A Hyūga's Gate Between Worlds

"What is this?"

Law's eyes widened as he stared intently at the massive birdcage engulfing the island.

"The Birdcage. It's Doflamingo's technique to destroy everything." The sight sent shivers down Rosinante's spine.

As the brother of Doflamingo, he immediately understood the moment the birdcage appeared.

This island was about to experience a massacre.

No one would survive—except for the members of the Donquixote Pirates.

"It seems he has realized that the Op-Op Fruit was stolen." Tanaka stared straight at the birdcage covering Minion Island, his Byakugan showing a trace of darkness.

He hated the birdcage—it reminded him of the Caged Bird on his forehead. But despite its sudden appearance, he felt no concern.

Not to mention that with the ability to wield the Walker's Gate, he could return to the Naruto world at any time. Even after consuming the Op-Op Fruit, he could treat the birdcage as if it didn't exist.

Whether he could cut through the birdcage or not was another matter, but moving freely within it was absolutely not a problem.

"Tanaka, what do you want me to do?" Rosinante had no desire to confront Doflamingo at this moment.

Even though he wasn't the one who had stolen the Op-Op Fruit—Tanaka was—his betrayal of Doflamingo had already been exposed.

If he encountered his brother now, death was inevitable.

"I want the training methods for Haki. Of course, but only after I get you out of the birdcage."

Tanaka got straight to the point.

After curing Law, he hadn't immediately opened the Walker's Gate to return to the shinobi world.

The reason was simple—he wanted to obtain the training methods for Haki through Rosinante.

After all, while Rosinante himself couldn't use Haki, he was a Marine and the adopted son of Fleet Admiral Sengoku.

By repeatedly extending his help and rescuing them from the birdcage, he could ensure that Rosinante wouldn't refuse his request.

"Haki!"

Rosinante gave Tanaka a deep look.

He hadn't expected someone so young, and from the North Blue no less, to even know about Haki.

After all, the concept of Haki was rarely mentioned outside of the Grand Line—and even then, mostly in the latter half, the New World.

"I don't know what Haki is, but if I make it out alive, I'll search every sea and every island to find it for you." Before Rosinante could respond, Law spoke up.

His voice was quiet but filled with firm conviction.

Just as Tanaka had expected.

After being saved three times, this seemingly cold and ruthless, rebellious lone wolf would never forget such kindness.

Though he hadn't said it outright, in Law's heart, Tanaka—whom he had only met once—had already become the second most important person to him, right after Rosinante.

"I already said it. As long as you give the order, I will never refuse. Even if it's the training methods for Haki."

Rosinante nodded, agreeing to the request.

Of course, he wouldn't let Law risk his life by traveling to the New World to find Haki training methods.

Rather than letting him take such a dangerous journey, it would be much easier to ask Sengoku.

After all, it was just a phone call away.

"But Tanaka, do you have the confidence to defeat Doflamingo?"

Rosinante's face was filled with concern. No one understood his brother's power better than he did.

Even Vice Admiral Tsuru, the Great Advisor, had failed to capture Doflamingo countless times.

"Why would I fight him?"

Tanaka looked puzzled.

"The Birdcage is Doflamingo's ultimate technique. Whether attacking from the outside or trying to destroy it from within, nothing works."

"But the only way to make it disappear is to defeat Doflamingo." Rosinante explained.

In his understanding, the only way to break the cage was to defeat Doflamingo.

"That's not necessarily true."

Tanaka smiled, then raised his hand to form a seal—he had decided to give Rosinante a lesson.

Poof! Poof! Poof!

Three clouds of white smoke erupted beside Tanaka.

As the smoke dispersed, three identical figures appeared in succession.

"These three… Why do they look exactly like you?" Law's eyes widened as he stared at the three figures emerging from the mist, his eyeballs nearly popping out of their sockets.

The three newcomers were identical to Tanaka in every way—appearance, physique, height, even their aura.

It was like looking into a mirror.

But what happened next shocked Law even more.

Tanaka glanced at his shadow clones.

Poof! Poof!

Two of the clones immediately understood his intent, formed hand seals, and with a puff of white smoke, transformed into Law and Rosinante.

"Is this also the power of the Op-Op Fruit?"

Rosinante's mouth hung open in astonishment as he stared at the three clones before him.

Tanaka said nothing. Instead, he activated his Byakugan, instantly taking in everything within a three-kilometer radius.

He could clearly see numerous figures, both familiar and unfamiliar, searching the island.

Among them, a man wearing a pink feathered coat stood high above the ground like a celestial demon, scanning the island below.

It was none other than Doflamingo.

"Follow me."

Without offering an explanation, Tanaka turned and walked away.

He had no intention of fighting Doflamingo head-on right now.

For one, he had recently slaughtered Barrels' pirate crew and then used the Op-Op Fruit to cure Law—both of which had drained a significant amount of his stamina and chakra.

Moreover, he was only eight years old. He had barely eaten the Op-Op Fruit, and to challenge the Heavenly Yaksha at his peak would be too soon.

Besides, before awakening his past life's memories, the ninja education he received in the Hyūga clan had instilled one principle in him—if a few shadow clones could solve a problem, there was no need to charge in headfirst like an idiot.

Rather than staying in the One Piece world and clashing with the Donquixote Pirates, he decided on a simpler solution: get Law and Rosinante out of the birdcage, then return to the Naruto world, develop his mastery of the Op-Op Fruit, and solve the Caged Bird.

As for being targeted by Doflamingo? That wasn't a big deal.

He would grow stronger in the shinobi world, and the next time he visited the pirate world, if he happened to cross paths with Doflamingo… he would simply deal with him then.

"What exactly are you planning? Even if we can trick Doflamingo with these clones, the birdcage won't disappear unless he is defeated."

"In the end, we'll still be like birds trapped in a cage, sliced to pieces by his razor-sharp threads."

Rosinante carried Law on his back and followed closely behind Tanaka, his peripheral vision catching sight of the three shadow clones moving in the opposite direction.

He couldn't figure out Tanaka's plan, but he made his decision—to bet both his and Law's lives on this mysterious boy.