Uta stared blankly at the enlarged Ain beside her. She only saw peach-colored flames appear on Ain's palms, but she didn't feel any high temperature when they touched her. Then she felt that Ain had grown much larger.
She hadn't realized she had shrunk; she just found it amazing that people with superpowers could do that.
Crocus, standing behind them, had a drastic change in expression. He didn't know why Ain would use her power to shrink Uta, and could only assume the worst—that it was a Navy conspiracy. But Ain was just a child, and he couldn't bring himself to do it. He could only stand helplessly behind the two little ones.
" Ain! Why did you shrink Uta? Change her back right now! This is no time for jokes!"
Crocus's words made Uta realize that she had shrunk. She looked down at her body, at the large clothes hanging loosely on her body, and then turned to see Crocus, who was as big as a mountain. She stared blankly at Ain.
"It's nothing! I was just showing Uta my abilities. I never expected Uta to be so cute as a child! Haha!"
As Ain spoke, Ian picked up Uta, who was standing next to her. She herself was still a child, and said that Uta was adorable when she was little. Vic used to hold her all the time, and now she was experiencing what it felt like to hold a baby.
" Ain, put me down! Change me back to normal! I finally grew a little bigger! Waaah!" Realizing she had shrunk, Uta finally couldn't hold back anymore and burst into tears!
"Okay, okay! I'll turn you back after I play for a bit!"
Ain soothed Uta, who was struggling in her arms; she really wanted to experience what it felt like to hold a baby.
Crocus stood behind them, a black line appearing on his face. Were children meant to be played with? However, he felt relieved. As long as it wasn't a Navy conspiracy, he could let them do as they pleased; with him by his side, they would be fine.
While the two kids were fooling around, Zephyr's warship also docked on the other side of Twin Cape. At this time, Rebecca and Shanks were already fighting.
Shanks ' crew members gathered around, shouting and watching the spectacle. Zephyr, after leading his students ashore, remained still, standing on the other side watching Rebecca's battle. He also wanted to see how strong the Red-Hair boy was now.
Rebecca hadn't Awakening Armament Haki yet, and Red-Hair noticed that, so he didn't use Armament Haki to bully Rebecca.
The two engaged in a swordsmanship contest. Rebecca's Observation Haki was definitely inferior to Shanks ', and her long-range slashes were completely ineffective. After using it twice, Rebecca stopped using it and only engaged Shanks in close combat.
"A different sword? The quality and color are different!"
As their swords met, Shanks asked a question. He remembered that Rebecca's sword before was just an ordinary one, but this one was exactly the same as the previous one, except for the color.
Most importantly, when the two weapons clashed, he discovered that Rebecca's sword was at least of the quality of Great Grade Sword; ordinary swords would have been cut in two by Gryphon long ago.
It is rare to find two swords that are identical in style but different in grade; this phenomenon only exists in imitations made to resemble high-grade swords.
He didn't believe that Rebecca got the original after the counterfeit was made; the chances of that were too small.
There's only one possibility: someone recently forged this sword based on the original ordinary sword. The fact that they could forge a sword of this caliber in such a short time shows that the swordsmith's skill is extraordinary.
"It was created by Vic, and its name is Aizen!" Rebecca said, slashing forward with force, using the recoil to escape Gryphon's attack range.
"Created by Vic? The name is very fitting!"
Shanks was quite surprised when he first heard that it was forged by Vic. He had never heard of such a young and highly skilled blacksmith before, and Vic was also a swordsman whose swordsmanship was comparable to his own, which was quite rare.
Rebecca said nothing more, and in a flash, she rushed towards Shanks, her sword tip aimed straight for Shanks throat.
Shanks remained calm and composed. Gryphon drew an arc, altering Aizen's trajectory, and grazed past Shanks ' neck. After deflecting Aizen, Gryphon slashed towards Rebecca, Rebecca quickly withdrew Aizen to block horizontally.
Although Rebecca managed to block the attack, she was still knocked back a step by Shanks's strike, which demonstrates the difference in strength between male and female swordsmen.
This is the result of Rebecca's long-term training under Vic, which is why Koshiro insists on the idea that women are inferior to men. However, there are also women with extraordinary talents like Charlotte Linlin, and some people can eat Devil Fruit to make up for their physical deficiencies.
In several exchanges, Rebecca was nearly hit by Shanks's sword, and she was also slower than Shanks. This was even though Shanks wasn't going all out. All of Rebecca's sword moves were countered by Shanks one by one.
In less than half an hour, Rebecca realized that there was still a big gap between her and Shanks. As for who was stronger Shanks and Vic, she hadn't been able to figure it out.
Neither of them needed to use their full strength to fight her, but judging from their encounters, their strength was roughly at the same level.
After Rebecca exhausted all her strength and still couldn't defeat Shanks, she decided not to continue fighting. Her eyes flashed, Aizen withdrew most of the power he had used to block Gryphon's slash.
Shanks, and Shanks didn't even have time to react to this sudden withdrawal of power. He wanted to retract Gryphon, but it was too late; the distance was too close.
Moreover, Rebecca's withdrawal of force occurred after the swords clashed. At this point, Gryphon was less than fifteen centimeters away from Rebecca. Rebecca simply flipped Aizen over so that the side of the sword was facing her, and then Rebecca was blasted into the sea like a cannonball, leaving a crimson mark on the surface before sinking.
"Are they going to repay a favor? They're certainly an interesting pair!"
At this moment, Shanks finally understood why Rebecca had suddenly stopped exerting her power. It was because a great battle was about to begin, and Rebecca had used his pressure to break through her cultivation level last time, so she owed him a favor.
Therefore, Rebecca chose to distance herself from the upcoming battle by injuring herself. Although Rebecca's strength is not as good as the captain and first mate of the Red Hair Pirates, she is still quite strong and a formidable member.
Zephyr had noticed that Rebecca's behavior was a bit unusual and had warned her before, so it wasn't unexpected. He just didn't expect Rebecca to repay the favor by injuring herself.
He even speculated whether Rebecca was going to be a hostage. The students behind Zephyr gasped when they saw Rebecca fall into the sea, but Zephyr ignored them, only frowning slightly before continuing to look at Shanks.