One Piece: Saving Kuina to Make Up for Past Regrets

One Piece fan fiction + [Theme: coming of age] + [Character: ruthless mentor] + [Style: teacher-student bond]

After transmigrating into the world of One Piece, Joseph, the former king of assassins, does the first thing by forcibly taking away the prodigy Kuina, who was never meant to die, right in front of Zoro and Koshiro.

“Your gender isn't your cage. Your horizons are.”

On Drum Island, when Kuina is moved by Hiriluk's death, Joseph teaches her the deepest lesson of all through his actions.

He strides into the castle and subdues the tyrant with a single move, holding the fate of an entire country in the palm of his hand.

Then he turns to Kuina and says, “Look, the end of swordsmanship isn't cutting steel. It's cutting something intangible, like ‘fate.’ Today, I'll teach you your first lesson: how to cut short someone's ‘appointed time of death.’”

Years later, when Kuina's sword tip rests against Mihawk's throat, she says softly, “My teacher taught me that there's nothing in this world that can't be cut.”