Chapter 22 - Growth, Companions, and Return to Marineford

On the west side of Hell Island, countless birds were flying away in a panic following a loud disturbance.

Sitting next to a stream cupping water into his mouth was Terumi, bare chest and hair ragged. On his left was a large boar, slain and carved for its meat.

"Whew, I needed that."

Terumi stood up, clutching Asahi in one hand, and a large piece of meat in the other. He bit down on the meat as he eyed his surrounding, sending a threatening glare towards the hidden predators in the bushes waiting to pounce on his meal.

"Can't a man eat his meal in peace?"

A small wave of Haoshoku Haki burst forward, causing most of the beasts to turn tail and run.

Terumi then continued and ate half of the boar. Stomach full, he then threw the remaining carcass to the other side of the stream. As he turned away to leave, several smaller beasts ran out and started devouring the rest of the carcass.

"Okay friends, I'm going to be leaving today! Try not to get yourselves eaten, okay?"

Terumi waved at the beasts hurrying to eat their meal, one of the beasts, a small two-tailed fox, howled back at him.

Terumi smiled, recognizing the familiar creature that has been following him around for the past month. He turned back towards the north of the forest and started running at full speed.

Seeing Terumi's departing figure, the fox simply stared.

As Terumi made his way towards the coast north of the island, he reminisced about his stay here on the island the past month.

'Every day spent filled with battle. In one month I've grown more than in years of previous training. Before, I thought just tiring out my muscles and perfecting my form would be the best training, but now I understand why mom said that life or death combat was the best way to unlock Haki.'

Terumi smiled wryly, remembering each time he almost died in the past month.

'Each time I came close to death, my instincts would take over and found a way for me to survive. My battle prowess has grown as well, although I didn't get that much physically stronger, I've grown more used to using multiple breathing styles mid-combat without too much backlash. That combined with the fact that I've unlocked and mastered basic Armament Haki, can use simple Observation Haki, not to mention Haoshoku Haki, have made this trip more fruitful than I could have asked for.'

Terumi then felt the air around him, listened to the sounds of the forest, and carefully maneuvered through the forest while avoiding confrontation with the smaller beasts that posed no threat to him.

'On the Observation Haki front though, it is a little weird. Since the battle with the wyvern, using Breath of Beast's Spatial Awareness as a base, I combined it with Uzui's Breath of Sound. Uzui used his unique superhuman hearing, the 'Musical Score' to analyze the rhythm of living beings. I started training in the breath to strengthen my Observation Haki, but interestingly enough, I've managed to unlock a similar sense of hearing as well.'

Terumi then focused his hearing, enjoying his new senses.

'At first, I thought I had unlocked something crazy like the voice of all things or something but it doesn't seem to be on that level. It's a little hard to describe, but it's like all my senses I have combined into one. My danger sense, my air vibration sense, my hearing, all combined to give me a superhuman sixth sense similar to Uzui's that I'm dubbing 'Rhythm Sense.''

'I know from my knowledge of One Piece that Observation Haki is a supernatural sense that is separate from the physical senses, but my rhythm senses rely on those physical senses. The upside is that it's not affected by my mental state, and is active 24/7 like my Total Concentration Breathing: Constant, allowing me to fight under any mental condition without trouble. But the downside is that if want the powerful abilities of Observation Haki like future sight, which I really want, I still need to train hard in it. Right now, all I really do is presence sensing and a certain level of intent sense, but my rhythm sense covers those already. I need to find a way to combine the two. I tried doing blindfold training once I realized this difference, but since my rhythm sense is always active, I can't help but react using it. Quite the quandary.'

Terumi sighed, wondering if he shot himself in the foot.

'Though I guess I shouldn't complain too much, rhythm sense being active 24/7 and under any mental condition makes it so I have an advantage over Observation Haki users, as long as they don't disturb my hearing I guess, but people in this world wouldn't realize that. If I can find a way to combine the two, I'll make up for both weaknesses.'

