Chapter 24

Wumi and the children around him gaped, so shocked they could barely speak.

"That can't be real—Kuina could even beat my lord… and she still isn't his match?!"

"Who on earth is that guy?!"

……

Afterwards, after seeing with their own eyes Kuina challenge Luo En and having her bamboo sword knocked flying in two strikes, those children were completely convinced.

And the nickname Kuina had given Luo En quickly became what those children called Luo En in private.

Monster Luo En.

………

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16. The Three Swordsmen Who Will Make a Name Across the Seas (1/5)

One evening, a few days later.

After finishing a thirty-kilometer run, Luo En returned to the dojo, drenched in sweat.

After a very comfortable bath, he walked barefoot along the wooden corridor in a thin white training uniform.

Passing by the training hall, he heard movement inside and glanced in.

"Haaah!!"

A green-haired boy gripped a bamboo sword in both hands and charged at Kuina—who held hers in one hand—with a face full of unwillingness.

Smack!

He was struck on the top of the head by a single blow; his eyes instantly spiraled, and after staggering back a few steps, he toppled over stiff as a board.

"So miserable, just watching that hurts."

"Kuina really doesn't hold back."

"Daring to challenge Kuina—I thought he was something, but this is really all he's got?"

The children nearby all chimed in at once.

"With that level of skill, he still dares to say he'll become the world's strongest swordsman—don't make me laugh."

Kuina glanced at the green-haired boy on the ground, then turned and left.

She had just stepped out the door when a voice sounded in her ear.

"That guy is weak now, but he should become very strong later."

Kuina turned her head and saw Luo En standing by the doorway with his arms crossed.

"You know him?"

"The first person I saw when I came to this village."

Luo En said with a smile.

"Oh?"

Kuina raised an eyebrow. "And on that basis you can be sure he'll get stronger?"

"Call it my intuition."

Luo En said, stepping past her as he spoke.

"Tonight, the backyard. Have another match with me."

Kuina spoke as he passed by her side.

"Sure, I'm game anytime. But if you lose this match too, your record will be 364:0."

Luo En laughed as he walked away from her.

Kuina gritted her teeth in frustration and tightened her grip on her bamboo sword.

That detestable guy…

………

That night, after Zoro woke up, he took Koshiro as his master and joined the Isshin Dojo.

Koshiro arranged a room for him, and from that night on he also lived inside the dojo.

Inside the corridor.

Zoro walked together with two other children.

He rubbed the bump on his head and said bitterly, "That girl is called Kuina, right? One day, I'll definitely beat her! Tomorrow I'm going to challenge her again!"

"Maybe don't—Zoro, you're definitely going to get beaten badly again."

The child beside him advised.

"Exactly—Kuina has the strength to even beat adults. You can't even hold a sword properly right now; how could you possibly be her match?"

"I don't care!"

Zoro clenched his fists. "I'm the guy who's going to become the world's strongest swordsman! If two swords aren't enough to beat her, I'll use three!"

"Three swords… what's that?"

"I've never heard of a Three-Sword Style. Besides… how would you even hold three swords? Bite one with your mouth?"

"Isn't that just a circus act? Hahaha."

The two children couldn't help laughing out loud.

And just then, a gust of night wind blew past.

Zoro seemed to hear something; he looked in one direction.

"Hey, did you guys hear something?"

"Something? What sound?"

"It's probably the wind. Ugh, it's cold—let's get back quickly."

"Yeah."

The two children hugged their clothes tight and jogged toward their lodging.

"Did I mishear that?"

Zoro followed the two, half in doubt, matching their pace.

But before he had taken ten steps.

*Snap. *

He stopped at once, turning his head to look in that direction.

"No, there really was some sound."

He immediately ran that way.

In the night.

The moonlight was bright and clear.

By the time he reached the wooded area behind the dojo's rear courtyard.

At a single glance he spotted the girl with short blue hair he'd crossed swords with during the day—Kuina.

At this moment she was panting, her face drenched in sweat, the hand gripping her bamboo sword trembling without cease.

Utterly unlike the breezy, composed manner she'd had during the day.

"Who is her opponent?"

Zoro hurried to look.

But because of where he stood, all he could see was a back.

Dressed in a white training uniform, black hair half-long and reaching the ears, about the same height as Kuina.

Zoro suddenly felt that back looked somewhat familiar, as if he'd seen it somewhere before.

Just as he was racking his brains.

"Haaah!"

Kuina lunged forward, the bamboo sword in her hand stabbing toward that back-facing figure with an extremely fierce momentum.

"So fast!"

Zoro's eyes went wide.

He couldn't make out Kuina's movements at all.

*Crack! *

A crisp sound of bamboo swords clashing rang out within the silent wooded area.

A bamboo sword spun up into the sky, then fell to the ground.