The morning sun struggled to pierce the perpetual gloom of the Land of Waves, casting long, gray shadows through the forest. The air smelled of pine needles and damp earth, a refreshing change from the salty brine of the shore, though the humidity was murder on my hair.
I sat on a mossy stump, leaning back against a massive oak tree, watching magic happen.
Literally.
"Focus your chakra to the soles of your feet," Kakashi said. He was leaning on crutches, reading that little orange book of his. "Imagine it as a sticky substance. Too little, and you fall. Too much, and you're pushed away."
"Got it!" Naruto shouted. He charged at a tree, screaming like a banshee. He took two steps up the vertical trunk, lost his footing, and face-planted into the dirt.
"Dammit!"
Sasuke was fairing slightly better. He ran up, made it about six feet, and then peeled off backward, landing gracefully on his feet. He marked the spot with a kunai knife, his face twisted in frustration.
Sakura, meanwhile, walked casually up her tree until she was sitting on a high branch, looking down at the boys smugly.
"Well done, Sakura," Kakashi drawled, not looking up from his book. "Boys, you have a long way to go."
I took a bite of an apple I'd swiped from Tsunami's kitchen. It was crisp, tart, and utterly normal. It was the only normal thing about this situation.
"So," I muttered to myself, "they put energy in their feet to stick to walls. Like Spider-Man, but with spiritual energy."
It was fascinating. And completely alien to me. In One Piece—or at least, the memories I had of it—people moved fast by kicking the air (Geppo) or just being absurdly strong. We didn't stick to things. We broke them.
"Shanks-nii!"
I winced. Naruto had picked himself up from the dirt and was sprinting toward me.
"Shanks-nii! Did you see? I almost got it!"
"I saw you headbutt the ground, kid," I said, taking another bite of the apple. "Earth: 1, Naruto: 0."
"C'mon, don't be mean!" Naruto pouted, then his eyes lit up with that dangerous spark of curiosity. "Hey, hey! Can you teach me how to do the scary lightning thing? If I use that, I bet the tree will get scared and let me climb it!"
I swallowed the apple chunk. "The tree isn't sentient, Naruto. Scaring it won't work. And I can't teach you that."
"Why not?" Naruto whined, grabbing the sleeve of my empty arm and tugging. "Is it a secret pirate technique? Please? I'll buy you ramen! I'll... I'll let you wear my goggles!"
"I don't want your goggles," I said. "And it's not a technique. You can't learn it from a book."
"Then how do you do it?"
I looked at the kid. How do I explain Conqueror's Haki to a twelve-year-old ninja?
"It's about... presence," I tried. "It's about deciding that you are the biggest, baddest thing in the room, and the universe agreeing with you."
Naruto looked confused.
Before he could ask more, a shadow fell over us. Sasuke stood there, sweat dripping down his face. He wasn't begging like Naruto; he was demanding.
"Training," Sasuke said, his voice tight. "You said you trained your body and mind. Show me."
"I'm on vacation," I said, closing my eyes.
"You're not doing anything!" Sasuke snapped. "You're just eating apples! If you're as strong as you say, prove it. Teach me how to be faster."
"Yeah!" Naruto chimed in. "Teach us, Shanks-sensei!"
"I'm not a sensei," I groaned. "Go bother Kakashi. He's the one with the fancy eye."
"Kakashi-sensei just tells us to climb trees!" Naruto complained. "We want to learn how to blow stuff up! Or how to move like you did against the cow-print guy!"
I cracked one eye open. They weren't going to leave me alone. And honestly, sitting here watching them run up trees was getting boring. Plus, I needed to figure out what I could do. I had bluffed my way through the first encounter, but I needed to know my limits before Zabuza came back.
"Fine," I sighed, standing up. My height cast a shadow over both of them. "But I'm not teaching you ninja magic. I don't know it."
"That's fine," Sasuke said instantly.
"I need to stretch my legs," I said. "You two keep climbing your trees. If you make it to the top branch by the time I get back, maybe I'll show you a trick."
"Really?" Naruto beamed.
"Go," I shooed them away.
As they scrambled back to their trees with renewed vigor, I caught Kakashi's eye. He was watching me over the rim of his book. He gave a small, singular nod. Permission granted to wander, but he was clearly keeping tabs on my chakra signature—or lack thereof.