Finishing up his thoughts, Terumi arrived on the coast north of the island. He wasn't surprised to see Zephyr's boat there waiting for him, as he already sensed it on the way.

Swiftly jumping onto the boat, Terumi was greeted by Zephyr.

"Hoh."

As soon as Zephyr saw Terumi, he eyed him up and down, and then swiftly hardened his arm black with Haki, sending a punch straight at Terumi's head.

Terumi tilted his head to the side, no sign of surprise on his face, easily dodging the attack.

Zephyr saw this and grinned widely before laughing.

"Gahahaha! Okay kid, now you're a real man."

Terumi saluted his instructor with a smile on his face.

"Thank you for agreeing to my request, sir. I have been able to make a lot of progress this past month."

Zephyr nodded in satisfaction, then beckoned him over to a seat on the deck of the ship.

"Come, you can tell me all about it on the way back. Men! Set sail for Marineford!"

"Yes, sir!"

As Terumi was about to come over, he looked down on his wardrobe malfunction and sorry excuses of clothing.

"Zephyr-sensei, I would like to take a shower and change first."

Zephyr laughed and agreed.

"Gahahaha, still a kid huh, alright go ahead."

Terumi turned around, preparing to enter the cabin as the ship got ready to leave. At that moment a soldier on the side of the deck yelled.

"Sir! Intruder incoming!"

The soldier prepared their muskets to defend the ship.

Terumi turned over, sensing a small creature running towards the ship. Feeling the outline of the creature, he yelled out.

"Wait! Hold your fire, I know that creature!"

The soldiers turned back in surprise and then looked over to Zephyr, seeking confirmation.

Terumi and Zephyr looked at each other, Terumi nodded to assure him.

"Stand down, it's just a little pup, leave it alone."

The soldiers took down their muskets, soon after a small half-meter tall fox pup with two tails jumped on the ship and ran towards Terumi, snuggling against his leg.

Terumi chuckled curiously seeing the creature. He bent over and picked it up.

"What are you doing here? I don't have any more food for you."

The fox mewed and licked Terumi's face.

Zephyr then came over to examine the creature.

"Hoh, well what a surprise. It's a female Kitsune pup. I haven't seen one of those on Hell Island for almost a decade."

"A Kitsune?"

Terumi asked curiously. Zepher nodded, continuing his explanation.

"They are beasts native to this island, full-grown adults have the ability to conjure illusions and breath deadly fire that can burn the sea. They are very territorial creatures and usually prefer to hide themselves using their illusions. You're quite lucky kid, this one seems to be quite attached to you."

Terumi then looked at his familiar companion that has been following him around for the past month. The fox watched him curiously, mewing cutely.

'Heh, I've never had a pet before, but why not. It's too cute to abandon.'

Terumi patted the fox's head and it snuggled against his hand.

"Okay, if you want to come with me, you have to promise to behave, alright? Stay close, and don't draw too much attention to yourself. If other people find out about you, they might take you away, got it?"

The fox mewed in agreement, seemingly understanding everything Terumi said. Then, like magic, a strange mist covered the fox's body and its two tails turned into one.

Zephyr laughed seeing the display.

"Smart, guess I didn't need to warn you. Kitsune are valued quite highly on the black market, make sure you keep it safe."

Terumi nodded, placing the fox on his shoulder. It then wrapped itself around Terumi's neck like a scarf.

Terumi patted its head once more and then pondered.

'Hmm, guess I need to give her a name now.'

Terumi then remembered a character from a game he once loved.

"How about...Amaterasu?"

The Kitsune perked up, hearing the name, mewing in agreement.

"Okay, Amaterasu, welcome to the team!"

Terumi said as he clutched Asahi tightly. Asahi vibrated slightly, but Terumi couldn't sense what emotion it was giving off.

Zephyr smiled seeing his happy student. He then called out to the other Marines.

"Okay, set sail!"

"Yes, sir!"

With Amaterasu on his neck and Asahi in his hand, Terumi started making his way back to Marineford.