24 Spiritual Power.

(Somewhere in the eastern seas.)

A man wearing a dog hoodie was listening to a call from a Den-den Mushi while eating rice crackers in a sofa. The man looked quite old but has a buff body and a scar that extends from his forehead to the side of his eye.

That man was no other than the Hero of the Navy, Monkey D Garp.

"Alright, alright, stop yelling into my ear!" Garp hung up the phone afterwards.

He received a very heated call from an angry Sengoku explaining that there was a corruption problem in the 16th branch of the Marines. Garp was pissed at this of course, but he still wondered why Sengoku was THAT pissed when he called.

'Well, I better go there before I get yelled some more. Too bad they caught us right when we were about to enter the Grand Line once more, oh well, he told me everything was solved anyway.' Garp thought and left his cabin.

(Back in Cocoyasi Village)

The Straw Hat Pirates were preparing to depart after their three-day party, one problem though, they were not sure if Nami was gonna come back.

"We must now return to our lives as Bounty Hunters. Thank you for all your help until now." Yosaku.

"Though we must say goodbye, may we meet once again somewhere else in a friendly situation." Johnny.

"I see, take care." Luffy.

"You too, Aniki!" Yosaku.

"Where's Nami anyway?" Usopp.

"Maybe she's not coming?" Zoro.

"What?! Is she really not coming?!" Sanji.

"Hey! I didn't find that raw ham melon thingy." Luffy.

"That's seriously what's traversing your mind right now?" Kaizo.

"I see, since her hometown is safe, there really isn't a reason for her to come." Usopp.

"WHAT?! Without Nami-san, 88.6% of the reason why I'm here is gone!" Sanji.

"Is your dream so frivolous that in your mind is only 11.4% of it is worth it?" Kaizo.

"Goodbye, Mr. Angel!"

"Thank you for yesterday's sendoff!"

"I told you, I'm not an angel! I'm a Pirate!!!" Kaizo.

"Bye, Pirate Angel!"

"Best wishes Angel!"

"For fuck's sake…" Kaizo.

"Let them be, being able to say one last thing to a loved one is always welcomed, especially if it had an unjust death." Zoro.

"I know, but they make me sound as I were a saint. I didn't cripple Nezumi and his whole platoon to look like a saint, I'm a badass pirate to the bone baby!" Kaizo.

The crew laughs at Kaizo's fake bravado and he pouts.

"SET SAIL!!!" A scream belonging to Nami is heard from the distance.

Nami dashed from the distance, as the Straw Hats obeyed and began to set sail.

"Is this really an ok way to leave?" Zoro.

"Why not? Its her choice." Luffy.

"Nami wait! We haven't thanked you guys enough!"

"Let us send you off properly!"

"We still have much to say to you!"

Nami begins to evade the townsfolk over and over. The townsfolk try to get a hold of her but fail miserably as the Burglar Cat zig-zags through the crowd.

Nami finally reaches the dock but the ship was already a bit far from the dock. Nami makes a jump but realizes that she's not gonna make it, but then, Kaizo creates an energy rope and Nami grabs it.

With a strong pull, Kaizo pulled Nami over and let her land on the ship. The townsfolk kept yelling their gratitude to Nami, until the woman raises her shirt slightly and reveals all the wallets, she had stolen on her way there.

"Ah! my wallet's gone!"

"Mine too!"

"Same here!"

"Not a single penny left!"

Nami just look at them back with a mischievous smile.

"Take care, everyone!" Nami flashes a 10.000 Berry bill.

"You…" Genzo.

"YOU ROTTEN LITTLE THIEF!!!!!!" Townsfolk.

"Same as ever." Usopp.

"She's not gonna betray us, right?" Zoro.

"Nami-chwan!!!! Mellorine!!!!!" Sanji.

"As long as she doesn't steal MY money, all good." Kaizo.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!" Luffy.

The Townsfolk began to "curse" Nami, but in reality, they were giving their most warming goodbyes to their beloved burglar brat.

"Goodbye Everyone! I'll be off now!" Nami.

