Chapter 159: Drifting to Wano, Still Gravely Wounded

Under the cover of night, Cooper stood atop a weathered pillar, breathing heavily as blood dripped from the corner of his beak while he stared at the churning sea below.

Pinned beneath one of his talons was a salmon over ten meters long.

The Log Pose strapped around his ankle had been completely destroyed—its glass shattered and its needle bent beyond repair.

Lying beside him, Arthur was in no better condition. Blood stained the corner of his mouth, and his tattered clothes were soaked from battle. He gazed toward the enormous waterfall in the distance.

"Can someone like me... really become a king?"

"I’ve been sailing these seas for almost ten years now. I’ve fought nonstop ever since I set out."

"And even after all that... I still couldn’t overcome three men with Admiral-level strength."

"Do I really have what it takes to rule this ocean?"

"I don’t trust anyone."

"I don’t seek help."

"I don’t build organizations."

"I don’t rule over anyone."

"I’ve always fought alone, no matter the cost..."

"The titles I’ve been given..."

He smiled bitterly.

"They’re nothing more than labels the World Government uses to inflate my reputation... and stories spread by people who know nothing about what I’ve been through."

"What I need..."

His grip tightened around the sheath of his Black Blade.

"...is a title that I forge myself."

"One that crushes every enemy beneath it."

"One created through battle."

After a long silence, he asked,

"How many days has it been since the Barrett Incident, Cooper?"

"Caw."

"Seven days, Arthur."

Cooper answered.

Although Arthur had escaped the battle on Clare Island alive...

The injuries he suffered were unlike anything he had experienced before.

For the first time...

He genuinely began to doubt his own strength.

Can one person really stand at the summit alone?

That question refused to leave his mind.

Eventually, Arthur stopped dwelling on it.

He idly spun the sheath of his Black Blade in his hand before looking toward Cooper, who was devouring the giant fish.

"Once you’ve finished eating..."

"We’re heading to the country above that waterfall."

"It’s been a while."

"Let’s pay Kaido a visit."

Cooper nodded.

According to the current timeline...

Kozuki Oden should already have begun dancing in the streets after making his agreement with Kaido.

After finishing their meal, Arthur grabbed Cooper’s talons.

The giant eagle lifted into the sky, carrying him toward the towering waterfall leading to Wano Country.

Roughly half an hour later...

They emerged from the freezing darkness below and arrived above Wano’s bright inland sea.

"Caw?"

"Arthur... the land ahead looks like a desert... but I can smell people."

Using his sharp eagle eyes, Cooper surveyed the barren coastline below.

Along with it...

He caught the scent of death.

A great battle had clearly taken place there.

Many had died.

"The smell isn’t just blood anymore..."

Arthur frowned.

"It’s decay."

The two landed near an abandoned harbor.

Not a single person was in sight.

The long-forgotten docks were littered with the bones of reptiles and fish.

Beyond them stretched countless gravestones.

As far as the eye could see.

Noticing a flock of crows feeding nearby, Cooper immediately rushed over.

The crows tried to fly away.

Instead...

Cooper forcibly herded them into a neat line and began loudly scolding them.

Arthur ignored the commotion.

He walked toward an old stone marker.

"Ringo..."

he read aloud.

The northeastern region of Wano.

A barren land...

Known as the resting place of the dead.

"So this is where the departed are laid to rest..."

With nothing but his sword at his side, Arthur continued walking into the endless wasteland.

Behind him...

Cooper finished disciplining the crows before happily hopping after him.

They walked for an entire day.

By nightfall...

Arthur continued moving across the desolate plains, dried sweat clinging to his body.

In the distance...

A lonely campfire flickered beneath the dead branches of a withered tree.

Someone sat beside it, casually eating roasted meat.

The silhouette...

Seemed strangely familiar.

"Tastes terrible."

Shimotsuki Ushimaru frowned.

"Ringo’s soil and water have only gotten worse."

He sat shirtless beside the fire, his lean, muscular frame illuminated by the flames.

His short dark-blue hair swayed gently in the breeze.

Two swords rested at his waist.

"Excuse me..."

"Hm?!"

The unfamiliar voice startled Ushimaru.

His hand instantly gripped his sword.

Spinning around—

Cold sweat ran down his back.

A young man dressed entirely in black had somehow appeared behind him.

"When did he get that close?"

"I never sensed him..."

His expression immediately turned vigilant.

"...Zoro?"

Arthur subconsciously blurted out the name.

Then immediately frowned.

No...

Zoro has green hair.

This man’s hair is blue.

"Zoro?"

Ushimaru blinked.

"Who’s that?"

"My name is Shimotsuki Ushimaru."

"Daimyo of Ringo."

"My mistake."

Arthur answered calmly.

Ushimaru’s gaze shifted toward the sword at Arthur’s waist.

"That sheath..."

"It’s no ordinary blade."

"Where did you obtain it?"

Arthur noticed the man’s keen eyesight.

"My sword."

He offered nothing more.

Meanwhile, Cooper had already wandered over to Ushimaru’s supplies.

Catching the aroma of sake...

He immediately helped himself.

"Heh."

Ushimaru laughed.

"An eagle that drinks sake."

"Now that’s a rare sight."

He still couldn’t sense any hostility from Arthur.

Apart from the three scars over his left eye...

The young man looked surprisingly ordinary.

"He can dance, too."

Arthur casually replied as he sat beside the fire.

"May I ask your name?"

Ushimaru smiled.

"And... would you let me examine that sword?"

"I doubt it."

Arthur answered.

"My name’s Arthur."

"And this Black Blade isn’t for viewing."

"A Black Blade?!"

Ushimaru’s expression changed.

Wano had only recently lost the legendary Black Blade Shusui.

