377. Kuina

After leaving Shimotsuki Village, Enel asks Buggy about the sword he gave to Zoro.

"I don't know that you are so generous. Why did you give that sword to that kid? Even if Leo won't use it, it is still too precious to be given for free, especially to a kid you barely know," says Enel.

"So what are you suggesting? Selling it again? That sword is too precious to be sold," says Buggy.

"Then that's the more reason you shouldn't give it to a kid," says Enel.

That katana, Kusanagi, was purchased by Buggy for a whopping price of 15 million Belly. Yet, he gave it for free to a kid, so of course, it makes his crewmates wonder if he is still sane. Besides, it was meant for Leo, not a mere green-haired kid from a remote village.

"Enel, I am a swordsman with a strong love for swords. I hate seeing a sword gathering dust on a shelf because it isn't used. If my son doesn't use it, then someone else needs to use it. Besides, I don't think giving it to a talented boy is a waste of money or a good sword. Kozaburo liked that kid, so let's just say I was doing a favor for my friend," says Buggy.

Of course, Buggy's real reason is to give Zoro compensation because Zoro won't get Wado Ichimonji. Although he is honest with the other reasons, including the one he told Zoro. Without a sword of the same grade, Zoro won't be able to compete with Kuina for the strongest title.

"You keep talking about how precious that sword is. Can I ask how expensive it is?" asks Kuina.

"15," says Buggy calmly.

"15 thousand? That's not expensive for a sword," says Kuina while tilting her head.

"He means 15 million," says Enel.

Kuina is very surprised and her jaw drops as her eyes turn fully white. She passes out after hearing the ridiculous amount of money Buggy spent on a sword. The most money she ever saw was 50 thousand, so 15 million is too much for her.

The crew is stunned when they see her passing out. But they would also pass out if they hear such an amount of money at her age. None of them were rich, after all, and even now, 1 million is still a lot for them, so they can imagine how it feels for a kid to hear such a number.

When Kuina wakes up, they've already arrived on their Conomi Island base. Buggy tells Kuina to follow him with her luggage. She will live in his house while training under him. He planned to let her stay in the base, but his crewmates plan to play around East Blue while they're here, so no one else will live in the base.

Buggy has asked Bellemere and she told him to let Kuina stay in their house. They have a big house now, after all, and they have more rooms for people to stay in. Besides, having more people in their house is a good thing because it feels empty now.

His family welcomes him back and he introduces Kuina to them. Nojiko & Nami immediately chat with Kuina to know more about her. They don't have many girl friends because there aren't many girls their age in this village, so they are happy to see another girl come here.

Leo isn't too interested though and he is quite worried instead. His sisters have given him a lot of trouble and now there is one more girl. He can only see a worrying future ahead of him where the 3 girls make him their slave.

He looks at Buggy with a hopeful expression, but his dad doesn't understand it. Even his mother just smiles at him without saying anything. Leo is very worried about his future which looks very bleak and full of hardship.

The next day, Kuina's training begins because she is very eager to start it. Leo also trains in the training ground and Kuina is very impressed by his skill.

"How old is he?" asks Kuina while looking at Leo who trained in the center of the training ground.

"He is turning 8 this year," says Buggy.

Kuina is very surprised now because Leo is already very skillful at his age. If he is in her family dojo, then he will be ranked 3rd, just below her & Zoro even though he is a few years younger than them.

"Can you see the difference between Leo's swordsmanship and the one that your father taught you guys?" asks Buggy.

"I'm not sure, but it seems to flow like water," says Kuina.

"You are half correct. Even though his movements are flowing, it is also rough at the same time. There are 2 main types of swordsmanship, Gentle and Strong Swords. The one taught in your dojo is Strong Sword used by samurai. But the one I taught Leo is a combination of Strong & Gentle sword that I made myself after fighting against many swordsmen," says Buggy.

"So I will learn that too?" asks Kuina.

"No, I think you need to use Gentle Sword which is more suitable for your body, muscles, & posture. Just like its name, Strong Sword utilizes power, while Gentle Sword is a style focusing on speed. Although there are many different characteristics too that I'll explain as we train. It will be very difficult for you though because you are used to the Strong Sword of your dojo. However, once you use it, you will feel the vast difference between both types," says Buggy.

Kuina doesn't really understand it now, but she will still try it. Their training finally starts and Buggy really teaches her from scratch as if she never learned swordsmanship. Kuina thought it would be easy because they start from the most basic things, but it is far more difficult than she thought.

The main problem is her old swordsmanship that has been engraved in her mind & body. Changing one's swordsmanship style is a very difficult thing to do. She can't even do a basic vertical swing of the style that Buggy teaches her correctly on the first day.

Buggy's swordsmanship isn't so difficult actually because Buggy made it to be simple but powerful. It's even easier than the one that is taught at the dojo which originated from Wano. Kuina has difficulty changing her swordsmanship, but once she understands it, she will grow fast.

For almost a month, Kuina just trains the most basic things. She was having a very hard time at first, but it gets easier as days passed. The more she understands her new swordsmanship style, the more it gets fun and enjoyable.

It feels very compatible with her, and that's why it is fun, unlike the swordsmanship she learned before. Buggy had taught battle skills to many females, so he knows their physical traits well which help him make battle styles suitable for them.

His biggest reason to learn all of those was because he wanted to help Bellemere get stronger so she would be able to protect herself. His daughters will also need it, so he took his time to learn about battle skills for females which weren't easy.

Too bad that his daughters don't use swords and they aren't even interested in getting stronger that much. They like using their brains more than their muscles and Buggy doesn't have a problem with that. Only Leo wants to learn his swordsmanship, so he really wants a female disciple.

Passing his swordsmanship to future generations sounds very awesome, after all. It's a kind of achievement rarely owned by pirates because most of them just care about themselves. He never thought that it would be Kuina though, but that doesn't matter.

Buggy train Kuina seriously while also training Leo. It's more difficult to train Leo than Kuina actually because Leo also needs to train his devil fruit ability. Kuina was very surprised when she saw a devil fruit ability for the first time.

She gets even more surprised when she knew that Buggy & Bellemere are devil fruit users too. Devil fruits are common in Grandline, but in 4 Blues, they are considered a myth sometimes. There are only a handful of people who knows about devil fruits in 4 Blues, so it's normal for Kuina to not know them.

But anyway, their training goes well and Buggy teaches everything Kuina needs for now. He will go to New World again soon, so he needs to make sure Kuina understands everything she needs for now.

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