Just as the Straw Hats were making their crusade towards the next Island, Kaizo began to talk to Izanagi.

"Yo, how's it going?" Kaizo.

Izanagi left his traditional Japanese outfit and is now wearing the same Kaizo wears in his Shikai.

"I'm quite fine, thanks to you, the power we can unleashed has increased." Izanagi.

"That's good, can you communicate with my crew yet?" Kaizo.

"Yes, but I'd rather focus on teaching you the next stage of your training." Izanagi.

"I know, Arlong's Devil Fruit was another unknown factor, Luffy beating him was because he had some experience thanks to knowing me. I don't think we'll be as lucky next time." Kaizo.

"Indeed, the future that you once knew so well is beginning to crumb apart." Izanagi.

"But first, I have to explain my crew what my powers are exactly, especially Luffy." Kaizo.

Izanagi looked surprised.

"So, you noticed." Izanagi.

"It was faint, almost nonexistent, but I know Spiritual Power when I feel it. Afterall, I'm a user." Kaizo.

Izanagi nods and Kaizo left his mindscape. He got up and was greeted by Sanji.

"Kaizo, I'm making everyone's favorite plates to celebrate Nami-swan's beautiful return, any preferable dish?" Sanji.

Kaizo thought a little about it and then answered.

"Mashed Green Plantains with chorizo and Sausages." Kaizo.

It was the first time Sanji heard about the plate and asked Kaizo about it. Kaizo and the blonde looked for the necessary ingredients but unfortunately, there wasn't any Green Plantains for them to mash.

"*SIGH* I guess spaghetti, preferably the one with tomato sauce and chicken." Kaizo.

Sanji nodded and went to do his work, Kaizo on the other hand made his lifelong mission to look for the Green Plantains and eat his beloved dish once more.

(A few hours later)

"Yosh! We're finally all together so, let's do it again…We got our Navigator back!" Luffy.

"CHEERS!!!" Everyone.

The banquet began and Luffy tried to steal the food right away, luckily, Kaizo put some Sea Prism Cuffs on him, making his eating a lot slower.

The crew began to speak about different subjects, they asked Kaizo about the 16th branch, which he only said; "I made sure no one there could ever walk" with a devilish smile. Sanji asked Kaizo about the dishes he knew to see if there are still some dishes he doesn't know how to cook.

Zoro talked about Kaizo's Sword, Izanagi, and wondered if he could have a duel, to which the latter only said that he would once Zoro's injuries were healed. Usopp bragged about defeating chew but everyone ignored him, not because they didn't believe him, but rather because it was getting annoying his gloating.

After everyone ate their fill, Luffy's cuffs were removed and he began to inhale what remained, still unsatisfied, Sanji had to cook a lil' bit more.

Finally, the mood was relaxed enough so that Kaizo could explain his powers.

"Alright, everyone! I have an announcement to make." Kaizo.

"What is it?" Luffy.

"As you may or may not know, I use a type of energy different from Haki known as Spiritual Power." Kaizo.

"Yeah, you said it was an effect of your fruit." Nami.

"Yes, however, how would you react if I tell you that said energy is laying dormant in your bodies as we speak?" Kaizo.

Everyone, except Luffy, was shocked.

"What do you mean?!" Usopp.

"Spiritual Power is a type of energy that resides inside everyone's soul, the only difference with Haki is that one can only feel it once they're dead, and since they died, they can't really do anything with it." Kaizo.

 "But I thought that your powers were gifted by the fruit." Sanji.

"To be more accurate, the fruit allows me to use the Spiritual Power that already resides in my body. The rest is a little secret for later on." Kaizo.

"Still with that suspense bullcrap." Zoro.

"In fact, my presence in your lives has already gifted you with the ability to see and even mildly control your own Spiritual Power." Kaizo.

"Eh?! Since when?!" Nami.

"The fruit Arlong ate, has a similar usage as mine, on a lower scale but in essence are the same. You, Nami, being able to see it is in fact thanks to me unconsciously awakening your Spiritual Power, and I'm pretty sure Luffy used a little during his battle." Kaizo.

