ONE PIECE: NEN MASTER - CHAPTER 8 (Patreon)

A few hours later after Marushi and I had liberated those who had been confined in the camp, the mink guard arrived, leaping out of the trees, ready for combat, with Inuarashi, the lord of the day, leading the charge.

Apparently, they had taken their time to arrive because of numerous factors, one, Sakura had taken a long time to reach the nearest settlement, and two, by the time she finally managed to arrive, she sadly found out they were already busy dealing with other slaver incidents around Zou.

“You three did all of this?” Inuarashi muttered, gaze trained on me. This was the first time I had seen him so close, unlike Nekomamushi, he never visited the academy during my years there.

He was huge, towering over me. Now that I think about it, his presence was very similar to that of Nekomamushi, the lord of the night, they both radiated a sense of pride and power unlike any other, at least within Zou.

“It was all him,” Marushi corrected him, bowing in respect.

“Did you, now?” Inuarashi muttered.

“Yes,” I replied, briefly. Catching glances here and there of the guard helping those we had liberated.

“You did Zou proud,” Inuarashi said, almost a declaration.

Had I? I mean, I wasn't feeling bad for the life I had taken, yet I didn't feel good either, I wasn’t even sure how I felt to be honest, my mind was buzzing with thoughts and doubts. 

“Rest assured. You had no other choice,” Inuarashi said, putting a reassuring paw on my shoulder, almost as If he had seen right through me. 

I nodded.

“What do you seek, young mink?” Inuarashi muttered, kneeling to my level.

Adventure, that was always my motivator in this life, the idea of seeing this world, of experiencing everything it had to offer.

“I want to see the world,” I replied, my ears straightening forward.

Inuarashi stared at me for a seemingly long moment, scrutinizing me, his paw gripping my shoulder amicably before his mouth curved into a big smile, “Hahahaha, good.” Tail wagging, the lord of the day grinned, “Then, I have an offer for you, young mink.”

“An offer?” I asked, wondering where he was going with all of this.

“I have heard of you, the prodigy they call you, the promised child of Zou,” Inuarashi barked with a small chuckle, “So, I had set my sights to recruit you, I had a feeling you would’ve had made a great musketeer, but that might not work at all, I see it in your eyes, I know you won’t stay in Zou. I can’t fault that, for wanting to explore, I did when I was your age.” he beamed, almost as if reminiscing about something in a wave of nostalgia.

The promised child of Zou? Well that’s new, do people really talk about me around? 

I sighed, pushing those thoughts aside as I looked at Inuarashi, realizing where this conversation was leading, “You want to train me,” I stated, my ears twitching.

He nodded, his enormously furry tail giving a quick wag across the ground, before coming to a full stop, “I do, if you wish, that is.”

I nodded, accepting his offer without a second thought, because in reality, there wasn’t much to think about, I needed to grow stronger, I was still weak, had it not been for my Nen, I doubt very much the fight I had earlier would’ve ended favorably for me, had I encountered a Haki user, things would’ve ended poorly for me.

This was a golden opportunity, the opportunity to train under one of the strongest Minks, an opportunity I didn't intend to miss out.

At my answer, a sunny smile spread across Inuarashi’s face as his tail started to wag once more, “Then let’s prepare for a celebration!” he declared, which in turn made the Musketeers around cheer.

I smiled, his mood was contagious. I really had no idea how he was able to smile after what happened today, yet, despite everything, despite the slavers, he was happy.

“Rest assured. I’m not as happy as I seem right now. Within, I’m fuming in anger, but I won’t let that cloud our victory, today the Minks of Zou showed those intruders what we are made of, today, we rescued everyone, and for that, I will celebrate, for that, I will smile,” Inuarashi said, almost as though he had seen right through me once again, his eyes cold, revealing rage like I had never seen before.

To not let our losses crush our victories, what a marvelous philosophy to have in life.

—---------------------------------

News of the slavers incident spread across Zou like wildfire, reaching every corner of the country within hours, so by the time I arrived back in the city with Lord Inuarashi and the others, I was tackled to the ground by my parents, who were crying their souls out, in a mix of pride and relief.

They were aware of what I had done, and were proud of me for it, but they couldn’t help but blame themselves for putting me in that situation, thinking that had they not pushed me to spend time with my friends, I would’ve never been in that situation to begin with.

I didn’t regret they had.

With or without me, Marushi, Leo and Sakura were planning to explore the supposed port, and had I not been there, who knows what would’ve happened.

After my parents calmed down, I decided to take a walk around to clear my thoughts, eventually stopping to take a seat under a tree in a small park close to my house.

“I knew you would be here,” Sakura said, her head hanging as she took a seat beside me.

“I just wanted to be alone for a bit,” I replied, my ears flattening as my tail moved around uneasily.

“I’m sorry,” Sakura muttered.

“Sorry? For what?” I asked, a small frown of my face as I looked at her.

Sakura sighed, looking back at me over her shoulder, “I invited you to come, I pushed and pushed, until you came, I’m the reason you had to fight.”

Another one blaming themselves, perhaps I look gloomier than I think I look.

“Don’t be,” I smiled, playfully smacking her off with my tail on the shoulder, “Not to be cocky, but had I not been there, you all would’ve probably ended in chains.” 

“Not to be cocky?” Sakura chuckled, before sighing, “Yeah, we most likely would’ve.”

“Besides, I’m not feeling as bad as you, or anyone thinks,” I said, looking at my open hands before placing them over my knees, “I’m just processing what happened.”

“How did it feel?” Sakura asked, her tone soft.

I frowned, musing over her question, my whiskers tensing. “At the moment, I felt nothing, I was too preoccupied in keeping my head in the fight to think of anything else but the enemy in front of me, after?” I sighed, scratching behind my ears, “I got light-headed, which soon turned to horrified at the sight of my first kill, I mean, don’t get me wrong, the guy deserved it, heck, for all I know, he might have deserved worse, but I guess I just didn’t expect my first kill to end so… Mortal Kombat style.”

“Mortal kombat?” Sakura repeated.

“An inside joke,” I chuckled.

“I guess in things like that, we don’t have any control,” Sakura said.

“I think that honestly, what’s affecting me more is the whole slaving situation,” I added, giving her a quick look over my shoulder.

“Same,” Sakura nodded, “To think that for others we are nothing more than merchandise, numbers, it’s horrifying. I mean, I read about that in some books, but I never thought I would get to experience it firsthand.”

“Zou is one of the hardest places to find, or reach,” I nodded. Zunesha was always in constant motion, making it hard for anyone to track Zou’s location, and when found, more than not Zunesha would sink any that dared to approach.

However, the books also stated, that every few decades or so, some would not only manage to find Zunesha, but climb it, more than not, those that did, were not friendly, and were simply in the look to reap some slaves, after all, each Mink was worth around 700,000 Belly, more if said Mink was young.

“I guess this shows why every single Mink learns how to fight,” Sakura said.

I nodded, after all, a prey stops being a prey when it strikes back.