Yo Yo Yo...
Dap me up, my ninja...
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POWAAA...
Let me make something clear.
MC here thinks that his powers come from him being a transmigrator and born as Itadori Yuji.
But this my AU world, so he didn't know about the true origins of his powers, and he is just making guesses.
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Thought of the day:
Life is like a sandwich, no matter which direction you choose, the bread will always come first.
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Attendance Please:
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It was evening, and the sun had already dipped below the horizon.
Cocoyashi Village stirred with a quiet, weary urgency. Makeshift shelters had been hastily constructed, sheets strung between driftwood poles, lanterns swaying gently in the salty breeze. Beneath those fragile roofs sat the civilians recently freed from Marine Base 16.
Women, mostly children. Their faces bore the marks of everything they had endured, etched in dirt and shadow. Ragged clothes hung from their shoulders like torn flags of surrender. Yet the women of Cocoyashi moved among them without flinching, their hands gentle as they washed faces, combed matted hair, and pressed cups of warm broth into trembling fingers. They asked no questions. They simply stayed.
Genzo and the older men took the few elderly and injured individuals into their care, speaking in low, steady voices.
At the village doctor's hut, the young marine named Izuku lay on a straw mat, his uniform cut away to reveal the neat, stitched line where a blade had nearly ended his life. He had taken that wound for Nojiko without a second thought, a true marine standing between a prisoner and a sword. The doctor said he would heal cleanly.
The Straw Hats slipped into the work as if they had always been there.
Yuji and Zoro hauled crates and beams with no wasted motion. Luffy and Usopp sat among the children, and Usopp spun a story so grand and ridiculous that, for a few stolen minutes, the darkness behind the children's eyes receded. Luffy laughed at all the wrong parts, which somehow made it even better.
In the makeshift kitchen, Sanji moved like a dancer, his hands a blur over pans and pots, while Nami carefully sorted the ingredients.
Genzo watched it all, and for the first time in seven years, the smile that touched his lips brought him no pain.
He slipped away quietly.
The cliff path was one he could walk blindfolded, every rock, every root, every spot where the wind liked to pause. At the top, the headstone awaited him like an old friend who had saved him a seat. He sat down heavily, the cool grass beneath him, and let the wind rush past his ears.
For a long while, he said nothing. Silence was a language they had always shared.
Then, he spoke.
"You won't believe what happened today." His voice cracked on the edge of laughter. "Arlong and his crew, gone. Destroyed. And not by marines, but by a bunch of kids calling themselves pirates."
He shook his head, as if saying it aloud would make it real.
"They tore Arlong Park apart, Belle-mère. Every last fishman. Then they found the people Arlong had taken, our people, and brought them back. And when that wasn't enough, they raided an entire Marine base just to get Nojiko back. They freed captives even the World Government had forgotten."
He paused and swallowed.
"They did all of it because of a promise they made to Nami."
The wind stirred gently.
"She found them, Belle-mère. She found people who will fight for her, protect her, and do anything for her. And the way she looks at them… it's as if she's finally breathing air that belongs to her."
Another pause, longer this time.
"I think it's time, time to let her leave the nest. She's been a caged bird for so long… for us. But now she's tasted the sky. I don't want to be the one who clips her wings."
His voice dropped to a raw, guttural tone.
"But I'm scared. She and Nojiko, they're my daughters. My heart couldn't bear it if something happened to her."
The sigh he let out was heavy enough to bend the grass.
"I wish you were here, Belle-mère."
And then, just then, the wind brushed his shoulder like a gentle, familiar touch. It lingered for one breath, then two, and finally slipped away like fingers letting go.
Genzo closed his eyes and let the tears fall freely.
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7:00 PM—
The campfire crackled before him.
Yuji sat on a low stool, turning a marshmallow on a stick. Beside him, Luffy did the same, his tongue peeking out from the corner of his mouth as he rotated his own marshmallow, already half-burnt, since patience had never been his strong suit.
Zoro leaned against a tree a few paces away, Wado Ichimonji resting across his lap. His eyes were closed, but his breathing did not follow the slow rhythm of sleep. He was listening.
Yuji studied his marshmallow thoughtfully and took a bite. The hum he emitted was one of deep, unhurried contentment.
The three of them sat in a comfortable silence.
Then, they heard footsteps.
Luffy's head swiveled. Sanji, Usopp, and Nami emerged from the darkness, drawn to the firelight like moths to a flame. They pulled up stools, the circle widening, and settled into the warmth.
Yuji popped the last bite of marshmallow into his mouth, tossed the stick into the flames, and dusted off his hands.
"Now that you're all here," he said, "let me explain everything."
He raised his right palm, and the firelight danced across it.
