บท 16: *****

Tonight is a full moon night, the bright moonlight spread on the earth makes everything seems so distinct. On the vast grassland outside the village, Zoro and Kuina stared at each other holding their swords.

In the woods not far away, Ian kept watching the scene.

The duel finally began. From Ian's point of view, the round moon just became the background of the duel. In the moonlight, the two figures were intertwined, chopping and attacking each other with their swords, their swords kept slashing in a rythmic pattern that creates a scenery of dancing blades, and there was a strange aesthetic feeling.

However, this time the two talented kids in the duel understood that the battle was actually very dangerous. The bamboo sword was replaced by a real sharp sword. If they were not careful, they might get a serious wound or possible, death.

Perhaps it was because of this that the fight between the two has become more cautious and more serious.

Fighting for dozens of rounds, Zoro has been panting, his greatest achievement was just cutting off a bunch of Kuina's hair. On the contrary, Kuina wasn't that tired.

"It's heavy to fight with two real swords, isn't it? Zoro!" Kuina continued to stimulate him and said, "You are still very weak indeed!"

Upon hearing her, Zoro screamed unconvinced and attacked Kuina, but she had deliberately provoked him. The flaw revealed again. Kuina rushed over while lowering her body and made an upper blow, hitting Zoro's two swords and made them flew away!

Suddenly he was thrown by the force, Zoro fell backward, and her sword turned around and plunged beside Zoro's ear.

"You lost again! 0 wins and 2001 defeat!" Kuina laughed.

Lying on the ground, Zoro muffled his face and growled, "Damn it! Damn it!"

He lost again. He was so unwilling to lose, and he was about to cry.

However, Kuina looked at him in silence and suddenly said, "I'm not willing to cry..."

Zoro took off his hands and looked over in surprise, he saw the tear in Kuina's eyes, and she was lonely and said, "When a girl grows up, she will be weaker than a boy. Look at Big Brother Ian, you can see that he has not tried to compete with me for a long time. It's not that he doesn't want to, but that I don't want to compete with him, because I know that he may be stronger than me now."

"You too, Zoro! You'll soon catch up with me, too…"

Kuina looked up at the sky and tried not to let her tears fall. "My father told me that girls can't be the strongest swordsman in the world, I understand... I've known that for a long time!"

"Hey Zoro, because you're a boy... I also want to be the strongest swordsman in the world, but..." Kuina put her hand on her chest. "My chest is growing too!"

Zoro blushed when he saw this scene.

"If, if I could be a boy too..." Kuina lowered her head, and her unwilling tears finally flowed down.

Then Zoro was reluctant and shouted, "Don't whine when you've beaten me already! That's too mean. You're my goal. Whatever a man or woman, when I beat you one day, will you use this as an excuse!? It seems that I did not win by my own strength. Wasn't I an idiot who worked so hard training?"

"Zoro..." Kuina looked at him in surprise.

"Stop saying that!" Zoro went up to Kuina and said, "Promise me that one day it will be you or me, one of us, must become the strongest swordsman in the world! Let's compare and see who can be The One!"

Kuina looked at Zoro in a daze and found that his eyes were more serious than ever.

Zoro reached out to her and motioned.

Kuina smiled, wiped her tears from her eyes and muttered, "You fool! You are so weak..."

However, she extended her hands and held Zoro tightly.

Under the moonlit night, this scene seem to have been frozen and became a beautiful picture.

But Ian, far away in the woods, couldn't help covering his head and sighing, "Ah, this is youth!"

What does he mean with that sentence? He remembers that day running in the sunset, which was his lost memory of his youth! That's what he's talking about now, but here the sunset is replaced by the moon...

'But, you damn idiots, when you two made your goals, have you forgotten about me?'

As a bystander, Ian's mood was very complicated at this time. Zoro and Kuina have set their goals, but what about him?

When he came to this world, he can't go back. Should he continue to live like this as a bystander?

Ian was in a confused state, but then suddenly he found a figure walking towards him, after looking at it, Ian found that it was Kuina!

