16. One Year

Sea Circle Calendar January 1502, East Blue Shimotsuki Village.

Under a huge Sakura tree, a young man wearing a black kendo uniform sat cross-legged upright, with an unsheathed long sword placed on his slender legs. The young man's face, with his eyes closed, was natural and peaceful. The sword-like profile gave him a sharp look. The young man was Atlas who practiced kendo in Shimotsuki Village. It has been more than a year since he arrived in Shimotsuki Village, and he is now 16 years old. Who knew his birthday was in January?

Suddenly, Atlas's closed eyes suddenly opened, his sharp eyes narrowed slightly, and an invisible aura escaped.

Atlas suddenly stood up and drew out the sword. The scabbard hit the tree trunk violently with a loud bang. The huge Sakura tree swayed violently. A large number of Sakura flowers rushed to fall, and Atlas under the tree began to dance with the long sword in his hand. What was surprising was that waves of terrifying sword light fell on the scattered Sakura flowers, but there were no traces of the sword cutting them. If Koushirou were here, he would definitely sigh with his palms in his hands, the realm of cutting steel! It's done!

--a year ago--

"Mr. Koushirou, I feel that my swordsmanship has reached a bottleneck, and I can't reach the next level no matter what."

Koushirou was still smiling and explained unhurriedly.

"Come on, let me go outside and demonstrate it for you in person."

With that said, Koushirou walked straight outside, and Atlas followed him when he saw this.

The season at this time has also entered winter, and layers of white snow decorate the monotonous world (except for the changeable weather in the Grand Line, the weather and seasonal changes in the world are relatively normal). The two of them were wearing thin clothes.

I saw Koushirou pulling out a piece of white paper from nowhere like a magic trick, throwing the white paper into the air, and then took out the Wado in his hand. A cold light flashed through, adding to the already cold winter. It was chilling, but the white paper was still intact. Instead, it slowly fell along its original trajectory, then covered the snow, and was then buried by the falling snow...

Atlas was greatly shocked. He was not a kid who didn't understand anything. You must know that Wado Ichimonji is a great sword, which is often called the Twenty-one Great Grade sword. Even ordinary people who are not proficient in swordsmanship can easily cut gold and jade, let alone an ordinary piece of white paper. This shows Koushirou's terrifying control over power.

"Sir, there is a swordsman in this world who cannot cut anything, but that swordsman can cut steel or even harder things with the same sword. The so-called strongest swordsmanship is one who can protect what he wants to protect. A sword that harms everything it touches is not a sword to me."

Koushirou is explaining his own swordsmanship to Atlas, which is the belief of protection. In the world of One Piece, belief can be said to be a very important thing. Only by having your own belief can you reach the top of the world. Once the belief is shattered, the strength will slowly decline, just like the former Marine Admiral Zephyr, who believed in the justice of "no killing", but his family was retaliated by pirates and stabbed in the back by the World Government, so his belief was shattered, and the strength declined significantly.

Atlas also has his own belief, that is, "the strongest". He is not the strongest man in the world like Whitebeard. He wants to be a man who breaks the ceiling and becomes 'invincible', but he will not become a puppet who pursues power. He also has his own justice, "If you are poor, you can be kind to yourself, and if you are successful, you can help the world." The Chinese culture in his previous life has deeply influenced him, and when he reaches the top...

"Mr. Koushirou, what does this have to do with Cutting steel?"

Atlas asked as he recovered his thoughts and looked Koushirou in the eye.

"And you should have awakened Observation Haki. It should be easy for you to understand the breath of all things."

Without waiting for Atlas to answer, Koushirou said with a smile.

After coming back to his senses, Atlas was about to raise his head and say something, but found that Koushirou had quietly left.

In the next few months, in addition to tempering his body and practicing physical skills, Atlas would also try to use the observation haki to help him master the breath of all things, but there was still no progress. When he found Koushirou, he got the answer is that the accumulation of swordsmanship is not enough. Also, it had only been more than two years since he learned swordsmanship, and he didn't just practice swordsmanship. Although his basic swordsmanship had been refined, it was still a bit superficial, so he calmed down and polished his skills carefully. 

Finally, today, when Atlas just turned 16, he realized the breath of all things and officially became a swordsman!

"Wow! Brother Canos, you are so awesome!"

Suddenly, a childish voice came from behind a nearby tree. It was a little girl with dark blue hair and black eyes, wearing braids. She was Koushirou's daughter Kuina. In fact, Atlas had already discovered Kuina hiding behind the tree, but he didn't say anything out loud, it was not the first time anyway.

Now Kuina is more than one year old. I wonder if it is because the average physical fitness of One Piece is relatively high. Now Kuina can run and jump. Under the influence of the family atmosphere, Kuina has been fond of swords for a long time and often comes to peek at Atlas practicing swordsmanship, but Atlas didn't care. He just let Kuina play on the sidelines. With his haki, he could help Koushirou take care of the child, which was considered a small reward. Kuina, who is still young, naturally doesn't know anything about swordsmanship. She simply thought that Atlas's swordsmanship posture was particularly handsome, so she exclaimed.

"Brother Canos, it's time to go back to eat."

Kuina touched her flat belly and said loudly to Atlas.

Atlas also stood up after hearing this, patted the non-existent dust on his body, stepped forward, picked up the petite Kuina, put it on his thick shoulders, and walked towards the dojo.

In the distance, two figures, one large and one small, gradually disappeared into the sky full of falling Sakura...