Chapter 203 (Patreon)

That night’s bath had been unusually relaxing.

Hanabi had played her breath-holding game before whenever Hinata happened to look away, but this was the first time she had attempted it so boldly in front of her sister.

Combined with Hinata’s unexpected questions about Mihawk’s past, the quiet bath had left him far more mentally alert than he had expected.

Once Hanabi resurfaced, Hinata remained lost in thought.

She silently held Mihawk’s head against her, continuing to massage his shoulders and neck with slow, absent-minded movements. It was clear that part of her attention was still focused on the explanation he had given her.

The bathroom remained quiet for more than ten minutes.

By the time Mihawk had fully relaxed from the day’s fighting and training, they finally ended the shared bath.

As they left, Mihawk gave Hanabi a warning look.

Hanabi merely grinned, clearly pleased with her new breath-holding record.

Once Saeko entered the bathroom for her turn, Mihawk swept Hinata into his arms and carried her back to their room.

The two of them did not emerge again that night.

By the following morning, everything had returned to normal.

Mihawk rose early and completed his daily training on the deck. After breakfast, he began overseeing Saeko’s training.

Her daytime assignment was water walking.

It had not even been a full month since Saeko first encountered chakra and the supernatural world.

She had already mastered tree climbing, but walking on water remained beyond her complete control.

Unlike the stable surface of a tree, water was constantly shifting. Every wave changed the amount of chakra she needed to release through her feet.

Her limited chakra reserves made the exercise even more difficult.

Over the course of the morning, Saeko fell into the sea nearly ten times.

By the end of the session, she could barely remain standing on the water for five minutes before losing control.

She climbed back aboard completely soaked.

After changing into dry clothes, Saeko returned to the deck and sat on a cushion across from Mihawk.

She placed her sword beside her and began her sword meditation.

The steady rush of the waves filled her ears, accompanied by the occasional cries of seabirds overhead.

Saeko sat upright, her breathing deep and even.

There was no impatience in her expression.

She had already adapted to long periods of stillness. Under Mihawk’s guidance, she could now calm her thoughts almost immediately and maintain that state without becoming restless.

Her progress genuinely surprised him.

Saeko had needed less than a month to endure and adapt to sword meditation. Mihawk himself had required several months to reach the same level when he first began.

That difference revealed just how much natural talent she possessed.

Saeko truly was a gifted swordswoman.

If she could attune herself to the laws of this world, then it was entirely possible that she would one day hear the Breath of All Things.

Mihawk allowed her to meditate for two hours.

Afterward, he began teaching her the principle behind cutting.

Saeko watched as Mihawk picked up her white-oak bokken.

He held a thin sheet of paper before him and lightly swung the wooden blade.

The paper separated into two perfectly even pieces.

There had been no violent burst of strength. The bokken had passed through it as though the paper had chosen to part.

Saeko’s eyes widened.

“This isn’t about swinging harder,” Mihawk explained. “A swordsman must first understand what they’re trying to cut.”

He repeated the demonstration several times.

After every cut, Mihawk described exactly what he had sensed at the moment the paper separated—the faint rhythm within it, the resistance it offered, and the instant when his blade became part of that rhythm.

His movements gradually changed from fast to slow.

Regardless of the speed, each cut remained perfectly clean.

Once Saeko understood the basic idea, Mihawk moved from paper to wood.

The wooden blade passed through a branch without splintering either side.

Then he turned toward the sea.

Mihawk swung the bokken.

No visible Ranged Slash left the wooden blade.

Even so, the surface of the ocean several dozen meters ahead split apart, forming a deep trench through the water before the surrounding waves rushed back together.

Saeko stared in amazement.

The material did not matter.

Paper, wood, or the sea itself—anything could be cut once a swordsman understood its breath.

At the same time, a true swordsman could choose not to cut something, even while using the same blade.

It was the same principle Koushirou had once shown Zoro: the ability to cut nothing and the ability to cut anything came from the same understanding.

Saeko listened without missing a word.

The simplicity of Mihawk’s movements only made them more profound. There were no unnecessary flourishes, yet every swing seemed to contain an entire path of swordsmanship.

Mihawk gave a slight nod when he saw the concentration in her eyes.

For the next several days, he did not ask Saeko to reproduce what she had witnessed.

She was not ready.

Instead, he continued demonstrating the principle of cutting while explaining the sensations behind each movement. Saeko’s only responsibility was to watch, listen, and remember.

A week passed in this manner.

Their training finally paused when the three-masted sailing ship reached Sandy Island.

Sandy Island was enormous, even by the standards of Paradise. It was home to the Desert Kingdom of Alabasta, one of the largest and most influential nations in the first half of the Grand Line.

The kingdom was ruled by the Nefertari family.

Their ancestors had been one of the twenty royal families that founded the World Government eight hundred years ago. However, unlike the other nineteen families, the Nefertari family refused to move to Mary Geoise and remained in Alabasta.

Because of that choice, they never became Celestial Dragons.

Despite its long history, the kingdom was now facing a crisis engineered by a pirate.

Alabasta’s major cities included its capital, Alubarna; the former oasis of Yuba; the casino city of Rainbase; the port town of Nanohana; the ruined city of Erumalu; and Katorea, where the rebel army had established its base.

Mihawk’s ship arrived at Nanohana.

He had little interest in the conflict between the royal army and the rebels.

Their main reason for coming to Alabasta was to allow the Log Pose to record the island’s magnetic field. Once that was complete, they could continue along the same route Luffy would eventually follow.

However, Mihawk had another purpose for visiting the kingdom.

Money.

If he intended to build an island ship in the future, he would need an enormous number of berries. Even with Hinata’s abilities reducing the construction difficulty, furnishing and supplying a mobile island would still cost a fortune.

Mihawk already had two preferred sources of wealth.

The first was the gold hidden on Skypiea.

The second was the largest casino in Alabasta—Rain Dinners.

Rain Dinners was located in Rainbase and operated by Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

To the public, Crocodile was the hero protecting Alabasta from pirates.

In reality, he was the president of the criminal organization Baroque Works. Within the organization, he operated under the codename Mr. 0.

Crocodile also possessed connections to the underworld.

His position was not identical to Doflamingo’s role as Joker, but someone controlling an organization as large as Baroque Works would still know about underground auctions, rare commodities, smuggling routes, and the movements of powerful pirates.

Mihawk wanted that information.

He needed leads concerning Pure Gold, reliable channels for obtaining rare materials.

Crocodile’s network could provide all three.

To put it simply, Mihawk had not come to Rainbase as a customer.

He intended to rob Crocodile.