Outside, there was a racket of chaos and Luffy's loud shouting. Rodney immediately said inwardly, "System, exchange for 'Konoha Style Swordsmanship,' 'Dance of the Camellia,' 'Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere,' and 'Water Release: Water Colliding Wave'!"
The eight hundred Mission Points that had just been credited were spent as follows: five hundred for Konoha Style Swordsmanship, fifty for Dance of the Camellia, one hundred fifty for Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere, and one hundred for Water Release: Water Colliding Wave.
Eight hundred Mission Points—just like that, they were all gone.
At that moment, Luffy charged back in and was about to attack, but Ace hurriedly stepped in front of Rodney and stopped him. "Wait, Luffy. You're no match for him."
It would be difficult for Luffy to defeat Rodney right now. Even with Garp present, Rodney would still beat him up. Ace couldn't just watch helplessly as his brother was bullied.
"Move, Ace! I'm going to avenge you!" Luffy said furiously. They were brothers who shared both blessings and hardships!
"I know, but you're no match for him!" Ace shook his head. Rodney was a decent guy, if a little greedy. Judging from their recent battle, Rodney hadn't used his full strength. If Luffy fought him now, he would only get beaten up.
"But..." Luffy was about to say more when Garp interrupted him. "Enough, Luffy. Although Rodney's physique isn't as strong as yours, his brain is better than yours, so you'll easily suffer in a fight."
"Grandpa, he hit Ace!" Luffy was stubborn to the extreme. Once he set his mind on something, even Garp could do nothing about it. For example, he wanted to become the Pirate King, and Garp had beaten him since childhood without achieving anything. He truly lived up to the Monkey family bloodline.
"Since that's the case, I was originally planning to beat you up and teach you that recklessly charging ahead leads only to death. But now, I'm more interested in trying out my new abilities." Once Luffy fixed his mind on something, even being beaten down by society countless times wouldn't change it. So beating him up was completely useless.
Perseverance was a good thing, but it became annoying when one's enemy persevered against them.
"Hey, Luffy, hurry up and figure out how to free me. You can't beat him alone." Ace saw the tomoe in Rodney's eyes begin to spin. After a brief daze, he continued, "Hurry and find someone to unlock these handcuffs!"
Rodney thought, The system made quite a few changes to adapt to this world. Even genjutsu has been nerfed.
Besides insight and copying, the Sharingan could also cast and see through genjutsu.
Genjutsu relied on disrupting an enemy's Chakra to deceive their five senses. But this world had no Chakra, so how could it be used?
Therefore, the system had modified it to use spiritual energy instead. Genjutsu could only be successfully cast on enemies with weaker mental strength than the user. If their mental strength was comparable, they would only become dazed. If their mental strength was higher, nothing would happen.
The appearance of the Three Tomoe Sharingan had greatly increased Rodney's Chakra and mental strength, raising him from Kakashi's 0.8 to Kakashi's 1.4.
Because the Sharingan was compatible with his body, he could control it freely, and its Chakra consumption was greatly reduced. He wasn't like Kakashi, who suffered from a constant lack of Chakra because he lacked Uchiha blood.
"Oh, oh, I'll beat him up first and then..." Luffy's gaze met Rodney's, and he fell into a genjutsu. At only fourteen years old, Luffy's mental strength was still inferior to Rodney's, and his Conqueror's Haki was nowhere near awakening. He could only obediently enter the illusion and dream.
"Hey, hey, Rodney, what did you do to my grandson?" Garp was astonished by Luffy standing there motionless. He hadn't even sensed the emergence of Conqueror's Haki.
Rodney concealed his Sharingan, and his eyes returned to their pitch-black state. "Just a little trick of mine. He'll be fine after a nap." After he finished speaking, Luffy collapsed and began snoring loudly on the ground, grinning foolishly. "Meat! Meat! So much meat! Hee hee hee..."
"Hahaha, so that's what happened? Come on, I'll take you somewhere else. Ace, you come too." Garp picked up Luffy and led the way.
"Let's go." Rodney strode away, while Ace followed them reluctantly.
