"He's so fast. We didn't account for that."
"With the speed he's displaying, there's no way to stop him from escaping."
"Should we even keep trying to arrest him? Our chances of success are practically nonexistent."
Several senior officials in the U.S. military began voicing doubts. They were increasingly uneasy about Zenkichi's overwhelming power.
"Regardless of the odds, we must make him feel our strength."
"Even if we fail to capture him, it's still worth engaging. At the very least, we can gauge his capabilities and prepare for the future."
Despite the objections, a high-ranking U.S. commander made the final call. The order to engage was issued without hesitation.
In minutes, a fleet of fighter jets and warships surged toward Zenkichi's last known location.
"So slow."
"Such weak opposition dares challenge me? How arrogant."
Zenkichi sneered, standing calmly atop the sea as the fleet approached.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Whoosh!
The warships opened fire, and missiles screamed through the air from incoming jets. Countless explosions lit up the sky, all targeting the lone figure on the ocean.
"Yasakani no Magatama."
Zenkichi spun in place, his body becoming a golden whirl of light. Glowing projectiles burst out like a rotating gyroscope, intercepting the missiles and artillery shells in midair.
"His golden light attacks aren't just powerful—they're pinpoint accurate, better than radar-guided missiles."
The U.S. military personnel, watching via satellite, were stunned. The sheer precision needed to hit fast-moving missiles in mid-flight was beyond belief.
Though they didn't know Zenkichi possessed Observation Haki, they inferred his senses, precision, and some unknown targeting capability were far beyond normal human limits.
This realization unsettled the upper echelons of the military. A man capable of light-speed attacks combined with unnerving accuracy was practically untouchable.
Their earlier confidence vanished.
"My turn."
After neutralizing the attack, Zenkichi's eyes scanned the warships. A grin tugged at his lips.
He extended his arms and grasped the air. A white shockwave shimmered at his fingertips—the power of the Gura Gura no Mi activated.
He clenched the air as if it were solid, then tore it apart.
The sea beneath him quaked. Massive ripples erupted like solid slabs of water lifting into the sky, forming fragmented, uneven ridges across the ocean's surface.
"Oh my god…"
"God himself…"
Exclamations echoed from every monitoring station as they watched the scene in disbelief. The once-calm sea now looked like it had been ruptured by an earthquake. Water columns rose like shattered rock, tearing through nearby vessels.
Warships caught between fragmented waves were torn in half. Others were flung violently aside or smashed as they dropped from one uneven swell to another. The impacts were devastating—steel hulls twisted and buckled like paper.
In one move, the entire naval fleet had been decimated.
"Air Shock!"
Zenkichi raised his fist. A white ring pulsed around it, and he drove it forward into the sky.
Cracks formed in the air like a shattered mirror. An invisible shockwave exploded outward.
In seconds, fighter jets overhead erupted into flames and spiraled down, leaving trails of smoke as they fell into the sea.
"F***!"
Someone at U.S. military command couldn't hold back the curse. They had just caused a catastrophic incident.
The cost of the destroyed ships and aircraft alone was staggering. But worse, they had provoked a force they could not control.
"If this is the extent of your strength, you should abandon any delusions of control."
Zenkichi's calm voice echoed through the satellite transmission, his lips moving slowly but clearly.
Everyone in the command center went silent. They regretted everything. Several officials looked like they wanted to throttle whoever suggested engaging Zenkichi in the first place.
Back on land.
"Did the U.S. military really try to take you on? I heard you taught them a lesson."
Tony Stark's voice came through the phone, amusement clearly in his tone.
"They attacked, yes. I went easy on them. Had I not, their entire leadership might be gone by now."
Zenkichi's voice was cold, his tone devoid of exaggeration.
"Haha!"
"Well, even with you going easy, they're going to feel this for a long time."
"I heard a few of them are practically begging to be executed. What a mess!"
Tony's voice was filled with schadenfreude.
"Begging to be killed?"
Zenkichi sounded genuinely puzzled. "What are they thinking?"
"For them, dying at your hand would at least be honorable. Right now, they're being dismissed and court-martialed. The humiliation might be worse than death."
Tony chuckled. "They picked the wrong god to provoke, and now they're paying for it."
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters
In a dimly lit conference room, a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. director reviewed the reports.
"So... Zenkichi isn't someone we can push around."
"If we want him to join the Avengers... we'll need to approach this more carefully."
He tapped a pen against the desk thoughtfully. "Let's watch him for now. Get a real sense of who he is."
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