The wailing crowd instantly froze as their eyes shined and they started cheering when they saw Koushirou pick up a wooden sword and they thought that he was going to teach Yuki a lesson for beating them up

"TEACHER! BEAT HIM UP"

"YEES! He's disrespecting our dojo!"

Koala watched in intrigue as Yuki and Koushirou faced each other, each holding a wooden sword in hand, yet no one made a move yet

'Can he beat Koushirou-san as well? I never saw him fight but from the amount of respect Dragon-san has for him, it should be impossible right?' She wondered as the two men still haven't made any action which raised her curiosity about what they were thinking.

Meanwhile, Yuki's eyes narrowed slightly as the moment Koushirou held a sword in his hand, he suddenly felt a weird sensation… It wasn't coming from his instincts, nor was it from the newly acquired observation Haki.

It was actually from his Swordsman talent and Mutsu Enmei Ryu mastery, after all, it was a style that was created to deal with sword wielders!

'His stance… there's no openings despite how relaxed he makes it out to be, how's this possible…' Wondered Yuki while Koushirou's smile widened slightly as he observed all of this

'It seems like my intuition was correct, this guy definitely has more skill than what he's showing'

After a few seconds passed and the cheers turned into mocking of Yuki as they thought he was scared now that he was facing their teacher.

Yuki suddenly smiled and attacked Koushirou with his sword, yet no matter which way he attacks, Koushirou defended everything so easily as if his sword was flowing and he wasn't putting any effort.

"Your form isn't bad, but you are treating that sword in your hand more like a stick rather than a sword" spoke Koushirou before retaliating and forcing Yuki to retreat.

"Well, it's just a wooden sword so I guess it's fair to call it a stick…" Spoke Yuki carelessly but Koushirou simply smiled and said "Really?"

Then, he casually swung his wooden sword downward at Yuki with one hand while standing sideways as if he wasn't putting much effort into it and Yuki believed that he could block it easily as he raised his sword above his head.

But the closer that wooden sword got to him, the weirder he felt until all sound disappeared from his surroundings as his mind entered a lucid state of absolute focus. Then, as if he caught a glimpse of something, Yuki's eyes suddenly narrowed as he dropped his sword and dodged to the side effectively avoiding Koushirou's strike.

"This is the entry point of learning the way of the sword, sword arts can even be used without a sword for a samurai always has a sword in his heart"

"YEAAA Teacher is amazing" roars of excitement echoed from students as Yuki remained still but Koushirou simply yelled at them and allowed them to disperse early today. Although they didn't forget to mock Yuki on their way out...

Meanwhile, Koala simply shook her head in disappointment as she thought 'It seems like I overestimated that guy…'

But suddenly Koushirou approached her and she fidgeted slightly since she was spying on them and stuttered "Koushirou-san, I-I…"

"I know why you are here… what do you think about that guy?" Asked Koushirou while staring at the silent Yuki in the empty dojo.

Seeing that Koushirou didn't mind her actions, Koala instantly turned to her playful nature and said "I guess he's only above average…"

"Really…" Spoke Koushirou absentmindedly and he couldn't help but shake his head and said "Do you really think that beastly smile belongs to an above-average person?"

Koala's mouth turned into an O shape before she cast Yuki another glance and saw him picking the sword he intentionally dropped, but for some reason, it appeared to have been split cleanly in half as if made by a very sharp sword, but what shook her heart even more was the terrifying glint of excitement in Yuki's eyes as if he found a new toy to play with and a new realm has opened in front of his eyes!

A terrifying aura gushed from his body at that moment and it hit her in the face like a Tsunami "This…"

Seeing the shock on Koala's face, Koushirou simply smiled and said "That guy noticed that my attack wasn't normal somehow and dodged at the right time, and I could see it, he barely held himself back from hitting me back… He's definitely talented in the way of the sword and fighting in general…"

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"Cutting a wooden sword with another wooden sword, that's a feat only achieved by master swordsman like you Koushirou-san… This isn't a matter of strength, you are amazing!"

Koala's eyes ignited in amazement while Koushirou humbly rubbed the back of his head and said "You are overrating me…"

Meanwhile, Yuki actually received the notification he was hoping for…

[Congratulation host on acquiring the mastery Way of the sword (40/100)]

[You unlocked the mastery points function]

'It seems like there's still quite the distance before I become a master swordsman, but at least now I can see my progress more clearly…' Yuki smiled slightly and the weird aura surrounding him disappeared completely from his surrounding as he approached Koushirou and Koala and said "Thank you for the lesson" It came from the bottom of his heart and it brought a smile to Koushirou and Koala's faces.

'It seems like he's obsessed, but he's not a bad guy…' She thought and planned to report everything that happened today to Dragon.

"Come by if you have any doubts" Spoke Koushirou and Yuki calmly nodded before he turned to Koala and asked "How long will you guys stay here?"

