Chapter 36 A Sword Swing Forces Marshal to Kneel in Response"What I'm about to say isn't directed at anyone in particular."
"Everyone here, if even one of you can take me down on this training ground, I'll strip naked and walk away, voluntarily forfeiting this promotion!"
"So now..."
Luffy drew his Samehada sword from his back, the tip pointing directly at the crowd, his tone utterly arrogant.
"You, all of you, come at me!"
Silence.
Dead silence.
The officers below were stunned at first, then their faces flushed crimson with rage.
Too arrogant!
They had never seen such a shameless person!
Grant, his face even redder with anger, roared at the top of his lungs, "I've never seen anyone more arrogant than me in my entire life!"
Luffy leaped into the air, landing lightly in the center of the plaza, and chuckled.
"Hey, what a coincidence! You saw him today!"
"Damn it! This is unbearable!"
"Get out of my way! Let me teach this arrogant brat a lesson!"
Just then, a burly man, as tall as an iron tower, stepped out from the ranks.
Dark-skinned, with bulging muscles, he wore a yellow clover-patterned shirt, and the rank insignia on his shoulders indicated he was a Marine Captain.
"That guy... isn't that Burnham?"
"That's right, a trusted lieutenant of Admiral Aokiji! I heard he's a genius at the Six Powers, having made quite a few modifications to them."
"Apparently, he was one of the top contenders for the Supernova nominations this year, but he got snatched away by a parachuted-in Marine. He's definitely seething with anger."
"This is going to be interesting. Luffy's in for a rough time."
The surrounding Marines murmured amongst themselves, their eyes filled with mockery as they looked at Luffy.
In their eyes, Burnham's strength was definitely among the top tier of naval captains.
"Breath Breath Technique, First Stage! Supplement!"
Burham roared, his hands forming a bizarre pose, his chest heaving violently.
His already incredibly thick arms suddenly swelled even more, as if inflated, veins bulging like earthworms.
"Finger Pistol!"
Burham roared again, his massive fingers extending like cannonballs, hurtling towards Luffy's face with a whooshing sound.
"So strong!"
"He's already reached the level of Life Return, hasn't he?"
"He can actually control the muscle energy of specific parts of his body!"
"This isn't a finger pistol, it's a finger cannon! Getting hit by that will either kill or cripple him!"
The onlookers, watching Burnham's terrifying arms, exclaimed in astonishment.
The live broadcast spread throughout the world.
Ordinary citizens were stunned speechless at this inhuman scene.
Is this the strength of the Marine Headquarters? Even a random colonel is this terrifying?
Zoro and Sanji frowned, their expressions grave.
They realized they had underestimated the dangers of the Grand Line.
Having just set sail, they feared they would be no match for an opponent of this caliber.
In their original timeline, the Straw Hat crew had endured countless life-or-death trials, only barely managing to come into contact with CP9, who were proficient in the Six Powers, upon reaching Water 7.
Now, they could only see blurry afterimages in the air.
Zoro's fingers gripping the Wado Ichimonji were pale, his face grim.
"A monster with this kind of strength is only a colonel?"
"Just how strong is Hawkeye, who's on par with the Four Emperors and Admirals? And how terrifying is Luffy's swordsmanship?"
At this moment, only two words remained in Zoro's mind—get stronger!
Sanji also stubbed out his cigarette. He realized that Zeff, who had returned from a year-long voyage on the Grand Line, was probably no match for the group of Marine colonels before him.
But the next second, his gaze drifted to the dashing female officers in the adjacent formation.
His eyes instantly turned into hearts, and he twisted his body into a pretzel.
"Fighting is too crude! The Marine ladies are so much more charming~ That uniform~ That aura~"
Usopp, Nami: "..."
"Idiot..."
Just when everyone thought Luffy was about to be severely injured by this attack...
Luffy looked at the gigantic finger hurtling towards him, but simply shook his head in boredom.
"Too slow, are you a tortoise?"
He shifted his body slightly, the movement incredibly small.
That terrifying arm barely grazed Luffy's eyelashes before slamming into the training ground behind him.
Boom—!
Grit flew everywhere, dust billowed.
The hard granite slab shattered as if bombarded, leaving a deep crater.
All the viewers watching the live stream held their breath, their hearts pounding.
"Hmph! Pretty quick reaction!"
"But it's not over yet! Finger Pistol - Yellow Lotus!"
Burnam, seeing his attack miss, roared and unleashed both hands simultaneously.
His fingers rained down like countless lotus seeds bursting from a lotus pod, engulfing Luffy.
Luffy yawned, hands in his pockets, and walked straight towards Burnnam.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
Finger guns grazed Luffy's body, missing their mark.
