Fighting Straw Hat

Although Rubick had never specifically trained in Tempest Kick, he had practiced Soru and Geppo every day. As his strength increased, he had naturally mastered Tempest Kick too.

After all, the principle behind Tempest Kick was simple: with powerful enough legs, a kick that exceeded the speed of sound could whip up a vacuum and launch a sharp cutting wave.

"Hasaki!"

The cutting wave flew straight at Zoro. He had only just seen someone launch an attack like that with a sword that morning, and he had never imagined someone could do it with a kick.

Zoro did not dodge. Instead, he swung his swords straight at the cutting wave. Only after meeting it did he breathe a sigh of relief. It was not all that powerful, and he could block it easily.

"How are you going to dodge while you're in midair?"

Sanji pushed off the ground and leaped high into the air, launching a Leo Kick at Rubick—a move Rubick knew all too well.

Rubick kicked off the air and rose even higher, letting Sanji sail right beneath him.

"What? He can jump again in midair?"

Sanji was not the only one stunned. Usopp was too. But then Usopp suddenly realized that those moves, and that figure, were gradually overlapping with someone in his memory.

Before Usopp could say anything, Rubick appeared behind him and tapped his shoulder.

"You'd better not say a word. Just watch from the sidelines."

"O-old man?"

Rubick chuckled, then grabbed Usopp and tossed him behind him. Johnny and Joseph hurried to catch Usopp, and all three tumbled away together.

Just then, the villagers came running over and crowded around the entrance.

Usopp quickly got to his feet and held the villagers back.

"Don't do anything rash!"

Genzo was the most impulsive of them all. He shouted at Nami, "Nami, we're coming to save you!"

Nami, who was watching the show from the balcony, covered her face. She felt as though things were getting stranger by the minute. Seeing her reaction only fired Genzo up again. "Nami must be crying from grief! That bastard—I'll never forgive him!"

Johnny and Joseph drew their weapons and blocked the entrance. Usopp urged the villagers, "Trust Luffy and the others. If even they can't do anything, then the whole East Blue is done for!"

Inside, Rubick felt he could barely keep up the act, but he steeled himself and carried on.

"Hey, Straw Hat kid, where did you pirates come from? I've never seen your wanted posters."

Luffy said glumly, "We only just set sail. They wouldn't put out wanted posters that fast, would they? But I beat Don Krieg without even going all out!"

Then Luffy said, "Let's settle this! Gomu Gomu no..."

Rubick did not need to think to know that Luffy would use one of his handful of moves, so he ignored him altogether. Instead, he kicked several more cutting waves at Zoro.

With his swords in hand, Zoro hacked through the cutting waves with all his might. At that moment, Sanji sprang out from behind him and launched another Leo Kick at Rubick.

Rubick did not dodge either. He thrust his right leg straight at Sanji's.

Bang!

Rubick and Sanji briefly locked in place. Then Rubick swept his leg sideways, sending Sanji flying into the sea.

"That felt great! That's more like it!"

Rubick still remembered how Sanji had kicked him into the sea back then. Now he had finally gotten his revenge.

"Gatling!"

Only now did Luffy's attack arrive. As he unleashed his Gatling, hundreds of fist afterimages engulfed Rubick.

"Geppo!"

Rubick easily dodged in midair.

"Damn it, what are all these weird moves?"

At Zoro's bewildered question, something suddenly occurred to Luffy. He pointed at Rubick and said, "You're a Marine, aren't you?"

"No."

Sanji climbed out of the sea and asked, "Are those moves all Marines know?"

Luffy thought for a moment and said, "No. My grandpa said only elite Marines can learn those skills. He wanted to teach me back then, but I'm going to be the Pirate King. How could I learn Marine skills?"

Zoro covered his face. Those skills are so powerful! Why wouldn't you learn them?

The Straw Hats' three strongest fighters stood side by side, itching for a fight.

Rubick said, "How about this? Since you don't even have bounties, I'll be generous and let you off. You can leave."

"No way!"

Luffy settled into a horse stance. His legs began heating up, and slowly the heat spread through his whole body. Wisps of steam began rising from him.

"Nami is our friend. We won't leave any of our friends behind."

Luffy's expression was firm. He said, "I promised someone important that I'd find a crew every bit as good as his, then give him back the straw hat. And I promised another old man that I'd find a crew, then invite him aboard."

"I've made those promises, so I won't lose! Gear Second!"

Luffy flashed a confident smile. "Masked Man, are you ready?"

Rubick did not answer. He raised his leg and launched a cutting wave. Rather than retreat, Luffy charged forward, closing in on Rubick at a speed rivaling Soru. His Gum-Gum Bullet was already flying.

Rubick prepared to dodge, only to see Luffy shake his arm. Thanks to the elasticity of his rubber body, the path of his right fist began swinging back and forth. For a moment, Rubick's vision was filled with fist afterimages.

"Iron Body!"

Rubick stood his ground, held his breath, and tensed his muscles to take the attack head-on. Luffy pressed in close and threw a flurry of punches with both hands. Not only that, he began swinging his arms as he punched.

"Gum-Gum Gatling: Wild Barrage!"

Within a few breaths, dozens of punches struck Rubick. Even with Iron Body reinforcing him, he could still feel a dull ache all over. Clearly, Luffy had been training all this time, and his strength had improved tremendously.

Rubick counterattacked into the barrage. Holding two fingers of his right hand together like a sword, he thrust through the fist afterimages and jabbed Luffy in the chest.

"Immortal Points the Way!"

The fist afterimages engulfing Rubick vanished instantly, and the tremendous force sent Luffy flying. But he was not hurt. Rubick had not released the energy inside his body, and Luffy's rubber constitution could completely ignore an ordinary attack.

Luffy flipped in midair. The instant he landed, he vanished from the spot and shot back in front of Rubick in the blink of an eye.

Naturally, Rubick was not going to stand still and take another attack. He used Soru as well, moving off to one side. Luffy started running again and kept pace with him.

Soon, the others could only watch as the two raced around the area, trading a few punches now and then.

"Hahaha! I know who you are now, old man!"

After they exchanged a few punches, Luffy recognized Rubick.

The two stood facing each other. Rubick pulled off his mask and tossed it away, revealing his face.

This time, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp all cried out in surprise, "Old man?"