Chapter – 26 A Cruel Pinkie Promise

"Kuina-chan?" called out Ryuma upon not finding her in the room. He put down the plates on the side, then stood there for a moment while looking at the window, pondering over what to do. Normally, her not being in her room at this hour is not that big of a deal since that girl often trains until late at night. However, this time around, Ryuma had a bad feeling. He instinctively felt that her not being in the room at the moment was not a good thing.

Except for bathroom breaks, Kuina hadn't left her room in the past three weeks. She has neither held a Shinai nor a sword in her hand during this time. Let alone carrying out any training, she hadn't even waved her sword once. Now that she had suddenly gone out at this hour, and that too without having informed anyone in the house, it's quite obvious that something is up. This is not like her, and he was worried that she might end up doing something to herself.

Ryuma did consider the possibility that he might be thinking too much. She could have just gone out for a stroll at night to clear her mind, and if that were the case, then he was worrying for no reason. However, no matter how much he tried, Ryuma just couldn't ignore the worst possibility, "Taking into account her deteriorating mental state, what if she really went for the 'what if?'"

Obviously, the downward spiral of her mental and physical state with each successive defeat that she suffered hadn't been hidden from Ryuma because of his ability to sense emotions using Observation Haki. Be that as it may, and even though he was worried about her, Ryuma did not know what to do about it.

Their first duel, the one they fought after a week Ryuma arrived at the Isshin Dōjō, at that time, Ryuma had just sought to test her skills against his own out of curiosity. Kuina was considered the strongest disciple at the Isshin Dōjō, and Ryuma was curious about her strength, so he challenged the girl on that night. However, the ninety-nine duels that they fought after that were not part of his plan. He hadn't intended to partake in them, but since Kuina kept challenging him, Ryuma continued to accept.

Ryuma couldn't have turned down her challenges; that would be spitting on her determination, something Ryuma did not want to do. Nor did he want her to feel that he looked down on her because of some misogynistic mentality. Simultaneously, he couldn't have shown weakness in front of her and allowed her to win. Had he allowed her to perform more than her actual strength fairs, she might have ended up overestimating her strength, and that can be really dangerous. At the same time, it would also go against his code of conduct.

For these reasons, in all the duels they fought, Ryuma never allowed himself to be outperformed or put in a bad position. This is not to say that he used his hundred percent strength in each fight—no, he did not. But he did not release any water either; his pride did not allow such a thing. Even if the source of his strength comes from the ROB–who granted him his half-Oni-half-Merfolk bloodline, the More More Devil Fruit, as well as the knowledge of all three forms of Haki and Swordsmanship–Ryuma has worked really hard in the past six years to become strong. He has put blood and sweat into it, so how could he allow himself to be defeated?

True, Ryuma is a person who retains the memory of his previous life along with the knowledge of the canon. For this reason, he understands Kuina's situation quite well; therefore, he does empathize with her. However, this does not mean that he would allow himself to be defeated out of pity. Moreover, Ryuma personally believes that what Kuina needs is not someone's pity; what she needs is a reality check and then the self-motivation to continue pursuing her dream despite the number of obstacles and setbacks she might face on her journey to becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman.

Despite being 'biologically' a woman, Kuina's dream is to become the World's Greatest Swordsman. Such a dream might have been relatively easier for her to achieve if she had been born with a physique similar to BIG MOM or born as a descendant of a powerful tribe like the Lunarians, Merfolk/Fishmen, Oni, or even a Buccaneer. Being born as a member of any of these races would have given her a strong body, aiding her in her dream. However, she was born as a normal human girl with no special physique, no special DNA, and no special ability.

Some might argue that even if she wasn't born with a special physique, there is always an option of eating a particularly powerful Devil Fruit or opting for genetic mutations like the Vinsmokes by becoming a cyborg. However, these methods would not make her the Greatest Swordsman in the World, only the Strongest Swordsman, but not the Greatest.

The two titles do appear to be similar, but they are not the same, and there is a major difference between the Strongest Swordsman in the World and the Greatest Swordsman in the World. The 'Strongest Swordsman in the World,' as the title says, is the strongest swordsman. Anyone can be considered the strongest swordsman as long as they use swords as their primary weapons, and for their secondary weapons, they can use anything like Devil Fruits or other abilities. It doesn't matter; as long as they reach the top, they will be considered the Strongest Swordsman in the World.

The Greatest Swordsman in the World, on the other hand, is much different. The Greatest Swordsman is someone who only utilizes their sword, sword skills, and innate Haki to become the strongest. Except for these three, nothing else is used. Use anything else, and you are no longer the Greatest Swordsman in the World; you might become the strongest, but you will never be the greatest.

