The banquet continued.
A bonfire roared on the deck, sparks shooting straight up into the night sky.
The pirates were like tireless beasts—drinking, playing reckless drinking games, smearing cake across each other's faces.
The air was thick with the cloying sweetness of alcohol mixed with the rich aroma of grilled meat.
Uchiha Itachi sat alone on the massive figurehead at the bow.
The sea wind howled, snapping his ANBU vest loudly against his body.
His fox mask had been removed and hung on a nearby rope.
Itachi gazed down at the dark, surging waves below.
He was reflecting.
Not on the battle just now—
But on these people.
"They're all lunatics…"
He murmured to himself.
In the ninja world, this kind of defenseless revelry was tantamount to suicide.
If someone poisoned the wine, or planted Explosive Tags beneath the deck, half the ship would be dead before dawn.
Yet here they were—freely exposing their backs to everyone.
Even to an outsider like him, who had been aboard for less than two hours.
That giant known as Whitebeard was the most absurd of all.
As the captain, instead of overseeing everything, he had been the first to get completely drunk.
Earlier, Thatch had even stuck two fries up Whitebeard's nostrils while he was asleep.
When Whitebeard woke up, he punched Thatch straight into the deck.
No one begged for mercy.
Instead, everyone laughed so hard they nearly passed out.
No hierarchy.
No rigid rules.
Everything Itachi had learned about survival over the past decade told him this was madness.
Uchiha clan meetings were always lifeless.
His father, Fugaku, would sit with a grim expression, while the clansmen knelt below—eyes filled with calculation and ambition.
It was suffocating.
Here, it was deafening.
Yet vibrantly alive.
"Gurgle…"
His stomach growled at the worst possible moment.
Itachi frowned slightly and pressed a hand against his abdomen.
Enduring hunger was a compulsory lesson for a ninja.
"Yo! I knew you'd be here!"
A bright, energetic voice came from above.
Itachi's muscles tensed instantly, fingers sliding toward his ninja tool pouch.
"Relax, I'm not here to take your head."
Portgas D. Ace hopped down from the mast and landed beside him.
He was holding two plates stacked high with meat, steam rising thickly.
"Here! Freshly grilled Sea King meat. Thatch really outdid himself!"
Ace plopped down next to Itachi like they were old friends and shoved one plate into his arms.
"Eat. How're you supposed to brood properly on an empty stomach?"
The rising steam stung Itachi's eyes.
"I'm not hungry," he said flatly, trying to push the plate back.
"Don't lie," Ace scoffed. "I heard your stomach growling from up there."
He tore off a huge chunk of meat and stuffed it into his mouth.
"On this ship, starving yourself is a serious crime."
"Eat up—or I'll tell Pops you said Thatch's cooking tastes like pig slop."
Itachi's mouth twitched.
The threat was childish.
…But he still picked up a piece of meat and bit into it.
Juice burst across his tongue.
It was genuinely delicious.
He chewed in silence.
Ace glanced sideways at Itachi's rigid profile.
"Hey, Itachi."
"You don't look very comfortable here."
"I don't understand," Itachi replied, eyes fixed on the sea.
"Understand what?"
"You're too lax."
His voice was quiet, but the coldness ran deep.
"As wanted criminals, holding banquets like this is gambling with your lives."
"And Whitebeard, as the captain, allows his subordinates to treat him with such disrespect."
"This kind of organization would collapse instantly in a real crisis."
He turned, dark eyes locking onto Ace.
"That's my judgment."
Ace froze.
Then—
"Hahahaha!"
He burst into laughter, bending over so hard he nearly dropped his food into the sea.
Itachi frowned, staring at him as if he were insane.
"That's hilarious… lax? collapse?"
Ace wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
Slowly, his smile faded, replaced by a rare seriousness.
"Hey, Itachi."
"Do you know how I ended up on this ship?"
Itachi didn't answer.
"I was just like you."
Ace took another bite, his gaze drifting into the distance.
"When I first came aboard, I thought everyone here was crazy—and that Whitebeard was just a senile old man."
"I went to sea to make a name for myself."