"Mmm, maybe a weak, why?" She asked back and Yuki simply smiled and said "You guys have a gym right?"

"Y-yes?" Koala felt slightly creeped out by Yuki's stare but he didn't care for what she thought as he simply grabbed her and started running back to Dragon's ship while saying to her "Taking me there"

"Doesn't seem like I got a choice…" she muttered with her eyes tearing up slightly as she flew through the air and Koushirou simply shook his head at the scene.

…

That day, Yuki kept bothering Dragon until he allowed him to use their gym, and then he also used one of their rooms to sleep, and then he ate their food, and then he got some of their clothes…

All in all, everyone felt like they got a parasite on their ship that didn't let anyone rest, especially when they started finding many precious items going missing, yet no matter how many times they searched Yuki, they didn't find anything on him… although they were sure it was his doing since only those that insulted him had their items stolen

Chaos covered Dragon's ship wherever Yuki sets his feet, but he eventually started making friends, he especially got close to Koala and her group of friends which included Sabo and the Fishman Hack!

However, he spent most of his time either training his body or at Koushirou's dojo asking for advice and he soon got an idea of what the way of the sword meant and its possible levels after a whole week of constantly terrorizing everyone…

…

"Oy Yuki, get out of the ship, we are setting sail from Shimotsuki village today" Spoke one of Yuki's unhappy roommates.

"Really?" Asked Yuki with a surprised look on his face and Sabo suddenly approached him and said "As much as I hate to say this, it's indeed true, we will be leaving today"

"Oh.."

"We will miss you" Spoke Koala with teary eyes, but everyone else were cheering in happiness, clearly they didn't share her feelings at all, and even Dragon was nodding silently as he thought 'Finally, we are going to get rid of this trouble maker…'

However, Yuki suddenly stared at her in understanding and patted her on the shoulder "I understand how you feel Koala"

"Really?" Koala felt happy that she made a new friend and even Sabo smiled as well as the cheers grew even stronger while Dragon thought 'It seems like this guy isn't rotten to the core'

However, Yuki suddenly smiled and said "Of course I do, I too will miss Shimotsuki village"

"Eh?" muttered Koala… and right after followed the rest of the crew "EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Even Dragon's eyes twitched slightly while Sabo directly burst out laughing and he couldn't help but pat Yuki's back and say "Hahahaha, Yuki, you really are amazing, you remind me of— eh, who do you remind me of?"

Sabo suddenly had a lost look in his eyes which didn't escape Yuki but he then simply shook his head and said "Well it doesn't matter"

Meanwhile, Koala started shaking Yuki by the collar and admonished him for playing with her frail feelings.

…

Surprisingly, Dragon didn't oppose to taking him with them so Yuki went to bid farewell to Koushirou

"Remember, a sword should only cut when its wielder wants it to…" Spoke Koushirou wisely to which, Yuki nodded in appreciation and said "I will remember your words…" Then, Yuki suddenly handed him a giant bag he was carrying and said

"Consider this a donation to the dojo, although it's not as valuable as the things you taught me"

Koushirou's eyes widened slightly as after a week of interacting with Yuki, he got to understand a bit of his personality and he concluded that he was the type of guy that water wouldn't slip between his fingers… That's how cheap he was!

'It seems like I grew old and I can't judge people properly anymore' Thought Koushirou as he accepted the heavy bag and watched as Yuki left happily…

However, he will soon come to know that his initial judgment wasn't wrong as one of his students looked curiously at the content of the bag and he couldn't help but shout "Ehh, That looks like my stolen necklace…"

Then another one arrived and spoke "What! Is that my wife's stolen ring?"

Koushirou's face suddenly froze as he watched his people claiming their things one after the other before he laughed slightly and muttered "I guess this is what he considers kindness, returning what he stole hahahaha"

….

Meanwhile, Yuki truly believed that he did those assholes a favor since he returned what he stole from them no matter how much it pained his heart, but he soon forgot about it as he contemplated silently

'I'm 95% sure that the powers of this world aren't limited to Haki and devil fruits… elements are also something that can be controlled, similar to Sanji's and Luffy's fire abilities or the mink's lightning abilities, I'm starting to believe that Dragon's wind manipulation also falls on this category since Sabo also train those weird skills…

The best example of this is the swordsman's famous flying slashes which are a manipulation of wind… but the true way of the sword is different, instead of controlling the elements, it creates Sharpness! But are these things made solely through will? This I will have to discover slowly'

With his thoughts concluded, Yuki made his way to Dragon's ship to continue to train his body, he couldn't miss the opportunity to use such advanced equipment especially after seeing the progress he made in the past week, but before going back, he first needs to do something he was holding back since he didn't find a good opportunity…

'Time for my body to evolve, I already reached my limit with my current potential…'