"Fire Fist Ace is your brother, Luffy?"
Despite being pursued by Marines, the Straw Hat Pirates—loaded down with supplies—nearly tripped over themselves in shock.
Ace, the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, was no ordinary pirate.
To them, he wasn't just powerful—he was one of the top names in the world. The kind of name every pirate knew.
They hadn't expected Luffy to have a brother like that.
Luffy grinned, holding onto his Straw Hat with one hand. "Yep! Ace is my sworn big brother!"
Zoro's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Oh? If he's your brother, does that mean I can fight him?"
Sanji, balancing a huge sack of food on his shoulder with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, glanced sideways.
"Green-haired moron... ever notice that Shirogai's not here? That's the difference between you and him. While you're thinking about it, he's already fighting."
The next second, Sanji vanished.
A thin slash ripped through the air where he stood, but he was already gone.
Zoro slowly released his grip from his sword, hoisting his own bag with a smirk.
"Tch. Curly-brows. So you're saying if I want to slice you up, I should just go for it? Sounds good to me."
From a rooftop nearby, Sanji snorted while dashing away.
"Hah! Try it, you Three-Sword Style blockhead!"
As they bickered, Nami finally noticed the obvious.
"Wait... where's Shirogai?"
She looked around and then shouted in frustration.
"Damn it! He went off on his own again?! Luffy! You need to control him—Huh? Where's Luffy?!"
Chopper, in beast form and carrying a bucket full of medical supplies, looked up and said nervously:
"Nami... I think Luffy wandered back toward the fight. I saw him heading the wrong way."
Nami gritted her teeth.
"Those two—! One's more reckless than the other. Ugh, whatever. Let's get back to the Going Merry first. They're not like Zoro. They'll find their way."
Zoro raised a brow.
"Hey. I heard that."
---
Elsewhere—
Ace stood across from Smoker, with Shirogai Yamikuro casually positioned between them.
Ace sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Shirogai, you're my little brother's Vice Captain. I've got no reason to fight you. I was thinking of slipping away the moment you didn't make a move."
Shirogai smiled faintly, studying him with amused eyes.
"Heh... Fire Fist Ace. The same guy who always says he never runs from a fight is trying to bail now?"
Ace blinked. "Why do I get the feeling you've got something against me?"
Shirogai shrugged. "Maybe I'm just really interested... in Whitebeard's head?"
Ace's smile dropped.
His pupils shrank, and the warmth in his eyes instantly turned to cold fury.
"You bastard... just because you're part of my brother's crew doesn't mean I'll let you talk trash about Pops!"
Ignoring him, Shirogai turned to Smoker with a nod.
"Smoker, it's been a while."
Smoker's face was taut with anticipation. His grip on his Sea Stone Jitte tightened.
"You look stronger."
Smoker trembled slightly, not from fear, but excitement.
"I've been pushing myself every day, training my Smoke-Smoke Fruit. Even cut down from ten cigars a day to nine!"
Shirogai laughed. "That's dedication."
Ace, watching the two banter like old friends, grew more suspicious.
Who was this guy really?
He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere on Luffy's ship. Even now, Ace couldn't figure out what Devil Fruit he had eaten—only that its black flames had devoured his own fire.
Could it be... a superior version of the Flame-Flame Fruit?
Whatever the case, he'd underestimated Shirogai.
Not anymore.
And Shirogai knew it.
With a glance between Ace and Smoker, he nodded.
Good. He'd gotten under both of their skin.
Time to test out what his fruit could really do.
Boom!
"Let's go then. You two look eager!"
Black flames erupted from his body. A wicked grin stretched across his face.
"Demonic Flames- Dragon!"
Both his arms transformed into enormous dragons of black fire. They surged forward, one toward Smoker, the other toward Ace.
"Smokescreen Barrier!"
Smoker's body exploded into a thick white mist, forming a dense cloud to intercept the black flame dragon. His smoke also shielded the Marines behind him from the blast.
BOOM!
The flames smashed into the wall of smoke and were deflected upward, bursting into a fireball that lit the sky in black.
From within the fog, Smoker barked:
"Get out of here! I'll handle this!"
"Yes, Smoker-san! Stay safe!"
The Marines fled in formation.
Ace, meanwhile, stared at the incoming flame dragon with rising intrigue.
He raised a single arm, flames swirling up to his shoulder.
"Mirror Fire Wall!"
A tidal wave of red fire erupted from his hand, colliding with the black flames.
Boom!!
The dragons exploded on contact, black fire licking at the surface—but neither Ace nor Smoker had taken any damage.
"Huh?"
"Hm?"
Both of them paused.
Something was wrong.
They retracted their elemental forms, and that's when they noticed it.
Even in smoke and flame form, small black fires still clung to them.
They didn't hurt... but they didn't go away either.
No matter what they tried, the flames stayed on them.
"What the hell is this?" Smoker muttered.
"What kind of flame can't be put out?" Ace asked.
Shirogai stood calmly, arms folded.
"I call them... Eternal Flames, Amaterasu."
He watched them squirm and grinned.
"They won't burn you now... not while you're using your Devil Fruit forms. But the moment you revert to your human body, the pain kicks in. These flames burn as long as I keep channeling my power. They're alive—and they never go out."
Ace narrowed his eyes.
He reverted one arm.
Ssss—!
The pain hit instantly, sharp and real.
With a hiss, he quickly returned to flame form.
Smoker came to the same conclusion, already trying to separate the portion of smoke that had been infected.
He launched it away, the black flames clinging to it until it landed on a rock, where they continued to burn—without spreading, without flickering out.
Ace did the same, launching a portion of his fire into the sand.
The red flames died out.
The black ones did not.
They continued to burn, stubborn and endless, on top of stone and sand.
Ace's face darkened.
"This ability... it could actually hurt Pops. I won't let that happen."
Shirogai watched him closely.
"You're more worried about Whitebeard than yourself?"
He sighed, then said something softer—something almost pitying.
"A man who doesn't care about his own life... but would give everything for someone else."
Ace stared back. "What are you trying to say?"
Shirogai looked him dead in the eye.
"If you keep living like that... the people you love most will be the ones who pay the price."
He turned, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"One day, your love will drag them—and you—into the grave. The love you think protects them... will be what destroys them."
Ace's fists clenched.
"What the hell do you mean?!"
Shirogai's voice didn't rise.
But it hit like thunder.
"The Whitebeard Pirates... will fall because of you."
---
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