Chaos consumed Captain Morgan's fortress.
Down the cold stone corridors, Helmeppo's pathetic screams echoed, mingling with the sound of pounding footsteps and Luffy's curses.
"Hurry up! Where are the moss-head's swords?!" Luffy yelled, dragging Helmeppo along.
"Let me go! You're going to die!" Helmeppo struggled futilely. "My father won't spare you!"
"What's your dad got to do with it? I'm asking about the swords!"
A group of Marines blocked the end of the hallway, rifles raised. "Stop! Release Helmeppo-sama!"
Without a word, Luffy hoisted Helmeppo up, using him as a human shield.
"Are you gonna shoot?" Luffy asked, a challenging grin on his face.
The soldiers looked at each other, their faces pale. They didn't dare fire.
Luffy used the opportunity to charge past them, continuing to drag the captain's son deeper into the base. Finally, after a series of threats, a terrified Helmeppo pointed to an elaborately decorated door.
"In... in my room! They're in my room!"
"Should've just said so from the start." Luffy kicked the door open and began his search.
Outside in the courtyard, the atmosphere was even more tense.
Koby, one shoulder soaked in blood, was still trying to stand. The sharp pain made him dizzy, but his worried eyes were fixed on Zoro.
Zoro was no longer looking at Morgan. His deadly gaze was now locked on the Marine soldiers who were slowly surrounding them. Their rifles were all loaded, ready to fire at any moment.
"Kid," Zoro growled. "Run. You've done enough."
"No!" Koby gritted his teeth, the pain making his voice tremble. "I won't leave until you're free!"
He looked at Zoro, his eyes pleading. "Zoro-san, you have to listen to me! Helmeppo... he was never going to keep his promise! He tricked you!"
Zoro's eyes narrowed. "What did you say?"
"He was going to have you executed in three days! Luffy-san and I overheard him saying it in town! That's why... that's why Luffy-san got so angry and punched him! He's doing all of this for you, Zoro-san!"
The truth hit Zoro like a physical blow.
Tricked.
His endurance. His humiliation. It was all just a joke to that spoiled brat. A low, simmering rage began to boil inside him, hotter than the sun beating down on his skin.
"Please," Koby begged, "help Luffy-san! He's fighting in there all by himself!"
But it was too late. The circle of Marines had tightened. Dozens of black rifle muzzles were pointed directly at them.
"Roronoa Zoro! Koby! You are both sentenced to death for treason and will be executed on the spot!" an officer yelled. "READY! AIM!"
Zoro looked at the rifles. He looked at the injured Koby. He looked up at the vast blue sky.
Death.
It was right in front of him.
Was he going to die here? Like a dog, tied to a post and shot down?
What about his vow? What about his dream?
In that moment, facing death, Zoro's mind was no longer in Shells Town. It drifted back to a distant place, a distant past.
Clack!
The sound of two bamboo swords clashing echoed in an old dojo.
A younger Zoro with green hair, his face smudged with dirt, was lying sprawled on the floor.
Standing over him, her bamboo sword at his throat, was a girl with short, dark blue hair. Her name was Kuina.
"You lose again, Zoro," Kuina said, her voice teasing. "2000 losses. Even when you use two swords, you still can't beat me."
Zoro ground his teeth in frustration.
"Kuina's so strong! She can even beat the adults!" some of the other trainees marveled.
"But Zoro's not weak either! Why can't he beat her?"
"It must be favoritism! Kuina's the master's daughter, he must be giving her special lessons!"
The dojo master, a middle-aged man, entered. He heard the chatter and just smiled. "There is no favoritism. Kuina is simply older and a little more talented."
That explanation only made Zoro angrier.
That night, under a bright, full moon, Zoro sought Kuina out.
"Kuina! Fight me again!" he said, holding two real katanas. "A real duel with real swords!"
Kuina looked at him, then at the swords. She nodded. "Fine."
They faced each other in the courtyard. The moonlight reflected off the blades, creating cold streaks of light.
SWISH!
A single strike.
Zoro's swords were knocked from his hands. Kuina's blade was at his neck.
His 2001st defeat.
Zoro fell to his knees, defeated and bitter.
But then he heard a sob.
Kuina, the one who had just defeated him so easily, was crying. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Why... why are you crying?" Zoro asked, surprised. "You're the one who won."
Kuina looked at him, her eyes wet with tears. "Zoro... the one who's truly weak... is me."
"When girls grow up, they can't be as strong as boys," she sobbed. "Our bodies change... I'll never be able to become the world's greatest swordsman. One day, you'll definitely surpass me."
She collapsed to the ground. "I... I wish I had been born a boy!"
Zoro was stunned.
He looked at the girl crying in front of him. The person who had beaten him 2001 times. The rival he was desperate to overcome.
The anger of his defeat vanished, replaced by a different kind of anger.
"YOU IDIOT!" he yelled. "Don't you dare say that after you've beaten me! Do you have any idea how hard I've been working?! Don't you dare look down on my efforts with excuses like that!"
