Chapter 20: The Story Concludes

"Are you implying that I owe you an explanation? I think you have that backward."

Xiano sneered. "Isn't it you who owes Junyi an explanation?"

"Junyi..."

"Don't call my name!"

Junyi's breathing was ragged, his eyes swollen and red, his teeth grinding against his gums.

"So, you were the mastermind all along? The one pulling the strings behind the scenes on Asakura Island? Then what were the last five years I spent here? And what was that melodramatic performance you just put on?!"

He looked around, gazing in despair at the corpses scattered across the floor.

"This was just one day. You killed all these people in a single day. Over five years—five whole years—how many monstrous things have you done? Why would you do this?!"

Sakuraba Tree glanced at the bodies, his expression indifferent. He turned his emotionless gaze back to Junyi, speaking in a hollow voice that seemed to emanate from the depths of a dried-up well.

"Do you remember what I told you back then about your mother?"

"Mother?" Junyi grew even more furious, roaring, "Why bring her up now? What right do you have to speak her name? Didn't she die of an illness ten years ago while traveling with you?"

"Aya did die during that trip, but not from an illness."

"Shortly after our journey began, as we passed through the Goa Kingdom, two elegant noblewomen boarded our ship. They grew fond of Aya, and within days, they became friends."

"They held tea parties every afternoon and sat together on the deck at night, watching the stars, laughing, and sharing everything."

"Aya had been by my side since my days of poverty, working hard for so many years. Aside from when you were born, those were the happiest days I ever saw her."

"Until one day..."

"The two noblewomen suddenly mentioned they wanted to play soccer, but there was no ball on the ship."

"Their temperament changed instantly. They flew into a rage, beating and cursing their own guards, demanding that the captain of the guard be killed and thrown into the sea to feed the fish."

"Aya couldn't bear to watch and stepped in to plead for him, saving his life. She then went to the kitchen to borrow materials, like a pig's bladder, hoping to stitch together a leather ball for them."

"After spending half the night making the ball, Aya was happy, thinking that the noblewomen would no longer take their anger out on the guards."

"She went to deliver it early in the morning. I slept in a bit and went to find her later. Can you guess what I saw?"

Sakuraba Tree’s face was blank, as if the story he was telling had nothing to do with him.

"Aya’s head had been severed. The two noblewomen were using it as a ball, kicking it around happily. The ball she had spent all night working on was cast aside, stepped on and crushed because they thought it looked too ugly."

"W-what?!" Junyi’s pupils contracted. He stumbled back two steps, his body trembling violently.

Xiano let out a long breath, falling into silence. He had some guesses about the identity of those noblewomen, but he did not interrupt, letting Sakuraba Tree continue his monologue on the stage.

In the vast, empty dojo, only that emotionless voice echoed:

"...I stood there in a daze for a long time before I finally snapped back to reality. I drew my sword and charged at them like a madman, only to be stopped by that very captain of the guard."

"The swordsmanship I was so proud of was a joke to that man. I couldn't even last a few seconds before I was pinned under his boot."

"I couldn't understand it at the time. It was only after a long and agonizing investigation that I finally understood..."

"Those two ladies weren't nobles from the Goa Kingdom at all—they were Celestial Dragons who had snuck out of their homes to play! And as for the captain of the guard whom Aya saved? He was none other than the Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, Stainless!"

"How funny... how funny... how hilarious!!!"

Sakuraba Tree suddenly tilted his head back and let out a manic, hysterical laugh.

"Hahaha! Aya thought she had made two friends, never realizing that in their eyes, she was nothing more than a stray cat or dog they decided to toy with on a whim. And the man who had knocked on my door the previous night to thank her for saving his life? He was the one who personally cut off her head the next day!"

"And me? I was kicked into the sea like a dead dog, drifting for a month before I miraculously survived!"

"No wonder you were so withdrawn for months after returning from that trip..." Junyi grabbed his hair in agony, muttering blankly. "But after Mother's funeral, didn't you slowly move on?"

"Move on? I never moved on!" Sakuraba Tree mocked. "I only chose to escape and forget, continuing to play the role of the good president and good father, just to keep raising you and to maintain the dojo I had built."

