Location: Loguetown, East Blue Year: 1521 (One Year Before Luffy Sets Sail)
The rain in Loguetown was different from the storms of the open sea. It was persistent, gray, and soaked into the cobblestones like liquid history. This was the town of the beginning and the end—the place where Gol D. Roger was born, and where he died.
Hiroki walked through the drizzle, his collar turned up. The Acceleration Boost didn't stop him from getting wet, but it did help him navigate the slippery streets with the grace of a phantom.
He stopped in the central square. The execution platform loomed above, a skeletal wooden structure stark against the gloomy sky.
So this is where it started, Hiroki thought. The Great Pirate Era.
He wasn't here for sightseeing, though. He was here for the final preparation. The Grand Line was known as the "Pirate Graveyard" for a reason. He needed supplies that couldn't be bought in small villages: high-grade whetstones, preservation oil for Umitsubame, and ammunition for his pistol (a backup weapon he rarely used but kept for unpredictability).
[Status Check]
Strength: 21.5 / 100Swordsmanship: 29.0 / 100Observation Haki: 1.5%Current Objective: Resupply and Avoid Marines.
Loguetown was a Marine stronghold. The local captain, Smoker, was a Logia user—Smoke-Smoke Fruit. At Hiroki's current level (Armament Haki: 0.0%), Smoker was an unbeatable wall. Avoiding him was a survival imperative.
Hiroki ducked into a small, cluttered weapon shop. The smell of oil and iron greeted him.
"Welcome," a bored voice called out.
Hiroki moved to the maintenance section. He picked up a bottle of high-viscosity clove oil.
"Oh! That's excellent for removing salt corrosion!"
Hiroki turned. Standing next to him was a young woman with short, dark blue hair and round glasses. She was clutching a bundle of swords, her eyes wide with enthusiasm. She wore a floral shirt, not a Marine uniform, but her posture screamed "trained."
Tashigi.
"It is," Hiroki agreed, keeping his voice low. "The sea air is harsh."
Tashigi's eyes drifted to his waist. "Is that... blue lacquer? The wave hamon?" She gasped, leaning uncomfortably close. "Is that the Umitsubame? One of the experimental Wazamono forged by the Kitetsu school's cousin?"
Hiroki stepped back slightly. "You know your blades."
"I do!" She adjusted her glasses, flushing slightly. "I'm cataloging all the famous swords. The Umitsubame is known for its incredible cutting edge but brittle spine. It requires a swordsman with perfect edge alignment to use without breaking."
She looked at him, her gaze suddenly sharp. "You must be very skilled to carry it."
"I manage," Hiroki said, placing berries on the counter for the oil. "It's a partner, not a tool."
Tashigi smiled, a genuine, bright expression. "That's exactly right! Swords have souls. Many bad men treat them like garbage."
CRASH.
The shop window shattered.
Hiroki didn't flinch—Observation Haki had warned him a second before. Tashigi, however, yelped and dropped her bundle.
Outside, screams erupted.
"Out of my way! The 'Iron-Wall' Galdos is passing through!"
A massive pirate was stomping down the street. He wasn't tall like a giant, but he was wide. He wore a suit of full plate armor—thick, riveted steel that looked like it belonged on a walking tank. He wielded a mace the size of a beer keg.
Marines were firing muskets at him. Ping. Ping. Ping. The bullets bounced off the armor harmlessly.
"Useless!" Galdos roared, swinging his mace. A stone fountain exploded into dust. "Where is the armory? I need powder!"
Tashigi's expression shifted instantly. The clumsy sword nerd vanished. She grabbed a katana—a standard issue blade—from her dropped bundle.
"He's hurting civilians," she said, her voice steely.
She rushed out the door.
Hiroki stayed inside. Not my fight, he told himself. Smoker will be here in five minutes.
He watched through the broken window.
Tashigi was fast. She intercepted Galdos as he raised his mace against a fleeing merchant.
"Stop!"
She slashed at his arm.
CLANG.
