Chapter 202 (Patreon)

They had obtained an Eternal Pose to Alabasta from the treasure taken from Hancock.

Mihawk made his decision immediately.

“Hinata, change our course. We’re heading for Alabasta.”

“All right.”

Hinata trusted his judgment and turned the three-masted sailboat toward the direction indicated by the Eternal Pose.

Once they reached Alabasta and allowed their Log Pose to record the island’s magnetic field, they would enter the same route Luffy had followed.

Many of the islands Luffy visited held valuable opportunities.

By following the same route, Mihawk could use his knowledge of future events to their advantage. It would also increase his chances of encountering the powerful fighters he wanted to challenge.

By nightfall, the sails had been lowered and the ship was anchored upon the calm sea.

Steam filled the bathroom.

Mihawk rested in the bathtub with only his head and arms above the water while Hinata sat behind him, gently massaging his shoulders, neck, and scalp.

Her hands moved with just enough strength to ease the fatigue left by the day’s battle.

Hanabi occupied the opposite end of the bathtub.

The tub had only been built for one person, so fitting both of them inside made it rather cramped. Their legs kept bumping beneath the water.

Hanabi grabbed Mihawk’s ankles and began clumsily rubbing his feet, apparently trying to imitate Hinata’s massage.

Mihawk lightly nudged her forehead away with his toes.

“Stop playing around.”

“All right...”

Hanabi behaved for several seconds.

Then a mischievous smile returned to her face.

She took a deep breath and slipped beneath the water, determined to see how long she could hold it.

“Mihawk-kun...”

Hinata’s voice broke the quiet, leaving only the soft movement of water beneath it.

Mihawk inhaled sharply when her fingers pressed against a sore point near his shoulder.

“Hm?”

He opened his eyes and glanced toward the opposite end of the tub.

Hanabi had disappeared beneath the water. Only a few bubbles rising to the surface revealed where she was.

Hinata continued massaging his head while staring at those bubbles. Her face was flushed from the heat filling the bathroom.

“Would you like to know the name of the woman we met today?”

Mihawk raised an eyebrow.

“Go ahead.”

“Her name is Boa Hancock,” Hinata said. “She is the captain of the Kuja Pirates, the ruler of Amazon Lily, and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. People call her the Pirate Empress... and she is said to be the most beautiful woman in the world.”

Hinata’s hands moved from his head to his shoulders.

“I also saw several familiar things in her memories.”

Her voice became more hesitant.

“Mihawk-kun, may I ask you something?”

Mihawk closed his eyes again.

“What is it?”

Hinata paused before finally asking, “Have you visited this world before?”

Mihawk’s eyes opened.

A stream of bubbles rose from Hanabi’s side of the bathtub.

“Why would you think that?”

“The Ranged Slashes you taught me about and the different forms of Haki you possess all belong to this world,” Hinata explained. “You also recognized Luffy and Zoro when we first arrived, even though neither of them introduced themselves.”

That question had remained in her mind ever since they entered this world.

Hinata had never considered the possibility that Mihawk might have come from another world.

His birth records proved that he had been born in the shinobi world. She had known him since childhood, and there was no doubt that Nerona Mihawk was a native of Konoha.

Yet he possessed abilities originating from this world.

After seeing how much Mihawk already knew, Hinata had reached another possibility.

“Did you awaken the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception when you were younger?” she asked. “And did you use their space-time ability to visit this world?”

Mihawk remained silent.

Hinata continued, gradually becoming more confident in her theory.

“Perhaps that was where you first learned about Haki and Ranged Slashes. The strain of crossing worlds might have been too great for you as a child, leaving the ability dormant until recently.”

It would also explain why Mihawk had never used the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception before the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Hinata knew that newly awakened dōjutsu often granted an instinctive understanding of their unique abilities. It was entirely possible that Mihawk had crossed into another world without fully understanding what he was doing.

Mihawk considered her explanation for a moment.

Then he gave a quiet snort.

“You’re right.”

Another trail of bubbles rose from the bathwater.

“I awakened the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception when I was five,” Mihawk said. “I accidentally activated the space-time ability connected to them and came to this world.”

“I didn’t learn much about it. I appeared on an uninhabited island and never managed to leave.”

“There was an old shipwreck near the shore. Inside, I found journals describing Haki and advanced swordsmanship. That was where I learned the principles behind Ranged Slashes, Armament Haki, and Observation Haki.”

Mihawk paused briefly.

“Conqueror’s Haki can’t be learned through training, but the journals explained what it was. When mine eventually awakened, I already knew how to recognize and control it.”

“The journey placed too much strain on my eyes. After returning to the shinobi world, that space-time ability remained dormant for years.”

It was a carefully constructed lie, designed to fit both Hinata’s theory and the facts she already knew.

However, Hinata was no longer listening as closely as he believed.

Hanabi had remained underwater longer than expected. Hinata’s attention had shifted almost entirely toward the bubbles rising from the other end of the bathtub.

Just as she prepared to reach into the water—

“Splash!”

Hanabi’s head burst above the surface.

“I did it!” she exclaimed, wiping the water from her face. “That was a new record!”

Hinata jolted in surprise.

“Hanabi! Don’t stay underwater that long without warning me!”

“But I was completely fine!”

Hanabi grinned proudly.

Hinata sighed in relief, then absently nodded as Mihawk’s explanation echoed in her ears.

“I see... So that’s what happened.”

Whether she was responding to Mihawk or Hanabi was difficult to tell.

Mihawk quietly relaxed.

For now, Hinata appeared to have accepted his explanation.

Whether the lie would survive once she examined it more carefully was another matter.