"The real Sakuraba Tree, the original one, drowned in the sea ten years ago!"

"I thought I could keep escaping like that. After all, what could I do? Seek revenge? Revenge against whom? The Celestial Dragons? The Marine Vice Admiral? I wasn't even a master swordsman; how could I possibly have the power?"

He bared his teeth. "But fate refused to let me bow my head!"

"Five years ago, during that shipwreck, I nearly drowned again while saving others, but I survived. Not only that, but among the wreckage drifting from a merchant ship, I found a Devil Fruit!"

"You know most of what happened after that."

Sakuraba Tree finally turned his body. The hole in his chest where the blade had pierced him earlier surged with wooden splinters, instantly repairing itself. His expression grew increasingly indifferent.

"Fate saved me twice and delivered the power of the devil to my hands. This was clearly an encouragement for me to embark on the path of vengeance."

"And so, I destroyed everything that belonged to Sakuraba Tree with my own hands."

"The dojo, my family, my old friends... these things would only make me reluctant to let go, keeping me curled up on this tiny island like a pathetic wretch licking his wounds, too afraid to take the steps of vengeance!"

"As for the lives lost at my hands over these years?" Sakuraba Tree scoffed, shaking his head slightly.

"Don't worry, they didn't die in vain; they had value. These wooden puppets earned me over a billion berries in five years, finally giving me the capital to pursue my revenge."

"You are shameless! You... you... do you have no sense of remorse or guilt at all!"

Junyi’s face was deathly pale, his finger trembling as he pointed at Sakuraba Tree. "You're insane! Completely insane! You were already a madman five years ago!"

"Those two Celestial Dragons deserve to die! I want to cut their heads off to avenge Mother, too! But did you have to do it this way?! Would Mother want to see you become this? To get revenge, you killed so many innocent people. When you die, will you even have the face to see her in the afterlife?"

"Watch your tone, Junyi." Sakuraba Tree’s voice suddenly turned icy. "I intended to kill you five years ago, but I lost my nerve and left you to drift at sea, which was effectively saving your life."

"But you shouldn't have come back to this island just as I was preparing to exit the stage, and you brought along a... meddlesome brat!"

The moment the words fell, hundreds of puppet strings erupted from the top of his head. Dancing and growing in the light, they transformed into countless dark yellow vines as thick as human arms.

Sakuraba Tree’s voice echoed again, mechanical and cold like a puppet, no longer human:

"One can be forgiven once or twice, but not a third time. Junyi, since you don't cherish the life I let you keep..."

"—Then why don't you just become one of my puppets, right along with this brat!"

*Whish!*

Amidst the sound of air being torn, the dark yellow vines lashed out, surrounding Xiano and Junyi from all angles in an instant.

Xiano looked at the thick, wildly twisting lines that resembled a nest of snakes.

"Do you still have the strength to fight?" he asked, turning his head. "If you don't want to fight him, I understand."

"...I, I..."

Junyi silently watched the figure on the stage, then wiped away a tear and gritted his teeth.

"I don't want to run away, Boss! My father, Sakuraba Tree, died a long time ago, just as he said. The thing on that stage is just an evil spirit wearing his shell."

"He wants revenge? Well, he'll have to wait. Let me get revenge for my father first!"

Xiano looked at Junyi with slight surprise.

"Take this."

He drew his blade, *Masamune*, and tossed it over. "This ability is indeed tricky. I’ll handle the main body; you just focus on cutting those vines for me."

Junyi caught it instinctively, standing back-to-back with Xiano.

*Swish! Swish!* Before he could even get used to the grip, several puppet strings attacked from the side.

He immediately held the blade horizontally to block the first wave, then slashed down from the side, instantly severing the thick lines.

*Such a sharp blade...* Junyi was shocked. Even Master Koushiro’s *Wado Ichimonji* couldn't be sharper.

Xiano, meanwhile, had already looked up, squinting at the source of the puppet strings.

"Who told you that you could keep acting like a god up there!"

