Sakura had a nightmare.
In the massive waves churned up by the violent storm, a demon was urging her to swim faster.
At some point, she thought she saw Roger, but before she could cry out, 'Captain, save me!'-
-She saw the captain say something to the demon like 'It's about to awaken', and then... she watched as that demon, eyes blazing red, broke into a sprint.
He was still yelling something like, "You wouldn't want your Observation Haki awakening to fail, would you?" as he chased after her.
"Sakura-chan!"
"Sakura-chan!"
Murky, sticky voices seemed to come from above the water's surface. The sound of bubbles churning in the sea reached her ears.
'Uncle Rayleigh is calling me... but I'm so tired... I don't want to deal with him.'
Sakura wanted to just keep sinking in the cold seawater until she was completely swallowed by the darkness.
Boom!!!
Lightning flashed across the gloomy clouds in the sky, illuminating Rayleigh's demonic smile.
Raindrops fell onto Sakura's porcelain-doll-like face, prompting the girl to cast a bleary gaze.
A lethal sense of crisis surged up her spine, setting off alarm bells in her mind.
Roaring on instinct, she turned her head sideways, just barely dodging a rapier that fell vertically.
The blade kissed her cheek and pierced the wooden deck beneath her.
"!!!"
Sakura's eyes snapped wide open. A cold sensation spread from her face, driving away her drowsiness.
Sitting up, she ignored the few strands of cherry-blossom pink hair severed by the sword tip, breathing heavily.
"To hone Observation Haki into instinct in just three months. Well done."
Rayleigh clapped his hands in praise as he walked over to pull out his sword.
"Stinky old man, you bastard!!!"
The thought of nearly having her head pierced still made Sakura break out in a cold sweat.
Mixed with rain, the sweat made her grit her teeth and stamp her feet in frustration.
God knew how she had endured these past three months.
Rayleigh's training was so simple and brutal: thrown into the sea to swim after the Oro Jackson.
When she was completely exhausted, she'd be fished out, only to have her head whacked with an Armament Haki-infused stick.
It wasn't until ten days ago that Sakura could vaguely sense the trajectory of the stick that demon actually swapped the club for his rapier.
However, part of the reason the training lasted so long was due to Sakura's own Giant Royalty's constitution.
As everyone knows, Giants have thick health bars and high stamina.
Draining Sakura's stamina to its maximum had become an extremely difficult task.
Therefore, in the later stages of training, it often turns into a tug-of-war of endurance between the two sides, torturing each other.
"Shanks! Buggy!"
Sakura clenched her fists, her eyes darting around looking for those two traitorous friends.
'Thinking back now, they must have known about Rayleigh's training methods all along.'
'That's why they were nowhere to be seen when Rayleigh repeatedly made his offer that day.'
'Damn it! I'm still too young!'
"Alright, save dealing with them for later. Something spectacular is about to start."
Rayleigh reached out to stop Sakura, pointing towards two figures on the deck.
On the left was Roger. On the right was Douglas Bullet.
Once again, invigorating thunder acted like a starting pistol. Both figures simultaneously melted into the darkness.
Then, through the new senses granted by her Observation Haki, Sakura saw-
Bullet, stirring purple fluid and merging matter onto his right arm, threw a mighty punch.
It met the long sword in Roger's hand, which streamed with dark lightning and was wrapped in blazing Haki.
Boom!!!
Pure white light swirled, rose, and transformed into a tyrannical roar that overshadowed the thunder.
The long sword, carrying the storm and lightning, whistled as it slashed down, easily tearing through the purple matter on Bullet's hand and sending him flying.
Bullet's massive body crashed into the Oro Jackson's railing before sliding to the deck.
"So strong..."
Sakura's voice was in sync with Bullet's.
The girl's Observation Haki detected the fading of Bullet's Haki. She turned to look at Rayleigh.
"Uncle Rayleigh, can he really fight you to a standstill?"
"Of course. Assuming it's not a fight to the death."