Her sword sparked against the thick plate. It didn't even scratch the paint.
Galdos laughed. "A little fly?"
He backhanded her. It was a clumsy blow, but heavy. Tashigi blocked, but the force of the steel gauntlet sent her skidding backward across the wet cobblestones. She lost her footing and fell, her glasses skittering away.
"My glasses..." she mumbled, patting the ground blindly.
Galdos raised the mace high. "Squish."
Hiroki sighed.
Moral Weight: Heavy.Tactical Assessment: Smoker is 4 minutes out. Combat duration must be under 10 seconds.
Hiroki stepped out of the shop. The rain chilled his skin.
"Hey, Tin Can," Hiroki called out.
Galdos paused, the mace hovering. He looked at Hiroki. "Another fly?"
Hiroki walked forward. He didn't draw his sword yet. He walked calmly, his thumb resting on the tsuba of Umitsubame.
"That armor," Hiroki said. "Is it mild steel or hardened?"
"It's three inches of reinforced iron!" Galdos boasted, thumping his chest. "Cannonballs can't scratch me! I am the Iron Wall!"
"Three inches," Hiroki repeated. "Good practice."
He stopped five paces away.
Tashigi found her glasses and looked up, blurry-eyed. "Wait... run! You can't cut that!"
Hiroki closed his eyes.
Shimotsuki Village. The garden. The stone.
The rain was loud. The screaming was loud. But the steel... the steel had a rhythm. It was a static hum, a dense vibration of atoms locked in a lattice.
Listen to the breath.
Galdos roared and brought the mace down.
Hiroki didn't move until the mace was halfway down.
[Observation Haki: Peak Focus][Breath of All Things: Active]
There.
The line.
Hiroki drew.
Ittoryu: Silent Sever.
It wasn't a violent slash. It was a whisper. The blade moved through the air with zero resistance. It met the steel breastplate of the armor.
Usually, steel hitting steel creates a shock. A clang.
This time, there was only a hiss. Like silk tearing.
Hiroki appeared behind Galdos, slowly sheathing his blade.
Click.
Galdos stood frozen. "Did you... miss?"
Then, a thin red line appeared on the chest plate.
CREAAAK.
The massive suit of armor split diagonally from the right shoulder to the left hip. The top half of the steel slid off, crashing to the ground with a heavy metallic thud.
Galdos wasn't cut in half—Hiroki had controlled the depth perfectly, slicing only the armor and leaving a shallow cut on the skin beneath.
The pirate looked down at his exposed chest, then at the fallen steel. His eyes rolled back in his head. He fainted from sheer terror.
The street went silent.
Tashigi stared, her mouth slightly open. "He... he cut the iron..."
Hiroki looked at her. He didn't smile. He just nodded once.
"Take care of your glasses," he said.
[Combat Encounter Resolved][Feat Achieved: Cutting Steel (Combat Application)][Swordsmanship: 29.0 → 30.5 / 100 (Expert)]
Suddenly, the temperature dropped. Smoke began to billow from the end of the street.
Smoker.
Hiroki turned and vanished into the alleyway, moving faster than the rain. By the time the White Hunter arrived to see the cleaved armor, the swordsman was gone.
Location: Loguetown Docks Year: 1521
An hour later, Hiroki was on his skiff, untying the mooring rope. He had his supplies. He had tested his blade.
He looked back at the town. He had left a mark. Tashigi wouldn't forget that cut.
"Grand Line," Hiroki whispered, looking at the lighthouse guiding ships toward Reverse Mountain.
The prologue was over. The tutorial island of East Blue was behind him.
Ahead lay the Reverse Mountain, the entrance to the greatest adventure in the world. And somewhere in that chaotic ocean, Crocodile was plotting a coup, Enel was playing god, and powerful swordsmen were waiting to be challenged.
Hiroki Rintarō pushed off the dock.
[Arc 1: East Blue - COMPLETE][Next Arc: The Paradise]
[Chapter 8 End]