Garp and Leon

"You're here."

Dusk was falling. Leon, with his belly full after a hearty meal, had just pushed open the courtyard gate when he spotted Garp standing stock-still in the middle of the courtyard, every inch of him radiating solemnity.

Had the old man gone stir-crazy waiting around?

"I shouldn't have come?"

Leon ventured a reply. Garp's face darkened.

"Where else do you think you're going, you little bastard?!"

"If I hadn't put in a good word for you, do you really think that ridiculous 'Rookie of the Marines' title of yours would've gotten you off with just six months of confinement after you injured a fellow officer?!"

Garp's scolding set Leon's temper ablaze. He didn't back down in the slightest. "You've got some nerve, old man!"

"If you hadn't sent me to the South Blue, would I have gotten mixed up in all that Navy nonsense?!"

"Heh..."

To Leon's defiance, Garp merely laughed. He clasped his hands behind his back and headed out of the courtyard.

"Come on, kid. Weren't you angry?"

"What for?"

Leon grew wary.

Garp passed by Leon without looking back, leaving him with only one remark.

"When men have a problem with each other, they settle it with their fists, of course."

Huh?

Garp walked farther and farther away, giving Leon no chance to object.

Leon instantly calmed down. He'd known something was off about the old man; he'd just been looking for an excuse to beat him up.

He'd been on guard against everything, yet still hadn't seen this coming...

What a shame. In another twenty or thirty years, Leon wouldn't have feared anyone.

To be honest, he had a set of moves designed to take on the old and the weak...

Watching the figure about to disappear into the darkness, Leon smiled and followed.

"Fine. I'll take it as a chance to see just how strong Garp was at his peak."

The two headed straight for a beach by the sea. It was wide open and eerily quiet.

A perfect place for a fight.

Garp took off his Coat of Justice and suit jacket. His taut muscles looked as though they'd been cast directly from steel.

Leon silently unwound the bandages around his fist. Once the fight started, he wouldn't have time to worry about the dangers of nuclear radiation.

Besides, the old man was in good health. He could take it.

Garp cracked his knuckles.

"Leon, you ready yet?"

Leon didn't answer right away. He silently walked up to Garp and released his suppression of the nuclear radiation inside his body.

"Ready."

The moment the words left his mouth, Garp lunged forward, his massive fist flying straight at Leon's face.

Too fast!

Facing Garp's powerful blow, Leon quickly assessed the situation. Any attempt to dodge it now would be futile.

There was only one option—

Meet it head-on!

Leon drew back his right leg, raised his right fist, and channeled all his strength into it.

In an instant, one large fist and one small fist collided in midair.

Leon's body went flying. He spun several times in the air to absorb the impact, then plunged both legs deep into the sand.

So he could hit that hard even without Armament Haki...

Leon pulled himself out of the sand and, without the slightest hesitation, charged at Garp at a speed that was nearly instantaneous.

"Not bad, kid. You can move almost as fast as Shave using nothing but your physical abilities."

"I really underestimated you."

The two switched from offense to defense, but the battle-hardened Garp handled Leon's attacks with ease.

Every one of Leon's attacks carried tremendous force, yet Garp could always anticipate its direction a step ahead, then seize on an opening and send Leon flying with a vicious blow.

"Observation Haki."

Leon got back to his feet once more, but this time he didn't rush to attack.

Garp's ability to use Observation Haki to predict where each of Leon's attacks would land gave him an enormous advantage in battle.

Leon had powerful senses, but they were fundamentally different from Observation Haki, which could be developed to the point of seeing into the future.

"If only I had a tail too. Let's see if you could still predict my moves then, you old geezer..."

Leon now understood just how vast the gap between him and Garp was when it came to combat experience.

Garp's moves had been honed in life-or-death battles, while Leon still relied mostly on his body's fighting instincts.

"Looks like I've got no choice..."

Leon pulled himself out of the sand again. The once-flat beach was now pocked with countless craters of every size.

Garp, meanwhile, stood right where he'd been, without moving an inch.

As Leon launched another attack after regaining his footing, Garp burst into a boisterous laugh.

His disciple wasn't just physically strong; he had a remarkably tenacious will, too!

The old man really did have a good eye...

Garp swung his right fist, but this time Leon wasn't sent flying instantly as he had been before.

He didn't dodge. Instead, he took Garp's punch to the face, then, just as he was about to be knocked away, clamped his left hand around Garp's right fist.

Using Garp's right arm as an axis, Leon twisted his body and drove his right knee savagely into Garp's chin!

Garp put strength into his right arm and flung Leon away, then spat a mouthful of blood-flecked saliva.

Though injured by the unexpected blow, Garp wasn't the least bit angry. He remarked with a hint of approval, "Trading injuries, huh? Not bad, kid!"