The moon hung low over Wano's shores, silver light spilling across the calm sea where the Moby Dick floated, sails half-raised, ready to depart. The air was still — almost reverent — as if the land itself held its breath.
From the cliffs above, Oden watched in silence. His hands rested on the hilts of his swords, the wind tugging at his robes. Below, he could see Whitebeard's men loading supplies, laughter carrying faintly on the tide.
"Damn it," Oden muttered, his heart pounding. "I can't stay here forever."
He turned, moving quickly through the shadows of the castle walls, every step echoing with purpose. The corridors were quiet — the Shogun's retainers long asleep. He passed the sleeping guards, the cherry trees, the torii gate that framed the sea — and for a heartbeat, he paused.
"Forgive me, Father," he murmured, eyes on the horizon. "But my destiny isn't meant to be caged."
He broke into a run.
By the time Oden reached the cliffside again, the Moby Dick had begun to move — slowly drifting away from shore, its sails filling with the wind.
"Whitebeard!" Oden shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Take me with you!"
From the deck below, a few heads turned — Marco squinting toward the cliff, startled. "Hey! It's that lunatic again!"
Whitebeard frowned. "Tch. That fool…"
Oden sprinted forward, pulling a long iron hook from his belt — the same one he'd used to scale mountains in his youth. With a roar, he hurled it into the night sky.
The hook caught the Moby Dick's rail with a heavy clang! The rope went taut.
"Lord Oden!"
A voice rang out behind him — Izo, breathless, his hair disheveled, a torch in hand.
Oden glanced back, grinning. "Izo?! Go home before you fall off the cliff!"
"You're leaving Wano?! You can't!" Izo shouted, his voice cracking. "You'll disgrace your family—your name!"
Oden's grin only widened. "My name's the least of my worries!"
Before Izo could stop him, Oden leapt off the cliff, gripping the rope with both hands. The force nearly tore his arms from their sockets, but he held fast, shouting against the rushing wind. "Whitebeard! Take me to sea!"
"Lord Oden!" Izo screamed — and in a split-second decision, he jumped after him, clutching the rope just below Oden.
The two swung wildly as the ship began to pick up speed.
On deck, Marco's jaw dropped. "He's insane!"
Whitebeard sighed, rubbing his forehead. "That idiot actually did it…"
"Should we cut the rope, Pops?" Jozu asked.
Whitebeard grinned. "Cut it? Nah. Let's see how long the fool lasts."
"Take me with you!" Oden shouted over the roaring wind. "If I let go, I'll die—but I'd rather die chasing the horizon than rotting in a palace!"
Whitebeard crossed his arms. "Fine then, brat! If you can hold on for a week, I'll let you join us!"
The crew erupted in disbelief.
"Pops, he'll die!"
"He'll drown before sunset!"
But Oden just laughed, his grip tightening on the chain. "A week? That's all? Easy!"
Whitebeard's grin widened. "Then prove it!"
————-
For three days, the Moby Dick sailed under the unrelenting sun and storm.
Oden clung to the rope, his body battered by wind and sea spray, fingers raw and bleeding — but he refused to let go. Every wave that slammed against him only drew out more laughter, wild and defiant.
"Hah!" he bellowed into the roaring wind. "You'll have to do better than that, sea!"
Above him, Whitebeard's crew gathered at the rail, staring down in disbelief.
"He's still holding on?" Marco muttered, wide-eyed. "That guy's not human."
Vista crossed his arms. "It's been three days. Pops, are we really letting him hang there?"
Whitebeard stood near the mast, arms folded, his massive frame unmoving. "I told him — if he wants to sail with us, he has to endure."
"But Pops," Jozu said, shaking his head, "anyone else would've drowned by now."
Whitebeard's expression softened slightly, a small grin tugging at the edge of his mouth. "He's not anyone else."
Down below, Oden's eyes burned with determination. His muscles screamed, his hands trembled, but his spirit — his hunger for the world — only grew stronger.
