"You… you are Lord Flowing Cloud?"
Ufole's expression flipped from arrogance to fear to raw shock in the span of a heartbeat.
Rakuya could practically see the storm in the kid's head. The awe, the disbelief, the worship.
He could only offer a wry smile.
"You… you are really Flowing Cloud? The one who punched through the World Government, smashed the Holy Land, and has the Celestial Dragons strung up on Fish-Man Island getting pounded every day?" Even bound in midair, Ufole's joy and excitement broke across his face like a tide.
"Mm." Rakuya inclined his head.
With that admission, Ufole nearly vibrated out of his skin. "Lord Flowing Cloud. Lord Flowing Cloud, please release me. I came to take you as my master. Please accept me. Let me be your disciple."
Hanging in the air, he trembled with pure elation.
"I said I don't take disciples," Rakuya replied, voice flat.
Panic washed over Ufole. "Lord Flowing Cloud, you are my idol. If I had known you were truly here, I would never have offended you. Please don't hold my rudeness against me. If it displeases you, I will kneel right now and kowtow. I beg you, take me in."
"No."
Rakuya refused without so much as a blink.
"Why?" Ufole's face crumpled. He had come to Fish-Man Island for one purpose, and he had been shot down as cleanly as a blade through paper.
"Because I don't want to."
"Lord, give me one chance. I will prove myself. Please."
The stubborn fire in his eyes told Rakuya the boy would keep pestering him for days. Better to set a bar no one could clear.
He lowered Ufole to the ground. "If you insist on joining Flowing Cloud, you must pass three trials."
"Three? Ten would be fine. I will pass them all." Ufole's hope flared bright again. A chance was still a chance.
"Do not celebrate yet." Rakuya poured a ladle of cold water over him. "You will likely fail the first one."
Ufole blanched. What kind of trial could he not even attempt?
"In two days, collect two Devil Fruits. If they are Zoans, you will need three to pass the first trial."
Rakuya set the terms with a mild tone that did not match how brutal they were.
Two fruits in two days was a mountain even veterans would balk at. Devil Fruits were priceless and scarce. Even with the right channels, without six or seven hundred million in Berries, no one would sell. And that was assuming there were any to buy at all.
So just the first condition should have kept Ufole a thousand miles away.
And two days. Two days was nothing. Rakuya might pull it off with his reach. A fledgling pirate with a two hundred million bounty doing it inside that window was another story entirely.
"Two fruits, or three Zoans?" Ufole repeated, eyes wide. He knew exactly what that meant.
Even stealing or robbing someone would be long odds, and then getting them to Flowing Cloud within the deadline was another impossible layer.
"Lord, this is impossible," Ufole shouted, voice cracking.
"If you cannot clear the first trial, what qualifies you to be my disciple?" Rakuya's eyelids lifted, gaze calm. A moment ago the boy had sworn he could pass ten trials. Reality had arrived and the bravado was already leaking out.
"Fish-Man Island to Sabaody still takes a full day even with your new sea tunnel. A round trip is two days. Travel alone burns my entire window. When do I hunt for a Devil Fruit?"
Rakuya paused. Fair point.
"Then I will send you out. Take this charm. If you gather two non-Zoan Devil Fruits, or three Zoans, within two days, I will appear at your side instantly. That removes travel from the equation. How about it?"
Ufole's mouth twisted. Two days for Devil Fruits was still a needle in a hurricane. But without trying, he would regret it forever.
Resolve hardened in his eyes. "Alright. Two days. I will find them."
He was shaking with conviction. The road ahead was knives and fire, but it was not a dead end. There was still a sliver of sky. If he fought for it, who knew.
Rakuya could only shake his head at the boy's stubborn heart. "Then I wish you luck."
To Rakuya, it was a task designed to make Ufole back off. He had not expected the kid to run headfirst into the wall.
He flicked his fingers. A talisman appeared in Ufole's palm, and before the young pirate could speak again, Rakuya pulled him into the system space.
"Sea Sovereign, Merge with All Waters."
Rakuya's voice dropped, and his figure vanished. In the great hall, King Neptune stood frozen, eyes round.
"He… disappeared?"
In the next instant, Rakuya emerged with Ufole in the New World. He did not bother to check which island. The place fell under Whitebeard's sphere of influence at a glance.
A thread of light and Ufole stood before him again.
"Here. A map of this nation and a permanent log pose. Whether you pass the first trial in two days is your own fate. If you fail, do not seek me again."
Rakuya tipped his chin toward the sky.
"I will find those fruits. I will. Lord Flowing Cloud, wait for me. I will be your disciple."
Ufole shouted to the clouds, brimming with confidence.
"Wish you luck."
Rakuya lifted a hand in farewell and vanished, leaving Ufole alone with the lingering wonder of a god's methods.
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