I walked deeper into the woods, away from the clearing. The mist was thicker here, the trees older and more gnarled.
When I was sure I was alone, I stopped.
"Okay," I whispered. "System check."
I looked at my right hand. I flexed the fingers. The power was there, humming beneath the skin. It felt like a coiled spring.
"Haki," I murmured. "Three types. Conqueror's, Armament, Observation."
I'd used Conqueror's by accident on the bridge. It seemed tied to my emotions—anger, protectiveness, dominance. That was dangerous. I needed to control it, or I'd be knocking out innocent bystanders every time I got annoyed.
"Let's try Observation first," I said. Kenbunshoku Haki.
I closed my eyes and focused. I tried to listen. Not with my ears, but with my mind.
At first, nothing. Just the sound of the wind and distant birds.
Then, slowly, it faded in. It wasn't sound; it was intent.
I felt a bright, chaotic fire burning about a mile away—Naruto.
I felt a cold, sharp blue flame—Sasuke.
I felt a steady, simmering gray warmth—Kakashi.
I felt a small, flickering pink light—Sakura.
And then I felt the forest. Small sparks of life. Squirrels. Birds. A snake slithering under a root ten feet to my left.
"Whoa," I breathed, opening my eyes. The sensation was dizzying. It was like having a radar map in my head. "Okay. I can sense people. That's good. No ninja sneaking up on me."
Next. Armament. Busoshoku Haki.
This was the big one. Without a Devil Fruit, this was my main defense and offense.
I drew Gryphon. The blade was magnificent—heavy, sharp, and perfectly balanced. It gleamed in the dim light.
"Harden," I commanded mentally. "Coat the blade."
I focused on the feeling of my own willpower, imagining it flowing from my shoulder, down my arm, and into the steel.
For a second, nothing happened. Then, a black, inky sheen began to spread from the hilt. It looked like liquid metal. It crawled up the blade, turning the silver steel into a matte black void.
It held.
I swung the sword.
WOOSH.
The air pressure alone stripped the leaves off a nearby bush.
"Okay," I grinned. "That works."
I looked at a massive boulder nearby, probably the size of a minivan.
"Let's see."
I didn't use a named attack. I didn't scream "Divine Departure." I just swung the black blade casually, aiming for the center of the rock.
The sword met the stone. There was no resistance. It felt like cutting through room-temperature butter.
SHING.
I followed through with the swing and sheathed the blade in one fluid motion (muscle memory was a beautiful thing).
For a second, the rock stood still. Then, the top half slowly slid diagonally off the bottom half and crashed to the ground with a heavy thud. The cut surface was mirror-smooth.
I stared at it.
"I barely pushed," I whispered, a cold sweat breaking out on my neck. "If I hit a normal person with this... they'd explode."
I was stronger than I thought. Much stronger. The power scaling in One Piece was physical absurdity. In Naruto, people were glass cannons—high offense, low defense (unless they had special armor or jutsu). If I hit Zabuza with this, he wouldn't just break a bone; he'd be bisected.
"Okay," I said, looking at my hand. "Note to self: Pull punches. Like, really pull them. Treat everyone like they're made of wet tissue paper."
I spent the next hour practicing control. I tried to coat just my finger in Haki. Then just my fist. Then I practiced turning my Observation on and off so I wouldn't get a headache from sensing every bug in the woods.
I didn't dare practice Conqueror's Haki intentionally. I didn't want to alert Kakashi.
Feeling a bit more confident in my ability not to accidentally murder a teenager, I headed back to the training ground.
When I returned, the scene was one of exhaustion.
Naruto was lying on his back, panting. Sasuke was sitting against a tree, nursing a bruised arm. They looked wrecked.
"You're back!" Naruto gasped, sitting up. "Did you see? I made it... halfway!"
"I made it higher," Sasuke muttered, though he looked like he was about to pass out.
I walked over to them. "Not bad. You guys are stubborn. I like that."
"You promised," Sasuke wheezed, standing up on shaky legs. "You said you'd show us a trick."
"I did," I agreed.
I looked around for a prop. I spotted a sturdy stick on the ground, about the thickness of a broom handle. I picked it up.
"Watch closely," I said.
Naruto and Sasuke leaned in, their eyes glued to me. Even Kakashi lowered his book, his visible eye sharp.
