Chapter 49
The other was a puppy whose roar alone could pierce the galaxy.
The two supreme beings battled to the edge of the universe, wearing even the Great Dao away.
Naito controlled his kitty, sending the puppy flying into the second dimension with a hiss and a flurry of cat punches, changing the art style to 2D.
"Lord Naito, what do you have in mind?"
Luna, sitting beside him, controlled the black-and-white puppy as it smashed through the dimensional wall and rose back into a higher dimension. Following through, it rolled and created an enormous black hole that threatened to swallow everything.
"Neither the Charlotte Family nor the Beasts Pirates is to be taken lightly. Even if those two monsters don't come in person, dealing with them probably won't be easy, let alone the Marine Guerrilla Unit pursuing us."
"Avoiding them is easy."
"But staying out of their way won't be nearly as easy," Naito said calmly.
"Let's play with them and make them understand: unless those two monsters come in person, they can get as far away from us as possible."
"Understood."
Luna nodded slightly.
What the hell is there to be afraid of?
So what if Kaido or Charlotte Linlin comes in person?
With the More-More Fruit and projection abilities, beating those two monsters is definitely impossible, but can they stop us from running away?
Who can stop us, in the sky or under the sea?
We have to seize this chance to show the world that our group isn't to be trifled with.
Let's raise some hell!
A few days later, aboard the Marine Guerrilla Unit's ship.
After waking up, Naito washed up briefly as usual, then began his daily training.
He was already strong, but not strong enough.
In this world, only his own strength was truly worth relying on.
When Naito began training, dawn had yet to break, and the only people moving about on deck were the Marines on duty.
Before long, however, the deck gradually grew lively.
Doll arrived.
Binz arrived.
Ain arrived.
Even Zephyr arrived.
In a sense, Naito, the king of grinding, really had gotten everyone else grinding along with him.
Of course, none of them knew that Naito, who was training so diligently, was actually slacking off in the Dream World.
Just as Naito was absorbed in training, someone suddenly patted him on the shoulder.
A voice sounded beside his ear. "Naito."
Binz, who was still warming up nearby, immediately turned pale. "Teacher Zephyr! Don't!!"
He watched as Zephyr walked over to Naito and patted him on the shoulder.
Then, as expected, Naito, operating like a bot, reacted instantly, whipping around and punching at Zephyr's face.
Zephyr tilted his head, avoiding Naito's fist by just the right margin.
Whoosh!
Even without Haki, Naito's punch still whipped up a fierce gale across the deck.
"Hm?"
Life finally began to return to Naito's eyes.
He looked at his beloved teacher in surprise. "Teacher Zephyr?"
What's he doing?
"Do me a favor, Naito."
"I've been rehabilitating for a while now, and it feels like I've made some progress," Zephyr said. "Help me test it out."
"Oh?"
Naito's interest was immediately piqued. "That sounds interesting."
Come to think of it, he really hadn't sparred with Teacher Zephyr since graduating. Back at the training camp, Zephyr had always been his sparring partner.
But had it really happened that fast?
It had only been about half a month since he started rehabilitation, hadn't it?
Thus, the news that Naito was going to spar with Zephyr drew quite a crowd.
Even the Commodores on the other ships came over excitedly.
"Give it everything you've got, Naito."
Zephyr swept a hand through his hair. "Otherwise, it won't be much of a test."
"Come on, let's take it to the sky!"
He had already used Geppo to launch himself into the air.
"In that case, I won't hold back!"
Naito shot into the air like a cannonball, invisible waves of Haki coiling around his right foot. "Tempest Kick: Black Flash!"
This was an evolved version of Tempest Kick: White Lightning.
After mastering Armament Haki Flow, he could easily imbue moves like vacuum waves and Flying Slashes with Haki.
The pitch-black vacuum wave shot across the sky like lightning, like a laser, heading straight for Zephyr.
Then-
Smack.
Zephyr casually shattered Naito's black lightning with a punch.
"Didn't I tell you to give it everything you've got?"
"There's no need to show respect for your elders now, Naito," Zephyr said nonchalantly. "I can still take it."
Teacher Zephyr, you've really picked up some bad habits!
Naito's lips curled upward as he kicked off the air and shot forward.
"Serious Punch!"
The leaping arcs of electricity now formed a long tail behind him. His punch streaked across the sky like a meteor!
The meteor smashed into Zephyr's lower leg. He had abruptly raised his knee, blocking Naito's fist with his right shin.
A tremendous blast of air erupted, nearly blowing Naito's soft curls straight.
Zephyr, meanwhile, stood firm.
"Is that all you've got, Naito?"
Zephyr's smile widened.
Another purpose of this test was to show Naito just how big the world still was.
He wasn't yet strong enough to do as he pleased.
"Life Return!"
Naito smiled and called out softly.
Life Return could not be used directly as a combat power.
But when he could control every inch of his body at will, it became a fighting machine in the truest sense!
Naito's attacks became a storm. They defied the laws of physics, unpredictable and impossible to trace. One moment he was throwing a punch, and the next he was delivering a spinning kick.
Yet Zephyr blocked every blow, even against such a violent onslaught.
He did it effortlessly, as naturally as breathing.
When Naito punched, Zephyr blocked with his palm. When Naito kicked, Zephyr met it with his own leg.
"Amazing!"
Ain, watching from below, couldn't help exclaiming, "Naito's attacks are already too fast to see clearly, but Teacher Zephyr is blocking them so easily!"
"This is Teacher Zephyr we're talking about!"
"Back before any of us joined the Marines, countless pirates would tremble at the mere mention of Black Arm Zephyr's name!" Vice Admiral Simon exclaimed.
This still wasn't Teacher Zephyr's strength at his peak, but it was already astonishing enough!
"You're incredible, Teacher Zephyr."
In fact, Naito himself couldn't help marveling at him now.
When he had fought Weevil before, Teacher Zephyr hadn't held much of an advantage. Although he had been constrained by what he was trying to protect, back then, he had been at an Emperor's commander level at best, probably not even as strong as Magellan going all out.
Yet after such a short period of rehabilitation, he had become so strong that, against Naito, he was like an old man playing with a child.
He was still some way from the Admiral level he had reached at his peak, but surely no so-called Emperor's commander could compare to him now.
No wonder he had pursued them so confidently.
With the Charlotte Family and the Beasts Pirates added to the mix, if nothing unexpected happened, the next battle was going to be one hell of a climax.
Conviction really was a wondrous thing.
Crocodile had been the same in the original story. Before going to prison, he had been the weakest Shichibukai, beaten soundly by Luffy without his gears. But after escaping prison, he had transformed into a pirate who could hold his own against all sorts of powerful fighters at Marineford.
The guy hadn't even had a chance to train or rehabilitate. He'd spent the whole time in prison.
"Then let's try this!"
Naito opened the distance and snapped his fingers. At once, Naitos appeared all across the sky.
The densely packed Naitos all charged at Zephyr together.
At the same time, every Naito raised both fists.
"Rokuogan!"
The shock waves of Rokuogan combined with projected Armament Haki!
Hundreds of surging waves wreathed in black lightning bore down on Zephyr at once.
"..."
But Zephyr, surrounded by countless phantoms, merely smiled.
He raised his right hand and pushed to the side. Invisible Haki surged forth, forming an impenetrable wall that slammed into one of the shock waves.