Burnam seemed to have transformed into a master of human outline drawing, stirring up clouds of pebbles and dust behind Luffy, yet failing to even touch the hem of Luffy's clothes.
"This is..."
The pirates of the New World, witnessing this, narrowed their eyes sharply.
"Observation Haki?"
"To be able to move so leisurely amidst such a dense barrage of attacks, this guy's Observation Haki is quite advanced!"
"Looks like this commodore who rose to his rank through connections isn't entirely incompetent after all."
Burnam, watching Luffy get closer and closer, broke out in a cold sweat, a flash of embarrassment crossing his face.
"Damn it! Don't underestimate me!"
His hands moved at an even faster pace, sacrificing the power of a single shot for a higher rate of fire, unleashing a barrage of air bullets.
"Flying Finger Pistol - Draw!"
"It's not over yet! Tempest Kick!"
Burnam roared, his leg muscles tensing, unleashing a sharp vacuum slash wave, mixed with a rain of finger pistols, aimed at Luffy.
"Is this all you've got?"
However, against Luffy's maxed-out Observation Haki, these attacks were as slow as snails.
He didn't even take his hands out of his pockets; he simply shifted his body slightly and ducked, easily dodging everything.
Burnam shouted angrily, "Damn it! Is all you can do is run away like a monkey?"
But the next second...
Luffy's figure vanished from his sight in an instant.
When he reappeared, it was an enlarged smiling face, almost pressed against his nose.
"What?! That was fast!"
Burnum's pupils dilated, and he instinctively used his defensive technique.
"Iron Body!"
His muscles tensed instantly, his blood flowed faster, and his body became as hard as steel, gleaming with a metallic sheen.
Grand, who was watching, paled at the sight and shouted desperately:
"Idiot! Don't use Iron Body! This guy's strength is ridiculously high!"
"Huh?"
Burnum turned to Grand, bewildered, not yet reacting.
Luffy's fist had already lightly landed on his chest.
"Here you go!"
Boom—!
A dull thud, like a heavy hammer striking rotten leather.
Burnham didn't even have time to scream before he was sent flying backward like a volleyball.
He crashed into countless unfortunate Marine soldiers along the way, finally embedding himself firmly in the distant wall, impossible to pry off.
Luffy stood there, retracting his fist, shaking his head dramatically, and letting out a long sigh.
"May there be no iron blocks in heaven."
This had almost become a meme in his past life.
Anyone who dared to use iron blocks to withstand a powerful enemy almost always met a bad end.
This thing is useless for the weak, and impossible for the strong to defend against.
And you can't move while using it; it's practically a must-have technique for suicide pranks and forcibly ending your life.
In the stands, Sengoku turned to Garp with some surprise and asked, "You didn't teach him the Six Powers?"
"Of course not."
Garp shrugged matter-of-factly, "This kid absolutely refused to join the Marines before, why would I teach him the Six Powers? That's against the rules!"
"You bastard..."
Sengoku looked at Garp, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
Although this old man's son became the leader of the Revolutionary Army and even adopted the Pirate King's son,
Garp had never faltered on matters of principle.
The Six Powers were a top-secret Marine technique, and to prevent leaks, he hadn't even taught it to his own grandson.
Sengoku looked at Luffy again, a hint of admiration in his eyes.
"But speaking of which, your grandson's explosive power is a bit outrageous."
"Without any power-generating techniques, purely relying on brute force, he can actually unleash speeds surpassing 'Shave'."
Garp, upon hearing this, immediately raised his head high, his nostrils flaring.
"That's right! Don't you even know whose grandson he is! Good genes!"
Sengoku glanced at him disdainfully: "Have some shame! What does this have to do with you? Didn't you just confidently claim he was only a private's strength?"
"Ahem... that was called humility! Humility, don't you understand? This is called tactical deception!"
While these two old men were bickering,
the naval officers below also realized what was going on.
Although Luffy seemed unreliable, his raw strength was indeed terrifying; in a one-on-one fight, probably no one could defeat him.
However, Luffy's arrogant attitude of "I'll take on ten of them" was simply too much to bear.
Hundreds of officers of the rank of colonel exchanged glances, reaching a tacit understanding.
Since one-on-one fights wouldn't work, then a group fight would do!
Anyway, the rules didn't say you couldn't all attack together!
Luffy chuckled, watching the hundreds of burly men gradually closing in on him, and muttered under his breath.
"That's more like it. If it were a one-on-one battle, I'd be exhausted to death."
After all, with his current stamina, he couldn't withstand a prolonged war of attrition.
Luffy slowly gripped Samehada on his back with his left hand, and with his right, he slowly drew an exaggeratedly designed greatsword—the sword of Blitzkrieg King.
"Today, I'll show you bumpkins what true dual-wielding is all about!"