I held the stick in my hand.
"You guys use chakra to enhance your strength, right?" I asked.
"Yeah," Naruto said. "We channel it to punch harder!"
"Right. External energy fueling the muscles," I nodded. "But true strength comes from flow. From transferring your weight and your will into the object."
I tossed the stick into the air. It spun lazily.
"Armament," I thought, but kept it invisible. I didn't turn the stick black; I just imbued it with a tiny, tiny fraction of Haki. Just enough to make it harder than steel.
As the stick fell, I didn't swing my arm wildly. I just snapped my wrist, catching the stick and flicking it forward toward a boulder about twenty feet away—a much smaller rock than the one I sliced earlier.
The stick flew like a bullet.
CRACK.
The stick impacted the rock. Instead of shattering, the stick pierced the stone, burying itself halfway deep into the solid rock like an arrow into wood. Spiderweb cracks spread from the impact point.
Naruto's jaw hit the floor.
Sasuke's eyes were wide circles.
Kakashi stood up.
"It's just a stick," Naruto whispered. "How did it go into the rock?"
"Flow," I lied. It was Haki, but 'flow' sounded mystical enough. "I didn't try to break the stick against the rock. I made the stick believe it was harder than the rock."
I looked at the boys. "You guys are trying too hard. You're tensing up. You're screaming and straining. Power isn't about noise. It's about efficiency. When you climb those trees, stop fighting the gravity. Accept it, and move through it."
Sasuke walked over to the rock and touched the stick. He pulled on it. It wouldn't budge.
"He imbued the wood with... something," Sasuke muttered. "It's not chakra. It feels... cold."
He turned to me, a new fire in his eyes. "Teach me that flow."
"Get to the top of the tree first," I said "Then we'll talk about throwing sticks."
"AAAARGH!" Naruto screamed, jumping back up. "I'm gonna climb this stupid tree if it kills me!"
He charged the tree again. This time, he didn't slip immediately. He made it three steps higher than before.
"See?" I grinned. "Less thinking, more doing."
I sat back down on my stump.
"Mr. Shanks."
I looked up. Kakashi was standing over me. He was moving much better than before. The crutches were gone.
"That was an impressive parlor trick," Kakashi said pleasantly, though his eye was serious. "Enhancing a wooden object to pierce stone. That's a high-level Kenjutsu principle. Similar to how we channel wind chakra into blades."
"Is it?" I shrugged. "I just throw things good."
"You have excellent control over your body," Kakashi observed. "And the boys seem to respond to you."
"They're good kids. Loud, but good."
Kakashi looked at his students, then back to me. He seemed to come to a decision.
"I'm feeling much better today," Kakashi said. "My chakra reserves are replenishing. But my body is still a bit stiff."
He closed his book and slipped it into his pocket.
"You said you were a pirate. A swordsman."
"I did."
"And I am a Shinobi of the Leaf," Kakashi said. "Since we are currently allies, and since I need to ensure you are... capable... of watching my back if Zabuza returns..."
He stepped back and gestured to the clearing.
"Would you care for a light spar? No Ninjutsu. Pure Taijutsu and Kenjutsu."
The forest went quiet. Naruto and Sasuke stopped their training instantly, looking down from their respective heights.
"Kakashi-sensei vs. Shanks?" Naruto gasped. "Whoa!"
I looked at Kakashi. He wasn't just stretching. He was testing me. He wanted to know if I was a threat, or if I was truly on his level. He wanted to see the speed I used on the thug, and the power I used on the stick.
I smirked. My blood rushed a little. It had been a while since I had a good fight. And Kakashi... he was famous. The Copy Ninja.
I stood up, grabbing Gryphon's scabbard, but not drawing the blade yet.
"A spar, huh?" I adjusted my sash. "Alright, Scarecrow. I'll play."
I walked to the center of the clearing. Kakashi walked opposite me. He reached back and pulled a kunai from his pouch, holding it in a reverse grip.
"Don't hold back," Kakashi said, his eye narrowing into a combat squint.
"Careful what you wish for," I replied, my hand resting casually on my hilt.
A breeze blew through the clearing, rustling the leaves. A single leaf detached from a branch high above and drifted down between us.
We both watched it fall.
Left... right... left...
The moment it touched the ground, the world exploded into motion.