit itself; for example, Bellamy's Spring-Spring Fruit had some features resembling springs. Logia fruits had the most obvious external appearances: fire types had fire patterns and colors, darkness types had blackness and vortexes. Mythical Zoan types also usually had very unique appearances. Only the most common Zoan types looked like unremarkable fruits. This method of differentiation wasn't necessarily accurate, but the probability was quite high.
"Tch, and I thought I'd struck some incredible luck." A common Zoan type, at a large auction in Sabaody, would only fetch one or two hundred million Beli at most. He could get that much money by just going out and robbing a few times.
"Forget it. I'll take it back and let them have a look." If Ross and the others wanted to eat it, let them. A common Zoan wasn't entirely useless. If they didn't want it, he could keep it to give away; it wasn't anything particularly precious anyway. Bellamy weighed the banana-like fruit in his hand, clicking his tongue with slight dissatisfaction. To finally have a fortuitous encounter, only for it to be this kind of thing.
By the time he returned to the ship, the supplies had already been fully prepared. They were just waiting for him to return before they could set sail. Bellamy called everyone into the dining room and then took out the Devil Fruit. "Does anyone here want to become a hammer?"
Casually tossing the banana-like fruit onto the table, Bellamy observed their expressions with keen interest. "You all should recognize this thing, right?"
"A Devil Fruit!" Drake called out its name at once.
"That's right."
"Come on, who wants to eat it? Step right up." Bellamy was quite curious as to what kind of fruit he had actually found.
What he hadn't expected was that Mia, Ross, and Muret all raised their hands at almost the exact same time.
"Captain, is this the Clone-Clone Fruit?!" Mia's eyes were practically sparkling.
The Clone-Clone Fruit already had an owner; this couldn't be it.
"No, this one should be a Zoan type."
Mia instantly lost all interest. "Oh, then count me out."
"What about you two? Who still wants it?"
"Think carefully. You can only eat one Devil Fruit."
"If we get a stronger Ancient or Mythical Zoan later, you won't get another chance."
Muret shouted out almost without hesitation, "Give it to me, Captain!"
"I want to increase my strength."
"Captain, I want it too." Faced with Muret's eagerness, Ross showed no intention of backing down; he also desperately wanted to increase his strength. As the only sailor on board, he was the one in the most danger in the pirate crew. Every time they encountered a major battle or a storm, Ross had to be on deck on standby at all times, while the ship's doctor and cook could hide inside without any danger. He could lose his life at any moment, okay?
Bellamy hadn't expected one fruit to cause two people to fight over it. It seemed his companions were all very eager to improve their strength. This was a good thing, worthy of encouragement.
"Alright, how about this: you two fight for it."
"Whoever wins gets it." As for the loser, he'd just get them another one when they reached the Grand Line. A common Zoan could be obtained with a bit of money. If their luck was good, they might even get something better.