"Now that you talk about it...I did feel that my hand was weird after the battle. I just thought that my Haki had become stronger." Luffy.

"Nah, you subconsciously used Spiritual Power, in short, is a new way to gain power." Kaizo.

"Alright, I'm sold, what should we do?" Zoro.

"First, we'll all go to sleep while grabbing Izanagi." Kaizo.

Everyone gave him a weirded-out gaze.

"Izanagi is still a little weak to materialize himself and explain to you what to do. So, we'll all dive into my mindscape tonight and he'll explain there." Kaizo.

"And I assume the sword is some sort of connection to your mindscape and that's why it's necessary for us to touch it while sleeping?" Zoro.

"Precisely! The only problem would be how to make Nami join the fray. Sanji, abstain from any type of comment, please." Kaizo.

The group brainstormed, getting whacked in the head every time they said anything dumb, Sanji was the one who got more injured.

In the end, they couldn't think of anything until Luffy, who was chewing at a meat on a bone, had an idea.

"Guys! I've got it! What if Nami touches the scabbard?" Luffy.

"Eh?" Everyone.

"If touching the sword is important, shouldn't the scabbard be it as well?" Luffy.

Everyone was shocked, the idea made sense and it solved their problem. The only thing that was more shocking however, was the fact that Luffy came up with it.

"You know, like when you eat the meat off a bone but still lick the bone to enjoy the few meat juices that remain there." Luffy.

'Ah, that's how he came to the conclusion.' Everyone.

"Let's go with that. I'm sure it will work." Kaizo.

Everyone nodded and went on with their daily activities.

(Nighttime.)

The boys had the sword while Nami had the scabbard for tonight's experiment.

"We should have taken the scabbard. The sword has less places to safely grab from." Usopp.

"Just like the song, we have to 'Live and Learn'" Kaizo.

Kaizo got in his hammock and closed his eyes.

"Shouldn't you touch the sword?" Sanji.

"Nah, I'm naturally connected to him thanks to the fruit, I'll see you in my mindscape while I re-arrange some things." Kaizo.

Kaizo soon-after, fell asleep.

The rest had to be a bit creative and decided to put the sword in a barrel and grab it from the handle, Luffy had it easy since he just tied one of his fingers to it.

Soon, everyone went to sleep and found themselves floating aimlessly on a white void.

"Whoa! What's this place!?" Luffy.

"This must be Kaizo's mindscape." Zoro.

"DING, DING, DING! THE GREENETTE IS RIGHT!!!!" A voice echoed inside the void.

"Kaizo?! Where are you?!" Luffy.

"Luffy, this is my mindscape, in here I'm like a god that controls everything. Wait a sec until I prepare the scenery." Kaizo.

A white flash later and the crew found themselves in a weird place, it was an island with nothing but a grassy plain and a tall oak tree. Afterwards, Kaizo materialized himself in front of them.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Kaizo.

"It is! Where's the infinite meat?!" Luffy.

Kaizo smacked the captain on the head and he yelled.

"Ouch! That hurt! Wait, hurts?" Luffy.

"That's right, your actual bodies are your souls, its easier to harm then than your physical bodies." Kaizo.

"What are we going to do exactly?" Nami.

"Follow the path and reach the oak tree, Izanagi is waiting there to give you the training gigs." Kaizo spoke and then disappeared.

Everyone did as they were told and started to walk. As they were about to reach the tree, they saw a tall man with easter features wearing Kaizo's Shikai outfit.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet all of you, physically that is." Izanagi.

"So cool!!!" Luffy.

"So, you're Kaizo's famous sword spirit, not gonna lie, I imagined you older." Zoro.

"I may look like an average male in his 30-40 but I'm over 500 years old." Izanagi.

Everyone jaw-drops at the revelation and then he continues.

"As you may know, you've been developing your own Spiritual Power to be used, since this is somewhat due to both Kaizo and I, I thought it would be proper to train all of you in it." Izanagi.

"No problem whatsoever but, there's something more important before that." Luffy.

Luffy got closer to Izanagi and extended his hand.

"Become my crewmate!" Luffy.