Then a cut appeared on his palm, clean and deliberate. Blood welled up but did not drip; instead, it rose. A perfect sphere of crimson hovered above his skin, trembling slightly, like a living thing holding its breath.
Nami's eyes widened. "So this is what Sanji and Usopp were talking about!" She leaned forward. "Is this some kind of Devil Fruit power?"
Yuji shook his head. "No, I've never eaten one in my life."
"Then what is it?" Usopp's voice pitched higher. "You can control your blood and use it as a weapon, which is, and I want to be very clear about this, both gross and extremely cool."
Yuji hummed. The blood spiraled once, then slipped back into the wound like water flowing down a drain. The cut sealed behind it, leaving no scar.
"The truth is, I can't answer that question either. I was eight when it awakened, during one of my grandpa's training sessions. Brutal, as always. I was bleeding from a cut, and suddenly, I could feel the blood, not just inside me, but outside me, as if it were still part of my body." He paused. The fire popped. "Grandpa was shocked. We spent years testing it, pushing it, trying to find logic in it. But nothing about this power makes sense."
The silence that followed was heavy and palpable.
Then Zoro spoke, his voice lazy but his eyes sharp. "So, you're a freak of nature that even the world can't make sense of."
"You could put it that way."
But Yuji's expression shifted. The lightness drained away, replaced by something heavier, something he had carried alone for a long time.
"I need one thing from all of you: don't speak about this to anyone outside this crew. Not a word. Because if the wrong person finds out, if the World Government learns what I am, they won't just try to kill me. They'll want to study me, take me apart, and figure out what makes me tick."
The firelight flickered across their faces.
Sanji's hand landed on Yuji's shoulder. "Don't worry. I won't tell a soul, even if it kills me."
'Because, in that regard, we are not so different.' he thought bitterly.
Nami nodded. "Your secret's safe with me, big bro."
"The great Captain Usopp," the sniper declared, striking a pose that was only slightly ridiculous, "will stand by your side, even if you turn into a cockroach."
Zoro clicked his tongue. "Doesn't matter to me. You keep sparring with me, even with that blood power of yours… nothing changes."
All eyes turned toward Luffy.
The captain gave his first mate a grin so wide it nearly split his face. "Your powers are incredible, Yuji. This just means my crewmates are the most unique in the world."
Then he stood, adjusted the straw hat that Nami had returned to him, their promise fulfilled, her chains broken, and threw his arms into the night sky.
"YOSH! Now I can't wait to enter the Grand Line!"
"Oh?" came a rough voice from behind them. "And what will you do after entering the Grand Line?"
Luffy stiffened.
They all turned around.
Monkey D Garp stood at the edge of the firelight, a towering figure in a Marine coat, his shadow swallowing half the camp. Behind him, Marines emerged from the darkness, ringing the clearing, silent and alert. Bogard stood near the huddled villagers and freed captives, one hand raised in reassurance, though it did little to calm the wide-eyed panic rippling through the crowd.
"G-Grandpa!" Luffy stammered.
Yuji, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Nami were already on their feet, forming a protective wall around their captain. Their bodies were prepared, but their minds understood that it might not be enough.
Garp's gaze swept over them one by one. It paused on Yuji for just a beat longer, then snapped back to his grandson.
"Do you know what you've done, you stupid brat?" he barked.
Luffy tilted his head, his confusion so genuine it was almost insulting. "Huh? What did I do?"
Garp's teeth ground together.
He moved.
One moment, he was few feet away and the next moment, he was inches from Luffy's face, clutching his grandson's vest in his fist, with his feet dangling off the ground like a doll.
Zoro's hand flew to Wado. Sanji's leg tensed, ready to kick. Yuji's fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles creaked. They all knew it was useless against the Hero of the Marines.
They all stood ready, nonetheless.
Garp's eyes flicked toward them. The three stiffened as if the weight of the sea itself pressed down on their shoulders. Then he turned back to Luffy.
"You destroyed Marine Branch 16," he said in a low voice. "Is that true?"
Luffy's expression didn't waver. "If you're talking about that hellhole, then yeah, I did it."
A vein throbbed at Garp's temple. "You killed dozens of marines at that base. Is this how I raised you, to be a mindless killer?"
Luffy's scowl was like a thunderstorm condensed into a single look. "Raised me? As far as I remember, you were never there to raise me. All you did was beat me and my brothers and call it training." His voice didn't waver; it hardened. "And if you really think what I did was wrong… then look. Look into the eyes of those people standing over there. Look at the children."
Garp's jaw tightened, but his head remained still.
"Your keepers of justice are animals in human skin," Luffy said. "Leeches sucking the innocent dry and calling it justice."
"It's still wrong to take lives like that—"
"Don't you lecture me about right and wrong!" Luffy's voice cracked, years of pent-up emotion finally breaking free. "Where were you when your precious justice killed my brother? Where were you when we needed you most? When I needed you most?"