"Don't blame me for being uncivilized, it's the only way."
Luffy looked at the dense crowd, made the sign of the cross on his chest, and muttered "Amen."
The next second, his skin began to redden, and billowing steam rose from his body.
Gear Second, activate!
Zoro, watching from afar, saw Luffy draw his greatsword, and his brow twitched violently, as if recalling a terrifying memory.
Without a word, he grabbed Nami and Usopp, turned, and sprinted towards the edge of the plaza.
"Moss Head! What's wrong with you?"
"Why are you running backwards? Those are deserters!"
Sanji was dragged along, stumbling and looking unwilling.
"Shut up! I have a very bad feeling!"
Zoro didn't even turn his head, his pace quickening.
Just then, Luffy in the center of the plaza moved!
He wielded his swords with both hands, and swung them forward with unparalleled boldness.
Under the breathless gaze of everyone, under the expectant eyes of the world's audience.
*Snap!*
A crisp sound rang out abruptly.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku, who had been standing on the high platform, suddenly appeared in front of Luffy.
He bent his knees slightly, clasped his hands together, and with a perfect "catch-a-blade" stance, steadily caught Luffy's katana as it swung down!
Silence.
The entire world seemed to freeze.
Whether it was the Marines in the plaza, the audience watching on screens, or the great pirates of the New World.
Everyone stared, mouths agape, utterly dumbfounded.
The Fleet Admiral, the man known as the "Strategist," had actually... had caught that blade on his knees?!
Sengoku remained in the sword-catching posture, his expression more unsightly than if he'd swallowed a fly.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing?
Wasn't I just in the stands? How did I suddenly end up kneeling here?
Luffy stared at Sengoku, his eyes twitching uncontrollably, cold sweat instantly pouring down his face.
Holy crap! This can't be happening!
The very first sword strike "summoned" Sengoku, the mighty Buddha?
What kind of luck is this?
Luffy awkwardly sheathed his katana, looking weakly at Sengoku's dark expression and murderous aura:
"Ah... well, Uncle, I said I didn't mean to... do you believe me?"
The surrounding Marines retreated in fear, looking at Luffy as if he were a ghost.
What kind of swordsmanship does this kid have?
It's too uncanny!
Even the Fleet Admiral, worried that Luffy might accidentally hurt himself, personally stepped in to catch the sword with both hands?
Sengoku, his face dark, glared at Luffy, then stood up, his expression still grim, and jumped back into the stands without a word.
Seeing this, Garp paused for a second, then burst into a deafening laugh.
"Pfft, hahaha! Sengoku! What are you doing?"
"Why did you go and catch someone's sword? Hahaha!"
"How about it? Isn't my grandson's 'Supreme Sword Intent' awesome? Even you can't help but worship it?"
Sengoku's forehead veins bulged, and he roared through gritted teeth, "Garp! Shut the hell up!"
Luffy, looking at the large empty space around him, awkwardly waved to the crowd.
"Sorry, it was just a technical lapse, everyone don't panic."
"Don't worry, it definitely won't happen again this time, let's try again!"
With that, Luffy took a deep breath and swung his katana again.
Swish!
Crack!
The familiar formula, the familiar taste.
Everyone: "..."
Luffy: "..."
Sengoku: "..."
At this moment, Sengoku knelt before Luffy again in the same posture, his hands gripping the blade tightly.
Marineford fell into a deathly silence.
Even the wind seemed to freeze in embarrassment.
"Um..."
Luffy swallowed hard, looking at Sengoku's contorted face, and cautiously suggested.
"Sengoku-sama, perhaps... you could move a little further away?"
"You keep crawling under my blade, my little heart can't take it."
Luffy was genuinely exasperated.
How could the massive plaza, with thousands of Marines, have "sucked" the Fleet Admiral here twice in a row?
Is there some hidden aggro calculation for this "100% chance of catching a blade bare-handed"?
The higher the rank, the higher the hit rate?
This doesn't make sense!
Luffy sighed helplessly, his eyes filled with pity as he looked at Sengoku.
"Uncle, your luck... is just unbelievable."
At this very moment.
On a remote island in the Grand Line, Hawkeye Mihawk was staring intently at the screen, his expression more solemn than ever before.
"Is this the legendary... Sword of No Death?"
"Every strike targets the enemy's weakness, yet is 'forcibly' caught at the last moment?"
"Is this Luffy warning Sengoku? Even a powerhouse of Sengoku's caliber can't resist the pull of his sword intent?"
"As expected of a great swordsman surpassing me! At this level, I, Mihawk... am ashamed of myself!"
Hawkeye looked at Luffy's figure, his eyes filled with fervent admiration.
It should be noted that Sengoku is the only top-tier powerhouse in the Navy with Conqueror's Haki.