"Kuina!"
Koushirou stomped the ground, charging straight towards his daughter's direction.
But Kuina's falling speed was far faster than his sprint. Moreover, the valley floor below was littered with sharp debris from their battle.
"Tch!"
A girl's tongue click sounded, and savage lightning stirred up rolling ripples and light flames.
In the brief span of a snap, a Flying Thunder God kunai accelerated by a railgun shot past Koushirou's body, smashing through all obstacles, arriving beneath Kuina just before she hit the ground.
Whoosh!
A low hum of spacetime disturbance arose. Sakura's figure suddenly appeared at the kunai's location, spreading her arms for the falling Kuina.
"Ahhh-!"
Kuina, screaming with her eyes closed, felt the rapid descent halt abruptly, then her whole body was caught in a warm embrace.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw Sakura's face.
"Sakura-nee!" Kuina raised her fists at her.
The somewhat clumsy father in the distance tripped over debris, scraping up a large cloud of smoke as he slid to a stop beside the two.
"You're really reckless. What if you had fallen to your death?"
Sakura put her down, knocking Kuina on the head with a fist.
Rubbing her reddened forehead, Kuina pouted in protest: "I wouldn't! I won't die before setting sail to become a great pirate and seizing the title of the World's Greatest Swordsman!"
"Such a thing... I won't allow it!"
The man who had been sprawled on the ground got up. At this moment, he showed no trace of the overbearingness of a Great Swordsman.
Instead, he was like a father whose soft spot had been pressed… at a loss.
"Hmph, it's not like my dreams are ever acknowledged by Father anyway. You won't even let me inherit the dojo!"
The girl, arms crossed, delivered a fatal blow to her old father with her rebellious words.
"That's right~ That's right~"
Sakura and Leviathan, arms around each other's shoulders, stood behind the girl, making faces at Koushirou.
"Shut up, pirate! The path I arranged for her was ruined by you!"
Struck by this double blow, veins bulged on Koushirou's forehead. In his agitation, he blurted out what was in his heart.
"Path?"
Kuina immediately caught the meaning in her father's words and looked at him with burning eyes.
"Sigh."
Realizing his slip, Koushirou let out a sigh and sat on the ground, his beloved sword falling to the ground unnoticed.
He just raised a hand and covered his increasingly profound eyes: "Kuina, the dangers on this sea are beyond your imagination. Women are naturally coveted.
Not to mention the upper limit for female swordsmen is right there. Even so, do you still want to set sail and adventure?"
"Yes!"
The girl's expression became resolute, carrying a will that brooked no refusal.
Reaching the world's peak was both her dream and her promise with someone.
After hearing his daughter's words, Koushirou's back bent even more. "The path you have chosen is filled with chaos and malice. Listen to my arrangement, stay in the village as a village guardian swordsman..."
"Kuina, you would be much happier that way!"
"That way I would not be happy at all!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Kuina rejected the path Koushirou had arranged for her.
In the past, having never seen the vastness of the sky, she might have been able to endure the stable and peaceful days of Shimotsuki Village, restraining her ambition to protect it all.
But... it's different now!
Having glimpsed a corner of the peak, how could a youngster whose blood hasn't cooled suppress the surge in her heart?
Even if the reality ahead is a bottomless abyss, as long as her will still burns for one more day, the pride of a swordsman will never be defeated.
"..."
Koushirou didn't speak, just silently stood up and sheathed his sword.
Sakura stood to the side, sneakily giving Kuina a thumbs up.
"Pirate!" A shout broke the silence. Koushirou's aura seemed to have aged somewhat. "I entrust my daughter to you!"
"Okay... Huh?"
…
Having inexplicably fought someone, and then inexplicably been entrusted with someone's child, Sakura was also somewhat baffled.
That night, the girl, drinking with the Revolutionary Army's cadres, mentioned this matter and was met with their unanimous mockery.
"Haruno-boy, if you've charmed someone's daughter, you should take responsibility properly!"
Elegantly holding red wine, Ivankov, covering his mouth, twitched trying to hold back laughter.
"Indeed, a certain pirate sows affection everywhere but doesn't take responsibility, very much like the legendary playboy... oh no, playgirl, right?"
Robin, lounging comfortably against a large rock by the fire, teased Leviathan and let out a light laugh.
Hands grew from the ground beside her, helping her turn the pages of her book.
"Eh, Robin, you're saying that too!"
Sakura, holding a large mug of beer and chugging it, let out a burp and dejectedly slammed the cup on the ground.
"However, that child is still too young, isn't she unsuitable for sailing with you?"
