A few minutes later.
Shanu had already finished breakfast and was now watching with amusement as the little husky buried its face in a bowl, gulping down milk.
There had only been five cartons of strawberry milk in the fridge, all emptied into that bowl. In no time, the cub had drunk every last drop, its pink tongue still licking the edges as if longing for more.
Its belly was adorably round and full. Shanu squatted down and poked it with a finger.
As soon as he leaned closer, the little creature jumped into his arms, its violet eyes curling into crescent moons as it purred happily in his embrace.
"Burp"
It suddenly let out a milk-scented hiccup. Its fluffy tail froze midair, and it glanced nervously up at its owner.
"Heh, you're already learning to read expressions at such a young age," Shanu chuckled. "Wolves really are cousins of dogs. No wonder your starting loyalty was 89."
He checked the interface, loyalty had now risen to 92.
"Silver fur, natural curls, loves strawberry milk, and has those smart, dead-fish eyes…" Shanu rubbed his chin. "Yeah, looks like your name picked itself. How about Gin ?"
(Reference to Gintoki from Gintama)
"Arf?"
The cub wagged its tail happily. It didn't know what the word meant, but hey, it finally had a name!
"No objections? Then it's settled."
Shanu grinned. "Let's go, Gin! Time to train!"
When he opened the door, the two parrots next door were already perched on the courtyard wall.
"My bro, the champion!"
"My bro, the hero!"
Shanu's face immediately darkened.
How embarrassing.
This was still the fallout from the prank Nami had pulled a year ago, a debt not yet repaid.
"Gin, scare them off!" he commanded his new little underling.
"Woof!"
Gin bared his baby teeth and barked at the wall.
To Shanu it looked more like he was just being cute, but surprisingly, both parrots trembled violently and immediately went silent.
"...Whine?"
Another frightened bark came from nearby. Shanu turned and saw the big white dog he'd nearly sacrificed years ago. It happened to be passing by and was now lying flat on the ground, foaming at the mouth, legs trembling like reeds.
"A real bloodline suppression, huh?"
Apparently, it worked especially well on other canines.
Shanu was pleasantly surprised. He rubbed Gin's belly. "Not bad, little guy. If you ever manage to scare Akainu like that, I'll never doubt your royal bloodline again."
"Akainu?"
Gin tilted his head, puzzled. What's that? Can I eat it?
On the mountaintop — cold winds howling.
Shanu stripped off his outer clothes, revealing a sculpted, powerful physique.
Gin obediently picked up the clothes and placed them neatly on a nearby rock.
"Jarvis."
Expressionless, Shanu touched his chest.
The surface of his skin rippled — as if activating a nanotech suit — and a pure black combat outfit spread rapidly across his body.
...Of course, that was just his imagination.
Gin sat beside the rock, blinking as his owner struggled to pull on a tight black training suit. The elastic material was strong, but getting into it was still a battle.
"Finally done."
Shanu adjusted the suit's weight to 2.2 tons, feeling the familiar heaviness sink in.
Ever since defeating Arlong, he'd taken a break to relax. It had been a while since his last weighted session, and it felt strange to return to it.
As he warmed up with handstand push-ups, he reviewed the three secret manuals in his mind.
Two of them had prerequisites, so he'd have to start with Kami-e, Rankyaku could wait.
For the coming days, his schedule was set:
Mornings: train Kami-e.
Afternoons: hone Armament Haki.
Evenings: return home to eat with his sisters.
No late-night excursions this time, he was already pushing beyond normal limits with this regimen.
Keeping himself tense for over a year had already started affecting his mental state.
If he kept that up for years until adulthood, the world would only greet a madman.
Half an hour later.
Warm-up complete, manuals memorized, Shanu sat cross-legged in thought.
Kami-e was essentially a body technique that allowed one to sense subtle air currents and evade physical attacks with minimal movement, similar to Observation Haki, but fundamentally different.
If he could dodge attacks effortlessly, as lightly as a sheet of paper fluttering in the wind, even appearing to "phase" through blows, that would count as mastery.
"Tekkai trains hardness; Kami-e seeks softness…"
He mused. His Tekkai training had required letting Scarface and the others bash him with spiked clubs until he succeeded.
For Kami-e, he couldn't train alone. He'd need a sparring partner capable of pressuring him with attacks worth dodging.
His eyes slowly drifted toward Gin.
"Arf?"
Before the cub could react, Shanu grabbed him gently by the scruff and coaxed, "Hey, Gin, got any attack skills? Something fast, give me a little demo?"
"Awoo—!"
Dangling in midair, Gin gave a sad whimper, then suddenly growled, fur standing on end.
Shanu felt a sharp tingle in his palm and instinctively let go, just as blue-violet lightning burst from Gin's throat.
Zzzap!
A bolt as thick as a bowl shot past Shanu's ear, slamming into the mountainside behind him.
BOOM!
A several-meter-deep crater appeared in the blackened rock, smoke rising from the blast.
Gin landed gracefully, tiny paws crackling with electricity, purple eyes glowing with a silvery radiance.
"Awoo?"
He looked curiously at his paws, flipping them back and forth as arcs of lightning danced across them, apparently surprised by his own power.
"Holy crap…"
Shanu turned, staring at the still-smoking crater, then at his numbed hands.
"That's a newborn cub?! That kind of firepower?"
That blast alone, if it had hit him without Tekkai, would've torn off a chunk of flesh.
An ordinary person? Instantly fried to ash.
Quickly, he opened the system interface and checked the pet tab.
Sure enough, new messages had appeared.
[Pet "Gin" has awakened innate bloodline skill: Azure Thunder Breath.]
[Pet "Gin" has awakened innate bloodline skill: Arc Lightning Barrier.]
[Note: The power of innate skills increases as the pet grows stronger.]