Year 1509 of Sea Circle Calendar.
The Freedom Fighters founded by Dragon back in the day had now been renamed the [Revolutionary Army] and had become a powerful force that even the World Government could not underestimate.
They spread their liberalist ideas across various countries and had successfully persuaded several of the World Government's member nations to defect.
It was said that the person who proposed these ideas was Yukino, who had once made a name for herself on the first half of the Grand Line and now served as the commander of the Revolutionary Army's Western Army.
Although Yukino's understanding of politics was still quite limited, using it in the world of pirates, which was rotten to the core, was absolutely a form of dimension-reducing strike.
It gave the World Government a massive headache, prompting them to decide to launch a major offensive against the Revolutionary Army.
Shortly after this, the commander of the Eastern Army, Ginny, was captured by a Celestial Dragon.
The leader, Monkey D. Dragon, concerned that the Revolutionary Army was still far inferior to the World Government, chose not to attempt a rescue.
Meanwhile, Yukino, commander of the Western Army, was unaware of this matter as she was carrying out a mission in another region.
Two months later.
The Yukinoshita sisters, having successfully persuaded another member nation to defect, returned to the Revolutionary Army's base.
Upon hearing the news, they were extremely shocked and very dissatisfied that Dragon had not tried to rescue Ginny immediately.
"Why didn't you save her?"
Yukino stood before Dragon. Although she tried her best to remain calm, her tone carried a suppressed anger.
Dragon sat in his chair, hands crossed supporting his chin, his facial expression as gloomy as ever.
He was silent for a moment before speaking: "The Revolutionary Army's strength is still insufficient now. A direct confrontation with the World Government would only result in total annihilation."
"So you just watched as Ginny was taken away by a Celestial Dragon?"
Haruno stood behind her sister, frowning deeply.
"I'm not refusing to save someone."
Dragon's voice remained calm.
"This is about protecting more people."
Yukino fell silent.
She recalled a saying she had heard Kakashi mention back in the world of Naruto: 'Those who cannot complete a mission are trash, but those who do not value their comrades... are even worse than trash.'
Although she also found that place called Konoha Village quite abstract, she strongly agreed with this statement.
"I'll go save her."
Yukino turned to leave.
"Yukino!"
Haruno chased after her.
"Are you crazy? Going to Mary Geoise alone?"
"I am not crazy."
Yukino stopped walking but did not look back.
"I just don't want to watch a companion I've spent every day with die like this."
Dragon watched their retreating backs and did not try to stop them.
Ivankov stood nearby, sighed, and quietly said to Dragon: "Aren't you sending anyone to help them?"
"Sending them would be useless."
Dragon shook his head.
"Mary Geoise isn't a place you can storm with numbers. Once they hit a wall, they'll come back."
Ivankov was silent for a moment and ultimately said nothing more.
Given Yukino's strength, it was simply impossible for her to compare to the powerhouses at Mary Geoise, but with her ability to walk on water, escaping should have been no problem.
Yet the result was exactly as Ivankov and the others had predicted.
Although the Yukinoshita sisters easily climbed the Red Line by adhering Chakra to the soles of their feet, they were stopped before they could even enter the gates of Pangaea Castle.
A man with long, bright red hair stood before her.
He wore a set of splendid knight's attire, with a long sword at his waist.
His appearance was exactly like that of a pirate who had recently gained fame on the Grand Line.
Shanks's older brother, Shamrock.
"I didn't expect anyone else to barge in after that fish-man."
Shamrock's voice carried no emotional fluctuation whatsoever.
Yukino wasted no time on words, quickly forming hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
The ground beneath her feet suddenly exploded. A massive water dragon, condensed from seawater, burst up from underground, lunging fiercely at Shamrock with claws bared.
Shamrock remained unmoved, simply giving a light swing of his sword.
A silvery-white sword slash shot out, splitting the water dragon cleanly in two from the middle.
The water dragon's body exploded with a roar, scattering into a sky full of droplets that poured down like a torrential rain.
Yukino gritted her teeth and formed seals again.
"Water Release: Waterfall Technique!"
Towering waves surged up from behind her, like a water wall dozens of meters high, pressing down on Shamrock with the force of ten thousand kilos.
The momentum was so immense that even the stone paving bricks were sent flying by the shockwave.
Shamrock finally moved.
He charged straight into the towering waves without a trace of fear. Armament Haki coated his blade, turning the entire sword pure black.
With a single swing of his sword, he cleaved the entire water wall in two from the middle.
The water flowed away to both sides, washing against the outer walls of Pangaea Castle, yet it didn't even dampen the hem of Shamrock's clothes.
Yukino's expression changed slightly. "Not a Devil Fruit user?"
She knew the situation was troublesome now.
Shamrock did not answer, simply continuing to walk toward her.