Dragon, with his deep experience in running illegal organizations, raised his own concern.
"But, right now, probably no one else is more suitable than Sakura to take that child, since she's already set her sights on Sakura, hasn't she?"
"And sailing the seas with just two people must be lonely, right? Wouldn't having one more lovely companion be nice?"
A gentle voice joined the discussion, a huge shadow covering everyone.
"That's true..."
Sakura was deep in thought when she suddenly realized the voice was unfamiliar.
Looking up, she saw a six-meter-tall giant sitting on the outskirts, smiling and waving at her.
"Kuma! You guy, I haven't congratulated you on your marriage yet!"
Sakura raised her glass in a toast to Kuma from afar, but noticed while swaying that her drink was already empty.
"Haruno-boy, your congratulations are too late! Kuma's daughter has already been born!"
Ivankov opened a new bottle of beer and filled Sakura's glass.
"Ginny and I are both very grateful to you. When you pass through the Sorbet Kingdom in the South Blue in the future, please be sure to let us entertain you properly."
Kuma also raised his glass, froth sliding down, and clinked it with Sakura's.
The addition of this little giant made the night's banquet atmosphere even more lively.
Drinking from night until dawn, drinking under the table all the revolutionaries, Sakura's mood finally improved considerably. She headed towards the Isshin Dojo.
In the dust-sealed warehouse behind the dojo, Koushirou was waiting for Sakura at the door.
"Yo, old man, what's up?"
Sakura walked over from the distance, wearing large sunglasses, a floral shirt, large shorts, and flip-flops.
Koushirou looked at the alcohol-scented girl before him and began to question whether entrusting his daughter to her was the right decision.
"Follow me!"
Koushirou, face full of black lines, barely suppressing the urge to cut someone down, pushed open the warehouse door.
"I noticed during our fight earlier that you lack a suitable weapon."
As a famous sword-smithing family from Wano Country, Koushirou, besides his swordsmanship, had also inherited the sword-forging techniques from his father, Kouzaburou.
With the eye of both a swordsmith and a Great Swordsman, he could naturally see Sakura's predicament in battle.
Having no physical weapon, relying on ability-created constructs for combat, was too disadvantageous when facing powerful individuals who could nullify abilities with Haki.
To repay this guy for saving his daughter's life, and also to add an extra layer of safety for his daughter's future voyages, Koushirou decided to pick a suitable weapon for her.
"These are the blades my father and I made. Apart from the Wado Ichimonji, pick one that suits you!"
"Oh~ then I want a sword that can change shape! Do you have one here?"
Hearing she could get something for free, Sakura's eyes lit up, making an excessive demand.
She looked exactly like the guy next door asking the old man for a parking spot to park his modified motorcycle.
"Hmph..." More veins bulged on Koushirou's forehead. "Yes!"
After some rummaging through boxes and cabinets, he pulled out a sword hilt without a blade from a dusty box.
The hilt's overall material looked somewhat cool to the touch. The middle was a flat muzzle, and the tail was fitted with a palm-sized ball.
"This blade was forged by my father a long time ago. The material used a special shellfish brought back from the legendary Skypeia, capable of spitting a special Island Cloud containing iron particles and angle particles, forming the weapon you need."
"Not bad! Does it have a name?"
Sakura played with this weapon that could release Iron Clouds, manipulating the clouds to form greatswords, battleaxes, long swords...
"It does. Its name is Kumotsuna!" (T/N: Kumotsuna means Cloud Steel.)
Koushirou looked at the hilt with nostalgia, but when his gaze moved up and touched Sakura's face, it revealed a hint of mischievous expression.
"However, due to the particularity of the Cloud Dial, my father's forging of it was extremely limited. In the end, it barely reached the level of a Skillful Grade Blade. If you want to nurture it into a Black Blade in the future, the difficulty won't be low either!"
"This warehouse holds many works left by my father, some of which can rival the 21 Great Grade Swords. You only have one chance. Are you sure you want to choose Cloud Steel?"
Sakura's arm turned slightly. Pressing the Cloud Dial's switch, the Iron Cloud automatically retracted.
"The weapon that suits you is the best. Even if my swordsmanship isn't highly skilled, I still understand this principle."
The girl grinned, attached the hilt-only Skillful Grade Blade to her waist, and turned around nonchalantly, walking out of the warehouse.
Koushirou followed silently behind her, seeing Sakura off outside the dojo. He stopped and bowed deeply to the departing Sakura.
Perceiving Koushirou's actions behind her with Observation Haki, the girl let out a light sigh that melted into the wind.
"Ah, parents!"