Boom!
With a loud noise, the ground within a radius of hundreds of meters was all turned into sticky rice and kept surging violently.
Countless thick tentacles, with a strong black domineering aura on the surface, kept attacking Shano like a violent storm.
This move is called "Raining Sticky Rice."
It is one of the ultimate killing moves that Katakuri can only perform when he is awakened. Each tentacle contains terrifying penetrating power.
Shano's figure is flashing back and forth between the rice cake tentacles and the thunderstorm. In this extreme environment, even though he has fully focused his attention, he still gets hit from time to time.
Yes.
Considering that Shano's physical strength is far beyond expectations, Katakuri directly changed the rules and greatly increased the difficulty.
It requires Shano to use his Observation Haki to predict in this environment where his five senses are damaged, and at the same time avoid his offensive and the thunder that keeps striking from the sky.
If there is a mistake, the rhythm of dodging will be unbalanced, and the body will be hit by dozens or hundreds of attacks in an instant.
Each round of practice lasts for one hour. After it ends, there is a two-minute pause for Shano to digest the process, and then the next round begins immediately.
Under such harsh requirements, Shano felt a little like a newbie who just left the novice village, still naked, and immediately faced a mad dog-level boss.
After a whole night—
He was hit by at least a thousand hammers and hundreds of thunderbolts. Under the restriction of not being able to use any domineering power, even he had several bruises and bloodstains on the surface of his body.
But...
The improvement was also rapid.
As time passed, the number of failed dodges in each round constantly decreased.
In the first few rounds, the number of failures each time reached three digits, but later it slowly became dozens, then more than ten...
When the night was over and the sun rose, in the latest round, there were only nine failures.
The positive and negative feedback came very timely and frequently. Shano became more energetic and motivated the more he practiced, while Katakuri gradually began to realize that something was wrong...
...
Time passed in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, it was seven days later.
In the early morning, on the black rock peak in the center of Thunder God Island, Shano stood with his eyes closed in the thunderstorm, his expression calm and leisurely.
"The last round."
Katakuri stood not far away, his face pale, dark circles under his eyes, and the whole person seemed to be about to be squeezed dry, and his voice was a little weak:
"Sir, are you ready?"
Shano did not answer, but nodded slightly.
Crash!
Katakuri instantly activated his ability, and the surrounding black rock ground turned into a glutinous rice sea, and countless tentacles wrapped in Armament Haki rose from the ground.
At the same time, the thunderclouds in the sky were surging wildly, and several lightning bolts struck at the same time!
This offensive was much more violent than seven days ago. It could almost be said to be a fully upgraded version, but Shano's figure was like a ghost, passing through the gaps in the attack.
His movements seemed slow, but he was always able to avoid attacks from all directions with the smallest movement. He looked calm and relaxed, as if he was taking a leisurely stroll.
Finally, the time was up.
Katakuri staggered and almost fell backward, but he managed to hold on with his palms, half kneeling and half sitting there, breathing heavily.
Too torturous!
In the past seven days, he had hardly rested except for eating and drinking water.
Not only did he have to maintain his awakened state for long periods, but he also had to constantly adjust the attack rhythm to ensure each round of training could accurately challenge Shano's limits.
By now, he was exhausted... even more tired than fighting ten battles against opponents of the same level.
He was obviously the instructor. He should be the one relaxing. Why was he the one so miserable!
On the other hand, Shano
was still energetic and rosy-cheeked. He was basically in this state the entire seven days. Even when he occasionally looked a little tired, a full meal would restore him to his peak.
Katakuri finally understood the eyes the Fallen crew gave him. He even began to doubt...
With this guy's physique and recovery ability, if he and his mother fought, how long would it take her to take him down?
Five days and five nights?
Probably not enough...
Before the winner is decided, his mother might... starve to death, right?
"Compared to the first day, I used all my strength, my attack speed doubled, and I kept changing my approach mid-fight, mixing in a lot of interference moves."
Katakuri looked at the approaching Shano, smiled bitterly, and shook his head:
"Under such conditions, you've had zero mistakes for five rounds in a row. This improvement speed is terrifying... I'm afraid I'm no longer qualified to guide you in Observation Haki."
"You're too modest, Katakuri!"
Shano laughed, stretched out his hand to help him up, and sincerely said: "Thank you for your hard work."
He meant that from the heart.
Whether Katakuri stayed purely for the Charlotte family's benefit or had hidden motives trying to test the Fallen's strength—
During these seven days of training, from planning to execution, there was no doubt that he had truly done his best.
The effect was also outstanding, far surpassing a certain mediocre teacher and comparable to Teacher Gai's "three rods."
Now, Shano's Observation Haki had improved greatly. Though he still couldn't match Katakuri himself, he was no longer inferior to most opponents of the same level and had finally covered his prior weakness.
"You're welcome."
Katakuri barely stood firm. Although his face was still pale, upon hearing this, his eyes flashed with a glimmer and he smiled:
"It's my honor to help Mr. Shano. If you can remember this favor in the future and attend the tea party on time, that's all I ask."
These days, after spending time together day and night, his evaluation of Shano had only risen.
This young man, far younger than him, was not only strong but had clear potential and room to grow.
If such a monster enters the New World, the seemingly stable Four Emperors would be shaken, and the calm would not last.
Of course, if he were alone, with his temper, he wouldn't need to be so humble.
But the Charlotte family was a large one. He had many younger siblings to protect.
For the sake of Wan Guo, which was built after years of effort and battle alongside their mother—such people must be befriended, not provoked...
...
That evening, the Observation Haki special training officially ended.
Katakuri was ready to say goodbye and begin his journey back to Wan Guo.
Naturally, a banquet was held.
To express his gratitude, Shano specially asked Zeff to display his full cooking skills and made a large table of delicacies. Dozens of desserts were served, and there were over ten kinds of donuts alone.
Chocolate hazelnut, strawberry cream, caramel sea salt... The options filled half the table.
Is this what you like?
Katakuri tried to hold back.
But in the end, he couldn't help it. He smiled, grabbed donuts with both hands, and shoved them into his mouth.
In the blink of an eye, he had eaten all the donuts and turned into a round ball.
The crew, who had regarded him as a cold and strong man, were stunned to see his personality collapse in an instant.
When dusk deepened, everyone watched as the round figure clutched his belly and jumped off the ship with a "Duang." He waved goodbye with a grin and left.
Yes, he left just like that—
without a boat.
His travel method was a bit like Aokiji's. He used his awakened ability to turn the sea beneath his feet into sticky rice, then shook it like jelly to push himself farther and farther away.
"Devil Fruits are truly magical things."
Seeing this, Shano sighed from the heart once again.
No matter how bad a fruit looks, in the hands of someone talented, it can be used to incredible effect.
Of course, there are also those who waste powerful fruits...
"Master, Master~!"
At that moment, a shout came from behind.
"Hmm?" He responded absentmindedly.
"Come with me! I think I found the treasure of Rocks that Katakuri was talking about!"
"Huh?"
Shano turned his head in surprise. "There really is a treasure?"
The next second, he suddenly realized something was wrong: "Who's talking? Who called me master?"
The voice was unfamiliar. Though it sounded like a young and cute girl, it was definitely not Nami, Nokigo, or the others...
"Here, look here~"
The girl's voice rang out again, and Shano looked toward the empty dining table beside him.
A white cat with pointed ears knelt on one knee, placed its right paw over its chest, saluted, looked up, and blinked with a smile:
"I'm calling you, master~"