Year 1498 of the Sea Calendar, the Sabaody Archipelago.
Sakura stood by the sea with her eyes closed, her spirit highly focused.
Her Observation Haki's perception spread outwards from the girl as the center. The sea breeze... the waves... birdsong... the shared frequency connecting all phenomena was captured by her.
Its name was… The Breath of All Things.
The Supreme Grade Sword, Ace hummed softly in Sakura's hand. A powerful radiance bloomed from the blade.
A slash dozens of meters long flew out as the girl's blade fell, severing the sea in an instant.
"Finally succeeded."
The man sitting on a tree root behind Sakura picked up a bottle of sake and took a large gulp.
"Thanks a lot, Uncle Rayleigh!"
Sakura sheathed Ace at her waist.
"By the way, are you sure you don't want to go to Loguetown?"
Beside Rayleigh lay a rolled-up newspaper detailing the world-shaking speech the Pirate King made before his death.
There were also the World Government's various debunkings of the Great Treasure, and opinion pieces by experts arguing for its non-existence.
"I already said a proper goodbye. And I believe Captain Roger isn't dead!"
Sakura turned her head. Her cherry-blossom pink hair was stirred by the gentle breeze, revealing a bright, smiling face.
The girl pointed her thumb towards her own heart.
Looking at Sakura like this, Rayleigh's eyes suddenly seemed a little dazed.
He vaguely saw Roger, who said goodbye to him that day, and his hearty laughter echoing in his ears.
'I won't die, partner!'
Rayleigh used two fingers to push his glasses up against his eyes and laughed heartily.
"Yeah, how could that guy die so easily!"
Sakura on the shore turned around. The sound of air friction sounded beside her, and in an instant, she was next to Rayleigh.
She placed her hands on her hips and began explaining to Rayleigh.
"Uncle Rayleigh, thank you for taking care of me all this time."
"Captain Roger's journey is over. It's time for me to go home for a while."
"Please take care of yourself living alone on Sabaody Archipelago from now on. And don't drink too much!"
Although being lectured by his junior like this, Rayleigh showed no impatience on his face.
Instead, he put down the sake bottle and listened carefully to all of Sakura's instructions.
"Well then, goodbye, Uncle Rayleigh!"
"Sakura-chan!"
Rayleigh raised his fist to her.
Sakura also clenched her fist and bumped it against his.
'System! Activate the crossing function!'
[Notice, Detected host is carrying an item, Supreme Grade Sword: Ace. Transporting it across worlds requires additional achievement points.]
'Hah? You! Why don't you just charge me for the clothes on my back too!'
[Notice, restricted by relevant platform creation rules, laws, and regulations.]
'Damn... You money-grubbing thing, were you produced by EA?!'
[Notice, Yes!]
'Deduct, deduct, just deduct it already!'
[Notice, 10 points deducted for world crossing. 100 points deducted for item transport.]
[Initiating crossing!]
The next moment, a torrent of fierce light enveloped Sakura.
After the deathly silence, the light dissipated. Rayleigh, who had watched Sakura be swallowed by the light, sat in shock.
Then, shaking his head, he drank himself into a stupor.
…
Year 57 of Konoha Calendar, on the east side of the main gate of Konoha Village, Shopping District.
"Hey, hey, I'm talking to you! Are you listening?!"
Sakura, in a daze, opened her eyes and found herself leaning against a wall.
The red glow of Observation Haki flashed instantly in her eyes. The precise perception spread out like radar.
Ten meters... a hundred meters... a thousand meters. Every rustle of grass within this range was clearly grasped by Sakura.
Naturally, this included the three girls standing before her with mocking expressions.
'Haki... normal. Physique... normal. Swordsmanship... normal. Ability... normal.'
Sakura ignored them, simply using her Haki to assess her own condition.
[Notice, the Supreme Grade Sword, Ace, has been stored in the system warehouse.]
"What have you been muttering about since just now, wide forehead? You're not crying, are you?"
The leading girl showed disgust and reached out to pinch Sakura's face.
Unfortunately, the Observation Haki tempered through life-and-death struggles on the high seas was not something this child could easily overcome.
Sakura didn't even counterattack. A slight tilt of her head was enough to make the girl miss.
Her fingers slammed into the rough wall, scraping the skin and drawing blood.
"Ah, it hurts!"
The unknown girl cried out in pain, retracting her hand and clutching it tightly.
"Miyako!"
Another girl stepped forward to shield this girl, shouting loudly at Sakura.
"How dare you hurt Miyako!"
"Hey now, she's the one who reached out."
Gradually matching these girls' faces to the people in her memory, Sakura realized they were the ones who often mocked her for her wide forehead.
Their parents seemed to be shop owners on this commercial street. Usually, relying on their families' minor wealth, they liked to gather together and bully others.
"I don't care about that! Don't underestimate our bonds!"
The two girls clenched their fists, yelling about friendship and bonds as they charged at Sakura.
Sakura felt incredibly weary, 'I had just returned from the perilous seas to the safety of the village-'
'But what greeted me was the long-awaited bullying from my fellow villagers.'
"Too noisy. Be quiet for a while!"
Sakura's gaze sharpened. An intimidating spirit roared and surged.
With just a look, she made these immature and naive little girls feel the mountains of corpses and seas of blood she had waded through.
-It was a difference in dimensions. A gap in dimensions.
For the first time, the little girls felt the chasm-like distance between themselves and Sakura.
Their legs trembled, freezing them in place. They didn't dare to take a single step beyond the line.
"Listen. If you ever bother me again, the consequences will be worse than today."
Sakura glanced at their darkened pants, raised her foot, and walked out of the alley.
Walking through the commercial street she hadn't seen in two years, the scenery wasn't much different from her memories of Konoha Village.
'Or rather, had her two years at sea been merely a snap of the fingers here?'
Sakura walked towards that familiar place, lost in thought.
Entering the apartment building, climbing the stairs, she finally stood in the most familiar place.
She reached out and gently pushed the door open.
Unconsciously, clear tears slid from the corners of the girl's eyes, leaving trails on her porcelain-doll-like face.
Because what Sakura saw in front of her was the home she had been away from for so long.
Gentle light traveled across the worn furniture, past the green plants by the window and the apron of the woman.
A pink-haired man in a kimono leaned on the sofa. The summer breeze from the open window rustled the corners of the newspaper in his hand and also played with the wind chime's striker.
Under the night sky, smoke curled up from the kitchen.
Within the scent of the hearth, the life-and-death battles and conspiracies at sea, the malice and venom deep in people's hearts, all seemed burned away by this firelight.
The clouds of danger and madness had also dispersed.
At the end of the dream-like journey, the warmth of home remained.
The two people in the room seemed to notice the movement at the door and turned around simultaneously.
"Ah, Sakura, welcome back!"
"Yeah, Mom, Dad, I'm home!"