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"Hiss!"
Hina bit her lip lightly, trying not to cry out because of the pain in her ligaments.
She subconsciously didn't want Ikki to see the side of her that couldn't bear the pain.
"Well, Hina's foundation is quite good. Keep it like this - you should get used to it after a while."
Ikki put his right hand down on Hina's back, forcing her upper body toward the floor.
At the same time, Hina's legs still maintained the shape of a split.
Ikki himself simply sat on Hina's back.
"You bastard."
Hina gritted her teeth, her body trembling as she wanted to roar at Ikki.
"Hina, if you feel you can't bear it, you can give up this practice. But if there's no way to master the Innate Demon Slayer Mark like Tashigi in the future, you can't blame me."
"In addition, I'll also need you to explain to Sengoku and the others when the time comes, lest they think I didn't live up to my promise. Besides..." Ikki looked at Tashigi and Sadi-chan on the side. "Both Tashigi and Sadi-chan who just came to my ship can maintain good flexibility. Could it be that our Commodore Hina has to give up in this regard?"
Hearing this, Hina clenched her fists involuntarily.
"Hmph... don't worry, Ikki. No matter what, Hina must learn the power Hina wants to master. No matter what kind of practice method you have, just bring it on."
Hina took a deep breath and finally didn't attack Ikki in anger.
The practice of flexibility had also been recorded in the "Demon Slayer" manga.
Hina had read the comics drawn by Ikki and understood that there were indeed related methods of flexibility practice.
"Very good, then keep bending down."
Ikki smiled and sat down with a little force.
Suddenly, a sharper tingling feeling hit Hina's heart.
"Also Tashigi, while you are opening the Innate Demon Slayer Mark, please contact me as soon as possible."
When Ikki saw Hina silently enduring the pain without speaking, he raised his head and looked at Tashigi and Sadi-chan.
Tashigi nodded slightly, walked up to Ikki, and started the relevant practice.
On the side, Sadi-chan looked at Hina who was sitting under Ikki, and her devilish thoughts finally couldn't be restrained.
The corners of her mouth raised, and she came to Ikki with swaying steps. Under Ikki's somewhat puzzled gaze, she handed a piece of paper with some writing on it to his hand.
Ikki widened his eyes, looked at the paper in his hand, then looked at Sadi-chan, and finally landed his gaze on Hina.
After a while, Ikki lit a flame in his hand and burned the paper into smoke.
"So, this is true?"
Ikki raised his head and looked at Sadi-chan seriously.
"It's true. I won't joke about it. Besides, I won't admit my mistake. You, Captain Ikki, are the only man on this ship - the situation of Vice Admiral Gion can't be influenced by other people."
Sadi-chan lifted half of her bangs and showed one of her extremely smart eyes to Ikki for the first time.
Ikki's Observation Haki fully activated, and the Observation Haki that could sense the emotions of others enveloped Sadi-chan.
The next moment, he understood.
Sadi-chan didn't lie.
Hina really had eaten something she shouldn't have.
'This has gone too far.'
Ikki shook his head and waved to Sadi-chan.
Sadi-chan squatted in front of Ikki with a smile on her face.
"This matter is kept confidential, understand?"
Although Ikki was even a little excited about Hina's situation, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he thought it was better not to let Hina know about this matter.
"Don't worry, Mr. Ikki. I'm pretty good at keeping secrets. But... since I kept it a secret, shouldn't you give me some..."
Sadi-chan made an OK gesture with a sly smile on her face.
"Okay, I understand." Ikki waved his hand. "I promise you, I will train you seriously. Training you to be a swordsman comparable to Shiryu, or even better than Shiryu."
"I won't shortchange you, that's all."
Hearing this, Sadi-chan's face smiled even more.
"Although I still want to get the special swords produced here, Mr. Ikki, I know those swords aren't just given away casually."
"I feel relieved to be able to get Mr. Ikki's promise. Hehe."
After saying that, Sadi-chan glanced at Hina mysteriously.
At this moment, she couldn't help but feel a little happy that she discovered Hina had taken the mysterious liquid.
After all, only with this incident could she get Ikki's promise.
With a happy mood, Sadi-chan walked aside and started further training.
"What are you talking about?"
At this time, Hina finally couldn't help but ask.
"You continue you exercise."
Ikki put his hand on Hina's shoulder, and the energy of Fire Breathing began to wash through Hina's body.
"You bastard... what are you doing again this time?"
"Don't get excited. I'm just helping you get better at your breathing technique - after all, your talent isn't enough, and I'm worried you're practicing incorrectly."
Ikki explained and continued his work.
To a certain extent, he had taken advantage of Hina.
Ikki felt that he still needed to be a little more serious in helping Hina practice.
"Tsk!"
Hina clicked her tongue, and hearing that it was for practice, she finally endured the energy of Fire Breathing flowing from Ikki's hand into her body.
Explorer, deck.
"How's it going, Nami? Have you sensed the pirate ship of Vander Decken IX that Captain Ikki mentioned?"
Vivi walked up to Nami and asked.
"Not yet. Really, I don't know where Captain Ikki got the information about Vander Decken IX. He also said that my Observation Haki is the strongest among everyone, so let me sense it."