For this reason, using methods like Devil Fruits and genetic mutations has never been an option for Kuina. If she were to employ any of these methods, that would simply mean giving up on her dream. As a normal human woman, becoming the Greatest Swordsman is an incredibly difficult feat. This is not a misogynistic mentality; it is simply based on facts because, so far, the title of the Greatest Swordsman in the World has never been held by a woman.

Heck, let alone the Greatest Swordsman, women in this world have never been the strongest bunch. In fact, there are only a handful of strong women in this world, but even most of those women have something special about them to back up their strength.

BIGMOM has her special physique, Yamato has the blood of the Oni tribe flowing through her veins, as well as one of the rarest Devil fruits, a Mythical Zoan devil fruit to back her up. Boa Hancock's source of strength is her unique Devil Fruit and beauty. This is not to say that she is weak without her Devil Fruit and beauty, as she is clearly a master of all three forms of Haki. However, her Devil Fruit and beauty are what make her truly frightening. On top of these two things, she is a descendant of the Kuja, a tribe of born warriors, Amazonian Warriors.

While the exact strength and abilities of Vice Admiral Gion are unknown to Ryuma, it's not impossible for her to have a particularly powerful Devil Fruit considering she was one of the Admiral Candidates, and all Admirals tend to have powerful Devil Fruits.

Of course, there are other women like Shakuyaku, Gloriosa, Buckingham Stussy, her clone Miss Stussy, and BIGMOM's daughter Charlotte Smoothie, but the exact level of their strength is unknown. Moreover, Shakuyaku and Gloriosa, like Boa Hancock, are members of the Kuja Tribe.

The Queen of the Pleasure District, Miss Stussy, is a clone, so she cannot be considered a normal human woman. As for Buckingham Stussy, her strength and feats are unknown, but it is definitely nowhere near the level of the Greatest Swordsman in the World, the same applies to BIGMOM's fourteenth daughter, Charlotte Smoothie.

When Shimotsuki Koushirou said, "Grown women truly cannot match men in terms of strength," he wasn't lying; he was speaking from his experience. For Kuina–who is a normal human girl with no special physique or the blood of any tribe to back her up–achieving her dream is indeed extremely difficult.

In fact, sometimes Ryuma even wonders whether becoming the King of Pirates or maybe the Queen of the Pirates in her case might be an easier task compared to becoming the Greatest Swordsman in the World. Ryuma understands this as well, precisely why he could never have gone easy on her. If he did, he would be giving her false hope.

This has also complicated the situation, and the girl seems to have simply given up on her dream. Not only that, but she has also come to a dead-end in her life. Ryuma hadn't anticipated this situation, especially not this early, not in a mere hundred duels. Zoro could go on for two thousand defeats and still continue with the same determination. Ryuma himself suffered ninety-nine defeats against Shanks, and he has no desire to give up. The fact that Kuina would give up so fast was unexpected; he never really took this possibility into account.

Then again, no one ever told Zoro that he couldn't become the Greatest Swordsman in the World. No one ever told him that he was just a normal human, so he could never reach that level of strength in his lifetime. Similarly, Ryuma was never told that he could not surpass Shanks. No matter how many times he was defeated by Shanks, no one in the Party's Bar said he couldn't surpass Shanks. No one in the Foosha Village said he can't surpass Shanks. None of the members of the Red-Hair Pirates said that he can't surpass Shanks. Shanks himself never said that Ryuma can't surpass him. For these reasons, neither Zoro nor Ryuma had any insecurities, nor did they feel the need to prove anything to anyone.

Kuina, on the other hand, is different from them. All her life, Kuina has been told that she won't be able to become the Greatest Swordsman in the World. Therefore, she has insecurities and doubts. At the same time, she feels the need to prove that despite being biologically a woman, she can indeed become the Greatest Swordsman in the World.

In her day-to-day life, that girl masks her insecurities and doubts with an outer shell of confidence and arrogance. She would defeat the boys at the Dōjō and look down upon them with mockery. This was her way of defying her father's words, a form of resistance, an attempt to prove to him as well as to herself that despite being a woman, she could become the Greatest Swordsman in the World.

Yet, when she faced Ryuma, a particularly tall wall on her path to becoming the Greatest Swordsman in the World, an extremely difficult obstacle that she tried to climb a hundred times but failed, making him insurmountable in her eyes, her mask completely crumbled. Along with her mask, her confidence and arrogance crumbled as well.

The first defeat was unexpected, it came as a surprise, like a fluke. However, the second was not, the same with the third defeat and the ones that came after. With each subsequent defeat against Ryuma, whatever confidence she had built up over the years, whatever argument she had constructed, crumbled. Now, let alone convincing her father, she can't even convince herself. Let alone prove to her father, she can't even prove to herself that she can do it.

