Howling Iron Fist

"Whoosh~"

Oak had been intently watching Shiki's movements, trying to see exactly how he coated his attacks with Conqueror's Haki, when he suddenly heard a gust of wind whistling behind him. Turning around, he saw that Tsuru had once again launched a sneak attack without him noticing.

"Big Sister Tsuru, you really never forget about me, do you!"

Oak sighed helplessly. His attempt to learn from Shiki had gone up in smoke, so he could only deal with Tsuru's incoming pair of delicate palms first.

He knew perfectly well that those beautiful hands carried the power of the Wash-Wash Fruit, so he absolutely could not let them land on him.

However, just as he was about to make a move, someone else acted faster than him.

"Whoosh~"

A hundred-meter sword slash grazed Oak's cheek and instantly sent Tsuru flying.

"You really don't know how to go easy on women!"

As Oak watched Tsuru fly away, a large amount of blood dripped from her chest. It would be such a shame if scars were left on those heaving twin peaks, so he turned toward the teleporting Shiki and complained with a pout.

"You little brat, quit running your mouth."

Shiki showed him no mercy whatsoever and smacked him across the face with the flat of his blade.

"We should retreat."

After teaching Oak a lesson, Shiki raised his eyes toward the distant sea.

"What is it?"

Oak covered his face and followed Shiki's gaze, but saw nothing. There was nothing but the sea.

"Jiehahahahaha, someone even more troublesome has arrived. If I'm not mistaken, it should be..."

Shiki cackled, but before he could finish, a cannonball flying in from the distant horizon in that direction cut him off.

Seeing that cannonball that had come from who knew how far away, Oak did not need Shiki to explain any further. There was only one person he could think of who made such a distinctive entrance.

Sure enough, the next moment...

"Shiki!!!"

The man had not arrived, but his cannonball had. A leaping black silhouette appeared in the distant sky and gradually grew larger in everyone's eyes. Accompanied by a thunderous roar, a sky-piercing fighting spirit bore down on them, bringing crushing pressure even from afar.

"Whoosh~"

Seeing that black silhouette, Shiki drew his sword, intending to cut apart the cannonball, but Oak rushed out ahead of him. "Let me do it!"

Oak wanted to use that cannonball to gauge the newcomer's strength, but Shiki asked with a strange expression, "Are you sure?"

"What's there to be unsure about? It's just a cannonball. The guy coming is strong, but I'm not so weak that I can't even catch one cannonball he casually throws, right?"

Remembering that person's performance in the original story, Oak felt that his strength should be enough to handle a cannonball. He could not understand why Shiki was making that expression.

"Good luck!"

Yet Shiki offered no explanation. He merely gave a wicked grin and retreated behind Oak. The cannonball arrived in an instant. At first, Oak tried to catch it with one hand, but quickly realized something was wrong and switched to both hands.

Then...

Then he was instantly blasted more than a hundred meters away.

"Boom—"

Amid the explosion, Oak, covered in soot and blackened from head to toe, fell toward the sea below.

This wasn't scientific!

As he fell, that was the only thought in Oak's mind.

The cannonballs thrown by the newcomer in the original story had never shown such terrifying power. But the thought lingered in his mind for only an instant. The next moment, he heard a gust of wind whistle beside his ear, followed by a fist the size of a sandbag crashing into his face.

Fifteen years after coming to this world, Oak once again felt the same sensation of having been hit by a truck when he first transmigrated. His mind went blank, and the only thing he felt was pain.

It hurt like hell!

He wanted to scream, but could not make a sound. His body plummeted even faster, skipping across the sea's surface dozens of times.

"Pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft~"

Just as he was about to fall into the sea, a huge hand grabbed him. Then another punch struck him squarely in the chest, and he experienced that truck-hit sensation yet again, flying away as if soaring through clouds and mist.

"How was it? Easy to catch that cannonball? Jiehahahahaha!"

An irritating laugh sounded beside Oak's ear. Then a pair of powerful hands caught him from behind.

Oak struggled to open his swollen eyes and saw a malicious grin blooming across Shiki's ugly, bark-like face.

Damn it!

Oak clenched his teeth and cursed.

Shifting his gaze forward, he saw a figure like an oversized Luffy.

He had never expected the cannonball thrown by young Garp to be so powerful, much less that Garp's iron fist would follow immediately after it. If he had known, he would not have tried to show off and taken such a savage beating for nothing.

"Shiki, where did you find such a tough little brat? He's perfect for my punching bag!"

As Oak looked at Garp, the Luffy-like giant was cracking his iron fists together. He landed on a broken piece of deck below, drove his legs into it, and explosively leaped toward Shiki. With his signature stance, he threw a punch.

During this, he gave Oak two surprised looks.

This little brat could actually still stand after taking two of his punches. He could really take a beating!

"Boom—"

Garp's seemingly ordinary punch actually produced an explosive effect. Shiki flung Oak behind him and raised both swords to meet it.

After the clash, Garp's body did not so much as sway, while Shiki was forced into an unstoppable retreat.

In a head-on contest of strength, almost no one on this sea could match Garp, the man known as "Iron Fist."

"Let's go!"

After being driven back, Shiki grabbed Oak by the collar and directly carried him toward the distance.

From the very beginning, he had never intended to fight Garp. Though he was a fanatical battle maniac, Shiki was no idiot.

When there had only been Sengoku, he could fearlessly play around with him. But with Garp added to the mix, staying any longer would just mean asking for a beating.

"Don't even think about it!"

However, it would not be so easy for him to leave with Oak. Sengoku, whom Shiki had previously sent flying with a Conqueror's Haki-coated slash, had appeared behind him at some point. In the form of a golden Buddha, he blocked Shiki's retreat.

Oak looked up at the great Buddha and saw that the wound Shiki had cut into its palm had already healed.

As expected of a Mythical Zoan—it had recovered from its injuries so quickly!

While Oak marveled at Sengoku's formidable recovery ability, Shiki had already made his move. Without a word, several sword slashes swept out. The sea below instantly erupted, and several towering waves formed on the surface, crashing toward the area and trapping everyone within their encirclement.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, he shot into the sky with Oak, raising them to an altitude of over a thousand meters in an instant. He left behind only one sentence.

"Jiehahahahaha, Sengoku, I'll remember you! Next time, we'll settle who's stronger. And you, Garp—I don't want to take your iron fists!"

"Big Sister Tsuru, I'll come find you again next time."

Oak also called out a farewell to Tsuru.