043: Disguise, Imitation, Technique!

"You don't know?"

Mercer looked at Garp in confusion. "I got along pretty well with her two years ago. You knew that, didn't you?"

"Did I?"

Garp scratched the back of his head and thought about it, looking a little lost. Suddenly, he smacked his right fist into his left palm.

"Oh, right, I remember now. That did happen, haha!"

"You're a very important man with a terrible memory, huh? I guess someone insignificant like me doesn't deserve a place in your thoughts."

Mercer said mournfully.

Garp instantly perked up, the corners of his mouth twitching violently.

He understood now. When this little brat called him "you," he was speaking normally. When he called him "sir," he was up to something.

Judging by the tone, he'd definitely learned it from Kureha. Whether or not that was true, Garp had decided to believe it.

Garp's eyes widened slightly, and his face twisted as if his liver hurt. Still, he began to explain. "I've been busy, haven't I? Besides, it was such a small thing. It slipped my mind, that's all. You can't blame me for that, can you?"

"So my affairs are all trivial, and not worth remembering, is that it?" Mercer's lips curled slightly. "Fine, go take care of your own business, then. I definitely won't bother you again."

Garp's face immediately darkened. He ground his teeth, unable to stop himself. "BO-GARD!"

He'd remembered. This "sugar-coated talk" was exactly what Bogard had taught him more than two years ago.

Seeing Garp getting worked up, Mercer knew when to quit. If he kept going, that iron fist might come down on his head.

Mercer immediately said, "I'll head on over first. If you want to take a walk, you can stroll along at your own pace."

As he spoke, he picked up speed and ran toward the distant forest as if making his escape.

Garp's mouth twitched. He followed, laughing in exasperation. "That little brat tricked me again. I have no idea where he learned to act like that.

"Actually, should I take him in and raise him by my side? Otherwise, who knows what he'll turn into?"

Garp thought it over, then hesitated. That woman Dolier was a problem. He didn't know if she'd be willing to let the boy go.

If they'd merely had an ordinary relationship, that would've been one thing. But now... Mercer was the child that woman had raised from a baby, feeding and caring for him all these years. If Garp went to ask her for the boy now—

Garp shuddered.

He stopped, then grinned awkwardly.

"She'd kill me, wouldn't she? She'd definitely dissect me. And if that happened, our relationship might be over.

"I'd better think about it some more."

Unable to make up his mind, Garp started after Mercer, shouting, "Mercer! You stop right there! Let's hear you say that again! I promise I won't hit you!"

Mercer, running ahead, twitched at the corner of his eye. If I believed you, I'd deserve to get hit.

As he spoke, he lengthened his stride, wishing he had two extra legs to run with.

Growing two extra legs was impossible, but Garp behind him didn't seem to be chasing in earnest, either.

Mercer's arms swung naturally, moving in sync with his steps, and he ran swiftly.

The two of them ran one behind the other until they reached the yard in front of Dadan's Home. Mercer finally stopped to catch his breath, but a moment later, he sensed a sudden gust above his head.

His body followed the direction of the air current, turning left to dodge. He'd barely avoided it when a huge fist appeared in front of him.

Watching the fist's trajectory, Mercer crossed his hands and collided with it. Smack! He used the recoil to leap backward.

Thump, thump, thump!

Before he'd even steadied himself, Garp came at him with another punch, then another. Mercer swayed like a willow in the wind, dodging as best he could, and used his palms and arms to block whenever he couldn't get out of the way.

Garp's punches came faster and faster, while Mercer nimbly dodged with the aid of their rushing wind.

Seeing the red gleam in Mercer's eyes and his focused expression, Garp grew interested, too.

"Observation Haki and Paper Arts?"

Suddenly, he lifted his right foot and swept it horizontally at Mercer.

A fierce gust rushed in.

Mercer made his decision in an instant. He leaned backward, bending at the waist to dodge the kick. The wind whistled past his face.

He planted his right palm on the ground, twisted his body, and pushed off with his arm, flipping sideways. His eyes, however, stayed fixed on Garp.

As soon as he landed and started to rise, his vision suddenly blurred. The next moment, he saw a large hand reaching for his face.

Mercer leaned farther back, kicked off the ground with both feet, and jumped backward. He adjusted his posture in midair and landed steadily.

Watching Garp from several meters away, Mercer looked grave. Garp's lips curled as he regarded him with amusement. "Like flying, do you? Fine, your grandfather will grant your wish."

