Pa!
Ace kicked off a tree trunk and vaulted through the air, landing in just a few quick bounds beside Luffy.
"Ace!" Luffy, who had been hiding behind the tree, lit up in joy. "You came!"
"I could feel your SOS signal all the way from here," Ace grinned, pointing at his chest. But his expression froze the moment he looked past Luffy, at the two figures clashing furiously deep within the forest.
"Who the hell is that?" Ace gasped, cold sweat beading on his brow. "He's keeping up with that old monster?!"
Luffy blinked. "You can't tell? That's Big Bro Shanu!"
"That's him?"
Ace frowned, squinting to get a better look.
The figure was taller, broader, more powerful-looking than before, but the side profile was unmistakable. That was the same guy who'd flattened him with three punches and two kicks last year.
"So he was that strong all along…"
Gulp. Ace swallowed hard. He'd spent an entire year training to get revenge for that humiliating loss, but now it was obvious Shanu had been holding back the entire time. Even if Sabo were still alive, all three ASL brothers together probably wouldn't last one round against him.
Boom!
Shanu's reverse kick smashed into Garp, sending the old man crashing into a cliffside. The impact rattled the whole mountain.
"You little monster!" Garp bellowed from the dust, his knuckles popping like firecrackers. "You can change direction in midair like that? You've mastered both Soru and Geppo this well? Who the hell taught you the Six Powers?"
"No one! All self-taught, through blood, sweat, and bruises!"
Shanu laughed aloud. The old man was playing fair, after a short exchange, Garp had clearly restrained his strength and speed to match Shanu's level.
Now the fight had turned into pure physical combat, raw reflexes, muscle, and grit.
For half an hour, neither gave ground. Fists crashed into flesh again and again, every blow echoing through the woods.
The poor forest didn't fare so well, trees toppled like dominoes, the earth a chaotic ruin.
"This won't do," Garp scratched his head. "At this rate, we'll be brawling till sundown. Cranking up my strength wouldn't be fair either, so, how about this instead?"
Before Shanu could react,
Garp's right fist darkened, turning pitch black as if dipped in ink. The old man grinned up at him.
"Watch yourself, kid!"
Oh crap, he's serious!
Shanu's pupils shrank. He stomped hard, vanishing in a blur, his Soru shadow lingering behind as his real body appeared behind Garp.
He struck first, a clean, ruthless punch aimed at the old man's neck.
But just as his knuckles grazed the skin, Garp twisted, catching Shanu's wrist and flipping him over his shoulder, while that jet-black fist drove straight into his chest!
Thud!
Shanu's body shot backward like a cannonball, slamming into the ground. Cracks spiderwebbed outward, splitting the earth all the way to Ace and Luffy's feet.
At the center, smoke billowed up. No movement.
"Big Bro Shanu!"
Luffy's eyes went wide. He rushed forward to help, yelling at Garp, "What the heck, old man?! Why'd you hit him so hard?!"
Garp didn't answer, he just stared at the dust cloud, lips curling into a knowing smirk.
No way that kid went down from that.
The boy's raw strength and speed were impressive, but what really shocked Garp was his durability.
His bones felt like forged steel. Every time Garp thought he'd broken something, Shanu would just shake it off like nothing happened.
And his head, damn, that was the worst. Even without Armament Haki, punching him hurt Garp's knuckles.
Fourteen years old. Just fourteen.
Garp exhaled, eyes narrowing. The brat was barely two years older than Ace, yet ten times stronger.
For the first time, he regretted being so stubborn earlier.
If he'd known, he would've dragged the kid to the Navy by force and trained him personally.
Forget Rear Admiral, at this rate, Shanu could be a Vice Admiral by the time he turned eighteen!
The dust finally cleared.
Just as Garp expected, Shanu stood up, brushing off dirt.
His lip bled, his chest was sunken from the blow, but his presence was still fierce, his gaze burning with battle lust.
"You cheat, old man," Shanu grinned. "Using Armament Haki is one thing, but you're throwing in Observation too?"
He touched his chest, the faint black aura Garp's fist had left behind was still lingering there, pulsing faintly.
Shanu closed his eyes, feeling that strange energy crawl through him. His tongue flicked across his lips, tasting blood.
"Come again!"