"Whitebeard!" he shouted hoarsely. "Is this all you've got?! You said a test! I'll hang here for a year if I must!"
Marco whistled low. "Crazy bastard means it."
Whitebeard's grin widened. "Heh… maybe so."
The crew watched in silence, respect replacing mockery. They'd seen warriors, monsters, conquerors — but this man, this samurai from a closed-off land, clung to that rope as though the entire world waited for him on the other side.
And somewhere deep down, Whitebeard knew — Oden wasn't just enduring pain.
He was proving something.
To himself. To Wano. To the world.
Seven Days Later
Oden's hands were bleeding, muscles trembling, salt crusted on his face. For seven days, he clung to the ship, refusing to let go. The crew, now cheering for him, watched in awe.
"He's not human," Marco muttered. "No one lasts this long."
On the dawn of the seventh day, a cry pierced the sea — a woman's voice.
"Help! Someone, please!"
Oden's eyes snapped open. Through the mist, he saw her — a woman floating on wreckage, dark hair clinging to her face, eyes filled with terror.
He didn't hesitate.
He let go.
"Lord Oden!" Izo shouted, reaching for him — but the samurai was already gone, plunging into the churning waves below.
The sea swallowed him whole.
The crew shouted his name as he plunged into the sea, swimming with his last strength toward her.
———-
When the storm cleared, Whitebeard's crew found him again — Oden, soaked but laughing, standing on a floating plank beside the mysterious woman he'd rescued.
Whitebeard regarded her for a moment, then looked back to Oden — the drenched samurai standing beside her, smiling like a fool even with blood on his hands.
For a long moment, silence hung in the air — until Whitebeard broke it with a wide, fearless grin.
"All right," he said finally, the air shifting around him like a wave before it breaks. "Come aboard, Oden."
Oden blinked. "Eh? But I let go of the rope…"
Whitebeard followed his gaze, then let out a deep, booming laugh. "A woman's scream made you give up your dream, huh?"
He crossed his arms, grin widening. "You're kind of naïve, Oden."
Oden managed a tired laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Maybe… but I couldn't just keep climbing when someone needed help."
Oden blinked and his jaw dropped. " Wait so that means—"
Whitebeard lifted his bisento and slammed its base onto the deck with a thunderous BOOM. "We'll set out on a great adventure — beyond your wildest imagination!"
Then, grinning wide, he added, "Come aboard, Otōto!"
Oden froze, then burst into laughter so loud it echoed across the waves. "Are you sure, Shiroki-chan?" he shouted back, voice bright and overflowing with joy.
Whitebeard threw his head back and roared with laughter. "Get on the damn ship already!"
Oden sprinted toward the Moby Dick, leaping high, catching the rope with one hand, and landing on deck with a triumphant grin. "Let's go!!!"
The crew erupted in cheers — Marco whistled, Jozu laughed, Vista clapped him on the back. Even Toki smiled softly as she stepped aboard, her gaze warm yet distant, as if she already knew her journey had only just begun.
Whitebeard looked around at his roaring crew, at the samurai who defied gravity and reason just to reach the sea, and he couldn't help but grin wider.
"Oi, boys!" he bellowed. "Raise the anchor!"
And as the Moby Dick cut through the waves, the sun dipped low, casting the sea in gold — and two destinies, once bound by land and legend, now sailed freely toward the horizon.
————
A few Days Later — The Deck of the Moby Dick
The cheers slowly faded into the rhythm of the waves, the crew still buzzing from the excitement of Oden's arrival. The air was thick with laughter, sea salt, and the promise of new adventure.
Oden was already at the center of it all — laughing, eating, and talking loudly with Marco and Jozu as if he'd always belonged there. His energy burned like sunlight, impossible to ignore.
Whitebeard leaned against the rail, watching with his usual half-smile. "He's a handful," he muttered.