Garp lowered his center of gravity slightly, then suddenly threw an uppercut toward Mercer. Whoosh—

The howling punch wind reached him in an instant. Mercer felt a strange gust, and then his feet lifted off the ground.

Wave after wave of wind carried his whole body higher. Mercer had to lower his center of gravity to keep from being blown away.

The next moment, Mercer saw Garp walking toward him with his fist clenched, laughing.

His heart lurched.

He quickly gave up resisting the wind. Sensing the currents' direction, he used Paper Arts' light-footed technique to ride the wind straight up into the sky.

In the blink of an eye, he was ten meters in the air.

Looking down at Garp beneath him, Mercer suddenly noticed the amused expression on his face.

The corner of Mercer's eye twitched. He muttered, "No way."

Just as he'd expected, Garp spread his legs, leaned back slightly, and held both fists at his sides.

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!!"

He threw punch after punch at Mercer in midair, laughing strangely as he shouted. The continuous punch winds joined into a gale, kicking up flying sand and stones as Mercer was carried higher and higher into the sky.

Garp's maniacal laughter caught the attention of everyone inside. Ace, Sabo, and Dadan came out and saw the scene.

Sabo looked at the silent Ace, then at Mercer being swept along by the wind overhead. He swallowed. "Was this what it was like for you before?"

"Sometimes, but he never went this far with Mercer."

Sabo breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

But then he heard Ace speak again.

"Before, he'd just tie me to a balloon and send me up into the sky, dump me in the forest to survive on my own, or bring over a few monkeys to fight me."

Sabo blinked, then grimaced and patted Ace on the shoulder. "You're really lucky to have made it this far."

Ace looked at Sabo gloomily. "Don't comfort me yet. Now that the old geezer knows you exist, do you think you'll be able to avoid him?"

"Huh?" Sabo's mouth fell open. He stared at Ace blankly. "No way, right?"

Just then—

"No way what?" Garp appeared in front of the two of them, grinning cheerfully. "Flying one kite is fun, but wouldn't it be even more fun to fly all three at once?"

In Sabo's eyes, dark red smoke seemed to rise around Garp. Even Garp's face had turned sinister.

"Don't you little brats go dying on me."

He grabbed one in each hand and tossed them into the sky.

Punch winds howled upward one after another.

Garp grinned from ear to ear.

Then he noticed Dadan's horrified expression and smiled. "Oh? Dadan, want to have a go, too?"

With agility utterly unsuited to her build, Dadan dropped into a full kowtow.

"Please spare me, sir! I don't want to die yet!"

Garp pursed his lips, looking bored.

"You're no fun. Not nearly as fun as Mercer and the others."

He stopped paying attention to Dadan and the bandits, and turned his gaze to the sky, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Garp darted around the yard, throwing punch after punch. Slab-like gusts, tornadoes, and balls of wind howled up into the sky.

He was having the time of his life listening to Ace and Sabo's screams.

Every now and then, he unleashed a whole string of "ORA ORA" rapid-fire punches!!

With nothing but the sound of wind in his ears, Mercer had entered the Heavenly Human State. He controlled his body precisely, floating with the wind through the gaps in the currents.

He pushed the Paper Arts technique he'd taught himself to its limits, swimming through the wind as if through water.

Wind was formed by converging air currents.

Sensing the currents' direction with his body and dodging along with their movement, Mercer was having the time of his life. He floated face-down in the wind, using his limbs to guide it and gliding along with its flow.

An unusual sense of exhilaration washed over him.

He sensed the wind around him, both strong and weak. Sometimes, the wind from Garp's punches was tightly concentrated. Whenever that happened, Mercer stomped hard and used the recoil to move through the air.

It was as if he'd learned Geppo.

Mercer rode the wind, and before long, he reached the highest point of it.

Looking down at Garp a hundred meters below, and at the two little brothers tumbling and screaming in the wind not far beneath him—

Twenty minutes later, Mercer started to get bored. He waved at Karasu, who was flying nearby.

Caw—

Karasu darted through the wind toward him. Mercer waited for the right moment, stepped on a gust, and leaped up. At the same time, Karasu flew overhead, and Mercer grabbed its right claw.

Using his Paper Arts technique, he glided unsteadily through the wind stirred up by Karasu, heading toward the distant forest.