"The ocean is very big, and I may not be able to sense it even if I keep using Observation Haki."
Nami sighed, her face full of confusion.
"Hehe, you were Ikki's first partner. Don't you still know about his intelligence capabilities? Even I can guess it."
"Although Vander Decken IX isn't wanted by the Marines, Captain Ikki said that he committed something on Fish-Man Island, so Fish-Man Island made him wanted. Captain Ikki must have known about Vander Decken IX through the bounty on Fish-Man Island."
Perona crossed her arms and looked at Nami with pride.
"Haha, you are really smart."
Nami immediately moved to Perona's side with a smile on her face and pinched her soft cheek with her hands.
"Damn it, let me go! You short-haired woman."
Perona pouted and directly used her negative ghosts to embarrass Nami.
But as a crewmate, how could Nami not know Perona's abilities?
Her figure flashed and she disappeared directly from the attack range of the negative ghost.
Seeing that the attack failed, Perona was unconvinced and wanted to use her ability again.
But at this moment, a male voice sounded in everyone's ears.
"What are you doing?"
"Ikki!"
The three women looked back and saw Ikki strolling toward them.
"Ikki, do you no longer need to train Hina and the others?"
Vivi walked toward Ikki with a smile.
"Practice is over for the time being. Anyway, it will take a long time, so I'll train those people later."
Ikki stretched, a look of fatigue on his face.
Although they didn't do anything strenuous, opening the Innate Demon Slayer Mark for a long time to help Tashigi and others still had some impact on him.
"However, that Sadi-chan is really a genius at learning Love Breathing. In just such a short time, she's already mastered the basics. After some time, maybe she'll be able to use some of Love Breathing's moves."
"By the way, what were you arguing about just now? Have you found the pirate crew of Vander Decken IX that I warned you about before?"
Ikki put his hand on Perona's little head, looked at Nami with a smile and asked.
"You're still asking about that. I was just following your request, using Observation Haki to find Vander Decken IX. I don't know why you're so persistent about him."
Nami crossed her arms with a confused look on her face.
"Haha, I haven't explained yet. According to my information, that guy is a Mato Mato no Mi user. Anyone touched by his hands will be marked as a target."
"After that, he can throw anything no matter how far away it is, even a huge battleship. These things will also fall toward the creatures he marked."
"And now, the person he marked is the princess of Fish-Man Island. Because the princess was marked by Vander Decken IX, the royal family of Fish-Man Island has suffered a lot."
"Nami, do you think if we kill Vander Decken IX here now, they'll be willing to give us a lot of treasure?"
As soon as the word treasure came out of Ikki's mouth, Nami's eyes lit up.
"Not only that, that guy has Devil Fruit powers. In other words, as long as we catch that guy, Vivi will be able to unlock her Zanpakutō."
"In that case, we'll have high-end combat capability on board."
Vivi couldn't help but reveal a trace of yearning on her face when she heard Ikki's words.
"With Vander Decken IX resolved, we'll also be able to gain the friendship of Fish-Man Island. The princess of that island has inexplicable power."
"Perhaps we can use her power in the future, so maintaining a good relationship is a good choice. Finally, Fish-Man Island has a Poneglyph."
"After taking care of Vander Decken IX, the people from Fish-Man Island can no longer stop us from seeing the historical text."
Ikki laughed.
"Ikki, you really think about Robin."
Vivi pouted and suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
"After all, I promised her that at least the Poneglyphs that I know about should be left to her to interpret."
Ikki shrugged and smiled.
"That being said, doesn't Ikki also think about you Vivi? He plans to let you release your Zanpakutō's power first."
A mature voice came from the direction of the cabin.
Everyone looked and saw that it was Nico Robin.
Vivi raised her hand and stroked her blue hair, not knowing how to respond to Robin for a moment.
After all, Robin was now also qualified to liberate her Zanpakutō.
"Ikki, what you said about Fish-Man Island having a Poneglyph - is it true?"
Nico Robin came to Ikki, her face full of anticipation.
"Of course."
Ikki nodded and was about to say something.
Suddenly, the figure of a ship broke into his range of perception.
Nami also suddenly raised her head and turned to look to the southeast.
"That's... a pirate ship? We won't really meet that Vander Decken IX, will we?"
Nami opened her mouth wide and looked forward with an incredulous expression.
"Haha, it looks like we're lucky. Looking at the direction of these guys, they seem to be heading toward us."
Ikki laughed.
As if to confirm Ikki's words, since Ikki and the others intentionally slowed down their sailing speed, the pirate ship soon came alongside the Explorer.
And Ikki also met Vander Decken IX on the pirate ship.
Although Nami and others didn't know Vander Decken IX, they still recognized him through Ikki's previous description.
"It's really... a meal delivered to our door. Let's go, Vivi. We can't let these guys burst the coating bubbles on the Explorer."
"Robin, don't worry. Then I'll find the Devil Fruit that will help you liberate Senbonzakura."
Ikki put his hand on Vivi's arm, took a step forward, and disappeared with Vivi instantly, turning into an afterimage and rushing toward Vander Decken IX on the opposite ship.