Naturally...

His suspicions were immediately raised.

"Then..."

"What if I order you as the Daimyo of Ringo?"

"Would you hand it over?"

"Authority?"

Arthur met his gaze with a faint smile.

"If you challenge me to a duel..."

"I might let you see it."

"You’re a swordsman, aren’t you?"

"I am."

Ushimaru nodded.

He had intended to test Arthur from the very beginning.

Drawing both swords, he slowly stood.

"A Black Blade..."

"...can only be forged after countless life-and-death battles through one’s Haki."

"You’re still so young."

"How could someone your age possibly possess one?"

Arthur chuckled.

"I haven’t heard someone use age as an argument in a long time."

He slowly removed his tattered black cloak.

The moment he did—

Ushimaru froze.

His eyes instinctively swept across Arthur’s body.

Scar after scar...

Some deep enough to have been fatal.

There were so many that he couldn’t even count them.

They gave Arthur an overwhelming pressure that words couldn’t describe.

"How are you..."

Ushimaru whispered.

"How are you even still alive...?"

Before his eyes—

Arthur drew two blades.

One was a sword formed entirely from ice.

The other...

His Black Blade.

He left Ice Dragon sheathed at his waist while raising the other two swords.

"I can use Two-Sword Style as well."

"My style only attacks."

"It never defends."

The instant he finished speaking—

Arthur suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

It splattered onto the ground.

"Caw!"

"Arthur! Don’t push yourself!"

Cooper immediately abandoned the sake and rushed over.

He gently patted Arthur’s back with one wing.

Even Cooper himself coughed up blood.

Ushimaru stared in shock.

"You’re both seriously injured..."

Arthur slowly steadied his breathing despite the ringing in his ears.

"This is enough."

"To deal with you."

Even he couldn’t understand why his recovery was taking so long.

The battle on Clare Island...

Against Kong...

Sengoku...

And Garp...

Had left his internal organs severely damaged.

Each of those three possessed monstrous Haki and terrifying physical strength.

None of them had been inferior to him in close combat.

"You’re forcing yourself."

Ushimaru said seriously.

"And that will only get you killed."

Yet Arthur’s determination moved him.

He accepted the duel without another word.

Drawing both swords—

He charged.

Had Kozuki Oden not suddenly returned to Wano...

Ushimaru would already have led Ringo’s army into war against the other Daimyo.

His twin blades became coated in Ryuo as he launched a relentless assault.

Arthur twisted effortlessly between every slash.

Each missed strike split the earth apart.

"I can’t predict his movements..."

Ushimaru analyzed while attacking.

"He’s heavily wounded..."

"Yet his footwork is still this incredible..."

No matter how refined his swordsmanship was...

It meant nothing if he couldn’t land a hit.

"How interesting!"

He laughed.

"A powerful samurai from outside Wano comes to challenge me!"

"It’s enough to set my blood on fire!"

Simply from Arthur’s evasive movements...

Ushimaru already knew.

Arthur was stronger than he was.

Arthur smiled faintly.

"If your blood’s boiling..."

"Then let’s spill some."

His calm aura vanished.

In its place erupted the savage presence of a wild beast.

Finding the perfect opening—

Arthur swung both blades simultaneously.

CLANG!

Ushimaru was blasted backward, completely losing his balance.

Just as Arthur’s twin blades were about to strike—

Ushimaru forcefully stabilized himself.

Using his own swordsmanship...

He launched an immediate counterattack.

Just as Arthur’s twin blades were about to strike—

Shimotsuki Ushimaru regained his balance in an instant and countered with a sword technique of his own.

"Iai!"

Haki flowed from his body, wrapping around him before gathering onto his blade.

In a flash—

His draw cut seemed to pierce straight through Arthur.

Clang!

A crisp metallic ring echoed through the night.

Ushimaru’s eyes widened.

He immediately turned around—

Only to find Arthur still standing exactly where he had been, completely unmoved.

"You blocked it?!"

Ushimaru stared in astonishment.

"So your mastery of the sword has reached that level as well."

"A Great Swordsman...?"

Arthur glanced at the shattered ice blade in his hand.

The instant it intercepted Ushimaru’s iai strike, it had broken apart.

Calmly dropping the broken blade, he spoke.

"So Great Swordsmen are this common in Wano?"

"Outside this country..."

"Anyone who dares call themselves a samurai is hunted relentlessly by the World Government."

Ushimaru couldn’t help smiling.

"Is the outside world really that cruel?"

"If that’s true..."

"My relatives who left Wano ended up in quite an extraordinary world."

He no longer underestimated Arthur.

Despite being covered in serious injuries...

Arthur had stood perfectly still and blocked an instantaneous iai strike.

In Ushimaru’s mind...

Arthur had already surpassed him.

"The sea is cruel enough that you’re forced to keep climbing."

Arthur slowly drew his Black Blade.

"Otherwise..."

"Your fate will always remain in someone else’s hands."

Seeing Arthur unsheathe the weapon—

The smile disappeared from Ushimaru’s face.

A Black Blade...

Could only be forged through countless life-and-death battles.

The weapon Arthur carried—

With its pitch-black blade and icy blue patterns—

Was completely different from the legendary Shusui.

"Come."

Arthur lowered his stance.

"Let’s continue, Shimotsuki Ushimaru."

Like a phantom—

He burst forward.

Lightning-fast.

The overwhelming pressure from Arthur’s sudden acceleration caused cold sweat to run down Ushimaru’s back.

He tightened his grip on both swords and met the attack head-on.

Deep within the desolate wasteland of Ringo...

Sword light flashed endlessly through the darkness.

Steel clashed against steel.

Again.

And again.

The duel continued throughout the entire night—

Only falling silent when dawn finally approached.

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