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"Captain Ikki, don't tell Nami," Nojiko said, taking two steps back with a playful smile. She pressed her index finger to her lips in a gesture of secrecy.
"Even if Nami knew about this, she wouldn't... well, I won't say more," Ikki replied with a shrug, walking forward at a brisker pace with Nojiko at his side.
Nojiko continued walking as if nothing had happened, chatting with Ikki as they made their way forward.
A few minutes later, they stood on the shore of Loguetown, facing Nami who greeted them with a frown.
"You're so late! What were you two doing that took so long?" Nami complained. "I've been ready to set sail for ages. Captain Ikki, is this how you treat a helpless woman like me?"
Nami pouted, her expression filled with exaggerated dissatisfaction.
"But Nami, you're hardly a helpless woman, are you?" Ikki smiled, finding her feigned anger rather endearing.
"Enough of that," Nami replied. "Come aboard the ship. I have something to show you."
Ikki patted both Nami and Nojiko on the shoulders and was the first to jump onto the deck of the Explorer.
The sisters exchanged curious glances, wondering about the "something" Ikki had mentioned, before following him aboard.
…
"Ikki, why are you opening the safe?" Nami asked curiously.
Inside the captain's quarters of the Explorer, Nami watched as Ikki opened the safe and removed a Devil Fruit that had been hidden inside.
At the sight of the unusual, pattern-covered fruit and the thought of its value, Nami's eyes seemed to gleam with a golden, berry-shaped light.
"Nami, didn't you mention earlier that you wanted to gain the power to release your Zanpakutō Gonryōmaru as soon as possible?" Ikki asked.
"Release Gonryōmaru? Ikki, are you saying you've found a way to elevate my swordsmanship to the Iron-Cutting Realm?"
Nami was visibly shocked.
Nojiko also looked over with interest.
Both women understood that their life force levels had reached the threshold required to perform Shikai with their Zanpakutō. The only thing they still lacked was sufficient swordsmanship skill.
However, aside from challenging the swordsman shadows in the Sword Enlightenment Room, neither could think of another way to improve their skills quickly.
"Indeed I have," Ikki nodded, taking out the challenge permission card for Tashigi from his system space and handing it to the women.
[Name: Tashigi]
[Age: 21 years old]
[Life Force: 430, D grade]
[Swordsmanship Level: Iron-Cutting Realm]
[Swordsmanship School: Water Breathing]
[Special ability: none]
Ikki glanced at Tashigi's shadow's attributes through the system permission card, confirming that both Nojiko and Nami should be able to defeat it. He then explained:
"This is a swordsman shadow I created based on Tashigi's current abilities. It works just like when you challenged the shadows of Zenitsu and Tanjiro Kamado before. If you can defeat Tashigi's shadow, you'll be able to improve your swordsmanship."
"The only limitation is that you won't acquire Tashigi's specific sword techniques—you'll only attain the swordsmanship realm she currently possesses: the Iron-Cutting Realm!"
One of the challenge permission cards had been issued to Ikki himself as a reward, but since he had already reached the Iron-Cutting Realm, he couldn't use it himself. However, the system allowed him to transfer this reward to partners with a partner seal, which meant he could give it to Nami.
When Nami and Nojiko heard this, they took the permission card with expressions of wonder.
"Don't just stand there looking amazed. Let's go challenge her now," Ikki said. "With your current strength, both of you should be able to defeat Tashigi at this stage."
Ikki slipped the Devil Fruit into his pocket and walked over to Nami and Nojiko, gently guiding them toward the Sword Enlightenment Room.
"Nami, you go first."
Ikki patted Nami on the back and, without waiting for her to potentially refuse, activated the permission card in her hand.
The card dissolved into blue light that entered the arena, forming the figure of Tashigi inside.
"Is that really her? Captain Ikki, how did you recreate Tashigi in the training arena?" Nami asked, pressing herself against the glass partition, her eyes fixed on Tashigi's form.
"It's exactly how she looked earlier," she remarked. "Wait—does this mean Captain Ikki can use his ability to create swordsman shadows of anyone for training purposes? Could I also create a shadow of Tashigi for... other purposes?"
Nami's eyes gleamed mischievously as she quickly entered the Sword Enlightenment chamber. After touching Tashigi's face to confirm the skin felt like a real person's, she even started to unbutton Tashigi's jacket!
Witnessing this scene, Ikki's mouth twitched in disbelief.
"Nami, what are you doing? I asked you to fight her, not undress her," he called out. "Nojiko, please talk some sense into your sister."
With a smile playing on her lips, Nojiko approached Ikki instead. "Actually, I'm also curious whether this version of Tashigi feels like a real person."
Ikki's eyes widened at her response. 'They truly are sisters,' he thought to himself.
"Wow, even her figure is perfectly recreated," Nami called from inside the chamber. "Does this mean, Captain Ikki, that one could do... 'those' things with these shadows?"
She paused, a new thought occurring to her. "Wait a minute—Captain Ikki, have you also created shadow models of me and Nojiko?"
After examining Tashigi's shadow more thoroughly, Nami looked at Ikki with suspicion.
"I'm curious about that too," Nojiko added playfully. "Have you done something inappropriate with shadow versions of Nami and me?"
Ikki frowned slightly, resting his chin in one hand as if deep in thought.
After a moment, he made a fist with his right hand and struck it against his left palm, as if having a revelation:
"You know what? I hadn't considered that application of the shadow system," he said. "As expected of Nami—you always think of possibilities I would never imagine."
"It's decided. I'll get a model of your sword shadow later... No, I should get a model of someone that's more mature than you," he added with a straight face.
"This way, my nightlife will be much richer."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Nami's face turned bright red.
It wasn't clear whether from embarrassment or anger.