Chapter 6: Escape from the island

Many unforeseen things did happen during their fight such as Roronoa Zoro getting stronger out of nowhere, Ose Takeshi randomly getting distracted by sounds that he could only hear, and many other things that nobody could explain nor understand.

Normally the fight would have ended a long time ago if it weren't for his opponent being Roronoa Zoro, but it's already fortunate enough for him not to lose his life in this fight.

If he were to be just as strong or slightly stronger than his opponent, then it's not a matter of winning or not but keeping his life intact, is what he realized after the fight.

He stood there enjoying the beauty of this world for a while, then he turned his gaze over to the sea beneath him and threw the body into it.

Ose Takeshi sighed deeply as he kept looking at the sinking body.

Killing Roronoa Zoro wasn't a personal thing, they had no grudge against each other, but the mission left him with no choice.

The reason why he threw the body into the sea was that he respected Roronoa Zoro, he knew that his opponent was the type of guy who rather die on the battlefield than to die on his deathbed.

Dying at the sea is the most honorable thing for anybody who is ambitious in this world whether it's the marines or the pirates.

Even though Roronoa Zoro didn't really die at the sea, but at least his body will be embraced by it after he died.

System, check the reward.

{Hitman System}

Reward: Swordsmanship Talent (Monster Level)

You didn't really disappoint me Zoro, since your dream is to become the greatest swordsman in this world then I, Ose Takeshi shall fulfill it for you on my way to the top.

Claim the reward for me, System.

Right after he claimed the reward, he suddenly felt great pains all over his entire body and inside his mind, everything was changing inside him rapidly.

He groaned in pain silently while trying not to let out a single scream, not that it mattered even if he were to let out one since the sound of rain hitting the ground was loudly covering every other sound.

He did this to improve his mind power because in this type of world, being weak mind will get you killed one day without you knowing it.

Being able to accept the pain without any reactions is an essential thing for any fighter, especially for a swordsman because the pain could possibly affect your judgment and your actions.

Having poor control over your judgment and your actions during a fight is like you seeking death, so most fighters always spend their time trying to stay in their best condition before the fight and especially when they're fighting.

So having a high pain intolerance is a most have thing for him if he wanna compete for the top position with the monsters of this world.

The pain gradually disappeared, replaced by an unfamiliar feeling of being connected with the

nature and the sword more deeply.

Many insights about swordsmanship started to pop up inside his mind one by one, questions that he tried hard to come up with an answer to no longer bothered him, and everything that puzzled him in the past could be easily solved by him now.

The world has gotten more beautiful in his perspective, he could perceive more detail even the smallest one with less than half of his previous efforts via all his senses.

This is a monster talent huh.... it's more terrifying than I thought.

Now is not the best time to explore this newly obtained talent of mine, it's better if I do it after I escape from this island first...

After he made sure that he left no crucial evidence behind, he ran off to his secret lair which was located close to this place.

This place is well hidden deep in the forbidden forest that is filled with many small venomous insects.

Normally people would never wander around here since it's a very dangerous area, beside this forest is full of insects and nothing else, thus only those who seek death will come to visit this forest.

Most of them are ordinary civilians, so they could never make it too far inside the forest before ending up dying leaving this secret lair undiscovered.

There ain't many things in the secret lair, since Ose Takeshi mainly used it to hide the boat which he would use to escape from this island after completing his mission.

After he arrived at his secret lair, he hurriedly walked over to the boat and lifted it up.

People would soon find it suspicious and start to search for their whereabouts, especially since they are awoken by the loud thunder strike along with the heavy raining sound.

But this is both a blessing and a curse since they can't really go out even if they want to since it's currently raining hard, and most people don't really care because they're too worn out from their intense practice.

But there is always that one guy who is just really interested in someone else business and that would cause him to have a limited amount of time to sail away from this place.

This is the second reason why he took his time removing all the evidence,

He couldn't afford to get caught no matter what, since being caught meant death.

The villagers don't accept nor forgive anybody who killed their own people, especially the dojo

His current strength might look strong compared to most pirates in this sea except for their leader, but it's nothing in front of Shimotsuki Koushirou whose strength is but a mystery.

So if Shimotsuki Koushirou were to find out that he killed one of his favorite students who is also the most talented one, then his death would be unavoidable.

Besides, there was no reason for him to stay here any longer since he already accomplished his goal and learned everything that the dojo could offer.

Since this dojo would only teach you the basics of swordsmanship which would take a year or two depending on your talents, and beyond that you had to carve your own path.

Ose Takeshi took almost a year to master these and the rest on toning his killing capability as he chose the killing one as his own swordsmanship style.

There were no fancy moves within his style but straight-up killing moves, every sword that he struck out toward his enemy's vital spots contained sharpness and killing intent that immobilized people with terror. 

...

After he threw the boat into the waving hard sea, he jumped down onto the deck and stabilized himself.

Standing on the deck, he could feel the boat shaking every time the wave crashed against the boat along with the icy wind that had caused this.

He opened up the mainsail and adjusted it to make the boat travel far away from the island.

After a while, he heard a shout coming from the island that kept getting smaller in his vision "HEY, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? AND WHERE IS ZORO?".

He turned his eyes to where the sound came from and saw a person standing there in wet clothes looking very confused.

The sound is barely audible to him since it's still raining hard.

The person didn't stop there, he kept shouting again and again but Ose Takeshi remained silent while he kept the boat traveling at full speed.

That person was Shimotsuki Koushirou.

Right after a student reported to him that Roronoa Zoro was missing, he shrouded the entire island with his observation haki.

He found out that his favorite student was nowhere to be found but Ose Takeshi, finding the situation amiss, he rushed here to question him.

But everything was too late, Ose Takeshi had already sailed far away from the island.

Shimotsuki Koushirou who had already gone past his prime couldn't do anything to caught up with the boat but kept shouting while looking at the disappearing figure of his student in confusion.

Eventually, the sound could no longer be heard and the island that always stood strong on the sea was finally gone from Ose Takeshi perspective.

...