The forest behind the Naval Academy.
Zephyr took a deep breath, calming his shock. Then he turned to Garp. A single glance was all it took for Garp to understand what his old friend was thinking.
Garp, Sengoku, Zephyr, and Tsuru were all from the same generation and had served together in the same class.
They had known one another for decades and understood each other's temperaments well.
Garp had planned to test Morito's strength himself. The so-called "Fist of Love," and the seemingly simple-minded, thickheaded way Garp acted, were only meant to fool idiots.
Truly clever people never seemed clever. Instead, they made others think they were foolish.
But people like that were always sharp when it mattered.
In Morito's eyes, Garp was the smartest man at Marine Headquarters. "Great wisdom may appear foolish" was a perfect description of him.
Since Zephyr wanted to test Morito's strength himself, Garp would let him handle it.
It was time for Zephyr to see just how monstrous Morito's talent was.
With Zephyr protecting him at the Naval Academy, Morito would be spared plenty of trouble in the future, especially over what had happened to Onigumo.
It was undoubtedly best for Zephyr to step in.
"Show them what you can do!"
Garp gave Morito a meaningful look, then turned and strode away.
Morito noticed Garp's gesture and caught his meaning, but he wasn't quite sure what the look was supposed to convey.
Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Garp very often.
And when they did meet, it was always brief and by chance.
Thinking of Garp's free-and-easy nature, Morito understood. He liked that sort of friendship, simple and unadorned.
Although Garp was decades older than him, Morito thought of him more as a powerful friend than as an elder or a teacher.
Riiip!
Zephyr tore off his coat, revealing a body of powerful, bronze-colored muscle.
In an instant!
A rugged, hard-bitten aura washed over them.
With a physique like that—especially his cleanly defined pectorals and abs, as if they were slabs of stone—he was enough to make countless women drool!
Spike's eyes narrowed at the sight.
Admiral Zephyr was planning to handle this personally?
He had wanted to teach Morito a lesson, but he hadn't meant to cripple him.
Now Admiral Zephyr had taken off his coat and looked ready to go all out.
This...
Admiral Zephyr, shouldn't you think this over?
Taking your clothes off right away seemed a bit much!
The kid was still young!
"Admiral Zephyr, you—"
"Stand down. I'll handle this."
Zephyr cut Spike off, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Onigumo had been crippled. That was not something a mere lieutenant like Spike could handle.
Then Zephyr turned to Morito and said gravely, "Make your move!"
Onigumo being crippled could be a major matter—or it could be a minor one.
Whether it became one or the other depended on whether Morito had enough talent to make Zephyr, the Naval Academy, and Marine Headquarters' higher-ups see him in a new light!
Zephyr was a former Marine Admiral.
He was currently at the peak of his strength. Against a novice like Morito, who hadn't even left the beginner's village, he naturally wouldn't attack first. He couldn't afford to lose face like that.
But if he wanted to test Morito's true strength, he had to put some pressure on him.
"Show me what you've got!"
Zephyr shouted, unleashing an aura of extraordinary courage.
He stood perfectly still, without taking an offensive or defensive stance, yet he seemed utterly invincible.
At that moment, Morito felt like a five-year-old facing a massive black bear.
The powerful aura radiating from Zephyr alone made him feel trapped in a quagmire, as if heavy mud bound his hands and feet.
Heavy. Oppressive.
Unable to move.
"So this is the strength of an Admiral at his peak?"
Morito felt every muscle in his body tense. It was his body's instinctive response to danger and a powerful opponent.
Zephyr was a pure Taijutsu Admiral, cut from the same cloth as Garp.
Compared to Ability User Admirals, he lacked a little of that calamity-level suppressive power.
But that didn't mean pure Taijutsu was weak.
On this vast and turbulent sea, so-called Great Pirates like Kaido, Big Mom, Red-Haired, Ginre, John, and Ochoku...
They were all just a bunch of little brothers!
The true peak powerhouses were Garp, Sengoku, Roger, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion!
Garp and Roger were both pure Taijutsu fighters!
Zephyr's Observation Haki and Armament Haki were unmatched.
His Armament Haki was especially powerful. He coated his hands in it, earning him the name "Black Arm" Zephyr!
Onigumo?
Zephyr could kill a thousand of him in an instant!
"Good. Strong. What an aura!"
Morito exhaled slowly. His muscles were taut, but his mind was strangely calm. His Byakugan's field of vision covered the entire battlefield.
He could see Zephyr's expression, his breathing, even the hairs on his skin, standing straight up.
Everything before his eyes, the wind beside his ears, the movement of the air—
Every last detail told Morito just how powerful Zephyr was.
Yet Zephyr's overwhelming aura hadn't crushed him. Instead, it stirred the restless part of Morito's heart.
He wanted to become this kind of powerhouse, too.
No!
He wanted to become even stronger.
Zephyr was a goal, not the finish line!
If he couldn't punch the Four Emperors into submission and kick Admirals around, what was the point of living?
"Don't regret this."
A dangerous glint flashed in Morito's eyes. The Gentle Fist he had trained in was nothing like Neji Hyuga's flashy attacks, where even a hundred or so strikes couldn't stop the protagonist from powering up and turning the tables.
His Gentle Fist drew on Chakra as its energy source, shaping it into fine needles that pierced vital points and destroyed the body's most vulnerable inner organs.
He targeted only the body's vital points.
One hit could leave the victim paralyzed—or dead on the spot.
"Let's see if your hands are as skilled as your mouth!"
Zephyr wasn't deliberately mocking Morito.
He simply didn't take him seriously.
Those so-called monsters in the Elite Class—Sakazuki, Borsalino, Dragon, Kuzan, Gion, and Kaki—had all been beaten one-handed by him. Which of them hadn't?
Morito was like a brat pointing a toy gun at a champion boxer and demanding a fight.
What could Zephyr do?
Give him a beating first!
And then Morito moved!
He wasn't rushing to attack. He was afraid that if this went on any longer, Zephyr's oppressive aura would snuff out the last of his fighting spirit.
If things reached that point, there'd be no need to fight.
He'd have lost without even throwing a punch!
With Chakra erupting through it, the Shave technique surpassed the limits of sight. Even Zephyr couldn't make out where Morito had gone.
But he didn't need to track Morito with his eyes. His Observation Haki was powerful enough.
"Kid, that move of yours is dangerous!"
As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Zephyr spun around and seized Morito's outstretched wrist.
Morito's left hand was half-clenched. Between his index and middle fingers, a mysterious energy pulsed.
It was unlike Armament Haki—a kind of energy Zephyr had never seen before.
It was invisible to the naked eye. Zephyr had detected it using his powerful Observation Haki.
Mysterious and uncanny.
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