Yukino drew the short blade at her waist, channeling Chakra onto the edge, and charged at Shamrock.
During the over 20 years she had spent in the world of One Piece, she hadn't stubbornly stuck only to Ninjutsu.
She had also learned this world's methods of combat.
She had studied Haki back on Makoto's ship, and although she wasn't top-tier, she had managed to develop it.
Yet, in front of Shamrock, this level of Haki seemed somewhat laughable.
Shamrock sidestepped her first slash, countered with his sword, and struck her wrist with the pommel.
Yukino felt her wrist go numb, and the short blade flew from her grasp.
She tried to retreat, but Shamrock's foot had already kicked her knee.
Crack—
Yukino fell to one knee.
She looked up and saw Shamrock's sword pointing at her throat.
"So weak."
Shamrock's voice still held no emotion whatsoever.
"Yukino!!"
Haruno rushed out from her hiding spot.
Normally, Yukino would take the lead, with her assisting from the side using Genjutsu.
"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!"
Haruno's eyes locked with Shamrock's, attempting to pull his consciousness into an illusionary space.
Shamrock's body stiffened slightly.
But—
After only half a second…
An invisible force exploded from within him.
Conqueror's Haki.
Dark red lightning radiated outward from Shamrock as the epicenter, like an invisible bomb detonating inside his body.
Haruno's illusion shattered instantly under the impact of that Haki. She felt a sharp pain explode in her brain, staggered backward, blood seeping from her mouth and nose.
"Nee-san!"
Yukino cried out in shock.
Shamrock raised his sword, preparing to deliver the final blow to the two sisters.
The sisters lay on the ground side by side, facing this utterly invincible enemy, their eyes filled with unwillingness.
The gap in strength was just too vast.
"Stop."
An aged voice came from behind.
Shamrock turned around to see an old man with a full beard of white hair and crescent moon-shaped white locks walking over.
Garling.
Although advanced in years, his stride remained vigorous.
"Father?"
Shamrock asked for the reason, confused.
Garling walked up to the Yukinoshita sisters, looked down at them, and was silent for a moment.
Then, he recognized her.
This woman, although many years had passed and she was no longer that naive young girl, he had a deep impression of every single person around Makoto.
"She's one of Nishikawa Makoto's people."
Garling's voice was very low, his tone filled with deep apprehension.
"If we kill her and offend Nishikawa Makoto, that will be troublesome."
Shamrock frowned slightly.
To be honest, his knowledge of Makoto was limited… since he was born, Makoto hadn't caused any major waves.
The words [King of the World] occasionally appeared in the newspapers, but they were mostly just clichéd retrospectives.
But for Garling, Makoto was absolutely an inescapable nightmare.
Not to mention, his own heart was still in the hands of Four Gay Bros.
If Makoto gave the order, he would die immediately.
Therefore, even if there was only the slightest possibility, he absolutely dared not offend Makoto.
"Let them go."
Garling waved his hand.
Shamrock was silent for a moment, then withdrew his sword.
Since his own father said so, he didn't dare to strike any further.
He watched the two women stumble away in the end.
Haruno, who was less injured, quickly carried her sister and fled at top speed.
She was afraid that if she stopped, the man behind her would change his mind.
They ran all the way, not stopping until they were outside the range of Mary Geoise, all the way back to the Sabaody Archipelago, where they finally collapsed under one of the Yarukiman Mangroves.
Haruno leaned against the tree trunk, gasping for breath, her face still marked with the terror of having narrowly escaped death.
"We were so lucky today..."
"I thought we were done for this time."
Yukino, who had just been set down, did not answer.
Unwillingness.
It felt like a fire burning in her chest with nowhere to vent.
She had stayed in this era, trained like crazy, executed missions like crazy, tried desperately to achieve something, all so that on the day Makoto returned, she could stand before him and tell him: See, I, Yukinoshita Yukino, can also make a difference.
But now?
She hadn't even made it through the gates of Mary Geoise before being beaten down without a chance to fight back.
She couldn't even protect her own life… she had only survived thanks to that man's reputation.
Makoto had been gone for so many years, yet she still had to rely on his lingering prestige as a protective charm.
"Yukino..."
Haruno saw what she was thinking and asked softly.
"Do you want to quit the Revolutionary Army?"
Yukino was silent for a long time.
Then, she shook her head.
"No."
"Why not?"
Yukino looked up, gazing toward the direction of the Red Line, her expression complex.
"In this rotten world, there's nowhere else that suits me."
There was one more thing Yukino didn't say: she was starting to feel that Dragon was not a very reliable person.
Haruno sighed and didn't try to persuade her further.
She hoisted her sister onto her back again and walked step by step into the distance.
The setting sun stretched the shadows of the two women very, very long, like two lonely lines, appearing so tiny on this vast and cruel sea.