He stood up, looking her straight in the eye.
"Don't talk as if you're sure to lose to me in the future!"
"Let's make a promise!"
Kuina looked up, surprised.
"One day," Zoro said, his voice full of determination, "one of us... has to become the world's greatest swordsman!"
Kuina's eyes widened. Then, a radiant smile bloomed on her tear-stained face.
"Okay. It's a promise."
Under the moonlight, two children, two rivals, made a sacred vow. A vow that would follow them for the rest of their lives.
But life is cruel.
The next day, tragedy struck.
Zoro was training when another student ran to him, out of breath.
"Zoro! Kuina... Kuina..."
Kuina was dead. She had fallen down the stairs.
A mundane death. A senseless death.
At the funeral, Zoro stood before Kuina's body, her face covered by a white cloth. He didn't cry. He was just angry.
"COWARD!" he yelled at the deceased. "You ran away from our promise!"
He turned to the master, Kuina's father, and knelt.
"Master! Please, give me her sword!"
The master looked at the boy who was suppressing his grief, his expression complex.
"I'll carry her part with me," Zoro said, his voice cracking. "I'll get stronger for the both of us! I'll become a swordsman so great, my name will reach the heavens!"
"So that wherever she is, she'll hear my name!"
The master silently nodded, and handed Zoro the sword with the pure white scabbard.
The Wado Ichimonji.
The vow had been entrusted.
Zoro's mind returned to the harsh reality of Shells Town.
"FIRE!"
The officer's shout rang out.
Zoro closed his eyes.
"Kuina... maybe I'm coming to see you soon. I'm sorry... I couldn't keep our promise."
He waited for the bullets to tear into his body.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
He opened his eyes, waiting for the sensation of bullets tearing through his flesh.
But there was nothing.
Instead, he heard a series of dull thwumps, and saw a familiar back standing in front of him.
Luffy.
The straw-hatted boy had appeared from nowhere, his arms spread wide like a human shield, taking every single bullet.
"Wh-what?" the Marine officer stammered.
His soldiers were speechless.
They saw the lead bullets slam into Luffy's back, sinking deep into his skin. But they didn't penetrate.
Then, impossibly, the bullets... popped back out, clattering harmlessly to the ground.
"B-bullets don't work on him?!" one of the soldiers screamed in panic.
Luffy turned around, rubbing his back. "Ouch, that stung a little."
He looked at Zoro, and a huge grin spread across his face. In his hands, he held three katanas.
"Hey! I found them in that bowl-cut guy's room!" he said cheerfully. "But I didn't know which ones were yours, so I just took them all!"
Luffy's insane appearance and actions shattered the tense atmosphere, replacing it with dumbfounded amazement.
Zoro looked at his three swords, then at the boy who had taken bullets for him. A complex emotion flickered in his eyes.
"They're all mine, you idiot," he growled.
Meanwhile, Koby, despite the blood still flowing from his shoulder, used the last of his strength, pulled out a small knife, and sliced through the final rope.
Slash!
Zoro was free.
He stumbled forward, taking the three swords from Luffy. The familiar feeling of the hilts in his palms seemed to bring strength flowing back into his body.
He looked at Luffy.
He looked at the boy who had saved his life, who had respected his dirty rice ball, and who carried a dream even more insane than his own.
To die here meant his vow would die with him.
To follow this guy... at least he'd still have a chance to fulfill that vow.
The choice was clear.
"Alright," Zoro said, his voice raspy. He slotted two of the swords into his green haramaki sash. "I'll go with you. I'll become a pirate."
He lifted his head, his eyes as sharp as blades, looking straight at Luffy.
"But you listen here, and you listen good. I have my own dream."
"I have to become the world's greatest swordsman!"
"If you, as my captain, ever get in the way of that dream... then at that moment, you will have my apology as I cut you down. Do we have an understanding... Captain?"
The way he stressed the word "Captain" was full of challenge.
But Luffy didn't feel threatened at all. He just beamed, a radiant and completely accepting smile.
"The world's greatest swordsman? That's awesome!" he said. "The future King of the Pirates is gonna need someone like that on his crew!"
Zoro smirked faintly. This idiot...
He took the black bandana from his bicep and tied it around his head. Instantly, his aura shifted. The exhaustion vanished, replaced by the predatory presence of a beast.
He placed the hilt of the white-scabbarded sword, the Wado Ichimonji, in his mouth.
The Demon of the East Blue was unleashed.
Luffy and Zoro now stood back-to-back, facing the terrified Marines in the courtyard.
One with a goofy grin and a body of rubber.
The other with a deathly glare and three swords ready for blood.
"So," Zoro said through his teeth, his voice muffled by the sword in his mouth. "What's the first order, Captain?"
Luffy cracked his knuckles.
"Isn't it obvious?"
He grinned.
"We're gonna kick all their asses!"
The real battle... was about to begin.