Shiraishi's primary motive for heading to Shimotsuki Village was the master of the Isshin Dojo, Koshiro.
Although this powerful swordsman's true combat depth was never explicitly showcased throughout the original series, Shiraishi still harbored a profound curiosity regarding him.
"Shimotsuki Village, huh... leave the steering of the ship to me then."
Ace proactively took upon himself the duty of piloting the pirate ship. To be precise, under the current circumstances, Ace was the only one on the entire vessel who could genuinely be of immediate assistance.
While a yawning Ace controlled the slow movements of the vessel inside the helm, the original banner of the Civco Pirates had already been torn down by Shiraishi, replaced by a newly hoisted flag bearing the emblem of Sunagakure, fluttering proudly at the bow as they forged ahead.
Stepping into the lower quarters, Shiraishi observed Ace flipping through the logbook: "Based on our current speed, we should be able to make landfall by tomorrow afternoon."
Forcing this ship to cruise at full speed was no easy feat.
After all, their crew numbers were fundamentally insufficient; without a specialized navigator or shipwright on board, attempting to rapidly reach a specific island in the East Blue was bound to extract a heavy toll on their physical stamina.
Had it not been for the fact that Ace was natively born in the East Blue, coupled with the detailed marine charts recorded in Civco's logbook, he wouldn't have been familiar enough with these shipping lanes to master the controls of the vessel so quickly.
Watching the thoroughly occupied Ace, Shiraishi suddenly spoke up, inquiring: "So, what are your personal plans? After all, this world and your relationship to it..."
Unlike the rest of the group, Ace was a born-and-raised native of this world. Even though their arrival timeline had shifted forward by a significant margin, he now possessed the chance to meet the Whitebeard Pops he constantly yearned for, potentially rectifying the deep regrets of the Summit War.
Faced with this query, Ace shook his head firmly: "Before I help you resolve the crisis and save your world, I won't entertain any personal thoughts."
Despite knowing deeply that he did not belong to this era, Ace's heart naturally craved a reunion with Pops more than anything. Yet, he understood Shiraishi's current predicament with absolute clarity; therefore, he would never choose to abandon the crew to seek out Whitebeard at a time like this.
Fire Fist Ace was, by his very nature, an intensely loyal individual who repaid debts of gratitude. Shiraishi had aided him immensely in the past, and he would absolutely not jump ship now.
Currently, the operational handling of the vessel relied entirely on Ace. Shiraishi pondered for a moment, realizing they urgently needed to recruit a highly qualified navigator; otherwise, leaving the East Blue to venture into the Grand Line would be an absolute impossibility.
However, in this specific era of the East Blue, tracking down and recruiting competent navigators and shipwrights would inevitably require a fair amount of time.
In stark contrast to the composed demeanor maintained by Shiraishi and Ace, Uchiha Madara stood entirely silent on the main deck, his cold gaze locked onto the undulating surface of the sea.
Although he had been completely stripped of his chakra, the Dark Nine-Tails within his body had mutated into a specialized Devil Fruit power, still allowing him to conjure unique dark flames and physically manifest as the Dark Nine-Tails to engage in combat.
Yet, Madara would rather die than fight in such a manner. Forcing him—the legendary, supreme Specter of the Shinobi World—to physically transform into a nine-tailed fox just to wage war was nothing short of an absolute, humiliating insult to his dignity.
"What exactly is his objective in visiting that specific village?"
Was there truly any structural necessity to personally pay a visit to a mere swordsman running a backwater dojo?
If one were to discuss the path of the sword, the woman standing beside him possessed a combat depth that easily ranked at the level of a Grand Master. Consequently, Madara felt a distinct surge of dissatisfaction, believing Shiraishi was merely squandering precious time.
"He naturally commands his own calculations, so why harbor such haste..."
Unohana Retsu offered a gentle, thoroughly serene smile to placate Madara's irritated emotions.
The current Lord Madara, owing to his possession of Menma's physical frame, looked virtually identical to a teenage version of Sasuke—handsome, cold, and sporting a perpetually arrogant expression that consistently gave Unohana the distinct impression of teasing a stubborn kitten.
Hearing Unohana's words, Uchiha Madara merely let out a cold huff and ignored her completely. As for Kikyo, she remained as profoundly quiet as ever, offering no commentary whatsoever as she silently observed their surroundings.
