Ever since Kaoru Tsubasa and his friends defeated Colonel Mouse, the villagers had begun treating them much better.
Now, they were finally allowed to enter Cocosia Village freely.
"Straw Hat boy, I'll leave my daughter in your care," Bell-mère said, pulling Luffy aside to a quiet hillside.
"Yes! And if you ever make Nami cry, I swear I'll never forgive you — even after I'm dead!"
Genzo, who had followed her up the hill, glared fiercely at Luffy.
Luffy nodded earnestly at their words, assuring them that he would never make Nami cry.
"Please take this seriously."
Genzo immediately grabbed Luffy by the collar, frustrated by the boy's carefree grin.
Bell-mère just laughed quietly at their exchange.
She believed Luffy would keep his word. After all her observations these past few days, she had realized he wasn't like other pirates — not the cruel kind that left only pain in their wake.
A few days later, Nami stood at the docks with tears welling in her eyes.
"Bell-mère, Nojiko… I'm leaving."
Bell-mère and Nojiko had come to see her off.
"Bell-mère, thank you… for everything you've done for me all these years," Nami said, crying as she hugged her tightly.
For the orphaned Nami, Bell-mère had been her mother — no matter how stubborn or willful she'd been growing up.
Bell-mère smiled and hugged her back.
"You are my daughter. Taking care of you is what a mother does."
After a few last words, Nami boarded the Going Merry.
With Luffy's shout of "Set sail!", the Straw Hat Pirates finally welcomed their official navigator.
Bell-mère sighed as she watched the ship drift away.
"My daughter's off to chase her dream now. As her mother, all I can do… is support her."
Aboard the Merry, Kaoru Tsubasa smiled and handed Nami several heavy bags.
"To celebrate your joining us, these Berries are yours."
Nami's eyes lit up as she opened them.
Inside were stacks upon stacks of cash — nearly ten billion Berries.
"Wha— are you serious?!"
Kaoru just grinned and nodded. Seeing her joy made it worth it.
The next morning.
"Ugh, did they raise the price again?" Nami groaned at the newsprint seller seagull hovering over the ship. The price of newspapers had gone up again.
The bird only gave her a helpless look, as if to say, Hey, don't blame me.
"Don't you think what you're selling is a bit overpriced?" she complained, even though she had more than enough money to buy the entire newsstand.
Still, she paid the few Berries and muttered, "If it goes up again, I'm not buying next time."
Usopp rolled his eyes. "You've got billions in savings, and you're still fussing about a few Berries?"
"It's expensive if I have to buy it every day!" Nami shot back.
Meanwhile, Luffy was munching happily on oranges from Nami's personal orchard.
"Why? I just ate one!"
"Get your hands off those!" Sanji yelled, kicking him straight into Usopp — who, in turn, spilled pepper right into his own eyes.
"Gahhh! My eyes are on fire!!" Usopp screamed.
Kaoru quickly stepped in, using a spiritual cleansing technique to remove the pepper. A column of flame burst from the deck where Usopp had been flailing.
Luffy rubbed his head, pouting. "Man, eating an orange shouldn't be a crime. Sanji's such a stingy guy."
Sanji crossed his arms. "Those are Nami's, idiot."
Kaoru laughed softly, pulling a few oranges from his system space. "Here, Luffy. These are from Bell-mère's orchard. Eat these instead."
"Yay!" Luffy cheered, gobbling them down with a grin.
Just then, several bounty posters slipped out of Nami's newspaper and fluttered across the deck.
"Huh? What's this?" Kaoru picked them up.
Unlike the original timeline where only Luffy had a bounty, this time Zoro, Sanji, and Kaoru himself had been added.
Monkey D. Luffy, Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates — 35,000,000 Berries
Roronoa Zoro, Swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates — 30,000,000 Berries
Sanji, Cook of the Straw Hat Pirates — 28,000,000 Berries
Kaoru Tsubasa, Vice-Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, "Speed Demon" — 5.5 Billion Berries
"It's our first bounty!" Kaoru said, handing the posters to Luffy and the others.
"Hehehe, 35 million Berries! I'm famous!" Luffy beamed.
"Thirty million, huh. Not bad," Zoro said, smirking. As long as his bounty was higher than someone else's, he was satisfied.
"Hey! Why's mine lower than moss-head's?!" Sanji shouted indignantly.
This time, though, Sanji's wanted poster wasn't a bad sketch — it was an actual photograph.
"Wait, wait… what the hell?" Nami gasped when she saw Kaoru's bounty.
Usopp rushed over. "Five and a half billion Berries?! Kaoru, what did you do?!"
Kaoru just shrugged. "Guess I'm kinda famous."
Luffy decided a party was in order to celebrate their bounties. But with the food supplies nearly gone, Sanji refused.
In the end, Kaoru solved it easily — by pulling out massive crates of food from his system space.
