"Hero?" Yamato's eyes lit up, a genuine admiration shining through her battle-ready stance. "He was more than that! Oden was the greatest hero this country has ever known!" Recalling the tales from his recovered journal, she nodded emphatically.
Jerry fought the urge to roll his eyes. It seemed Oden's charisma for Yamato was a force of nature that transcended even death. "Yeah, he sure was something," he said, the corner of his mouth twitching.
For Yamato, who had spent years idolizing Oden in isolation, it was rare to find someone who seemed to share her passion. She took a step forward, her grip on her massive kanabō loosening slightly. "You're from the outside seas, so you've heard of Kozuki Oden's greatness too?"
Seeing that Deuce's rescue team was now well clear of the area, Jerry decided the ruse had served its purpose. He dropped the pretense, his cheerful expression vanishing and replaced by a wry, knowing smirk. "Honestly? Never heard of him."
"Wha—" Yamato's face fell, confusion quickly turning to indignation. "But you said… You… LIAR!" Realizing she'd been played, a furious blush rose to her cheeks. With a roar of frustration, she hefted her club, the weapon humming as she swung it in a devastating arc aimed right at Jerry's head.
But the attack never landed.
A wall of brilliant orange flame erupted between them, intercepting the massive club with a concussive blast. Ace, a wide, eager grin plastered on his face, met Yamato's charge head-on.
"Looking for a fight?" he roared, his fists crackling with fire. "Then fight me!"
After wading through an army of weaklings, Ace was practically vibrating with anticipation. He had been itching for a real challenge, and the powerful woman in front of him was clearly it. He didn't wait for a response, launching himself forward in a flurry of fire-laced punches and kicks.
"We are the Spade Pirates!" Ace bellowed as their blows met, sending shockwaves rattling through the already ruined street. "I'm the captain, 'Fire Fist' Ace, and we came to Wano to take Kaido's head!" He parried a crushing swing from her club with a jet of solidified flame from his forearm. "Since he's not home, and you're his daughter, you'll have to do!"
"Hmph!" Yamato grunted, digging her heels in to resist his fiery assault. "I have no obligation to protect this island for that man! But if you're looking for a fight… I admit, I'm bored. So come on!" She met his charge with her own, her raw physical power a perfect match for his Logia abilities. The two clashed, a whirlwind of red and orange, their battle instantly escalating to a level that made the previous skirmish look like child's play.
Jerry watched them for a moment, satisfied. Ace had his dance partner. Now, it was time to deal with the other one. He turned to Skull, who was watching the epic duel with the fascinated glee of a scholar observing a rare species.
"Keep an eye on the captain," Jerry said calmly. "I'm going to deal with our other uninvited guest before he decides to sink our only ride home."
With a nod, Jerry took off, his sandals barely seeming to touch the ground as he sprinted back in the direction he had sensed the other powerful presence. He retraced his steps through the path of destruction they had carved, the air thick with the smell of smoke and ozone.
He arrived back at the beach just in time.
A monstrous figure was striding toward the docked Piece of Spadille, his sheer presence radiating malice. He was enormous, easily over eight meters tall, a walking mountain of muscle and rage. Long golden hair was tied into a unique braided ponytail, with two smaller braids framing a face set in a permanent scowl. A vicious-looking metal jaw covered the lower half of his face, and two massive mammoth tusks were mounted on his shoulders like pauldrons.
Jerry didn't need a formal introduction. The immense size, the metal jaw, the tusks… he knew exactly who this was. Jack the Drought. One of Kaido's three right-hand men, the All-Stars.
Jack had already gotten the report from his frantic subordinates. He was supposed to be on an expedition with Lord Kaido, but a recent prize had required an escort back to Wano. He had returned to find their sacred home of Onigashima in flames, overrun by audacious intruders. The fury simmering within him was a volcano about to erupt. His first instinct was to obliterate the offending pirate ship, to erase their existence from the sea itself.
Just as he raised his hand to signal an attack, a figure appeared in a blur of motion, planting himself directly between Jack and the Piece of Spadille.
Jack stopped. He looked down at the comparatively tiny man standing before him, a man in a ridiculous floral shirt who barely came up to his waist. "You," Jack growled, his voice a low, gravelly rumble that sounded like grinding stones. "You are one of the intruders. One of the insects responsible for this mess."
Without waiting for an answer, Jack's fury boiled over. He raised his arm—a limb thicker than Jerry's entire body—and brought his open palm down with the force of a thunderclap, aiming to swat Jerry into a thin paste on the sand.
The slap was so fast and powerful it broke the sound barrier. But it hit nothing but air.
Jerry bent his knees and launched himself backward with a burst of speed from the Shave technique, clearing the impact zone in an instant.
BOOM!
The ground shook as Jack's hand struck the beach, creating a massive, palm-shaped crater in the sand.
"Lord Jack is invincible!" his crew chanted dutifully from a safe distance.
Jerry landed lightly a dozen meters away, brushing a bit of displaced sand from his shoulder. "You call that a slap? You'd turn a man into a paper doll with a love tap like that!" he shouted, his voice laced with mock cheerfulness. "I'm Jerry of the Spade Pirates. And judging by that lovely metal jaw, you must be Jack."
The fight was on. Jerry didn't give him a moment to recover. He shot forward again, a blur of motion. He leaped into the air, his leg a whipcord of muscle, and delivered a powerful kick directly to Jack's knee.
Jack, who had been striding forward for another attack, let out a grunt of pain and surprise as his leg buckled. The kick felt like a cannonball had struck his joint.
Using the brief moment of imbalance, Jerry's agility became a weapon. Like an insect with wings, he used Jack's own massive body as a springboard. He activated Shave again, his feet becoming a blur as he stomped against Jack's knee and thigh dozens of times in a fraction of a second, using the explosive reaction force to propel himself upwards at incredible speed.
In the blink of an eye, Jerry appeared before Jack's abdomen. He pulled his right arm back, his fist glowing with the black sheen of Armament Haki, and unleashed a punch with the force of a cannonball.
BAM!
The impact sent a visible shockwave through Jack's colossal frame. The All-Star's eyes went wide as his body, for the first time in years, lost its battle with gravity. He flew backward more than ten meters, crashing to the ground with a titanic thud that shook the entire beach and crushed several of his own unfortunate subordinates who couldn't get out of the way in time.
"So your name's Jack?" Jerry called out as the remaining crew scrambled to help their downed commander. "Don't worry, I'll show you what a real 'jack of all trades' can do!"
He was taunting, but his mind was racing, analyzing the encounter like a high-stakes game. He knew that single punch, as powerful as it was, wouldn't be enough. That attack barely tickled him. Jack is an Ancient Zoan user—the Woolly Mammoth. His durability and recovery are his greatest assets. My attacks have to be precise and they have to be relentless, or he'll heal faster than I can damage him.
Jerry's current level of Armament Haki wasn't advanced enough to bypass Jack's tough hide and destroy him from the inside, like the advanced techniques used by the masters in Wano. He couldn't win a battle of endurance. He had to be smarter. He had to use his own unique advantages.
Flexibility and speed, he concluded. He's a mountain. I'm a hornet. I have to sting him where it hurts, over and over.
Then, another thought struck him, a strategy born from his unique mastery over water.
Fortunately, I have another way in. When I make physical contact, even for an instant, I can influence the water in his body. I can bypass the tough skin and hit the organs directly. It's a small effect for now, but if I land enough shots…
As Jack rose from the ground, his face a mask of pure, unadulterated rage, Jerry's own expression hardened with resolve.
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