"My goal was to take the head of the strongest man in the world."
Itachi's pupils shrank slightly.
This carefree man… had thought that?
"I didn't just think about it," Ace said, raising a finger.
"I tried."
"One hundred times."
His tone was calm, as if recounting someone else's story.
"While he was asleep. While he was drinking. Even in the bathroom."
"Fire. Blades. Poison. I even tried sinking the ship."
"I used every method I could think of."
Itachi was stunned.
Attempting to assassinate the leader a hundred times?
In Konoha, even entertaining such a thought would get someone interrogated to death by ANBU.
"Then why are you still alive?" Itachi asked despite himself.
"Because that's Pops."
Ace grinned—bright and fearless.
"Every time, he swatted me away like a fly."
"But he never tried to kill me."
"Even when I held a knife to his throat, all he'd say was—"
Ace lowered his voice, imitating Whitebeard:
"'You done playing, you foolish son? If you are, go eat.'"
Itachi's fingers dug into the wood beneath him.
Foolish son.
Faced with an assassin—and the response was to eat?
What arrogance.
And what overwhelming magnanimity.
"Later, I understood," Ace continued, looking toward Whitebeard in the distance, admiration clear in his eyes.
"This ship doesn't run on strict rules or cold authority."
"What binds us isn't利益—it's family."
"Once you've shared a cup of sake, you're fathers, sons, and brothers."
Ace turned to Itachi.
"If we're family, why would we be on guard?"
"And if he's Pops, what's wrong with a son acting spoiled?"
Boom.
The words struck Itachi's heart like a hammer.
Guard against family…?
Cold nights in the Uchiha compound flashed through his mind.
His father's scrutinizing gaze.
The whispered suspicion of the clansmen.
A clan bound by blood—yet filled with calculation.
Here, complete strangers entrusted their lives to one another without hesitation.
Cruel irony.
And unbearable envy.
"I've got two brothers," Ace said suddenly, grinning in a way that only appeared when he spoke of them.
"One's named Sabo. There was an accident… but I believe he's still alive."
"The other's Luffy—a complete idiot who keeps yelling about becoming Pirate King."
"That guy cried for hours if I hit him once when we were kids."
Ace scratched his head.
"But he's the most important person in my life."
He glanced at Itachi.
"I saw your eyes when you protected that newcomer earlier."
"You act cold, but instinct doesn't lie."
"You've got a brother too, don't you?"
Itachi's breath caught.
His chest tightened painfully.
Sasuke.
The child who tugged at his sleeve and called him Big Brother.
The child who puffed out his cheeks whenever his forehead was flicked.
The child—
Who was about to be pushed into hell by his own hands.
"…Yeah."
His voice was hoarse, like gravel scraping his throat.
"I have a brother too."
"He's weak. A crybaby."
"He's always chasing after me… trying to surpass me."
Itachi lowered his head, bangs hiding his eyes.
His nails pierced his palms, pain anchoring his mind.
"But he… might never see me again."
Ace froze.
He felt it—the suffocating sorrow pouring off Itachi.
Heavy. Silent. Crushing.
Ace stopped smiling.
Out at sea, everyone carried things they didn't want to talk about.
He reached out and clapped Itachi firmly on the shoulder.
"Don't decide that so early, you idiot."
"The sea's huge."
"Huge enough for miracles."
He pointed toward the vast, star-filled sky.
"Whether it's someone you want to see…"
"Or something you want to do…"
"As long as you live—and grow strong enough—"
"You'll get there one day."
"Pops always says: there are no hurdles that can't be crossed."
"Only people who don't dare to cross them."
Itachi looked up.
Into Ace's eyes—burning with fire.
Miracles?
In this strange world… could miracles that overturned fate really exist?
If it was that man called the strongest in the world.
If it was this group of lunatics who turned the impossible into reality.
Then maybe…
There was a way back.
His deadened heart gave a faint, painful throb.
"Ace," Itachi said softly, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly.
"Your captain… Whitebeard."
"Can his power really… do anything?"
Ace grinned and gave a confident thumbs-up.
"Of course!"
"Pops is the strongest man in the world!"