Vista grinned. "You like him, don't you?"
Whitebeard chuckled. "He reminds me of the idiots who shake the world without meaning to."
That was when the woman — Toki — stepped forward. Her damp kimono fluttered softly in the wind, hair glinting silver under the fading sun. Despite her exhaustion, there was a calm poise in her movements, a quiet dignity that drew every gaze toward her.
She bowed slightly. "My name is Amatsuki Toki," she said, voice soft but firm. "I owe you all my life."
Oden beamed at her. "You don't owe anyone! You were just unlucky to fall into the sea. The world's cruel like that — but now you've got us!" He threw his arms wide as if declaring it law.
Whitebeard's deep laugh rumbled again. "You're with him now, huh? You'll have to get used to noise."
Toki smiled faintly. "Noise doesn't frighten me. I've traveled far to reach this era."
Marco tilted his head. "This era?"
Her eyes softened — ancient, distant. "Yes. I… was sent here from the past. Eight hundred years ago."
The laughter stopped. Even the sea seemed to still for a moment.
Whitebeard's brow furrowed. "From the past? That's a hell of a story."
"I speak the truth," Toki said quietly. "I have the power of the Time-Time Fruit. I can leap forward — but never backward. I've journeyed through centuries, chasing a destiny I barely understand."
Toki then smiled faintly. "Perhaps… it's fate that I met you all."
Oden's eyes widened with awe. "Eight hundred years?! That's incredible!"
Jozu frowned. "And what were you chasing?"
Toki's gaze drifted toward the horizon, her voice growing distant. "A promise… left by someone long ago. They told me to seek out those who would carry the world's dawn — the ones who bear the Will of D."
The mention of that letter froze the air.
Whitebeard straightened slowly, his expression darkening with something between recognition and disbelief. "…The Will of D, huh? Haven't heard that name spoken lightly in years."
Toki looked toward the horizon, her voice soft, reverent. "A woman who belonged to the Nyx Clan. She sent me forward, saying I would find those destined to guide the world to its dawn."
Oden blinked. "Nyx Clan? Never heard of them."
But Whitebeard had gone still. His massive hand clenched the railing, the wood creaking under his grip.
"Nyx…" he muttered. "I knew someone like that. Nyx D. Ada. Back when I sailed under Rocks."
Oden blinked. "Who's Ada?"
Whitebeard smiled faintly. "A woman who once defied the world… just like you."
Toki's eyes widened slightly. "Then it's true… the clan's name still echoes in this era."
Oden, oblivious to the tension, scratched his head. "Wait, wait — are we talking about another Nyx? Like Ada's ancestor?"
Toki nodded. "Yes. The one who sent me was Nyx D. Aria — an ancestor of the woman you speak of. She said her bloodline would one day resurface, carrying the same will that defied the heavens themselves."
Whitebeard exhaled slowly, his tone softer now. "So even time carries that family's fire. Hah… figures."
Toki continued, her gaze steady. "Lady Aria believed that the world would one day remember its forgotten truths. That when the Will of D and the lost voices of history unite, the dawn will finally break."
The crew exchanged uneasy glances. Even for pirates who lived freely, there was something awe-inspiring — almost unsettling — about hearing the echoes of a world long erased.
Whitebeard finally grinned, breaking the heavy silence. "Heh. Guess we've picked up more than just one crazy samurai."
Oden laughed, slapping his back. "Then let's sail, Shiroki-chan! If the world's got secrets that big, I wanna see 'em with my own eyes!"
Whitebeard's booming laughter rolled over the deck. "You're mad, Oden — but that's exactly what this sea needs!"
The Moby Dick cut through the waves, the sky painted gold and crimson as the sun dipped below the horizon.
Above the laughter and the creak of the sails, Toki looked back one last time — at the fading shores of Wano — whispering softly to herself:
"Lady Aria… your will still lives on. The world's dawn draws nearer."