Zoro didn't know when she had left him. Meanwhile, Kuina has found Ian, so she came over and said to him, "Have you seen it, Big Brother Ian?"

Ian nodded. Kuina smiled and pulled her hair around her ear, then said, "Is it my father who asked you to come over and find me? Don't worry. I'm fine."

Ian looked at Kuina for a while and suddenly said, "Although you have made a pact with that idiot, are you still a little unwilling?"

Kuina kept silent and turned her head aside.

Ian wasn't a fool like Zoro. Only he would simply think that an agreement would make Kuina happy.

The limitation of her body makes it impossible for her to become the strongest. This is probably the demon in Kuina's heart. She has been bound by this idea, and her heart was not free, so what progress in her swordsmanship would she make?

She knows very well that one day, she can only look up to Zoro and watch him defeat her so that she can feel the taste of the defeat!! For Kuina's strong personality, the thought of such a picture would make her feel as uncomfortable as being needled.

To say that in Frost Moon village, who knows the most about Kuina, it must be Ian, even Master Koshiro can't be compared with him!

That's why he was going to ask her such a sentence.

Looking at Kuina's reaction, Ian sighed slightly and said, "Come with me!"

Ian took Kuina back to the dojo and went to his room. As Kuina watched curiously, Ian carefully picked up the Den Den Mushi sleeping on the table.

After a year, this little Den Den Mushi has grown up.

If it wasn't sleeping, she could see that its beans-sized eyes had become a bit of Ian's charm. The funniest thing was that there was a little bear ear cap on his head now! Looks so much like Ian.

And on its shell, there is now another number, 9209, which was Ian's number.

"Brother Ian, what are you doing with the Den Den Mushi?" Asked Kuina.

Instead of answering her, Ian touched the Den Den Mushi's little head and said, "Kuina, do you remember that time when you haven't seen me for the whole day, and when I appeared, I had this hat on my head?"

Kuina nodded, of course, she remembered.

"That's because a group of outsiders came to the village that day!" Ian said, "These people were the revolutionary army! They gave me the hat, and among them, there was a very strange person!"

Kuina listened quietly to Ian's story, but she heard him suddenly change the subject and say, "Have you ever heard of the Devil Fruit?"

"My father once mentioned it to me, but I don't really believe it, is there such a thing as Devil Fruit?" Asked Kuina.

Ian nodded and said, "Really, Frost Moon Village is very small, and the outside world is very big. This Devil Fruit really exists, and the strange person I want to talk about is a Devil Fruit user!"

"His name is Ivankov. He has Hormone Fruit Ability!" Ian said: "He has a strange ability to manipulate human hormones and become a man or a woman freely,"

Looking at Kuina, she had opened her mouth in surprise, and Ian laughed. "And the most important thing is that his ability can be applied to other people!"

When she heard this, Kuina looked at Ian. She finally understood what Ian meant to say.

"Yes, I escorted them out of the village!" Ian nodded. "When I left, I got his number. Now that my Den Den Mushi has grown up, I can call him if... I mean, if you really want to be a boy, maybe you can talk to him and he will help you?! "

That's right, this was the real reason why Ian asked Ivankov for his number when he left.

Looking at Kuina's silence, Ian sighed and said, "Although we are not brothers and sisters, I have always treated you as my real sister. You have a demon in your heart. If you don't set it free, it will be very difficult for you to strengthen your swordsmanship. I don't want to see you sinking because of this matter, so I can only help you by finding this strange way. It may be hard for you to accept, so everything depends on your personal wishes. If you want to be a boy, go to the sea and find Ivankov. If you don't want to, then go on like this all the time. Girls can't be the strongest, I don't believe that, even though it takes a lot of hard work, there is always hope."

"I... I have to think about it!" Kuina stood up and walked towards the door.

She seemed a little lost, and Ian's words had a significant impact on her.

At the moment when she was about to close the door, Ian took off Kuma's cap from his head with his right hand and showed a sweet smile to Kuina, saying, "Remember, follow your heart! No matter what decision you make, I will support you! "

"Thank you, Oniisan!"

"You're welcome, who made me your brother?"