"However, I am currently highly curious to see if he still retains the absolute qualification to act as the supreme leader of this vessel and this entire collective team."
Right now, both factions had been completely drained of their chakra. Yet, Madara possessed the unique power of the Dark Nine-Tails Fruit, leading him to believe his current combat strength far surpassed anyone else on board. Thus, his inquiry was an explicit challenge directed at Shiraishi's present capabilities.
"Lord Madara, I believe I remain reasonably qualified to fill the role..."
The moment Shiraishi strolled out from the lower deck, Uchiha Madara slowly stood up. Simultaneously, nine tails ablaze with spectral ghost-fires erupted from his back, a chilling aura radiating a sharp, intense killing intent.
Kikyo's expression shifted slightly, but she was instantly stayed by Unohana Retsu beside her.
If they didn't engage in a genuine clash right now, Uchiha Madara would inevitably stir up further friction down the line. It was far better to have a clean, honorable bout here to explicitly confirm where each other's strength stood under the laws of this reality.
The pupils of Madara's eyes progressively shifted, mirroring the calculating gaze of a wild fox as the nine tails behind him lunged forward with savage, terrifying velocity.
Sensing Madara's ferocious offensive posture, Shiraishi's silver blade cleared its scabbard in a flash. Amidst the glittering arcs of the blade, Armament Haki condensed rapidly across the steel, forming a specialized, tightly coiled shroud.
Haki was structurally divided into three distinct categories. Among them, Armament Haki, much like Observation Haki, was an energy form that could be systematically trained, refined, and elevated through rigorous physical discipline.
It was fundamentally distinct from the innate, unyielding presence of Conqueror's Haki. An individual wielding Armament Haki could drastically reinforce their personal defensive shielding and raw offensive output, functioning precisely like an invisible suit of armor.
Furthermore, it could be channeled directly into attacks to bypass the supernatural traits of Devil Fruit users, even allowing the wielder to make solid physical contact with the tangible bodies of Logia users.
At the absolute apex of mastery, Armament Haki could manifest as colorless Haki, with Imbuement (Entō) and Hardening (Kōka) serving as its core functional pathways.
What Shiraishi utilized right now was the most foundational application of Imbuement, locking the dense presence of Armament Haki onto his silver longsword.
Since Uchiha Madara was currently wielding a Zoan Devil Fruit capability, Armament Haki naturally served as the most optimal method to bypass his defenses. The instant the silver blade danced, Shiraishi's velocity reached the absolute peak, his figure crisscrossing past Uchiha Madara in a flash!
Following a thunderous, heavy thud of shifting impacts, the two figures ground to a halt, after which Uchiha Madara let out a muffled groan and completely deactivated his combat stance.
"With this level of strength, you barely retain the qualification."
Though the palm of his hand had already turned crimson and throbbed with a numbing ache, Madara would absolutely never lower his head to admit defeat. He turned around with immense arrogance and walked away, leaving behind a Shiraishi whose own arm felt equally numb from the recoil.
Uchiha Madara is truly a monster. Despite this being his absolute first encounter with the power of a Devil Fruit, he has already developed the application of the spectral ghost-fires, even weaving a specialized visual confusion trick within it.
Even without the presence of chakra to disrupt one's senses, this purely optical style of illusion remained an exceptionally troublesome methodology to handle.
Once their brief exchange concluded, Uchiha Madara cast his gaze toward the far horizon: "Go hunt down some passing pirates. We can simply force them to take over the labor of shipwrights and navigators."
Madara held nothing but sheer disdain for Shiraishi's previous action of releasing the entirety of Civco's crew. Aside from Ace, everyone here was completely unfamiliar with the geography of this realm.
Operating within these vast waters required navigators who intimately understood the shipping lanes; those captured lackeys of Civco would have been the absolute best tools for the job, yet Shiraishi had casually let them walk away.
Regarding this matter, Shiraishi rubbed his chin rather awkwardly. Previously, he had been entirely preoccupied with testing his personal combat conditioning, completely overlooking the fact that while he had successfully commandeered a fine vessel, he lacked the necessary manpower to operate it.
"Haha, that was indeed my oversight. In that case, I will have to trouble you, Mr. Madara, to assist us in tracking down a few qualified shipwrights."
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