After all, she is only a child. "How could I have been such a fool?"

…

Uphill Forest

"Is that… Kuina?" muttered Zoro as he paused his training and looked at the figure going deeper into the forest. After a moment of watching, Zoro confirmed that the person was indeed Kuina. However, he was a bit confused as to why Kuina is here at such a time and why she is going into the forest, "Shouldn't she be resting?"

For a moment, the thought, 'Perhaps her fever is cured, and she is feeling better, so she came out to train,' crossed his mind, and Zoro became excited, "I am going to challenge her and defeat her this time!"

Although he did not see a Shinai or a sword in Kuina's hand, Zoro did not care. "Kuina!" he shouted to attract her attention, then picked up his bag of Shinai and dashed toward her.

…

"Kuina!" Hearing her name being called out, she was taken aback. Her figure trembled a little, but she took a deep breath to calm herself. She stopped to turn around in search of the person calling and was surprised to find that the one calling her was none other than, "Zoro-kun?"

"Huh?" Zoro was a little taken aback by the way Kuina referred to him. Up until now, she had always called him either 'Zoro' or some other 'name' to mock him, but never once did she call him 'Zoro-kun,' therefore he was a little surprised and looked at her suspiciously, 'Did she hit her head or something?'

Although he couldn't tell just by looking whether she had hit her head, he did notice her eyes and thought in shock, 'They are completely hollow!' He couldn't put it into words to explain his feelings, but the Kuina in front of him did not appear to be the Kuina he knew as his rival. Worried, he questioned with a solemn tone of voice, "Kuina, what… what happened to you?" 

"Nothing happened to me," answered Kuina lightly. Then, to change the topic, she asked, "What do you want, Zoro-kun?"

Zoro looked at Kuina in silence for a while. Then he took out a Shinai from his bag of Shinai and threw it at her, saying, "Here!"

Kuina instinctively caught the hilt of the Shinai and looked at it in confusion.

Noting her confusion, Zoro said, "Fight me!" and took a stance with a Shinai in each hand.

Kuina's heart rate increased, and her hand trembled, but she took a deep breath to calm herself and took her stance as she nodded, "Alright!"

.

.

A FEW MOVES LATER!

.

.

"Damn it... damn it… damn it, this is not fair!" Zoro cried in frustration. Despite three weeks of regular training, he couldn't defeat Kuina.

Looking at his frustrated expression, Kuina smiled lightly, "That's another win for me, Zoro-kun!"

"Sigh, fine, this time you win, however, tomorrow… I will definitely defeat you!" declared Zoro.

Hearing Zoro's declaration, the smile on Kuina's face disappeared. She looked down and said, "Zoro-kun, can I… can I make a request to you?"

Zoro was taken aback, "A request?" This was the last thing he expected Kuina to say, and for some reason, his instinctual feeling that something was wrong once again kicked in.

Kuina nodded, "Promise me, Zoro-kun… the world's greatest swordsman, it must be one of us. Even if something were to happen to one of us, the other person would achieve the dream for both of us!"

Although a little confused as to why Kuina would want to request such a promise from him, Zoro nodded with a grin, "Of course, it will be one of us, and it will be me!"

Kuina smiled lightly and stretched out her pinkie, "It's a promise, right?"

Despite being taken aback by her childish 'pinkie promise', Zoro nodded, "Yes," and matched her pinkie with his pinkie, "It's a promise!" though he did appear to be a little embarrassed about it.

"Thank you!" said Kuina with a smile, then bid farewell to Zoro and continued on her way.

Watching Kuina walk away, Zoro suddenly called out, "Kuina… you haven't given up, have you?" 

"Of course not. Just watch, Zoro-kun, the one who is going to become the World's Greatest Swordsman. It will be me, always me. No matter how strong you become, no matter how great you become, you will never be able to defeat me. This is my promise to you!" said Kuina with a smile, though it was empty.

This time Zoro failed to notice her empty smile because she had moved under the shade of a tree, so her face was no longer clearly visible. He nodded and smiled fiercely, "That's what I am talking about!" Then he turned around and left to continue his training. After all, he wasn't going to become the World's Greatest Swordsman just by standing here in a daze, right?

Watching Zoro leave, drops of tears flowed down her cheeks, "I am sorry, Zoro-kun. I know this is cruel for you, and I know you will never forgive me for the path that I might have to set you on. But please, for both of our sake, for my sake, and for the sake of our rivalry, you must become the Greatest Swordsman in the World. Only when you become the Greatest Swordsman in the World will I become the Greatest Swordsman in the World!"