He thrust his hands out, grabbing the nearest vines. His knotted biceps bulged like hills, and with a burst of raw, violent power, he pulled!

"Get down here!"

*Crack, crack!* The edge of the stage shattered under the friction. Sakuraba Tree’s withered body was instantly yanked into the air.

*What astonishing strength...* Sakuraba Tree’s eyes narrowed.

Although he had witnessed his puppets being crushed earlier, feeling it himself was a completely different experience. However, he was no mindless puppet.

Focusing his will, the soles of his feet creaked open like two small wooden doors. Countless fine puppet strings shot out, piercing the dojo floor tiles and anchoring deep into the earth, pinning his body firmly in mid-air.

No matter how powerful the pull from below was, it could not budge him an inch.

*Now it's my turn to—hm?* Sakuraba Tree’s expression changed abruptly. A shadow was rapidly growing in his pupils, and from his peripheral vision, the spot where Xiano had been standing was already empty!

*W-when?*

There was no time to think. Sakuraba Tree hurriedly forced his body to fully transform into wood.

For those he controlled, this meant the total destruction of their consciousness. But for him, the ability user, turning his entire body into hardwood and layering it with extra density was the best defensive armor.

*Thud!*

Xiano grabbed the steel frame hanging from the ceiling and kicked off the support pillar, using the final bit of leverage to close the distance by several meters.

Just as Sakuraba Tree completed his transformation, Xiano appeared in the air to his left.

"Got you!"

He grinned savagely, slamming a fist into Sakuraba Tree’s left shoulder as a shockwave erupted in a ring.

The hardened wooden body caved in instantly, revealing the hollow chest cavity within. Splinters of wood grazed Xiano’s muscular skin but couldn't penetrate, bouncing off and falling to the ground.

*How is this possible...* Sakuraba Tree’s pupils shrank.

He had tested his own torso with blades countless times; with his swordsmanship, he could only cut through the first layer of hardwood, never reaching the inside. Yet this brat had punched through it in one go?

*This is bad!*

Even though he had tried to overestimate his opponent, the boy's power was far beyond his expectations! A sense of panic surged in his heart for the first time in ages.

Before he could react, Xiano seized the opportunity to stand firmly on him. The boy's handsome face was right in front of him, but the bared-teeth grin looked like a nightmare to Sakuraba Tree.

"You might not know this, but your texture is exactly like the orange trees back home."

Xiano’s mouth stretched wide. "And unfortunately, back home, my favorite thing to do during the off-season was to hit those orange trees."

*Thud!*

Before the words faded, Xiano sat on Sakuraba Tree, unleashing a storm of heavy, rapid-fire punches into the man's chest.

He had practiced his breathing-style punches against those trees and wooden posts for hundreds, sometimes thousands of sets every single day. Over a year and a half, that added up to hundreds of thousands of repetitions.

Sweat is never wasted.

Now, with the material of the target being almost identical, everything felt like second nature.

*Thud, thud, thud!* With every continuous, muffled strike, Sakuraba Tree’s aura faded at a visible rate. His consciousness began to drift away.

*No, it can't be like this... I can't fall here!*

*My life is supposed to have only just begun! I am supposed to take on a new identity and a new name to complete the revenge plot I’ve been planning for so long!*

His right hand struggled and trembled as he tried to control the puppet strings he had released, but there was no feedback.

*What is happening?!*

Sakuraba Tree forced his gaze downward. In his blurred peripheral vision, he could vaguely see—

On the floor below, Junyi was still wielding his katana, slashing through the thick vines. While his main body was pinned, Junyi had managed to hack almost all the puppet strings into fragments.

"Final punch!"

As the despair washed over him, Xiano’s low voice echoed in his ears.

*BOOM!*

The hardened wooden surface, already shattered, finally broke entirely, severing his connection to all the puppet strings.

Losing its support, his body fell from the height of seven or eight meters, slamming into the ground and creating a massive crater.

Xiano walked down, his feet crunching against the wood, and looked back at the center of the spiderweb-like cracks.

Sakuraba Tree’s eyes were wide open, staring at the ceiling in utter unwillingness, but his withered body remained motionless. He was dead.