That night, as the others celebrated, Kaoru opened his interface. "Alright, let's draw some rewards."
"System, initiate one thousand consecutive draws."
Ding! "Congratulations, Host! Bronze-tier reward: 10 million Berries."
Ding! "Congratulations, Host! Bronze-tier reward: 30 million Berries."
Ding! "Congratulations, Host! Bronze-tier reward: one cubic meter of air."
Ding! "Congratulations, Host! Diamond-tier reward: Eight Gates Formation training manual."
Ding! "Congratulations, Host! Purple-Gold-tier reward: Temporary Nascent Soul Cultivation (one-hour duration)."
Ding! "Congratulations, Host! Platinum-tier reward: Sharingan (Uchiha Clan)."
Kaoru blinked. "…Wait, what?"
A Sharingan? Was he turning into Kakashi now?
Still, his system's versions of items worked differently — they could be toggled freely and didn't cause side effects. No risk of "Kakashi fatigue."
He checked the details:
Eight Gates Formation (Diamond-tier):
A legendary taijutsu technique from the Naruto world. Unlocks superhuman strength by releasing the body's natural limiters through eight gates: Opening, Rest, Life, Pain, Limit, View, Shock, and Death. Each opened gate damages the body. The final gate — Death — guarantees death unless a miracle occurs.
(Note: Due to the host's previous completed mission, this skill will not reach the maximum level.)
Nascent Soul Cultivation (Purple-Gold tier):
Temporarily grants strength equivalent to the "Dou King" level for one hour.
Sharingan (Platinum-tier):
The bloodline limit of the Uchiha clan, capable of evolving through emotional resonance into the Mangekyō Sharingan. (Note: power capped due to previous mission completion.)
Kaoru decided to start training the Eight Gates to strengthen his body.
He opened his stats menu:
Eight Gates Unlock Condition:
10,000 squats, 10,000 sit-ups, 10,000 push-ups.
"…Seriously?"
He sighed. "Figures. Even unlocking the first gate is a nightmare."
He then checked the Sharingan:
Unlock Condition: Possess Chakra.
"Chakra? How am I supposed to get that?"
Shaking his head, Kaoru gave up for now and began his physical training on deck.
Zoro watched him mid-workout, chewing on a piece of meat. "What's with him lately?"
"Who knows," Sanji muttered, setting plates on the table.
At the bow, Nami studied her charts, planning their next destination, while Usopp tinkered with one of his gadgets.
"Here! I wanna go here!" Luffy shouted, pointing at the chart.
"Rogue Town? Are you crazy? That's where the Marine Captain 'White Hunter' Smoker is stationed!" Nami protested.
"Nope! I'm the captain — I decide where we go!" Luffy declared proudly.
"I wanna see it too," Zoro added. "That's where the Pirate King was executed. They say Roger was a great swordsman."
Sanji chimed in as well. "We're out of food, anyway. I need to restock."
Kaoru simply shrugged. "I don't mind."
In the end, Nami reluctantly agreed — but made Luffy promise not to cause trouble.
"Yeah, yeah!" Luffy said, nodding rapidly.
Zoro and Kaoru exchanged knowing looks. As if he can go five minutes without causing chaos.
Before long, the Merry docked at Rogue Town.
"Ahh!"
Luffy immediately launched himself off the ship using a Gum-Gum Rocket, disappearing into the city.
Nami's jaw dropped. "Didn't we just agree not to mess around?!"
Zoro and Usopp sighed. They'd seen it coming.
"Whatever. I'm going shopping," Sanji said, hopping off the ship.
Zoro followed soon after. "I'll take a look around."
"Stay on the ship if you can't tell directions," Sanji teased. "Heard from Kaoru you're basically a human compass malfunction."
Zoro gritted his teeth. "I'll show you!" He sprinted off — in the wrong direction.
Kaoru chuckled. "We're gonna be searching all day again." Still, he decided to wander the town himself.
Five minutes later, Usopp and Nami watched him from the deck as he ran in circles at the same port intersection.
"…Kaoru's lost too, huh?" Usopp muttered.
Nami nodded, sighing.
Elsewhere, Sanji discovered a local cooking contest. The prize? A rare Elephant Tuna — a fish not found anywhere in the East Blue.
Naturally, Sanji joined. And just as naturally, he won.
That single fish would one day become the symbol of his dream — the All Blue.
Meanwhile, Luffy's curiosity led him straight to the execution platform where Gol D. Roger had been executed.
But before he could climb it, a man in a white coat blocked his way — Captain Smoker.
At first, Smoker didn't recognize him.
"Execution platform, huh? Why would a brat like you want to go there?"
Luffy grinned. "I'm lost! Oh, and I wanna see it!"
Smoker frowned. "Lost? Never seen you around here before…"
And just like that — the chaos of Rogue Town had begun.
...
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