"I'm afraid this Op-Op Fruit belongs to me."
Ren Kuro stepped out from the shadows and walked toward Donquixote Rosinante.
"It's you… Shinigami!" As a Marine undercover agent, Rosinante recognized him at a glance. The captain of the Shinigami Pirates had become one of the most feared names on the Grand Line in recent years.
"Marine serial number 01746. Headquarters Lieutenant Commander Rosinante. An undercover officer planted inside the Donquixote Family." Ren Kuro stopped in front of him, his voice cold. "I admire your courage and resolve."
He looked down at the fruit clenched in Rosinante's hand.
"But unfortunately… I'm taking the Op-Op Fruit."
"How do you know all that?" Rosinante stared at him in shock. He was certain only he and Sengoku knew the truth of his identity.
"I know far more than you think." Ren Kuro's expression did not change. "But that doesn't matter. My goal is the Op-Op Fruit."
"No! I won't hand it over!" Rosinante roared. "That fruit is Law's only hope of surviving!"
Even with his body bound tight by Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō, Rosinante clutched the fruit so hard his knuckles turned white.
Even standing before a pirate with a five-hundred-million-berry bounty, he refused to let go.
His grip did not loosen in the slightest.
Even if he died—
he would never surrender the fruit.
At the edge of his vision, he caught sight of the boy collapsed in the snow.
Law.
Rosinante's heart twisted in agony.
The blood soaking his body and the wounds all over him were nothing compared to the pain in his chest.
He blamed himself.
He hated himself.
If only he had been one second faster—
just one second—
he could have shoved the Op-Op Fruit into Law's mouth and saved him.
But now…
he had failed.
"You still won't let go?" Ren Kuro's lips curved faintly upward. "You're even more stubborn than I thought."
With a thought, his Reiatsu surged outward.
A vast sea of pressure swallowed the area whole.
The air itself cried out.
Snow whirled wildly in midair. At Ren Kuro's feet, endless cracks spread rapidly in every direction.
An unbearable pressure filled the space.
This entire area—
was under his control.
At such close range, Rosinante could only scream in pain.
It felt as though every bone in his body were being crushed.
Every part of him ached.
And yet—
he still didn't let go.
Even as his body neared its limit, even as his will hovered on the verge of collapse, the obsession in his mind remained unchanged.
Even if he died—
the fruit could not leave his hand.
"Is this really worth it?" Ren Kuro frowned slightly. Watching Rosinante force himself to endure through sheer willpower, he found it hard to remain unmoved.
"Even if it kills you, you still won't let go?"
Ren Kuro slowly raised one finger.
Spiritual pressure gathered at the tip, condensing into a bright white spark.
A single touch—
and Byakurai would pierce Rosinante's heart.
"Death?" Rosinante let out a ragged laugh. "What is there to fear about that?"
When death stood before him, Rosinante was calm.
From the moment he chose to steal the Op-Op Fruit, he had already accepted the worst possible ending.
To him, death meant nothing.
The day Doflamingo murdered their father right in front of him, the meaning of his own life had already died with it.
The reason he kept going wasn't for himself.
It was to stop Doflamingo's evil.
Rosinante ignored the white lightning gathering at Ren Kuro's fingertip and turned instead to look at Law.
A crooked smile stretched across his face. With the gap in his teeth, it looked clumsy and almost ridiculous.
"Law… I hate this. I hate it so much," Rosinante said through gritted teeth, tears welling in his eyes. "I was so close. So close to saving you."
He wasn't crying because he feared death.
He was crying because he had failed to save the child he wanted to protect.
Though his body was covered in wounds and his bones felt ready to break, the fire in his heart still burned fiercely.
The blood running down his body looked as bright as the love and concern he held for Law.
Scarlet.
Blazing.
Impossible to ignore.
"Rosinante… what meaning is there in forcing yourself to smile like that right before death?" Ren Kuro asked quietly.
"Shinigami…" Rosinante trembled, yet he still forced that ugly, broken smile to remain on his face. "My body's covered in wounds, but I don't feel any pain at all."
His voice cracked.
"The thing that really hurts… is Law."
"That poor kid has suffered too much!"
Rosinante cried out in despair, tears spilling freely down his face.
Law had been born in the nation once known as the White Town, and like countless others, he had contracted the incurable disease of Amber Lead Syndrome.
After that, his doctor parents had been murdered.
His little sister had died in the flames.
The nuns and children who had once stayed with him were slaughtered by the military.
At only ten years old, Law had already seen enough tragedy to break a grown man.
Rosinante had watched it all.
In Law, he saw himself.
He saw the same pain. The same darkness. The same childhood shattered beyond repair.
And unlike Doflamingo, Rosinante had chosen kindness.
He could not bear to watch Law die.
That was why he had risked everything for the Op-Op Fruit.
"Law… even if I die, you have to remember what I told you."
Though his vision was blurred with tears, Rosinante still forced himself to look at Law.
"If one day you remember this stupid smile of mine…"
He laughed weakly.
"…then smile too, okay?"
Smiling was better than crying.
After looking at Law one last time, Rosinante slowly closed his eyes.
His body had already reached its limit under Ren Kuro's Reiatsu.
He knew it.
This was the end.
But the moment his tears hit the snow—
the white lightning at Ren Kuro's fingertip vanished.
And the terrifying spiritual pressure crushing everything around them disappeared with it.
"Rosinante… you're incredible."
Ren Kuro's expression turned complicated.
In Rosinante, he saw something rare.
A kind of goodness most of the sea had long since lost.
For the first time since arriving, he found himself unable to strike.
"You… you're not going to kill me?" Rosinante opened his eyes in disbelief. He had already accepted death.
"I said I'm not going to kill you," Ren Kuro replied evenly. "I didn't say I was giving up on the Op-Op Fruit."
His gaze shifted to Law.
"No matter what, I'm still taking that fruit."
He paused.
"But…"
"I won't stand by and watch someone die."
"One of my companions possesses extraordinary healing skills."
His voice fell, calm and certain.
"She'll cure Law's Amber Lead Syndrome."
◇ I'll drop one bonus chapter for every 10 reviews (leave a review/comment!)
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon: patreon.com/KageNaruto