While news of Teresa's battle with "Hawk-Eye" Mihawk spread across every corner of the world, in the far-off East Blue, in Shimotsuki Village, at the Isshin Dojo—
Nine-year-old Kuina had just finished a day of grueling training.
She walked to the edge of the dojo and, out of habit, picked up the newspaper her father Koushirou always left there. She wanted to learn about the outside world.
When her gaze fell on the bold headline on the front page and on Teresa's photograph, her whole body froze on the spot!
Her heart pounded harder than it ever had before!
Women can be that strong too?!
A woman can fight the world's greatest swordsman to a draw?!!
In her mind, her father Koushirou's oft-repeated words echoed again.
"Kuina, as a girl, you can never become the world's greatest swordsman in the end…"
That sentence was like an invisible mountain pressing down on her chest, making it hard to breathe. She refused to accept it! She loved swordsmanship more than anyone else, longed to grow stronger more than anyone else, longed to stand at the very pinnacle of the sword!
All these years of desperate training had been for one purpose: to prove to her father that a woman could also become the world's greatest swordsman.
And now, this woman named Teresa…
She was already standing atop the summit of swordsmanship, crossing blades with the strongest swordsman in the world!
"Father… did you see this?" Kuina whispered, clutching the newspaper tightly.
"A woman can become a great swordsman too! If Teresa can do it, then I, Kuina, can definitely do it as well!"
Staring at the photo on the page, a bold idea sprouted wildly in her heart. Holding the newspaper, she turned and left the training grounds.
After Kuina left, Koushirou's figure slowly stepped out from the shadows. He had always seen his daughter's efforts. But because of her gender, he had long believed Kuina was destined never to become the world's greatest swordsman.
Yet Teresa's sudden rise had shattered the so-called curse that women could not become the strongest swordsmen—and at the same time, shattered Koushirou's own fixed mindset.
So after seeing the report in the paper, he had quietly placed it at the edge of Kuina's usual training grounds, hoping she would see it with her own eyes.
Late at night, when moonlight draped itself over Shimotsuki Village, a small figure shouldered a simple travel bag. Clutched against her chest was Wado Ichimonji. She quietly pushed open the rear door of the dojo and headed toward a small boat moored by the shore.
From the darkness, Koushirou silently watched it all. He did not stop his daughter. In this moment, he had no reason to stop a young girl who was chasing her dream. He could only hope that one day, Kuina would fulfill that dream. That was the simplest, purest wish a father could have.
Meanwhile, the incident involving Teresa continued to ferment. It was one of the very few major events to have occurred recently, and the name of the Lulusia Kingdom was once again brought to the forefront of the world's attention.
Defeating the Golden Lion and fighting "Hawk-Eye" to a draw—
The strength of this kingdom had already surpassed everyone's imagination. Its territory might not be large, but no one could say for sure whether there were other powerhouses like Teresa hidden within that kingdom.
"Lulusia Kingdom…"
Many Underworld forces fell silent as they read the newspaper. It was as if each of them was quietly forming their own plans.
At this time, however, Teresa—now the center of all that public attention—was on a Sky Island.
Tesoro's preliminary plans required a vast amount of funds. Even though Ronan had become the King of Lulusia, he had no way to produce such a huge sum of Berries in the short term. After all, he could not simply squeeze his own citizens dry.
Tesoro had heard that Sky Island possessed enormous quantities of gold, which was why he had come here together with Teresa.
Getting to the Sky Island was not difficult—at least, not for Teresa. All Greatsword warriors possessed the ability to alter their bodies to a certain extent once they released some of their Yoki.
When Tesoro saw wings sprout from Teresa's back, he couldn't help suspecting that she had eaten some kind of Zoan-type Devil Fruit. But since that was clearly her secret, Tesoro did not pry further.
The reality of Sky Island differed from what Tesoro had imagined. Looking at the island around him, then down at the etched map in his hand depicting the legendary "City of Gold," he frowned. The two did not match at all.
Tesoro even began to wonder whether the map he was holding was wrong.
Still, this Sky Island was clearly inhabited. To the local residents, Teresa and Tesoro were obvious outsiders. The moment the two of them appeared, the islanders watched them with open wariness.
Tesoro, however, showed no restraint at all. He immediately stepped forward to ask those residents about the island's gold.
But the moment they heard that his goal was gold, the residents scattered from Teresa and Tesoro as if they were plague-ridden.
"Looks like we're not very welcome here," Teresa said, a hint of helplessness in her tone.
"These people are way too wary of outsiders. There's no way they'll tell us anything about the legends of gold! We'll have to find it ourselves!"
Tesoro gave up on asking questions and prepared to search the Sky Island on his own.
But just as Teresa and Tesoro turned to leave the village and head to other parts of the island, a man's figure blocked their path.
"Ants from the Blue Sea? Who gave you permission to set foot in god's domain?"
A shirtless man with four drums strapped to his back, each carved with three tomoe-like patterns, appeared before Teresa and Tesoro.
This man was Enel, the self-styled god who ruled over Sky Island.
"God?"
Teresa eyed the man in front of her, a faint, almost imperceptible hint of amusement on her face.
Beside her, Tesoro looked at the newcomer. The dangerous aura he felt from this man made him step forward quickly to explain, "You… 'god', we mean no offense. We simply wandered in by mistake. We'll leave right away."
Tesoro had no desire to get into an unnecessary fight.
"Leave?"
Enel sounded as if he had just heard something amusing.
"You've stepped into god's domain and now you want to walk away so easily? You Blue Sea trash should consider it the highest honor just to look upon god with your own eyes. Now, kneel and repent for your sins. If I happen to be in a good mood, I might grant you a swift end."
Hearing those words, Teresa's expression did not change in the slightest. Tesoro's, on the other hand, instantly darkened.
What this guy was saying was really infuriating. If he didn't know he was outmatched, Tesoro would have already gone up and punched him.
Tesoro turned his head to look at Teresa. At this point, he could only rely on her.
With such a powerful "leg to cling to" right beside him, Tesoro wasn't worried at all.
(End of Chapter)
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