Hearing Leiyin's words, Garp pushed up his dog-head hat and folded his arms across his chest. "Hahaha, if you refuse, then you can forget about that 13 million Beli bounty."
"What?"
Garp had always been rather reckless. Leiyin believed he was capable of doing something like this.
Leiyin couldn't help getting angry. "Hey, old man, can you be reasonable? Have you ever seen anyone force someone else into joining like this?"
Garp continued laughing heartily. "You don't have to join the Marines, but you have to defeat one more person first."
Leiyin asked without thinking, "Who?"
Garp jumped down directly through the hole on the third floor. "Me! What do you say, kid? Do you dare accept the challenge?"
What?
Even though Leiyin could defeat a headquarters Field Officer and crush bounties in the tens of millions, who exactly was Garp? He was the old rival of Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, and his combat strength was on the level of the Three Admirals and the Four Emperors.
Since arriving in this world, this was the first duel in which Leiyin felt he had no chance of winning.
And so, Leiyin accepted the challenge.
To do what one knew could not be done—that was the mark of a hero.
Garp chuckled. "Hahaha, kid, you've really got guts. But I have to remind you that our agreement just now was that if you lost, you wouldn't get even half a Beli."
"Enough talk. Bring it on."
As he spoke, Leiyin drew the ninja blade from his back and clenched the hilt between his teeth.
Between his teeth?
Without saying a word, he rapidly wove hand seals with both hands.
"Fire Style—Great Fireball Technique!"
A blazing fireball shot straight toward Garp. Garp didn't even bother dodging. He merely raised his fist and smashed it into the fireball, pulverizing it into smoke in an instant.
Leiyin naturally hadn't expected this move to defeat him. He took the ninja blade from his mouth and gripped it in his hand. As he charged forward, crackling lightning wrapped around the blade.
"Lightning Blade—Chidori Blade!"
Leiyin had already planned this out. He would use the Great Fireball Technique as cover, then swiftly launch a lightning slash while Garp was caught off guard.
Before Garp had any time to react, the Chidori Blade slashed toward him. Garp merely raised one foot and kicked Leiyin's right hand, knocking the ninja blade from his grip and breaking his technique.
"Love-Love Iron Fist!"
The next moment, Garp counterattacked with his own Iron Fist, punching toward Leiyin. Leiyin used a B-rank Flying Thunder God Slash to evade the fist. Garp's fist slammed into the ground, blasting out a crater several meters deep. The Marines of Branch 153 watching from all around couldn't help sucking in a cold breath.
"N-no wonder he's a vice admiral."
"Garp the 'Iron Fist' really lives up to his name."
"I've never seen a battle like this before."
"This kid is incredibly strong too. He's defeated powerful enemies time and again, and he can even fight a headquarters vice admiral to this extent."
While the watching Marines argued noisily among themselves, Leiyin had already appeared in front of Garp. A blue chakra sphere had gathered in his hand, and it was somewhat larger than the one he had used to defeat Pruzz.
"Big Ball—Rasengan!"
Even Garp felt the power of the swirling energy before him. He didn't dare be careless and swung his Iron Fist to meet it head-on.
"Love-Love Iron Fist!"
The Iron Fist and the Big Ball Rasengan collided. A powerful Shockwave erupted around the two of them, blowing the Marines' hats into the air.
As the Marines stared in stupefaction, Leiyin was blasted back six or seven steps.
"So my strength really is inferior to Garp's?" Leiyin shook his head inwardly as he was forced back.
Judging by the strength of his fist and the power of his attacks, this old man really hadn't held back at all. He was treating Leiyin as a true and proper opponent.
If you go all out, then I'll fight with everything I've got!
As he thought this, his hands blurred. Once he finished forming the seals, he unleashed a ninjutsu with tremendous force. "Water Style—Water Wave Technique!"
A waterfall-like column of water suddenly shot toward Garp. Garp once again swung his fist, forcibly smashing the water column into splashing droplets that scattered in every direction.
No matter how many moves you have, I'll smash them all apart with one punch!
Leiyin had long since anticipated this. If he could defeat Garp so easily, then he would have to possess combat strength at the level of the Four Emperors—or even higher.
Under the bombardment of Garp's Iron Fists, the ground was already covered in water.
At this moment, Leiyin was drawing out his lightning chakra, preparing to unleash a powerful lightning attack on Garp.
"Lightning Style—Chidori..."
Bang!
Before Leiyin could release Chidoryū, Garp used the Six Powers—Shave to appear in front of him in an instant and punch him to the ground. Caught off guard, Leiyin took the blow hard.
Garp's Iron Fist was famous throughout the world, but few knew that he was also a master of the Six Powers. He had trained the Six Powers technique that determined speed, Shave, to a supernatural level. Garp's Shave was even much faster than Leiyin's Flying Thunder God Slash.
After all, a man who could drive Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, into desperate situations several times could never have been an ordinary nobody.
Leiyin had been hit hard, but he still rose from the ground in pain.
"Is that guy still going to fight?"
"Now that's tenacity."
As the Marines discussed the matter, they saw Leiyin extend his right hand and once again gather the swirling energy of a blue chakra sphere in his palm.
By then, Garp's fist had already turned black. "Armament Haki—Iron Fist!"
His fist, wrapped in Armament Haki, slammed viciously toward Leiyin's head, driving him into the ground and smashing out a deep crater.
This time, Leiyin didn't get back up. He had... lost.
Garp helped Leiyin up from the ground, an amiable smile appearing on his face once more. "To make this old man use Iron Fist more than five times in a single battle, you're no ordinary brat, hahaha."
Leiyin looked rather battered, but he still forced a smile. "A loss is a loss. I accept the result, old man. I agree to join the Marines."
"Hahaha, good. If you're willing to come, then I welcome you to the Marines on their behalf."
Why did Garp want Leiyin to join the Marines so badly? Everyone knew that he had always wanted his two grandsons, Ace and Luffy, to become powerful Marine soldiers, but things hadn't gone as he wished. Ace had already slipped beyond Garp's watch and gone to sea as a pirate. As for Luffy, that single-celled creature needed no explanation. Although he was still in Foosha Village, the little brat opened his mouth and declared, "I'm going to become the man who will be the Pirate King," leaving Garp utterly speechless.
Leiyin was only a few years older than Ace. Seeing him reminded Garp of his two grandsons, and after witnessing Leiyin's strength, he deliberately decided to take him under his command.
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