Kozaburo's Wrath
[A few minutes earlier]
*Huff* *Huff* "Grandpa Buro! Come quick, pirates are going to kill Edwin, Kuina and Saga!" After arriving safely at the house next to the Dojo, Asirius immediately cried out for Kozaburo, worry and dread lacing his every word.
"What the hell did you say?!" Kozaburo, who was relaxing with a nice cup of tea and his trusty old pipe held in between his teeth, immediately got up in shock, not doubting the words Asi had uttered.
It was a known fact in the village that Starlight Asirius, a young boy with blue hair and purple eyes, always spoke the truth.
"Edwin, Kuina and Saga will die!!" Once again hearing these words, Kozaburo got over his initial shock and his expression hardened as a dreadful light, almost bordering on insanity, flashed in his eyes full of vicissitudes.
"Where are they?" Kozaburo's whole mood had changed, his tone cold and piercing. The idea of any harm befalling these three had made him exceptionally angry–no, angry wasn't apt enough to explain the wrath he felt at this moment.
'If anything happens to these three, I swear upon my ancestor, the Legendary Samurai Shimotsuki Ryuma, that these pirates will find out why they called me the Heavenly Slayer!'
Killing intent filling his mind, Kozaburo thought of his days as a young man, where he earned the epithet of 'Heavenly Slayer' from his impressive sword play, which was said to be able to cut down the very Heavens themselves.
Asi, still out of breath and a little frightened by the look in the old Samurai's eyes, called out hurriedly, "They're at the shore behind the Oaky Forest!"
"I'll be back in a second." Saying this, Kozaburo disappeared from his spot as he rushed to the location Asirius mentioned.
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[Back to the present]
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!!" Anger radiating off of him, Kozaburo came down from the sky, as he slashed down towards Yasopp who was holding Edwin and Kuina, "Godslayer Style: Severance of the Empyrean!"
[A/N: Empyrean is a word of greek origin that means; relating to the heavens or the sky]
Slashing downwards with all his might, Kozaburo sent out a golden slash of Ryuo. Yet, his desired outcome didn't come about as a flash of red light came in from the corner of his eyes, blocking his attack.
'Good thing I kept using my Observation Haki, otherwise that future might have become a reality. Thankfully, this old man doesn't know the meaning of a sneak attack.' With a deep frown on his face, Shanks thought about the future he had perceived, one where the attack hit its target.
"LET THE KIDS GO, YOU FUCKING PIRATES!!!" Taken aback by the speed of the straw hat wearing man and his seemingly effortless way of blocking his attack, Kozaburo became on guard.
Taking a stance once again, Kozaburo was about to engage the red-haired pirate as the latter quickly called out, "Wait, wait, wait! This is all a misunderstanding! These kids attacked us, so I thought of playing a prank on them, but it didn't go a–"
Shanks' explanation was cut short by a swing from Kozaburo's sword, which he forged himself and called Ame-no-Nuhoko. It was plain to see that the old man's rage had made his rational mind fly out the window.
"I don't want to hear any bullshit from a pirate that dares to harm kids!" Swinging his katana horizontally, Kozaburo's Ryuo hit the forest, cutting down a flurry of trees.
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"Should we interfere, or…?" Yasopp uttered, still holding onto Kuina and Edwin as he gazed at Lucky Roux, who was holding onto Saga.
"Nah. We should just enjoy the show, Captain's the one that got us in this shitty situation anyway, Rururururu!!" Laughing out loud, Lucky Roux munched on a piece of meat he had taken out of who-knows-where. As he gazed at their ship, he saw the rest of the crew also enjoying the show.
"You're right, it is indeed Captain's fault." Stating his stance on the matter, Yasopp sat down on the ground, waiting for the fight between the old Samurai and Shanks to finish.
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*Huff* *Huff* *Huff*
Huffing heavily, it had been around five minutes since Kozaburo had arrived at the shore behind the Oaky Forest. The fight, if you can even call it that, between him and 'Red-Haired' Shanks had been devastating to their surroundings.
As the two made eye contact, Shanks called out, "I can see on your face that you've finally calmed down. Will you hear me out, now?" The Captain of the Red Hair Pirates made his intentions known to Kozaburo, as he did not show any sign of fatigue, making Kozaburo doubt that they had even fought.
'I've been going all-out since the beginning, yet it feels like this guy hasn't even broken a sweat. I knew that these pirates would be strong, after all they defeated Edwin, but for them to be this strong, they are definitely from the New World…What the hell are they doing in the East Blue?'
Kozaburo thought to himself, wondering why pirates of this caliber appeared in the East Blue, the weakest sea, of all places.
"What do you have to say?" Kozaburo, rage not controlling his actions any longer, finally decided to listen to what the man in front of him wanted to tell him.
"Well, as I said previously…" Reiterating what he had said earlier, Shanks explained what had happened, that he had decided to play a prank on the kids after seeing how strong they were, and what his prank involved.
Still feeling guilty from his actions, Shanks sighed as he spoke, "Aaaaaaaah, it's just, I didn't expect the kid would become this enraged, although I should've expected it. I'm truly sorry it came down to that. Yet, to think he would awaken his Conqueror's Haki from th–"
"HE WHAT?!?!?!" Cutting off Shanks with a scream loud enough to pop a normal human's eardrums, Kozaburo's eyes widened and jaw dropped at the sudden mention of Edwin awakening his Conqueror's Haki.
'So this is what I had felt back then, to think it was Conqueror's Haki and not his cute face that made me waver, who would've thought?' Kozaburo thought, memories of when a 5 year old Edwin had asked him to take his friends as disciples flashing back in his mind.
Sighing in his mind, Kozaburo thought to himself, 'It seems everything was a misunderstanding, and to think this man doesn't even blame us for what we did and yet apologizes sincerely for his own actions…He truly is one of a kind.'
The whole situation now clear in his mind, the old man had finally realized how all of this could've easily been avoided, yet he was glad it happened as it did, 'Now not only has Edwin awakened Conqueror's Haki, but he might also finally listen to my warnings about how he isn't ready to sail out yet.'
"Captain! I've checked the kids and they're fine. They only seem tired, especially that black-haired boy, not surprising though." A young blonde man shouted, as he added, "Oh, by the way, Captain, Yasopp and Lucky Roux went to the village to gather the supplies we needed."
"Thanks, Hongo!" Looking back, Shanks saw Hongo next to the three kids, all three peacefully sleeping on some mattresses the Red Hair Pirates' doctor had brought from the ship.
"So, I assume everything's okay now, right?"
Looking at the three kids snoring, Kozaburo stated, "Yeah. Thank you for checking up on them." As he got up, Kozaburo bowed his head gratefully, "If there's anything I can do to help, do tell me."
Stroking his chin thoughtfully, Shanks sounded out, "Well, there's one thing I can think about."
"Oh, and what would that be?"
"Booze!" Grinning from ear to ear, 'Red-Haired' Shanks omitted formalites, as he immediately got to the crux of the matter.
"Burorororo! I can definitely help with that!"
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[A/N: Shorter chapter since I just wanted to get this little segment done with. Hope you liked it!]