— — — — — — — — —
Half an hour later…
"Renzo-senpai?! Renzo!"
"Renzo! Are you here?"
After finishing the periodic assessnts for the students at the dojo, Kuina and Zoro left behind a group of bruised and battered trainees, rushing excitedly toward the yacht docked at the eastern edge of the village.
Standing beneath it, they shouted toward the interior.
"Hm? Zoro, you calling for sothing?"
A lazy voice ca from inside the yacht.
Zoro shuddered at the cold tone and quickly corrected himself, stamring, "S-Senpai! Senpai! There, that works, right? Can we co aboard? Are we finally setting sail?"
"Co on up! I'm in the control room." Renzo replied calmly.
"Alright!"
Zoro and Kuina imdiately climbed onto the yacht, excitent written all over their faces.
Kuina glanced around, admiring the yacht's setup. "Wow, Renzo has really outdone himself. Everything looks even more refined than before!"
"That's not important! Kuina, hurry up!" Zoro urged, making a beeline for the control room.
"Tch, this guy is like an ox—completely incapable of appreciating anything. Hmph!" Kuina huffed and followed after Zoro.
In no ti, the two arrived at the control room.
Inside, Renzo was fully focused, typing furiously on a massive virtual screen in front of him. His fingers moved so fast they were practically a blur, and streams of data flowed across the screen like a waterfall.
"What are you doing? What are all these weird symbols? It looks like so kind of language," Kuina asked curiously, leaning in.
"This?"
As the light floral fragrance of Kuina's presence wafted over him, Renzo nonchalantly replied, "It is a language, but even if I explained it, you wouldn't understand. No need to, really."
"Once I finish programming this AI assistant, we'll be ready to set sail."
"You're both sure you want to co with ? It's going to be dangerous. And don't expect to protect you every second—we're here to grow stronger, not play house."
Still, for now, Renzo wasn't in a hurry to head to the Grand Line.
His plan was to stay in the Blue Sea for a while, hunt down so pirates, experience different islands, and—if possible—find a few Devil Fruits along the way. That would be a nice bonus.
"Oh, please." Kuina scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Who needs your protection? I'm strong enough on my own! I'm going out to beco stronger, not to be babysat!"
Kuina's prideful attitude was nothing new. She had an intense competitive streak and never liked to admit defeat—especially to Renzo.
Unfortunately for her, the gap between them only widened, no matter how hard she pushed herself.
"I don't need protecting either!" Zoro chid in firmly. "I'll keep getting stronger until I defeat both of you!"
Dreams were sothing he would never back down from.
"I'm the man who will beco the World's Greatest Swordsman one day" Zoro declared boldly.
"Ha?" Kuina instantly frowned at his words.
She grabbed Zoro's ear and pulled, making him yelp. "You can't even beat , and you think you're gonna be the world's greatest swordsman?"
"You're way too early for that! If anyone's taking that title, it'll be ! I'll beco the strongest female swordsman in history and claim the title of the world's greatest!"
"Pfft!"
Renzo paused his coding, letting his program run on its own while he turned toward Zoro with a teasing grin. "Zoro, are you sure about that?"
"Huh?" Zoro felt sothing was off about Renzo's tone, but he still nodded resolutely. "Of course! I won't lose to you or Kuina!"
"No, no, no…" Renzo shook his head, still grinning mischievously. "That title is all yours, buddy. I don't want it."
"Huh? Why not?" Zoro asked, puzzled.
Renzo chuckled. "Zoro, do you know who the current world's greatest swordsman is?"
"Of course!" Zoro puffed out his chest. "It's Dracule Mihawk! I heard about him long ago!"
Thinking of Mihawk made Zoro's blood boil with excitent.
Renzo smirked. "Then you must know… Mihawk is a man, right?"
"Yeah, so?" Zoro asked, confused.
Kuina, however, had an odd expression. She could tell Renzo was setting Zoro up for sothing.
"Oh, nothing much." Renzo leaned back, sipping his juice leisurely. "It's just that… Mihawk is a man, and you just said you want to beco 'the man of the world's greatest swordsman.' Doesn't that an you're saying you want to be Mihawk's man?"
"Zoro, Why Are GAE?!"
He glanced up and down at Zoro, giving him a knowing look.
Zoro stiffened, the aning of Renzo's words finally sinking in.
"W-Wait, no! That's not what I ant!"
"I-I'm not." His face turned beet red. "Damn you, Renzo! I'll kill you for that!"
Blinded by embarrassnt, Zoro lunged at Renzo, roaring, "You twisted my words! Give back my dream!"
Tears welled up in his eyes. He felt like he could never look at his dream the sa way again!
This was all Renzo's fault!
Even the fear he usually had toward Renzo vanished in that mont.
"Oh wow, Zoro… so you really ant it, huh?" Kuina said, looking at Renzo with mock disgust.
But Renzo could see the glimr of laughter in her eyes. Using his mind-reading ability, he confird she was having the ti of her life with this.
Renzo effortlessly held Zoro at bay with one hand, keeping the frantic swordsman at arm's length. "Kuina, don't hold it in. Laugh if you want. It's not good to bottle things up."
"Pfft… Hahahaha!!"
Kuina couldn't hold it anymore. Seeing Renzo stop Zoro with a single finger while the latter flailed helplessly was just too much. She clutched her stomach, laughing uncontrollably.
"Hahaha! Zoro! Your dream is truly… unique! I never imagined it had such a hidden aning! Pfft! Hahaha!"
Zoro: "…"
"Kuina! You traitor! I'll take you down too!"
Realizing he had no chance against Renzo, Zoro turned his wrath on Kuina instead, charging at her.
Kuina instantly dropped her smile, her expression turning fierce. "Oh? You think you can take on just because you can't handle Renzo?"
BANG! BAM! SMACK!
Monts later, Zoro lay sprawled on the ground, his face swollen and bruised.
"…So unfair…" Zoro groaned, staring at the sky in defeat.
"I'll never give up! Kuina! Renzo! One day, I'll defeat you both!"
Renzo chuckled, his gaze turning serious. "I'll be waiting at the peak of the world, Zoro… and you too, Kuina."
"Hmph! I won't lose either! Just wait and see!" Kuina huffed confidently.
At the sa ti, she thought to herself, "The top of the world? So that's Renzo's goal and ambition? I won't let myself be left behind!"
"The top of the world?"
Zoro's eyes lit up at those words. He clenched his fists in determination.
"Renzo… so you have a dream too, huh? Then it's settled!"
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