Rowan's face darkened. He felt like he'd just been looked down on.
No—he should be more confident and drop the "felt like." He had definitely been looked down on.
Great. Just great…
He really hadn't expected to get looked down on just for eating a meal, so in a fit of anger… he got a little angry.
There wasn't much else he could do. It wasn't like he could hang Sanji up and beat him half to death over something this minor. That would be way overboard.
And Sanji, that lovestruck pervert, wasn't wrong either. Rowan really couldn't beat him.
If he actually rushed up there, he'd probably be the one getting wrecked.
So he had to stay calm.
There was an old saying: a gentleman can wait ten years for revenge. Just because he couldn't beat Sanji now didn't mean he'd never be able to. Once he ate a Devil Fruit and got stronger, he could always come back later and settle the score.
"How dare you."
Just as Rowan was thinking about when he ought to come back and teach the guy a little lesson, Hashirama, who had been sitting nearby, suddenly barked out a shout and slapped his hands together.
In an instant, the wooden floor beneath Sanji came alive. Branches burst out from the planks and wrapped around him. Before Sanji could even react, he was hoisted upside down into the air.
One of the branches even whipped him around like a spinning top.
Smack. Smack. Smack.
The sharp cracking sounds came one after another.
In just a few seconds, Sanji had been whipped until he was black and blue.
Of course, Sanji tried to break free, but Hashirama's Wood Release could pin down even a Tailed Beast like the Nine-Tails with ease.
Holding down Sanji was child's play.
If this had been late-story Sanji, the one who had mastered Haki and risen to Yonko Commander level, it might have taken a little effort.
But the current Sanji?
He couldn't make a single wave.
Rowan stared at Hashirama in shock.
Good lord. Was the God of Shinobi really this violent? He just went straight to beating someone without a second word.
At the same time, Hashirama turned to Rowan and asked seriously,
"Is this alright, Lord Rowan?"
Before Hashirama had come to the One Piece world, Tobirama had specifically told him:
"Brother, the safety of the entire ninja world now rests on Rowan alone. This time, if you're acting as his bodyguard, then don't just act like a bodyguard. You need to treat Lord Rowan the way you'd serve a Daimyo."
"As long as Lord Rowan is safe and happy, our ninja world—our Konoha—can continue to prosper."
"Brother, you don't want Rowan to abandon Konoha out of anger because you failed to protect him and go off to help some other hidden village instead, do you?"
Hashirama had always been stubborn, but he did listen to Tobirama—especially when it came to things that were supposedly for Konoha's good.
So the moment he saw Rowan getting angry, he didn't hesitate to hang Sanji up and beat him.
In the ninja world, a feudal lord's status was shockingly high. Even the Hokage had to bow his head a little.
If anyone dared offend a feudal lord, it was a crime punishable by death.
The only reason Hashirama hadn't killed Sanji outright was because he was kind-hearted and didn't want to casually kill a young man.
So when he asked Rowan that question, he was actually a little nervous.
If Rowan really insisted on killing Sanji, Hashirama wouldn't have held back.
For Konoha's sake, he was willing to strike even his own loved ones, so some random young man meant nothing by comparison.
Rowan finally understood.
So he was doing this to vent on Rowan's behalf.
For some reason, Rowan suddenly felt a lot better.
"That's enough. Let him down."
Rowan waved his hand. He wasn't some petty person. There was no way he'd have someone killed over a few harsh words.
He had grown up under the red flag in a modern society. How could he be that violent?
Hearing that, Hashirama immediately relaxed. He waved his hand, and the branches binding Sanji instantly withered into ash. Sanji dropped to the floor with a thud.
"You bastard…"
Sanji climbed back to his feet, bruised and battered, glaring at Rowan with fire in his eyes.
Anyone would be furious after getting whipped like that, especially in front of so many people.
"Idiot!"
But before Sanji could retaliate, the frying pan returned.
Zeff appeared behind him soundlessly and smashed that huge black frying pan straight down onto Sanji's head with a heavy thud.
Half of Sanji's body was driven into the floor, and an enormous lump the size of a fist instantly swelled up on his head.
This time, Sanji couldn't hold on. He blacked out completely.
Zeff sighed and said to Rowan, "Thank you for showing mercy. I'll take this idiot away now. This meal is on the house."
He could tell that Hashirama had already held back.
Sanji looked horribly bruised, but they were all superficial injuries. He'd recover after a day of rest.
That was why, the moment Zeff saw Sanji stupidly trying to fight back, he knocked him out without hesitation.
If he really angered the other side, Sanji's life would be over.
Having once survived on the Grand Line, Zeff understood this world's cruelty all too well.
The strong did whatever they pleased. The weak endured it.
"No, no." Rowan waved his hand. "At the end of the day, it was just a verbal spat. It's not some blood feud. I'll pay whatever the meal costs. I'm not in the habit of dining and dashing."
But Zeff insisted on waiving the bill and refused to back down no matter what.
After a back-and-forth argument between the two, Robin finally stepped in and proposed a compromise.
The bill would be half off.
And so everyone ended up satisfied—except for Sanji, who was the only one injured in this worldline.
…
After leaving the Baratie, Rowan looked out at the endless sea and asked Robin and Hashirama,
"So where should we go next?"
They'd already checked the sea restaurant off the list, and Rowan honestly had no idea where to go after that, so he just asked the two of them.
Robin smiled and said, "How about Cocoyasi Village?"
"Cocoyasi Village?" Rowan froze for a second, then remembered. "That's Nami's village, right? You mean we go help Nami deal with Arlong and bring her in too?"
He hesitated. "That doesn't feel right. I already stole you away. If I steal Nami too, I'm afraid Luffy's going to spend his whole life wandering around the East Blue and never make it into the Grand Line."
Robin looked a little surprised. "You really do think about him."
Rowan said matter-of-factly, "When I read the manga, I was naturally seeing things from the protagonist's point of view, so of course I'm a little biased toward Luffy. And in a world full of pirates who burn, kill, and loot, he's basically a total anomaly."
"Apart from the way he handled things during the Impel Down arc, he doesn't really have any major problems."