Chapter Twelve: Promise

With its excellent insight and the user's powerful learning ability, the Sharingan could easily copy an opponent's ninjutsu, taijutsu, and even genjutsu.

So, after Garp demonstrated Moon Cloth and Soru, Rodney easily memorized the key movements, but... he still couldn't use them.

The main reason was that his body still wasn't up to the standard. The Six Powers placed certain demands on a practitioner's body. Ninjas had high attack power but low health, and Rodney was the same. Although his body had been born and raised in the One Piece World, he hadn't truly trained much, so he still needed to work out. He also needed a Shadow Clone...

But exchanging for a Shadow Clone required a thousand points. He often spent his points and then forgot about it...

For now, he could only train with all his might, constantly strengthening his body. He had already learned to use Soru, while Moon Cloth and Soru were still under development.

"Rubber—Gatling!"

Countless fists rained down, but Rodney dodged them with ease.

Soru!

He instantly appeared in front of Luffy. "Shadow Leaf Dance!"

He kicked Luffy in the chin, sending him into the air. Then he jumped up and came behind Luffy, keeping himself parallel to him. Twisting his body, he kicked Luffy in the stomach.

"Gomu Gomu no Lion Gatling!"

Boom!

Luffy was kicked into the ground. He stood up, patted the dust from his body, and said, "That was close, that was close! You're really strong." He put on a serious expression and adjusted his straw hat.

Because Rodney had easily knocked him out with the Sharingan last time, Luffy had been unwilling to accept defeat and challenged him. Rodney had originally refused, but Luffy pestered him so relentlessly that he had no choice but to agree. And so, here they were.

The Rubber-Rubber Fruit made Luffy immune to blunt attacks. Rodney didn't know Haki, so his punches and kicks had no effect on Luffy. Therefore, he drew a few shuriken and kunai, held them between his fingers, and threw them toward Luffy.

The shuriken collided in midair and changed direction. After gaining the Sharingan, using Uchiha Shurikenjutsu had become even more natural for him. He sealed off all of Luffy's escape routes, leaving only one straight path directly toward himself.

Just as he had expected, when Luffy saw that all the routes around him had been blocked, he immediately charged forward and formed hand seals. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

A wave of heat struck his face. Luffy's eyes widened, and he sprang into the air, only to see Rodney below forming hand seals again. In the space of a breath, one small fireball after another shot out.

Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire!

"Damn it!" Seeing that he couldn't dodge in midair, Luffy had no idea what to do. He was only fourteen, and his real combat experience was limited. Still, it was true that he never thought before getting into a fight. Gritting his teeth, he ignored whether his Rubber Body could withstand the intense heat of the Chakra-forged flames and charged straight into them.

The Phoenix Sage Fire struck his body and set his clothes ablaze, yet miraculously didn't affect the straw hat on his head.

So the straw hat really is his true body, huh?

"Rubber—Pistol!"

His arm stretched out and, despite his injuries, slammed into Rodney. But after a burst of white smoke, it turned into a log.

"Hahaha, Luffy, you little brat! Rodney had already run away. You're still too young!" Garp roared with laughter from the side. His Observation Haki had caught Rodney making a hand sign in advance before disappearing at an incredibly fast speed, leaving behind a hollow log disguised as himself for Luffy to strike.

"Where is he?"

Earth Style: Heartless Beheading Technique!

Afterward, only a head remained above the ground.

"Let me go! Hurry up and get me out!" Luffy shouted, beating the dust off his body. Rodney ignored him. Earth Style was useful, but it left a great deal of dust on his body every time, making bathing particularly troublesome.

"Ace, did you see that? Rodney likes to use his head when he fights. You rely too much on your abilities. That's where you'll suffer. Rodney, how about joining the Marines? Your abilities would be perfect for working with them." Garp still refused to give up and invited Rodney once more.

Rodney instantly refused him. Ace said from the side, "Damn old man, let me go already! I want to enter the sea!" He still had Seastone Handcuffs on his wrists. Although he could move freely, his body felt limp and weak, which was incredibly uncomfortable.

