Chapter 110

Throwing forwards his kick Azul smoothly relocated his weight forwards and followed his thrust-kick by moving forwards with a step all the while turning his hip sideways. Said movement he used as starting motion to rotate on the tip of his foot on the same place he was now standing on. While lowering himself into a crouch he brought his kicking leg back to his body and shifted his weight onto the same leg he had previously kicked with and extended his other leg outwards like a whip for a sweeping low kick and from there flowed into a new series of kicks and punches, his feet never staying on one spot for long, always moving.

While Azul was practising he tried to calm his mind as much as possible which was a rather hard task as can anyone who has ever tried to meditate while stressed verify for those who haven't. But Azul had gotten used to his wandering mind over the years of training himself and thus developed various ways to bring his thoughts back to the present.

None the less in the moments that his thoughts strayed for but a few fleeting seconds he couldn't help himself but think about his upcoming journey that wasn't all that far away any longer and the excitement that began to bubble inside him at the prospect to sail the oceans on his own once again. True, Robin would most probably accompany him on his journey but she had always been a quiet and reserved person so he didn't really mind all that much and some company would do him some good even though he wasn't sure how long she could stay with him as even he himself didn't know where his breath was going to take him in the following years. Possibly to places that she won't be able to follow him to. But if that was indeed the case he would make sure that she would be staying somewhere safe where she wouldn't have to worry about the world government finding her. But that was a thought for another day…

As Azul was training the Moby D.i.c.k had resumed its course towards Dress Rosa and was picking gaining miles quickly. They would probably reach said island in the next couple of days.

The three admirals were sitting together inside their cabin enveloped in a not so happy atmosphere while they were waiting for the transpondersnail to connect with the fleet-admirals.

"This is Sengoku speaking. Who is this?" the old voice of the fleet-admiral echoed through the connection.

"This is Kizaru and company speaking. We just finished our meeting with Whitebeard and are currently returning back to headquarters." Kizaru replied while his easy going look had returned in full force with half dropped eyelids behind his orange sunglasses.

"And? What did you find out?" Sengoku spoke, slightly impatient as had become the norm for the man these days.

"Whitebeard was rather tight lipped for the reasons why he was sailing towards Dress Rosa. Though from what I could gather he does not really intend to go for a direct attack on headquarters straight away. Though I belief it would be prudent of us to tighten our defences and remain alert for the coming weeks as we cannot rule out the possibility that he lied."

At Kizaru's words Sengoku hummed in thought for few seconds while his mind possibly formulated various strategies they could employ to do exactly like Kizaru suggested.

"Anything else? Otherwise I've got work to return to which you just doubled at the very least…" Sengoku asked with a dissatisfied frown perceivable even through the transpondersnails connection.

"Yes. We met someone else on Whitebeard's ship that I did not expect to meet there. Azul-the burning grim was on Whitebeard's ship and judging by the easy going way he addressed Whitebeard it isn't impossible that the both of them have become some kind of allies or some such. Why he was on Whitebeard's ship though remained an unknown to us…" Kizaru said which brought Sengoku up short judging by the cough that echoed through the connection at Kizaru's words.

"What the hell was that trouble maker doing on Whitebeard's ship!?" Sengoku roared through the connection causing Momonga to flinch slightly at the volume of the fleet-admirals voice.

"As I said already, we don't know. I could give you some theories but that's all they are. Theories." Kizaru responded while the nearby Fujitora chuckled in amus.e.m.e.nt.

"No, keep them to yourself. For now at least. We'll have a more in depth discussion about what really happened once you've returned to headquarters. Sengoku out." And after saying his part the fleet-admiral ended his call and hung up.

"That didn't go so bad now, did it?" Fujitora asked the other two admirals who only grunted in reply earning them another chuckle of amus.e.m.e.nt from the blind admiral Fujitora.

"What a peaceful little island this is. Yo old man, is there anything interesting to find on the island?" Azul called over to the nearby sitting Whitebeard who hummed in thought for a second after which he replied in the negative while shaking his head.

"Ugh, great. A peaceful island isn't really what I had in mind when coming to the New World." Azul grumbled to himself which earned him some snickering from nearby crewmembers which earned them in turn a chilling glare that had them hide behind Whitebeard's chair in fright.

"Chicken…"Azul grunted out causing Whitebeard to erupt in laughter. After said mans laughter subsided Whitebeard frowned slightly after thinking over Azul's words from a few seconds ago.

"A peaceful island? Are you not viewing fighting Teach and his crew as a form of violence?" Whitebeard asked.

"Blackbeard ain't on Dress Rosa anymore. He's somewhere in that direction." Azul said while pointing out onto the open waters that lead away from Dress Rosa.

"How do you know? You're haki isn't so strong that you could observe the whole island from so far away…" the old man asked with a frown.

"Oh ye, I forgot to mention. The last time I met Blackbeard and roughed him up a little I marked his soul so I know at all times where he is. He cannot hide from me." Azul said lazily while sticking his finger into his nose out of boredom causing Whitebeard to grunt in frustration.

"You couldn't have mentioned that a bit earlier could you?" He ground out through his teeth under his huge moustache that to this day caused slight amazement to well up inside Azul.

"My bad. Forgot to mention it I guess." Azul replied while shrugging his shoulders. Not like it matters in the end. After all they would have had to pass by Dress Rosa one way or the other to reach Teach so he didn't consider it all that important and after some time forgot about the matter.

"Whatever. We'll land on Dress Rosa, claim it under my flag, refill our resources and then set sail again. Prepare to dock!" Whitebeard called over to his crew who immediately saluted and began carrying out the captain orders while Azul turned around and laid his arms on top of the railing while his eyes rested on Dress Rosa. After all that's where he would part from Whitebeard and he couldn't help himself but grin at the thought of roaming the seas once more on his tiny ship…