Ten seconds later, as he looked down at the lush trees, Mercer let go of Karasu when he was twenty meters above the ground and dropped.

He adjusted his body in midair. When he spotted a branch as thick as a fist, he grabbed it precisely with both hands. With a crack, the branch bent at a ridiculous angle, then snapped.

At the same time, Mercer used the branch's recoil to land steadily on the ground.

He dusted his hands off.

Mercer stretched. The solid ground beneath his feet steadied his heart.

He grinned. "That feels pretty good. It's fun."

Looking at Ace and Sabo still screaming in the sky, Mercer silently mourned for them for a second, then laughed rather heartlessly.

It was hard to tell from up there with the wind in the way, but from here, he could see that Garp had perfect control over his strength.

That was a technique worth learning.

Without a second thought, he used Observation Haki to sense Garp, watching his technique for generating force.

Garp noticed Mercer right away. He turned his head toward him, but only glanced over for a moment before looking away.

That little brat's trying to copy my moves again. No, this is bad. I'll miss out on a lot of fun if he gets away with that. I'd better make it harder for him.

Armament Haki began to flow through Garp's body, interfering with the Observation Haki sensing him from nearby.

Mercer's expression went blank. He couldn't help pouting. "What a cheapskate."

But then the corners of his mouth turned up, and Mercer grinned smugly. "You've got your tricks, but I've got mine."

Sensing the wind generated around Garp, Mercer entered the Heavenly Human State and began to detect the frequency of the aura carried by the wind. He started to "disguise" his own aura's frequency. A moment later, the two were in sync.

He blended his aura into the wind Garp generated.

His perception began to adjust, becoming like the wind.

The "disguise" was complete.

Garp was guarding against the perception of Observation Haki, not the ever-present wind blowing around him that Mercer hadn't generated himself.

The sensation of interference around Garp weakened considerably.

At the same time, Garp felt that the sensation of being watched had disappeared. He pursed his lips.

He gave up that easily? No perseverance at all. I'll have to give him a talking-to later.

Then he stopped circulating Armament Haki through his body and focused on playing with Ace and Sabo overhead.

Mercer sensed that Garp had let his guard down. A smile appeared on his face, and he began sensing him without restraint.

Force rose from the ground, flowed through his legs, and traveled through his twisting waist and thrusting hips. The strength surged along the muscles of his spine to his shoulders, gathering throughout his body before exploding from his knuckles.

His muscles and bones worked in concert, and even the flow of blood within his body had an effect.

Was that Return of Life?

There was a fluid, effortless feeling, as if he could lift something heavy with ease.

Mercer sensed it with delight, then started imitating Garp on the spot, copying his push off the ground, hip rotation, arm retraction and punch, as well as the rhythm of his breathing.

In an instant, Mercer subtly adjusted his breathing until it matched Garp's. He felt both amused and helpless.

Grandpa's using the Free Breathing Method. It's my breathing technique, so I can't be blamed for copying him.

His expression settled, and he cleared his mind of distractions. Focusing intently, he began throwing punches where he stood, sensing the movement of every muscle in Garp's body.

Gradually—

Every time Mercer threw a punch, a vortex of air shot out from his knuckles, bending the grass and trees in front of him.

His movements grew more concise, and his technique more polished.

Qi flowed throughout his body, and strength flowed throughout his body.

Carefully sensing the flow of energy within himself and recalling Garp's movements, Mercer gradually began to understand.

"Bring all the techniques of the Six Powers together as one, then forge my own style—moving freely, with strength born of the will."

That was what Mercer had sensed from Garp's technique.

The next moment, Mercer stopped sensing him. He'd already learned what he needed. Continuing would only be counterproductive. If he did nothing but imitate, he'd become Garp instead of himself. Learning and understanding this much was enough.

"I've already understood everything I needed to learn and know. What's left is for me to hone on my own.

"To refine my own essence."

Mercer took a deep breath, then exhaled and left the Heavenly Human State.

Now all that remained was to enjoy the sight of Ace and Sabo's embarrassment.

Perhaps Garp had gotten bored, or perhaps he'd lost his sense of accomplishment now that Mercer was gone. Either way, before long, Garp finally stopped punching.

Just as Ace and Sabo were about to fall to the ground, Garp caught them easily, one in each hand.

Seeing their pale faces and terrified expressions, Garp gave an awkward chuckle.

"Alright, morning warm-up's over. Let's go train by swimming."

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