Defeating Kuma

For several days in a row, there had been no news of Luffy in the papers. Nor had any newspaper reported that Luffy was Dragon's son.

That left Rune somewhat puzzled. Had Teach simply drowned at sea, or had he not reported Luffy?

Or perhaps...

He had reported it, but the report had been intercepted?

It was not impossible. After all, Luffy's grandfather was the current Marine hero, Garp.

Since the person they were dealing with this time was Bartholomew Kuma, Ace still accompanied Rune and Luffy. On one hand, he was there to back them up; on the other, Ace was not entirely at ease about his younger brother.

The four of them were on Ace's little boat. Ace steered while roughhousing with Luffy, while Rune held Bonney and taught her some things about Devil Fruits.

It could not be helped. Ace's boat had been fine when there were only two or three people aboard, but with four, it felt rather cramped.

Still, they would soon get the Thousand Sunny. Once they did, they would have far more room.

"Your fruit may be the Age-Age Fruit, but changing other people's ages is not its only ability."

Drawing on his memories, Rune explained Bonney's fruit to her. Given Bonney's condition, making her train Haki was asking a little too much of her.

She still had to practice it some, but if he wanted Bonney's strength to improve quickly right now, it was clearly better to start with her fruit.

"The core of the Age-Age Fruit is 'the past' and 'the future.' This Devil Fruit's power mainly depends on your imagination."

Rune explained the key to the Age-Age Fruit to Bonney. In his memories, Bonney could transform into "Nika" through her imagination, so naturally, she could use that imagination to transform into states granted by other fruits as well.

"You've seen Ace use the Flame-Flame Fruit before. Now imagine that, in some possible past or future, you did not eat the Age-Age Fruit, but the Flame-Flame Fruit instead."

Rune patiently guided her, leading Bonney step by step as she developed her fruit's abilities.

"Believe in yourself. Devil Fruits have never been reasonable things. As long as your imagination is strong enough, you can wield powers like the Flame-Flame Fruit."

Rune looked at Bonney. With his Dark-Dark Fruit around, he was not worried about Bonney blowing up the boat.

Besides, the genuine Flame-Flame Fruit user was right beside them.

"Can something like that really be done?"

Bonney was skeptical, mainly because what Rune said was too outrageous. How could someone gain the abilities of other fruits through imagination?

Rune blinked. He also thought the Age-Age Fruit's power was pretty abstract.

But what could he do?

That was just how Oda had drawn it! It was not like Rune could snatch the man's pen!

Still, perhaps because Bonney deeply doubted it in her heart...

Even by the time the four of them arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago, Bonney had failed to reproduce the Flame-Flame Fruit's abilities.

And from afar, Bonney saw Kuma standing guard near the Thousand Sunny.

Rune had always had a favorable impression of Bartholomew Kuma. The man valued loyalty and righteousness, and he was incredibly powerful.

It was just that his ending had not been very good.

But that did not matter!

That was because the original world did not have him!

Rune clenched his fists, blazing fighting spirit rising in his eyes. He looked at Bonney, who was somewhat dazed beside him, and gently patted her head.

"Bonney, we'll have to rely on you to persuade him in a moment."

Rune had dared to seek out Bartholomew Kuma partly because his own strength had improved considerably and Ace was there to support him. The other reason was that Bonney was here.

With Bonney present, winning Kuma over was not impossible. If they could take Kuma away directly, it would not only deal a blow to the World Government, but also greatly strengthen the Whitebeard Pirates.

Not to mention anything else, if Kuma used his fruit powers to push all of Whitebeard's injuries and illnesses out of his body, Whitebeard's strength could probably recover to eighty percent of his prime!

And that was without even mentioning that Kuma himself was no weakling.

"Luffy, Bonney, go start the ship. Ace and I will capture Kuma alive."

In a one-on-one fight, there was still quite a gap between Rune and Kuma in terms of raw strength. Kuma did not merely rely on the Paw-Paw Fruit. His physical skills, Haki, and the power gained from being modified into a Pacifista were all stronger than Rune's at present.

But with Ace added to the mix, it would not be much of a problem.

Rune felt Ace was also somewhat weaker than Kuma, but two against one naturally gave them the advantage. Rune could directly disable Kuma's fruit abilities, and Ace could easily go all out against a Kuma without fruit powers.

"Move!"

Rune and Ace leaped high into the air. Ace turned into flames and raised one hand, a massive fireball gathering in his palm. Rune clenched his fist, covering it in Armament Haki.

At the same time, he released Conqueror's Haki, attempting to suppress Bartholomew Kuma.

"Flame Emperor!"

His opponent was a long-established Seven Warlord, so Ace went all out from the very start. The sudden, enormous commotion startled both the pirates and Marines on the Sabaody Archipelago.

"Holy shit! What was that? Fire Fist Ace?"

"With such a huge display, are they here to kill Kuma this time?"

The bystanders talked as they ran, terrified that the battle's aftershocks would catch them. Kuma raised his head, staring coldly at Ace as he lifted his right hand.

An invisible paw-shaped shockwave burst from Bartholomew Kuma's palm, but in the next instant, several wisps of black energy appeared around Kuma's body.

"Dark Erosion!"

The Paw-Paw Fruit's power vanished in an instant, and Rune appeared behind Bartholomew Kuma.

A fist covered in Armament Haki smashed down fiercely, staggering Kuma just as he rose to his feet.

At the same time, Ace's "Flame Emperor" crashed down.

Rune hurriedly dodged. He had no desire to take the attack of "Flame Emperor" head-on.

A deafening boom rang out, followed by crackling electricity over Kuma's body. Rune grabbed Kuma and hurled him toward the Thousand Sunny with all his strength.

Boom—

The massive body landed on the Thousand Sunny. Bonney saw Kuma and could not help rushing toward him. Two streams of tears ran down from the corners of her eyes.

"Dad, Bonney missed you so much..."

Though she looked like a beautiful twenty-four-year-old woman, Bonney was ultimately just a child. Now that she had finally seen her father again, she could no longer suppress her emotions.

"We got him. Start the ship and get out of here!"

Rune returned to the Thousand Sunny, while Ace slipped away in his own little boat. He had sailed that boat for many years, after all. He could not just leave it here.

Besides, Ace was not a member of Rune's Seventeenth Division, so there was no need for him to come along and join in the excitement.

"Listen up, everyone on this island! Bartholomew Kuma has been defeated and captured alive by me!"

Rune shouted loudly, his voice carrying along with his Conqueror's Haki.

"I am the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates' Seventeenth Division! If you want revenge for Kuma, come find me in the Whitebeard Pirates!"

After leaving those words behind, Rune looked at Bartholomew Kuma lying against the ship's hull and frowned.