Garp brought them to Bogard, obtained the key to the Seastone Handcuffs, and unlocked Ace. After escaping, Ace felt the strength return to his body, and flames immediately ignited around him.
"A Logia Flame-Flame Fruit? What an incredible Devil Fruit Ability. Vice Admiral Garp's grandson is truly impressive," Bogard said sincerely.
"Hahaha, it's nothing, nothing!" Garp said, somewhat smugly. He was very proud that his grandson had turned out so well.
"Rodney!" The moment Ace was free, he wanted to get his revenge and charged at Rodney.
"Fire Gun!"
Sparks shot from his fingertips, but Rodney easily dodged them. They landed steadily on the empty surface of the sea.
"He's standing... on the water?!"
"How is that possible?!"
"Is he a Devil Fruit user?"
The Marines watching the show cried out in astonishment. Even Garp and Bogard's eyes flashed with interest. This ability would be extremely convenient for hunting pirates.
"Fire Fist!"
A flaming fist came crashing in with scorching force.
Rodney formed hand seals at the speed of someone who had been single for decades. "Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!"
A huge amount of water gushed from his mouth, surging endlessly like a river during the rainy season.
The flames and water collided, producing white steam. Rodney quickly formed another set of hand seals. "Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
"Rat-a-tat-tat!"
Compressed by Chakra, the air formed extremely fast air bullets that shot from his mouth. They tore through the steam and pierced Ace's body, leaving several holes before striking the ground behind him.
"Water Clone!"
Seawater condensed into five Water Clones. They ran in and out among one another as they charged toward Ace, each drawing a short blade from its leg and surrounding him.
Having already suffered once, Ace naturally wasn't going to give the Water Clones another chance to scheme against him. He shattered four of them with long-range attacks, only to discover that not a single person remained.
Where did he go?
"Here!" A figure suddenly burst from the soil beneath his feet. The short blade in his hand flashed with dazzling cold light beneath the sun as he thrust repeatedly at Ace!
Dance of the Camellia!
This was the attack method of Kimimaro of the Kaguya Clan from Naruto. Its movements seemed soft and feeble, yet they were incredibly swift. The slightest carelessness would result in death.
Unfortunately, Ace's Logia Fruit was simply too broken. Even being stabbed through the body was useless against him.
Ace punched Rodney, and flames roared. Yet he realized that he hadn't hit his target—or rather, his target had turned into a puddle of liquid.
Splash!
His ankle suddenly tightened, as though something had grabbed it. His body then went limp. Looking down, he saw the Seastone Handcuffs that had just been removed from Rodney. They were now locked around his own ankle.
"Damn it!" Ace knew that he had lost again—and this time, he had lost in a one-on-one fight. He hadn't even used his full strength before losing, which left him extremely frustrated.
"Hahaha, Ace, Devil Fruit Ability doesn't mean everything. Although Rodney's strength is inferior to yours, his methods are clearly far more advanced," Garp said with a hearty laugh. Seeing Rodney climb out of the soil, he continued with a grin, "Not bad, Rodney. Would you like to join the Marines?"
"Thank you for the praise, Vice Admiral Garp. Shouldn't you fulfill your promise now?" Rodney replied with a smile, completely ignoring Garp's recruitment offer.
"No problem. What do you want to learn?" Garp said generously.
"I've already learned Soru, so naturally I should learn its advanced version, Geppo. And add Rankyaku as well."
"Vice Admiral, isn't teaching Mr. Rodney so many of the Marine Six Styles against regulations?" As Garp's adjutant, Bogard felt obliged to remind the Marine vice admiral.
Rodney said solemnly, "Adjutant Bogard, you're mistaken. The Marine Six Styles aren't exactly a secret in this world anymore, are they? Many pirates in the New World know several of the Six Styles. Besides, I'm not a pirate, so there's no harm in me learning them."
There were Marines who had deserted. Most of them had learned some of the Six Styles, and after becoming pirates, they passed them on to their subordinates. They might be uncommon in the Four Seas or the first half of the Grand Line, but quite a few people in the New World knew them.
So it was a secret that wasn't really a secret. If one insisted on making an issue of it, there wasn't much to say.
Before you continue