Soon, Hiroto and the others gathered. The task of cleaning up the battlefield and the final arrangements were left to Carina and the others.
He prepared to return to the cabin to see what the rewards were this time. However, halfway there, Hiroto was stopped by Koushirou and taken to a quiet room.
The two sat down, and Koushirou was blunt and direct.
"Hiroto, your sword is broken, right?"
"Yes, I was careless."
At the mention of this, Hiroto's lips twitched and he felt a bit of heartache.
"Then, what do you think of Shusui?"
"It's excellent."
Hiroto described his feelings truthfully, then said, "Sensei, just say whatever is on your mind."
"We're not strangers, so there's no need to beat around the bush. I want to entrust Shusui to you."
Koushirou fell silent for a moment, feeling a surge of emotions in his heart, unable to distinguish what they were for a moment, but he still stated his purpose.
"Is that appropriate?"
Hiroto was a bit surprised. He naturally knew how powerful Shusui was, but he hadn't entertained the idea of taking it.
The fundamental reason was Shusui's importance. In the Wano Country arc, as soon as Kozuki Hiyori discovered it, she very abruptly sought an exchange, offering Enma to get Zoro to let go of it.
The term 'national treasure' mentioned then showed Shusui's weight.
"There are conditions."
Koushirou looked at Hiroto with a complex gaze. "I just talked a lot with Issho. When we first met, he said your future couldn't be predicted and that you might be someone who could change the global situation. I thought he was exaggerating at the time."
"But today, after gathering what I've seen and heard, I've come to share his thoughts. It's a spur-of-the-moment decision, but I don't think I'll regret it."
"If you accept my entrustment and take Shusui, I hope that one day you'll go to Wano Country and slay the dragon entrenched in its skies. After that, if you're willing, you may also decide Wano's future."
"Someone as kind to civilians as you won't let my homeland become a cesspool again."
With those words, Koushirou set the sheathed Shusui on the table.
Hiroto couldn't help lifting his gaze, yet saw only unwavering conviction in Koushirou's eyes.
"What if I die halfway?"
Koushirou answered, "I'll personally take back Shusui and cut him down while I'm at it. This is a gamble. Win or lose, it's my decision."
"I understand."
Without hesitation, Hiroto picked up Shusui.
Wavering?
That wasn't his style. He liked to plan before acting, but that didn't mean he lacked hot blood.
He had no interest in cleaning up the Kozuki family's mess, but every interest in seizing Wano as his ultimate stronghold.
As for Kaido...
Kaido was an enemy he was bound to face in his future plans anyway.
How could he climb to the peak of the powerhouses without stepping over one of the Four Emperors?
Perhaps stirred by his surging emotions, the moment the sheathed Shusui touched his hand it quivered with a soft hum.
Hiroto's state of mind, his feelings, even his resolve, were in an instant drawn into the Great Trend, condensing into a pressure heavy as a mountain range.
A gale rose, air pressure plummeted, and a suffocating aura slammed outward.
Even Koushirou was somewhat shaken. As expected, it was another reckless act driven by impulse.
Yet Hiroto truly deserved it—this dazzling spirit and crushing pressure reminded Koushirou of his younger self.
Back then, he too had been so overwhelming—until he met and crossed blades with Mihawk. Only then was his edge blunted. Later, bound by ancestral teachings, he withdrew from the world stage and returned to East Blue's Shimotsuki Village to take over the dojo.
"Don't you think it's rash?"
By now, Hiroto had bid farewell to Koushirou and left.
Koushirou stepped out right after and heard his friend's question.
That weathered face held no teasing, only solemnity.
"A whim, a moment's recklessness—call it impulse, but in the end I simply find that boy worth expecting great things from."
Koushirou smiled. "With my homeland in such upheaval and me unable to leave, what use is keeping Shusui? Shusui is Wano Country's national treasure meant to protect the land. Since I've chosen him, why hesitate?"
"Good that you've thought it through."
Issho said no more. "If anything happens to him, I'll bring Shusui back."
As he spoke Issho looked seaward beyond the island. "I just don't know how he'll handle what's over there."
Within Observation Haki range, far out at sea, a Marine surveillance ship drifted with the waves. Clearly the Marines aboard had tailed Moria and recorded Hiroto's battle with him and its outcome. By now, they must have sent the intel back.
The next second, to Issho's surprise, Shusui in hand, Hiroto stepped onto the waves.
Above the surging sea, Hiroto gripped Shusui's hilt, sharp eyes fixed on the Marine ship.
Around him, fierce winds billowed and blazing flames appeared, yet unlike before, they didn't turn into a sea of fire. Instead, in an instant they were captured by Shusui's Great Trend, condensing into crimson streams on the blade.
If he swung, it would become a hundreds-of-meters-long slash.
But if he held it in check, it could boost the power of his physical blade strikes by at least thirty percent.
"A fine blade."
Elated, Hiroto stepped forward and slashed.
A crimson, hundred-plus-meter compressed slash whistled out and cut the Warship two nautical miles away clean in half. The residual force carved a long 'wound' across the undulating sea.
Flying Slash had become far more condensed. Even without full power, its effective range had greatly increased.
For the first time, he realized how immense a good sword's boost to a swordsman could be.
Ignoring the distant Marines' struggles and screams and the slowly sinking Warship, Hiroto used Shunpo to leave the sea and returned to the Going Merry's Captain's cabin.
Next up: entry gains!
In a distant corner, a World Economy News Paper reporter who had risked death to photograph Moria's rampage, bloodied all over, crouched and snapped one final photo.
"This year's bonus is in the bag."
Before passing out, the reporter exhaled in satisfaction.
To personally witness Sea-Cleaving Swordsman Hiroto—bounty 100 million berries—cut down Moria of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, who carried a 320-million-berries bounty, and to send this huge scoop back, even dying now would be worth it.