"This level of injury is nothing. After it heals, at most there will be some scars!"
Kureha was very confident in her medical skills. She pulled over two chairs, sat down casually herself, crossed her legs, and then pointed to the other chair, gesturing to Taro. "Sit!"
Taro thanked her and sat down. "How long will he be in this condition? When will he wake up?"
"That depends on his will to live. I'm just a doctor; I can heal physical pain, but I cannot heal the human heart!" Kureha chuckled, taking two large gulps of wine.
"As for you, kid, I'm very interested in your body. How about letting me study it in depth?"
Taro was so startled by the Old Lady's words that he almost fell to the ground, moving a bit further away.
Holy crap, if it weren't for the fact that you're nearly 140 years old, these suggestive words would be very easy to misunderstand, okay?
"Thank you, but I have no interest in participating in medical research, especially as the one being studied!"
Taro waved his hand, strictly refusing!
"Tch, no sense of sacrifice for medicine at all. If you agree to my request, I'll tell you the method to wake Ace up, how about it?"
Kureha first gave a mocking chuckle and then continued trying to persuade Taro.
Taro's expression changed several times. This Old Lady had a way to wake Ace? But to use me as a guinea pig—the price is way too high!
And even if I did, Ace might not even be grateful!
Thinking of this, Taro shook his head firmly again. "No, I refuse. Whether he wakes up or not is none of my business! He can wake up if he wants!"
Hearing Taro's profanity, Kureha sent a side kick straight out with her long legs. "Kid, such a foul mouth, you're asking for a beating!"
Taro reached out to block Kureha's incredibly fast kick, his mouth twitching.
"Fine, sorry, I misspoke! But I cannot accept your condition!"
Kureha retracted her leg, crossed them again, and rested her chin on her palm.
"Oh? You don't want to wake him up anymore?"
Taro shook his head and showed a smiling face.
"No, didn't you say it yourself? His heart is just closed off, making his body unwilling to wake up. In other words, giving him some stimulation should be effective, right?"
Kureha quickly understood what Taro meant and mocked him:
"You mean information about the Straw Hat? I've already read those reports to him; it's useless!"
The smile on Taro's face grew even wider. "Maybe the method was wrong?"
As he spoke, Taro leaned in close to Ace's ear and said softly:
"Ace, listen carefully!"
"I am Taro of Marineford, remember? The one who clashed blades with your pops, Whitebeard!"
"I already know the locations of your two brothers, Sabo and Luffy. Now..."
"I'm going to kill them, and you won't be able to save them! Hahahaha!"
Taro's voice became much louder at the end, and he laughed wildly and wantonly.
Kureha frowned. From the first moment she saw Taro, she had recognized him as a regular in the recent newspapers.
However, because she didn't sense any killing intent from Taro, she didn't act rashly.
"You Marine kid, your personality is truly despicable..." Kureha was saying when her gaze froze, looking at Ace on the hospital bed.
Taro was also stunned. He was just giving it a try; he didn't expect Ace's aura to actually change!
At this moment, Ace's mind was filled with the figure of his pops, Whitebeard, and his outstretched hand.
"Be my son! Use my name to run wild on this sea to your heart's content!"
"Am I a worthy father?"
"..."
Immediately after, the image in his mind suddenly turned into the face of a sinister Marine.
"...your two brothers, Sabo and Luffy... I'm going to kill them now..."
"You dare!"
Flames suddenly erupted from Ace's body. He gave a loud shout and bolted upright, the uncontrolled flames instantly incinerating everything on the bed.
"Boom!"
The bed collapsed. Amidst the scorching flames, Ace fell to the floor and fainted once more.
As Ace lost consciousness, the flames instantly retracted into his body.
Kureha stepped forward to check on him, then turned to look at Taro. "He did indeed wake up. Now he's just fainted from weakness, it's no big deal!"
Hearing this, Taro switched from a state of bewilderment to being smug. He gave a chuckle. "Hehe, how's that? My method is pretty good, right!"
Kureha sneered. "Yes, it works quite well! So, have you thought about what you'll do when he wakes up and tries to kill you?"
Taro's smile gradually disappeared. "I... he... he can't beat me anyway, what am I afraid of?"
Holy crap, I'm always doing these thankless tasks! I'm really a glutton for punishment!
...Kureha's medical room.
Taro took several large gulps of Plum Wine and wiped away the wine stains.
"Ace has always relied too much on his Devil Fruit Ability. He doesn't actually understand the proper use of Haki. I hope you can teach him, or at least before he masters Haki, don't..."
Kureha didn't take Taro's words seriously and instead chuckled. "You think he'll listen?"
"Then beat him!" Taro said irritably. At the same time, Kureha's words confirmed for Taro that this Old Lady was indeed an expert.
Because her first reaction wasn't to refute whether she could teach Ace Haki, but whether Ace was willing to learn!
It was no wonder. How could a normal person still be as spry as a bird at 140 years old?
She couldn't possibly be that person from Wudang, could she!
"You're going to do the beating?" Kureha shook the wine bottle.
"Uh, well... I'm pretty busy, I have a lot of things to do..."
"You think I'm very idle?"
"No, didn't you have a history with his father, Gol D. Roger..." Taro said.
Kureha suddenly stood up from her chair. "How do you know?"
Taro was at a loss for words, scratching his head in anxiety. "Uh, I guessed it."
"I figured you'd have a good impression of pirates; aren't there many pirate flags flying on the castle? At your age, you must definitely know Roger..."
Before Taro could finish, Kureha had already sent a kick flying.
"Who are you calling old? Do you have any idea how many people want to know my secret to eternal youth?"
Taro dodged the kick awkwardly. "Yes, yes, I misspoke!"
"Those Revolutionary Army guys told you?" Kureha sat back in her chair and asked.
That's right, holy crap, I should have shifted the blame to Dragon!
"Yeah, Dragon told me he sent Ace to you!" Taro nodded in affirmation.
Kureha crossed her long legs. "Oh? A Marine involved with pirates and in contact with the leader of the Revolutionary Army. Tsk tsk!"
"What... what do you mean?" Taro felt a hint of something being wrong.
"Nothing. You know some of my secrets, and I hold some leverage over you. It's only fair!" Kureha said mockingly.
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