Chapter 12: The Invitation
After the failed strike, Shanks leapt back, putting a good ten meters between them. His playful expression was gone, replaced by one of serious assessment. He stared at the boy before him, intrigued.
Satoru let out a small, internal sigh of relief. Infinity held. It wasn't broken.
"What was that just now?" Shanks asked, pointing a finger at the space between them. "A Devil Fruit ability?"
"Who knows?" Satoru replied, his tone flat.
The non-answer made Shanks's eye twitch. He hadn't expected the kid to be a cryptic little rascal.
"Well, in that case... let's see how it handles a little Haki."
Shanks raised a fist, and a swirling, pitch-black darkness—Armament Haki—coated his knuckles and forearm.
Satoru's expression immediately soured. Are you kidding me? Using Haki against a kid? Is this guy even trying to pretend this is fair?
"Hey. That's going too far," Satoru stated.
"Can't be helped," Shanks said, his grin returning, wider and more mischievous. "I'm a father who dotes on his daughter. You made her cry. So I have to make you cry."
His eyes seemed to glaze over for a second, picturing the scene. That stoic little face, all scrunched up and tearful... It'd be adorable.
"If that's how it is," Satoru said, his own gaze sharpening, "then don't blame me for not holding back."
He didn't move toward Shanks. Instead, he held out a hand toward a large, loose stone lying nearby in the grass. With a flick of his wrist and a surge of Cursed Energy—his version of the 'Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue'—the stone tore free from the ground and shot toward Shanks like a cannonball.
Whoa! Shanks's eyebrows shot up in surprise. This was a completely different ability from the invisible shield! This kid was full of tricks!
He didn't dodge. He met the projectile head-on, his Haki-clad fist swinging in a short, brutal arc.
CRACK-BOOM!
The stone didn't just break; it disintegrated into a cloud of dust and gravel under the force of the punch.
So that's Armament Haki, Satoru thought, a flicker of envy in his heart. It really is a power that defies normal logic. He wanted to learn it, desperately. But his body, even as trained as it was, wasn't yet strong enough to meet the brutal physical demands of wielding Haki. As for Observation Haki, his Six Eyes rendered it almost redundant—unless someone managed to blind him in a fight.
"No more problems, kid?" Shanks asked, shaking the dust from his fist. A wicked smile spread across his face as he began walking toward Satoru again, his steps lazy but his intent clear. "Then get ready to be hammered."
In Shanks's mind, the game was over. Satoru was a cornered mouse.
It seems I have no choice but to use my best current move, Satoru concluded, taking a deep, centering breath. Let's see which is stronger: the amplification of my technique, or the amplification of his Haki.
He focused, drawing every ounce of his available Cursed Energy into a tight, volatile coil around his right fist.
Huh?
Shanks paused mid-step. His Observation Haki screamed a sudden, sharp warning. Something terrifying was coalescing in the boy's clenched hand.
"You just keep getting more interesting," Shanks murmured, his grin not fading but his eyes narrowing. This kid was undoubtedly stronger than he had been at this age.
Despite the threat he sensed, Shanks felt no fear. He was a pirate who sailed the Grand Line. Being intimidated by a child was a laughable notion.
"Come on then, Shanks!" Satoru called out, his voice tight with focus. "Show me what a pirate's fist really feels like!"
"Your wish is my command, kid!"
Satoru's fist was now sheathed in a crackling, unstable aura of black, blue, and transparent energy. Shanks's was a solid, unmovable black.
They charged the final few steps.
"Black Flash!"
Two fists met.
Not with a simple thud, but with a sound like a thunderclap condensed into a single point of impact. A burst of black-and-blue lightning arced violently between their knuckles.
Hey~! This kid's power is no joke! Shanks thought, a jolt of genuine pain shooting up his arm. He kept his expression neutral, but internally he was reeling. That 'Black Flash'... it's monstrous!
I had to reinforce my Armament at the last second, he realized with a chill. If I hadn't, my arm would've shattered.
For Satoru, the experience was just as jarring. The shockwave of force that traveled up his arm felt like it was going to pulverize the bone. A scream of agony lodged in his throat. The sensation was a bizarre mix of detachment, numbness, and blinding pain. Miraculously, when the initial wave passed, his arm was still functional—bruised, screaming in protest, but not broken.
"What a scary little monster," Shanks said, taking a deliberate step back and letting his Haki fade. He could see the tremor in Satoru's right arm. "That's enough for today."
In a real sense, the fight was over the moment Shanks used Haki. It had stopped being a test and become a farce.
"What's wrong?" Satoru goaded, masking his pain with a defiant smirk. He was already subtly channeling a low-level Reversal Technique to soothe the damaged tissue. "Don't you want your revenge for Uta? One more hit and I might just cry. Then I can tell everyone how the great pirate 'Red-Haired' Shanks used Armament Haki to bully a child."
The corners of Shanks's mouth and eyes twitched violently.
"How did I not notice you had such a nasty personality?" Shanks groaned. "It's worse than mine!"
"Maybe I never met anyone as shameless as you before to bring it out," Satoru shot back, the healing energy slowly easing the fire in his arm.
"I really can't figure you out," Shanks said, shaking his head with a laugh. "How do you train? Where did these weird powers come from?"
"There are countless things you can't figure out on the sea," Satoru quoted, his tone lofty. "Don't be obsessed with me, bro. I'm just a legend."
The sheer, unadulterated narcissism of the last sentence made Shanks's eyelid jump again. He was usually the one dishing out this kind of cheerful annoyance. Today, he was getting a taste of his own medicine, and it was strangely humbling.
"Listen, kid," Shanks said, his tone shifting to something more earnest. "I've got a proposition for you. How about getting on my ship? You've seen the crew. The atmosphere is great. We're like a family. You'd be happy with us."
The invitation was so sudden, so blunt, that Satoru could only stare for a second. Then he looked at Shanks as if the man had lost his mind.
"You've been here a week. You know I'm Vice Admiral Garp's adopted grandson. If you kidnap me, aren't you the slightest bit afraid of the world of pain he'd bring down on you?"
"Terrified," Shanks admitted freely, his smile turning sharp and daring. "But getting a kid with your potential onto my ship? That might just be worth incurring Garp's wrath."
He said it with complete seriousness. He meant it.
"That's a shame," Satoru said, his own expression settling into one of cool resolve. "My dream isn't to be a pirate. It's to become a Marine."
He met Shanks's gaze squarely, his pale blue eyes unwavering.
"So you'd better be careful sailing the seas from now on. Don't get caught by me."
(End of Chapter)
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