Sengoku the Buddha vs. Vic (Fourth update, seeking flowers)

"Hey, hey, I'm not a pirate." Patri Vic frowned, his voice low.

Though he was on Hachinosu Island, he wasn't a pirate.

"You think we'll believe that?" A marine spoke gravely, raising his rifle and aiming at Patri Vic.

Hachinosu Island, also known as Pirate Island—whether Patri Vic was a pirate or not, they'd rather arrest the wrong man than let one slip by.

A marine tossed over a pair of Seastone Handcuffs and said, "You've got three seconds to put those on, or we open fire."

"Boom!"

The moment they finished speaking, everyone felt a crushing pressure, like a mountain bearing down on them.

Sweat beaded thick on the marines' foreheads as they stared at Patri Vic in terror.

"Crack!"

With Patri Vic's movement, countless fissures spiderwebbed across the ground, dense as a great canyon.

He had no Armament Haki now—bullets could be lethal. So Patri Vic didn't give them a chance to count down; he struck instantly.

If he gave in and put on the cuffs, the marines would haul him away.

Who knew what would happen after that?

In no time, all the marine soldiers were knocked out by Patri Vic. These were just ordinary marines, lacking real strength.

After dealing with them, he didn't plan to linger. He moved to leave quickly, but just as he was about to go, a sudden sense of danger struck from behind. Breaking into a cold sweat, he instantly dodged.

"Boom!"

The spot where Patri Vic had stood a moment ago now had a sizable crater.

"You dodged it?" Sengoku rose slowly from the small pit, speaking calmly.

"You!" The moment they sized each other up, they both spoke almost in unison.

Patri Vic hadn't expected to run into Sengoku again after two months.

And Sengoku hadn't expected the man who dodged his punch to be the tavern owner from two months ago.

In those two months, Sengoku noticed that Patri Vic's strength and aura seemed much stronger.

"Your marines' target should be the Rocks Pirates, right? No need to come after me." Patri Vic's expression steadied, his reply calm.

If Sengoku was here today, then Garp and Tsuru were likely here too. The marines' goal today was to surround and crush Rocks.

But Rocks had already left. On all of Hachinosu Island, the only one with any real strength left was probably him.

"You may not be part of the Rocks Pirates, but you attacked the marines. For that reason alone, I can't let you go." Sengoku's gaze swept over the fallen marines as he spoke unhurriedly.

"Get your facts straight. Your marines attacked me first."

"I don't care about that. I only see that you attacked the marines!"

"..."

"You son of a bitch... if you want to arrest me, just say so!"

Patri Vic knew today's fight was unavoidable, so he cut the crap.

Purple steam coated his body as he swung a fist the size of a sandbag at Sengoku.

He was now just 0.1% completion away from unlocking Fire Release power from Hashirama Senju's template at 100%.

He hoped this fight with Sengoku would push his Ninja Body Technique progress up by 1%.

"Boom!"

Facing Patri Vic's fist, Sengoku's expression stayed calm, unafraid. He swung his own power-packed fist in return.

Their strength collided, unleashing a powerful gust of air. Dust rose from the ground, nearly shrouding them both.

"You're not weak." Sengoku coated his arm in Armament Haki and struck at Patri Vic again.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!!!"

Their fists clashed again and again, kicking up wave after wave of dust.

Even against a serious Sengoku, Patri Vic wasn't losing ground for the time being.

Mid-battle, Patri Vic began to feel for the power of Armament Haki once more.

A force like flowing water spread from his heart through his entire body—Haki was an invisible armor.

That liquid-like power expanded across his frame, and suddenly, something clicked.

His arm seemed swallowed by chaos, wreathed in a dark pigment—this was Armament Haki!

After groping for it so long, he finally grasped the power of Armament Haki in this fight.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!!!"

With Armament Haki, Patri Vic's attacks grew even fiercer.

"You mastered Armament Haki fighting me? But that's nothing special." Sengoku paused briefly, but didn't take it too seriously.

After all, he was someone who mastered Armament Haki even before Patri Vic did.

Their fists clashed again and again, destroying large swaths of the ground.

"Who's Sengoku fighting?" Not far away, Garp and Tsuru arrived at the scene, speaking with slight surprise.

Behind them were a large number of Navy soldiers.

They had only just realized upon landing on the island that the Rocks Pirates had already set sail and left.

The ones staying on the island were nothing more than ordinary pirates.

They had thought that after finding Sengoku, they could retreat easily, but now it seemed Sengoku had run into a formidable enemy.

"Wait... isn't that man the tavern owner from two months ago?" Tsuru said with some surprise.

Two months ago, their identities had been exposed, but Patri Vic hadn't reported who they were.

That had left them with some impression.

And Garp had even fought a round with Patri Vic back then.

"Two months ago, he did have some skill, but now he's actually trading blows evenly with Sengoku." Garp said with a hint of unease.

"There's a strong man on this island?" Navy Admiral Krieg stepped up beside Garp, his expression calm, arms crossed over his chest.

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