"Call me Grandpa!" Garp punched him, leaving a smoking bump on Ace's head.

"Damn old man!"

"Damn it, you little brat! Why won't you call me Grandpa? I want my grandson to respect me too. Rodney, if you won't join, how about becoming my grandson instead?" Garp's thoughts had gone off the rails. He truly lived up to being Luffy's grandfather. It was hard to imagine how he had managed to produce the genius Dragon, and even harder to imagine how Dragon had produced Luffy, whose intelligence was so astonishingly poor.

Could it be that Dragon had inherited his mother's genes? The Garp family's genetics had evolved in Luffy...

"No." Rodney took a step back and gazed toward the sea. It seemed that a large ship was coming in to shore. The Sharingan appeared in his eyes, greatly enhancing his vision. He immediately made out the flag and the people aboard the ship.

The Spade Pirates!

"Ace, your crewmates are here."

"What? Everyone..." Ace was deeply moved, but then suddenly remembered that Garp was still there. He was instantly alarmed. "No, they can't come here!"

Garp also looked toward the shore and laughed loudly. "Hahaha, Ace, it looks like you found yourself a reliable group of crewmates."

Crewmembers who wouldn't abandon their captain on the open sea were precious treasures to any leader. Ace hadn't chosen the wrong people.

"Of course!" Ace said proudly. Then he saw Garp, wearing his justice cloak, walking toward the harbor and was shocked. "Wait! Old man, where are you going?"

"Do I really need to ask? A group of pirates has arrived. As a Marine Vice Admiral, of course I have to take action!"

Ace immediately charged forward, but Garp threw him back. Rodney pulled him to his feet. Ace looked at Rodney solemnly and said, "Rodney, let me go! I have to save everyone!"

Ace didn't know how strong Garp was. He only knew that Garp was stronger than him, stronger than his father, whom he both respected and hated, and stronger than all the crewmates aboard his ship. If Garp took action, his crewmates and friends would have no choice but to be captured.

Rodney looked at him. He could certainly help Ace escape. He had the key to the Seastone Handcuffs. But if Ace escaped and entered the Grand Line, there was a very high chance he would become Whitebeard's son. Ace had never experienced a father's love, and after feeling it from Whitebeard, he would easily become his son.

Then there was Blackbeard, the Summit War...

Rodney merely looked at him and asked, "Ace, do you really have to become a pirate?"

"Of course!"

"Even if it means dying?"

"I'm not afraid of death!"

"Even if you die in front of Vice Admiral Garp? Making the old man who raised you watch helplessly as you die, unable to do anything, and then spend the following decades living in regret?" During the Summit War, Garp had been bound by the justice behind him and could only watch helplessly as his grandson died at Akainu's hands. Wasn't he in pain?

How could he not be?

Ace and Luffy were his grandsons! How could any elder not love their younger generation?

"I..." Ace hesitated this time.

He respected Garp deeply. Even though he called Garp "damn old man" and "old man," Garp was still his grandfather. Ace simply refused to acknowledge it. Rodney's question left him struggling to choose. He was a pirate, and pirates were bound to clash with the Marines.

The moment he decided to become a pirate, he had already cast life and death aside. But Rodney's question suddenly made him realize that death was actually frightening. To die in front of the damn old man and watch him look helplessly at his death, unable even to save him, carrying that guilt until the day he died...

How cruel would that be to him?

Even with the title of Marine Hero, Garp was just an ordinary old man in the face of family affection.

"Ace, what are you still thinking about? They're your crewmates, your companions! Shouldn't you take responsibility for them?" Luffy suddenly shouted. In his eyes, companions were more important than anything else, making Rodney's expression darken.

Luffy's words also strengthened Ace's resolve. Looking seriously at Rodney, he said, "I won't die in front of the damn old man! Absolutely not! Rodney, I promise you here! Please help me. I'm their captain. I brought them out here, so naturally I have to take responsibility for them!"

Ah, the people of this world always valued loyalty above everything else. It was admirable, yet at the same time, it seemed absurd.