First half of the Grand Line.
Angel Island, mountaintop villa.
Early morning. The sky was barely brightening as a slanting ray of sunlight shone out, and the sun's outline gradually became clear.
Bang! Bang! Bang!...
In the flower-filled garden, Black Maria, dressed in a blue kimono with white bandages wrapped around her chest, brass knuckles on both hands, and long golden hair cascading over her shoulders, was locked in fierce combat with Kozuki Hiyori, who wore a white kendo uniform and wielded a bamboo sword.
Armament Haki coated both of their weapons as they traded blows without yielding an inch.
Because Black Maria had begun training in the Six Powers long ago, and because she had always been very conscious of the height difference between herself and Sephiroth, afraid that if she grew too tall, the man she loved would dislike her...
After she had roughly mastered the Six Powers, she began focusing on Life Return, deliberately controlling her growth and making her muscles and bones denser and sturdier.
But...
Even so, she had still grown from 1.9 meters to 2.5 meters, forty centimeters taller than Sephiroth!
Black Maria had always been bothered by this.
However, Sephiroth did not care in the slightest. With Life Return and the Vampire Fruit's abilities, he could freely enlarge or shrink his body anywhere between one and ten meters tall.
Whether it was a big ride or a small ride, he could handle it perfectly.
Of course, when it came to super-sized rides like Giants, there was nothing he could do!
Because of racial genetics, even with his abilities, Sephiroth's limit was becoming a muscular man ten meters tall. Any taller, and he would find it difficult to control himself freely, while the body he constructed could easily collapse...
Meanwhile, after Kozuki Hiyori ate