Fire Dragon's Iron Fist? Is That Supposed to Tickle?

Natsu's way of thinking had always been simple.

Fighting, eating, comrades.

When some unknown guy came crashing down from the sky in an absurdly arrogant manner, interrupting his "daily exchange" with Gray while wearing an expression that clearly said, "You're too weak," Natsu's battle instincts ignited like a campfire doused in gasoline, instantly blazing like Kuma.

"Whoever you are, pay for our guild's roof first!"

Natsu's roar shattered the deathly silence. He stomped hard, instantly cracking the stone tiles beneath his feet. Like a cannonball fired from its barrel, he shot toward Zoro in the center of the crater. Flames even fiercer than before, blazing as hot as the sun, erupted around his right fist and bathed the entire hall in crimson light.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

This was his most commonly used and most practiced move. That punch could melt steel and shatter rock! He would make this green-haired Moss-Head pay for that contemptuous remark!

Everyone else in the guild, including Gray and Elfman Strauss, who had only just climbed back to their feet, instinctively held their breath. They knew Natsu too well. He was serious with this punch!

Yet Zoro's reaction to this attack, which was enough to make ordinary wizards tremble in fear, far exceeded everyone's expectations.

He remained where he was, without moving so much as a step. There wasn't the slightest hint of tension in his sleepy eyes, only a detached indifference, as though he were watching children fool around.

He didn't dodge.

He didn't even draw his swords.

At the instant that flaming iron fist was about to strike his face, he merely lazily raised his left arm and casually held it across his body.

"Clang—!"

A dull, teeth-grinding boom echoed through the guild hall!

Everyone had imagined all kinds of outcomes. Perhaps the green-haired man would be sent flying by the punch, perhaps he would dodge in embarrassment, or perhaps he would draw his swords to block it. But they had never expected the sight before them.

Natsu's flaming fist, capable of melting gold and iron, struck Zoro's forearm solidly.

Yet there was no explosion, no shockwave.

The blazing Kuma flames, the instant they touched Zoro's skin, seemed to crash into an invisible wall of absolute zero. They were instantly suppressed by an incomprehensible, tyrannical force, then... extinguished.

Natsu felt as if he had punched with all his strength against red-hot steel encased in Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice. The recoil was several times more terrifying than his own attack! His knuckles let out an overwhelmed cry, and his entire arm instantly went numb, losing all sensation.

"How... is that possible?!" Natsu's pupils contracted sharply, his face filled with disbelief.

He could clearly see a faint, nearly invisible black sheen covering the other man's arm. It was as deep as the darkest night, radiating an indestructible quality.

"You're too noisy." Zoro frowned, apparently deeply displeased that his nap had been disturbed. "And you're way too weak."

With that, he casually swung forward the arm that had blocked the attack.

The motion looked light and effortless, not even stirring a trace of wind.

But Natsu felt as though he had been struck head-on by a charging elephant! An irresistible, overwhelming force surged from Zoro's arm and instantly tore through his body.

"Ugh—!"

Natsu screamed as he flew backward like a kite with its string cut, moving even faster than he had on the way in. He crashed through five or six of the remaining tables before slamming heavily into the wall at the other end of the guild. The sturdy wall was smashed into a huge human-shaped indentation before he slowly slid down and passed out.

The entire hall once again fell into deathly silence.

Everyone stared at the scene before them, dumbfounded.

One move.

With just one casual block and one seemingly powerless swing of his arm, he had... instantly defeated Natsu, the "Fire Dragon" who was both the guild's biggest troublemaker and one of its strongest members?

Zoro lowered his arm, and the faint black sheen quietly faded away as though it had never appeared. He glanced at his completely unharmed forearm. Not even a red mark had been left behind.

He rubbed his ear and muttered something that nearly made everyone collapse.

"Was that supposed to tickle me?"