Rayleigh, with his arms crossed, winked his right eye at her, a mysterious smile appearing on his lips.
'Assuming it's not a fight to the death'? Leaving a cliffhanger on purpose to keep people in suspense.'
'Riddler, get off the Oro Jackson!'
Sakura rolled her eyes at Rayleigh and turned away to continue her swordsmanship training.
Time at sea was blown away by the salty, fishy sea breeze.
A few days after Bullet's failed challenge against Roger-
Unsurprisingly, Bullet chose to leave the Roger Pirates.
As he was leaving, Roger insisted on giving Bullet, who had initially refused, a small boat and a large amount of supplies.
Thanks to the captain's willfulness, the entire crew's voyage had to be rerouted mid-course.
To make matters worse, they encountered Marines while resupplying.
…
New World, Spring Island Cavallero.
"Tekkai!"
Facing Sakura's fist, the Marine before her used one of the Rokushiki, Tekkai.
A suffocating, terrifying storm of force compressed and erupted. Sakura's fist crossed the long distance and slammed into the Marine's body.
Under the release of this unprecedented tremendous power, the Marine spat out a large mouthful of blood, was sent flying backwards, shattered several rocks, and fell unconscious.
"Woah~, daring to block that monstrous gorilla's fist with your body, really..."
Buggy, squatting on a boulder, muttered under his breath, but was suddenly locked onto by a gaze filled with intense killing intent.
Fortunately, his next discovery saved him.
"Captain, Whitebeard's ship is on the other side of the island!"
Hearing Buggy's shout, Sakura's anger was momentarily stifled.
'If my memory served me correctly, this should be the place where the Roger Pirates would have their great battle with the Whitebeard Pirates.'
'In other words, the Kozuki Family was about to come aboard?'
A premonition from her Observation Haki suddenly buzzed in her mind. A red glint flashed in Sakura's emerald-green eyes.
She turned to look deep into the forest, and felt powerful presence was rapidly approaching her.
"Gun Modo....Ah, why is it a little girl?"
When Kozuki Oden got a clear look at Sakura's appearance, the sword stance he had prepared slackened.
"What's wrong with being a little girl? Are you looking down on women?!"
Sakura, who was already in a bad mood, clenched her fists and made a gesture to hit.
But Roger, who had appeared beside her out of nowhere, gently grabbed her hand and grinned at her.
"Wait, Sakura-chan, I can't have you getting hurt!"
With a flick of his arm, Roger tucked Sakura behind him while simultaneously drawing his famed sword, Ace, from his waist.
"Yo! Samurai! You dared to attack my crewmember. Are you prepared for the consequences?"
"Divine Departure-!"
The air tore, Conqueror's Haki roared!
Roger's sword light slashed into Oden, whose guard was wide open. The surging residual light, mixed with black lightning, sent Oden crashing through four or five large trees before embedding him deeply into a rock face.
"Really, Captain Roger, you just wanted to fight yourself, didn't you?"
Sakura pouted discontentedly, protesting to Roger with puffed-out cheeks.
"Now's not the time for that. It's coming!"
As Roger's voice fell, a giant of a man descended from the sky.
The massive naginata in his hand rumbled with crimson lightning, drastically increasing its speed and power.
Roger on the ground tossed Sakura further back and took a large step, shattering the rocky ground beneath his feet.
Utilizing the rotation of his swing, he launched a slash of sword energy. A piercing screech erupted abruptly.
From within that ultimate Conqueror's Haki that drained the color from all things, two ferociously grinning faces emerged.
The clash between Roger and Whitebeard tore the sky, blasting a massive hole in the dense cloud cover.
The rocky ground shattered. Malicious and fierce currents uprooted giant trees and sent many pirate crew members flying.
A moment later, Roger and Whitebeard stood laughing amidst the ruins, their greeting exchanged.
"Wahahahaha!"
"Gurararara!"
Once the laughter subsided, the two spoke in perfect unison.
"Leave all your belongings behind!"
Roger Pirates vs Whitebeard Pirates.
The battle officially began.