Garp's eyes widened.
Tears streamed down Luffy's face, tears of anger, frustration, and a grief that had never fully healed.
"Luffy, I—"
"Enough, Grandpa." Luffy's voice dropped, yet somehow it was louder than a shout. "I've had enough of you and your lectures. From now on, I'm writing my own story. I'm going to the Grand Line. I'm going to find the One-Piece. And I will become the King of the Pirates, because the King of the Pirates is the freest person in the world."
He grinned, wide, fierce and unbreakable.
"No one can stop me. Not you, not the Marines, not the World Government. I will turn this whole world upside down."
And then Luffy threw his head back and laughed.
It was a laugh that echoed across the cliffside, over the water, and into the stars.
Garp's hands trembled as he dropped Luffy to the ground.
But Luffy kept laughing. It spilled out of him in waves, unstoppable, and every person in that clearing, villagers, marines, Coby, Helmeppo, and the Straw Hats, felt something shift in how they perceived the boy in the straw hat.
For Garp, it was something completely different.
He was no longer standing in Cocoyashi Village. Instead, he found himself back on the execution platform in Loguetown. The heat of the crowd pressed in around him. The scent of salt and steel filled the air. And there was that man, chains wrapped around his wrists, a grin on his face, blood pooling beneath him, laughing as if the end of the world were the funniest joke he had ever heard.
"You think this is the end, Garp? No. This is just the beginning of the real story. With my death, I pass the torch. Someone will come, someone crazier than me, and they'll carry my true dream. They'll turn this world upside down. And believe me, old friend… you're not ready for it. Hehehehehe… WAHAHAHAHAHA…"
The laughter of a dead man blended with the laughter of his grandson, and in that moment, Garp did not see Monkey D Luffy.
He saw Gol D Roger staring back at him.
A snort escaped Garp's nose, followed by a chuckle. Then something cracked wide open in his chest, and a full-bellied roar of laughter burst forth, huge, uncontrollable, and tinged with something that might have been despair or pride. "BWAHAHAHAHAHA…"
Villagers stared. Marines exchanged confused glances. The Straw Hats blinked in surprise. Coby's jaw dropped near his shoes. No one there knew how to react to a grandfather and grandson laughing at the sky like twin storms.
Garp wiped a tear from his eye and looked up at the moon.
'Damn you, Roger. Even in death, you're still messing with me.'
He looked back down at his grandson and held out his hand.
Luffy's laughter faded. He stared at the hand, scarred knuckles, calloused palm, the hand of a man who had fought legends. Then, he took it. Garp pulled him to his feet.
Then—
BAM.
Garp's fist struck the top of Luffy's skull, the legendary Fist of Love. An instant lump appeared on Luffy's head.
"Ow! Why did you hit me?"
Garp shrugged. "Just felt like it."
He turned and walked toward Yuji, his heavy footsteps pressing into the grass. He stopped in front of the young man, studied his face, and hummed thoughtfully.
"You're his spitting image, you know that?"
Yuji blinked. "Huh?"
"Your grandfather, Wasuke. I went to Orchid Island to see him and found out he had passed." Garp's voice softened, the gravel giving way to something smoother, sadder. "We were best friends, young marines together. Him, me, Sengoku, Tsuru, the Big Four, they called us. The most feared and respected marines."
He paused and let out a breath that seemed to carry decades.
"And look where fate has brought our bloodlines. Our grandsons? Pirates."
He clapped a heavy but not unkind hand on Yuji's shoulder.
"Well, whatever. I spent years trying to change my grandson's mind. It never worked." He turned away and walked toward the huddled villagers and freed captives.
Then the Hero of the Marines stopped.
And bowed.
Bogard bowed beside him. Every marine in the clearing, Coby, Helmeppo, and the soldiers, bent their backs.
"I know a sorry can't undo what you suffered," Garp said, his voice stripped of all its bluster. "But please… give me a chance to restore the honor of the Marines."
The silence that followed was the kind that held its breath.
The freed captives stared. The villagers shifted uneasily. Then Genzo stepped forward, his shadow stretching long in the firelight.
"Please, Vice Admiral," he said quietly. "Raise your head."
Garp straightened up, and so did his men.
Genzo held his gaze. "If you want to make things right, then give us full payment for all the death and destruction Arlong and Nezumi caused. And help them—" he gestured to the freed civilians: the women clutching children, the hollow-eyed men, "—get back to their homes. Let them live their lives again."
Garp didn't hesitate.
"Fine by me. Give me a day; everything will be arranged."
Genzo looked back at his village. One by one, the villagers nodded in agreement.
He turned back to Garp and nodded his head.
"We accept."
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Like the chapter, then please share your powerstones with me.
See you in next chapter...
Peace Out.