"Now, let me show you something interesting!"
At that moment, Rob Lucci suddenly had a bad feeling.
Without another word, he moved and Shaved straight toward Natsuya.
Clearly, after sensing that something was wrong, Rob Lucci had decisively chosen to take Natsuya down first.
In his mind, as long as he knocked Natsuya unconscious, it would not matter what trump cards Natsuya had.
But Natsuya was even faster. He raised a hand and pressed it against his chest, murmuring softly.
"Eight Inner Gates: Gate of Opening!"
In that instant, an invisible surge of energy abruptly rippled out from around Natsuya.
"Hmm!?"
Rob Lucci's expression changed, and his ominous feeling intensified.
But there was no way he could retreat now. He immediately pressed forward and threw a vicious punch!
Seeing this, Natsuya did not hesitate either. He clenched his fist and met it head-on.
A sneer immediately appeared in Rob Lucci's eyes.
He had originally thought Natsuya was about to unleash some kind of explosive ability, but there was no visible change at all.
And now Natsuya actually wanted to trade punches with him!
Heh, had Natsuya already forgotten the lesson from earlier?
The tremendous increase in his physical abilities had not merely boosted the power of his Rokushiki.
Even his ordinary punches and kicks had become astonishingly powerful.
In that critical instant, Rob Lucci had already decided on his next move.
After knocking Natsuya back with one punch, he would immediately follow up with a combo and subdue him completely.
Then, as though confirming Rob Lucci's thoughts—
The instant the large and small fists collided, Natsuya's figure was sent flying backward.
But at the same time, Rob Lucci's expression changed. He, too, staggered back three steps!
In that instant, Rob Lucci's eyes widened as he looked toward Natsuya, his gaze filled with unconcealed shock.
In that exchange of fists, he had actually tied with Natsuya, with neither gaining the upper hand!?
How was that possible!?
His physical abilities were far superior to Natsuya's!
With the same punch, this should never have happened!
The only explanation was that Natsuya's physical abilities were close to his own!
But that seemed even more impossible!
"What are you spacing out for!?"
At that moment, Natsuya's teasing voice suddenly came from behind Rob Lucci.
Rob Lucci's expression shifted slightly.
"When!?"
He had not even noticed Natsuya moving.
With no time to think, Rob Lucci immediately tensed his body.
"Iron Body!!"
"Chain Finger Pistol!"
Almost at the exact moment Rob Lucci used Iron Body to defend himself, Natsuya's attack arrived.
The afterimages of Finger Pistols nearly blanketed Rob Lucci's entire back!
Rob Lucci's expression changed again and again!
This time, although those Finger Pistols did not pierce through his back, they still brought intense pain!
What that meant went without saying!
"How is this possible!?"
Rob Lucci roared and abruptly darted away. After several sharp turns with Shave, he engaged Natsuya in fierce combat.
Numerous Rokushiki techniques flashed into view as they collided violently!
But the longer they fought, the uglier Rob Lucci's expression became.
If those earlier attacks could still have been dismissed as accidents, then now, he was completely certain.
Natsuya's Rokushiki had truly become much stronger, even reaching the point where it was evenly matched with his own!
Natsuya's Rokushiki had already been at the highest level. There was simply no way for it to improve further in terms of mastery.
So the only possibility was his physical abilities!
In other words, Natsuya's physical abilities had improved.
And it had happened in such a short amount of time!
"What exactly did you do!?"
"Why has your physique become so much stronger!?"
After fighting fiercely for a while without either side gaining ground, Rob Lucci finally could not hold back any longer. He leaped away to create distance and questioned Natsuya.
A faint smile appeared on Natsuya's face.
In fact, Rob Lucci was wrong.
Natsuya's physical abilities had not improved.
The reason he could contend with Rob Lucci in his human-beast form was because he had brought out one hundred percent of his strength!
As for how he could achieve that, it was naturally because of the technique he had just used: the Eight Inner Gates!
That was right, the Eight Inner Gates!
Like Rashomon, the Eight Inner Gates was also a technique from Naruto!
However, compared to Rashomon, which formed a tangible object, this technique was far more profound.
It was a technique that could open the body's own limiters and release its hidden power!
And now, Natsuya was using the Door-Door Fruit's ability to open a door within his own body, unlocking the first gate of the Eight Inner Gates: the Gate of Opening!
The Gate of Opening removed the brain's restrictions and allowed one hundred percent of the body's abilities to be used!
After all, ordinary people never used one hundred percent of their strength.
Take something as simple as throwing a punch. You might think you were giving it everything, but in reality, much of your strength remained unused.
The Gate of Opening solved that problem!
Naturally, Natsuya had no intention of explaining any of this to Rob Lucci.
He smiled, then charged at Rob Lucci again.
However, Rob Lucci was ultimately a genius from CP, with astonishing combat knowledge.
So he quickly figured it out.
"I understand now, Natsuya. You are overloading your body's energy to unleash greater strength!"
As he said this, realization appeared on Rob Lucci's face.
He truly understood.
Natsuya's physical abilities had not become stronger; he had merely erupted with one hundred percent of his body's strength.
That naturally made his power much greater!
But there were drawbacks to such a state as well.
Thinking of this, Rob Lucci sneered. "This kind of power of yours cannot last long, can it?"
Just like an ordinary person running, one could certainly run much faster by pushing desperately hard, but that state obviously could not be sustained!
Put simply, this was using explosive output to gain a massive short-term increase in power. But after a while, it would fade, leaving him in a weakened state!
Once he realized this, Rob Lucci immediately calmed down.
Although Natsuya's strength had increased greatly, he was only evenly matched with him.
In that case, the final outcome would probably depend on who could last longer.
And as a Zoan Fruit user, he had absolute confidence in his endurance!!
"Oh, you figured it out."
However, Natsuya's expression did not change when he heard that.
Because he had long known about the Gate of Opening's side effects.
And the Eight Inner Gates had long provided a solution to those side effects.
With that thought, Natsuya activated the Door-Door Fruit's ability again and pressed his hand against his chest once more.
"Eight Inner Gates: Gate of Rest!"
Before you continue