He tore off his shredded shirt. Under the sunlight, his body gleamed with a bronze-metallic sheen, muscles tight, veins bulging like cables.
"Whoa!" Ace and Luffy shouted in unison.
Before they could blink, Shanu stomped the ground and shot upward with Geppo, hurtling down from the air with a furious punch aimed straight at Garp's head.
The air screamed around his fist, even Garp's dog-head cap flapped wildly in the wind. But the old man's face just wrinkled into a broad, delighted grin.
"Good one!"
He stepped back and swung his right fist upward, a black hammer of destruction.
Shanu saw that darkened fist reflected in his pupils, but instead of dodging, he met it head-on!
Crack!
This time, Garp's Armament Haki made all the difference. Shanu could hear his bones protest, creaking, groaning, splintering under the strain.
Pain surged up his arms like fire, but it was addictive, a burning thrill that made him crave more.
"Huff… huff…"
Panting heavily, Shanu's grin widened. He pushed harder, teeth bared.
"Use your left too, old man!"
Garp laughed heartily. "So greedy? Fine, I'll indulge you!"
Boom!
Their left fists collided, a shockwave exploded outward, flattening everything nearby.
"Crap! We're too close!"
Ace hugged a tree for dear life as the blast nearly sent him flying.
Luffy wrapped his arms around Ace's leg like a spring and held on, but his straw hat was torn from his head, spinning into the air and catching in a branch above.
"My hat!"
Just then, thunk, Shanu was knocked backward again, landing on that very tree branch. He spotted the hat beside him, picked it up, and tossed it toward Luffy.
But as soon as he let go, the hat vanished into thin air.
"Check my bag!"
He laughed and dove back toward Garp.
"Eh?"
Luffy blinked, then dashed to the rock where Shanu had dropped his pack. He opened it, and sure enough, his straw hat was sitting right inside.
"Whoa! His magic got even cooler!"
Hearing the commotion below, Shanu smirked, but his fists never stopped. He and Garp continued trading blows, hundreds of strikes per minute, shaking the very ground.
Then, amid the roaring clash, Garp felt it, a faint yet real ripple of familiar energy in Shanu's strikes.
"Unbelievable," he muttered, gripping the boy's fist tight. "You're actually starting to feel Haki already. To sense it so fast, and even begin syncing with it…"
He released his hand, speaking over the crash of fists.
"The next step, boy, is to wrap it around you. Envelop your body, your limbs, even your weapons! When you can make that Haki visible, like smoke swirling over your skin, you'll have taken your first true step into Armament Haki!"
"But we don't have time for slow training," Garp said briskly. "So listen carefully, I'm jumping straight to the next stage."
"Step two, once you can wrap it, you condense it! Make that smoke-like aura stick to you like glue. Focus it where you need, and your power will multiply!"
His forearms darkened instantly, black as obsidian. "Like this!"
Bang!
His hardened elbow shot upward, smashing into Shanu's face.
With both fists locked against Garp's, Shanu couldn't block, the blow sent him flying off the cliff, into solid rock.
He coughed violently, spat out blood, and frowned. Something felt… off.
He reached into his mouth, dug around, and pulled out two teeth.
"I'm done growing new ones, old man! How am I supposed to fix this?!"
"Ha! Idiot kid, fourteen-year-olds don't have wisdom teeth!"
Garp snorted. "Anyway, what you just saw, controlling your Haki like that, hardening specific parts, that's step two. The rest is up to you."
He landed lightly on the ground.
"Master this first. Once you've perfected step two, your path forward depends on you. Different talents, different goals, they all lead down different roads."
"For example…"
Garp glanced at Luffy. "Some people focus on condensation, packing all their Armament into a pinpoint area, like the tip of a bullet, for devastating impact."
Luffy blinked. "Huh? Why're you looking at me like that?"
Shanu, however, immediately understood, that was exactly what Red-Haired Shanks' right-hand man, Benn Beckman, did. When that gun was raised, even an Admiral would hesitate.
"And others," Garp went on, glaring at Luffy again, "focus on defense. They coat their entire body in Armament, afraid of showing even one weak spot, turning themselves into walking fortresses."
He didn't name names this time.
But Shanu thought instantly of Donquixote Doflamingo's loyal officer, Vergo, the man who went undercover so long he became a Marine commander, his entire body black with Haki.