When Kaito steered his little boat to shore in the direction the Sea King's body had been launched, he found that the pale-eyed carcass had already been washed up on land. A crowd of villagers surrounded it, noisily discussing the sudden appearance of the massive beast.
"Is... is that a Sea King? Why would one show up here?"
"No idea. Maybe it's nature's blessing?"
"Nature's blessing, my ass. Even if the tide pushed it in, there's no way something this big would've made it this far inland!"
"What about Kaito? Someone go check the sea for him. It's dangerous out there right now."
"Yeah, anyone young and able—come with me. We need to make sure nothing's happened to him."
...
In the crowd stood Bell-mère, arms folded, with her pink hair swaying slightly in the sea breeze. At her side were ten-year-old Nami and twelve-year-old Nojiko. All three silently stared at the Sea King's corpse.
Lively little Nami pointed at the massive body and spoke to Bell-mère with wide-eyed curiosity.
"Bell-mère, look! That's a huge fish! I've never seen one this big before!"
"No idea what happened to Kaito. He went out to fish today, right?"
Beside her, the more reserved Nojiko frowned with concern. Bell-mère gently patted both their heads, not saying a word, though her eyes revealed the same unease.
As a former Marine, she could tell at a glance that this Sea King had been killed—not by nature, but by man.
"When did the East Blue get someone this powerful? Was it the Marines? If it's a pirate, that could spell trouble. I can take care of myself, but Nami and Nojiko..."
Bell-mère clenched her fists tightly.
"No matter who it is, if they try to hurt those two...I'll protect them with my life if I have to!"
Just then, Kaito arrived at the scene. As soon as the villagers spotted him, they quickly crowded around.
"Kaito! You're back! A Sea King showed up, and Granny Lisa's been worried sick!"
"Yeah, man! Stop going out to sea for a while. If your little boat ran into something like that, it'd get flipped for sure!"
"Kaito!" ×2
Two little figures popped out of the crowd and threw themselves around Kaito's... legs. It was Nami and Nojiko.
"You okay, Kaito? These two kids were worried sick about you," Bell-mère said as she squeezed into the group.
Nojiko's face flushed red, silently clinging to Kaito's leg, while Nami, more like a firecracker, jumped back and loudly insisted she wasn't worried—she just didn't want to lose the person who catches her fish!
Feeling the warmth and concern of those around him, Kaito's heart softened. After years of living on edge in the world of shinobi, this kind of care was something he'd never taken for granted.
He shook his head and smiled at the people around him.
"I'm fine. Thank you, everyone, for your concern. And don't worry about danger—That Sea King was my prey."
The moment he said it, the entire crowd fell silent. People just stared at him in stunned silence.
After a while, Nojiko started hopping on the spot with her hand raised. Kaito gave her a puzzled look, and then she hesitantly mumbled, her cheeks red with worry,
"Kaito, did you hit your head or something? Are you running a fever?"
Nami stood beside her with the exact same look on her face—saying without saying: "Same here!"
Before anyone could speak again, the crowd erupted in laughter.
"Pfft! Kaito, even the kids think you've lost it!"
"You're always so cool and quiet—I didn't expect you to have a talent for cracking lame jokes!"
"Hahahaha!"
Another round of boisterous laughter followed.
Bell-mère, however, didn't laugh. She stared at the boy in front of her, a deep intuition whispering to her that he hadn't been joking. She knew Kaito wasn't just some ordinary kid. Those eyes of his carried far too much pressure. You'd have to be an idiot to think they were just a strange color.
Most of the villagers had simply grown used to him—either subconsciously avoiding his eyes or gradually forgetting how unusual he was because of how kind and decent he acted.
Kaito wasn't angry. He said nothing. He simply raised a hand toward the Sea King's body and calmly spoke two words:
"Almighty Push."
And just like that, in full view of the dumbfounded villagers, the Sea King's corpse was sent flying several hundred meters further down the shore.