Autumn passed, and winter went by. The new year arrived, and then came spring...
Summer arrived.
Megumi, who had grown noticeably, wanted to visit more places. Having read picture books featuring various animals, Megumi yearned to see them in person.
So, Zoro and Toji picked a day to take Megumi to the Ueno Zoo (*Tokyo's oldest and most visited zoo in Japan).
Wearing a yellow, round hat, Megumi excitedly stretched Zoro's cheeks with his hands and shouted,
"Brother, look! Elephants! Elephants!"
Toji gently removed Megumi's hands and said,
"You shouldn't pull on Zoro's face, Megumi. It hurts brother."
"Hurts?"
"Say sorry to your brother."
"Sorry."
"That's right."
Toji then hoisted Megumi onto his shoulders. Elevated to a higher vantage point, Megumi could now see the elephants and laughed joyfully.
Unfortunately, for Zoro, who had conversed with a talking raccoon and been comrades with reindeer, and seen elephants big enough to walk across the sea, the zoo wasn't particularly exciting.
'It's even hotter.'
Despite being June, the weather was quite warm.
They were thirsty, but the bottled water they brought from home was already finished. Zoro, fanning himself, looked around and spotted a place selling ice water in the distance.
Just as Zoro naturally started heading towards it, Toji, without even looking, quickly grabbed him.
"Where are you going?"
"To buy some ice water."
Toji glanced at the ice water stall for a moment and then frowned.
"All the ice water there has already sold out. It looks like it will take some time for the vendor to bring more."
"You're getting pretty skilled at using it now. Observation Haki."
"After all that training with you, it would be bad if I couldn't use it."
About 7 months after awakening his Haki, Toji had become quite proficient at using both Observation and Armament Haki.
Now, Toji could turn his Observation and Armament Haki on and off as he wished, and he was also able to apply Armament Haki to his weapons.
'But that's about it.'
His Armament Haki was significantly weaker compared to Zoro's, and he hadn't yet dared to try predicting the future with Observation Haki or using Armament Haki for remote emission or internal destruction.
'I did teach him Six Powers (Rokushiki) too...'
But since Zoro couldn't demonstrate it himself, Toji hadn't managed to do it yet.
Toji carefully set Megumi down on the ground and looked around. He was scanning for the presence of any strong beings with his Observation Haki.
After confirming there was no dangerous presence, Toji instructed Zoro.
"Stay here with Megumi. I'll go buy some ice water from somewhere else."
"Papa, go? Where?"
"To buy water."
"Wouldn't it be better if I went instead?"
"Stay. Here."
Toji spoke decisively. At his firm words, Zoro nodded.
"If anything happens, call me right away."
Thinking of the mobile phone Toji had given him not long ago, Zoro nodded. Toji quickly blended into the crowd at the zoo and disappeared.
After all, his speed and stealthiness were commendable. Zoro shook his head in disbelief.
"Elephant, elephant."
Megumi was still completely engrossed in watching the elephants.
Seeing this, Zoro recalled the animals at the zoo that Megumi seemed to particularly enjoy today. Rabbits, frogs, owls, snakes, deer, and bison.
'Come to think of it, he always wants to pet dogs whenever we see them on walks.'
Does he just like all animals? Zoro wondered.
'But then again, he seemed a bit scared of the street cats that pass by our house.'
It's strange because deer, bison, and elephants are much larger than cats. And certainly, those are much more dangerous than cats.
I don't know. Zoro let go of the thought. Holding Megumi's hand in one hand, he fanned himself with the other. Sweat dripped down due to the heat.
That's when the incident occurred.
"—!"
A curse's presence!
Zoro immediately sent Megumi behind him and placed his hand on the handle of the Wado Ichimonji strapped to his waist. A curse was flying towards them at a terrifying speed.
No, it was odd to say it flew by itself. It was as if it had been hit by some attack...
'It feels like it was sent flying.'
Whoosh, bang!
A curse resembling a bird with five heads crashed into the zoo's enclosure fence and then slid down. People looked around in surprise at the sudden loud noise, but being non-sorcerers, they couldn't discern the cause.
"Brother, that."
"It's okay."
Zoro comforted Megumi, who was clutching his collar tightly. Unlike Zoro, who could only vaguely make out its shape with Observation Haki, Megumi, being a sorcerer, could see the curse's form clearly, which might have scared him more.
The curse had been hit by an unknown attack, its head nearly half gone. It seemed the impact of that attack had sent it flying all the way here.
'So, the one who launched that attack—'
Ah, here they come.
Sensing the rapidly approaching presences, Zoro moved closer to Megumi.
'They're strong.'
And not just one, but two.
Excluding Toji, these were the first strong beings Zoro had detected in this world.
Zoro pulled out his cell phone, pressed speed dial 1, and called Toji. Toji, too, would have sensed these presences with his Observation Haki and was likely already rushing over.
Among the crowd, two men walked up.
"Why did it have to fly this way."
"That's why I told you not to forget to put up the barrier."
"Hah, as if you didn't forget too."
"...You were supposed to do it, Satoru."
Satoru. Zoro keenly caught that name. It was definitely the person Toji had mentioned before, someone Toji could potentially risk his life fighting against.
Squeezing through the people, two young men who looked to be high school students appeared.
One had a peculiar hairstyle with a single black forelock hanging down and the rest of the hair tied up, while the other wore black sunglasses and had stark white hair. Both were tall and handsome, dressed in the same dark blue clothes with the same badge.
...White hair. That matched the description Toji had given of Satoru Gojo.
So, this one must be Satoru Gojo. Zoro focused his attention on the one with white hair.
Whiff.
The deceased curse vanished completely. The man with white hair exaggeratedly sighed.
"Arriving just to die. What a waste of the entrance fee."
"That's why you should have put up the barrier from the start."
"Now that it's come to this, should we take a look around the zoo, Suguru? I don't want to get scolded by Yaga-sensei."
"We'd probably get scolded even more for that."
Suddenly, the man with white hair turned his gaze to Zoro.
The man crouched down in front of Zoro, matching his eye level. When he removed his sunglasses, Zoro could fully understand what Toji had said before.
'Eyes that contain the sky.'
Like the lofty sky of immeasurable height, infinitely high and clear. The vastness capable of encompassing all mysteries resided within this man's eyes. And Zoro realized, it wasn't just about what could be seen; he could understand more.
'The flow of cursed energy is unbelievably detailed.'
All the cursed energy this man possessed was being delicately controlled through those eyes, without a single grain of waste.
"...Satoru?"
Despite his friend's puzzled call, the man with white hair continued to examine Zoro with his astonishingly clear and blue eyes. A sound of admiration, "Heh," escaped the man's lips.
"What are you?"