Crack.
Jin looked down at his greatsword with a bad feeling.
Don't you dare.
Shanks' gaze followed.
Crack!
The greatsword snapped.
It broke into three pieces and dropped to the ground.
Jin howled inside.
Shanks' lips curled.
"Your sword's broken. Looks like this fight's done for today."
On the ship, most of the Red-Haired Pirates broke into cheers again.
A swordsman without a sword meant their captain had essentially won.
Only Yasopp, Benn Beckman, Lucky Roux and a few others stayed quiet, their expressions unreadable.
On the Marine side, panic started brewing again when they saw the broken blade.
Jin stared at the ruined hilt in his hand.
So it really wasn't on the level of a Great Grade blade after all. Took too many hits from a named saber plus Ryuo… and in the end, it just couldn't take it.
"Over, huh?"
He stabbed the hilt into the ground and straightened up.
"Shanks, you don't seriously think I only know how to use a sword, do you?"
He cracked his neck.
"Using a sword just looks cool. Very stylish. Cutting ships in half with sword aura? That's pure visual appeal."
"What are you getting at?" Shanks frowned.
He watched as Jin's hands curled into claws and his stance shifted.
"What do you think?" Jin chuckled. "You'll find out soon enough."
He lifted his head, eyes tinged with red.
"Dragon Claw Fist."
"Soru!"
He flashed toward Shanks, both hands covered in Armament, right claw lashing out.
"Mighty Miracle Claw!"
Shanks brought his saber up to block.
Boom!
He immediately felt it.
This blow had more force than any of Jin's previous sword strikes.
And Jin was moving even faster.
His physical strength is this strong?!
"Hahahaha! Shanks, let's keep going!"
Jin's Dragon Claw hands whirled, hammering attacks from left and right.
He moved even faster than he had with a sword.
He wasn't lying. His hand-to-hand is stronger than his swordsmanship…
Shanks weaved through the flurry of claws.
He flicked a glance at his crew on the ship.
He needed to finish this quickly.
He couldn't keep dragging it out against this lunatic.
"You still have room in your head to look around?" Jin sneered. "You really look down on me that much?"
He knocked Shanks' saber wide and pounced.
"Got you, Shanks!"
"Dragon's Breath!"
Armament flared out from his claws in a spiraling burst and crashed into Shanks' chest.
Shanks was sent flying.
He snapped Armament across his back at the last second.
Boom!
The stone exploded into fragments where he landed.
"Shanks!"
Uta's voice cracked with worry.
Benn Beckman and the others grew grim.
That guy's close-quarters combat is way above his swordsmanship.
Right now, Shanks is getting pressed.
Yasopp instinctively raised his rifle and took aim at Jin.
Benn Beckman grabbed the barrel and pushed it down.
"Don't rush. Before we head onto the Grand Line, let Shanks have this fight. It might raise his strength."
"Fine…" Yasopp lowered the gun.
"Bastard," Shanks growled.
He picked up his saber and charged in again.
Jin, eyes still red, rushed him head-on.
They traded blows at insane speed.
One claw shredded the ground into a crater where Shanks had just been.
Shanks countered with a slash that Jin twisted aside from, splitting a stack of crates instead.
"Hahaha! This is great! Keep going!"
Clang, clang, boom!
If one area didn't erupt into a crater, another pile of stones or crates got cut in half.
No one had noticed a few people standing on a rooftop nearby.
One of them, wearing a green cloak, watched the battle.
"I didn't think you'd grow this much," he murmured. "Heh."
Beside him, a huge-headed figure with heavily made-up eyes blinked and asked,
"Dragon, you know that Marine brat?"
"Know him? Not exactly,"Monkey D. Dragon said calmly.
"Oh? What do you mean?"Emporio Ivankov tilted his head.
"We met the day Roger was executed," Dragon replied. "At the time, I just thought he was an interesting little brat. We chatted for a bit, and I handed him my training notes."
"Oh! Dragon, that's a pretty generous 'casual' gift," Ivankov said, eyes sparkling.
"Dragon Claw Fist is your signature move!"
"Enough, Ivankov. Just keep watching," Dragon said, eyes returning to the fight.
"Hehe, so stingy, Dragon."
Down below, Jin fought harder and harder, exhilaration building in his chest.
Almost there.
Ryuo.
Just a little more and he'd grab that threshold.
"Dragon Claw… Mighty Vajra Kick!"
He launched a kick aimed straight at Shanks' waist.
Hearing the name "Dragon Claw," Shanks' attention instinctively zeroed in on Jin's hands.
He immediately realized something was wrong.
The bastard's claws were only feinting.
The very next second, pain exploded in his side.
His body spun through the air and crashed hard into the ground.
"Despicable!" Shanks snarled, clutching his waist as he stared at Jin.
"Hahahaha! In a fight, any move goes, doesn't it? You think reality follows whatever I announce?" Jin grinned.
"Don't forget my nickname—'Marine Thug.' Hahaha!"
On the ship, the crew erupted.
"Shameless!"
"No honor at all!"
"Fights dirty as hell!"
Dragon, Ivankov, and the Marines all twitched at the corners of their mouths.
In a corner by a wall, a man with a camera was clicking away like crazy, mumbling to himself.
"Big news, big news!"
He was a reporter from the World Economy News Paper.
"I've gotta send this to the boss. 'Thug Marine vs. Evil Pirate'—this headline'll sell like crazy! Yooo-hoo-hoo!"
Jin ignored the shouting and charged Shanks again.
He was just a step away now.
That feeling of Ryuo was almost within his grasp.
Shanks grit his teeth and met him.
Dragon narrowed his eyes.
"He's using battle itself to comprehend Ryuo."
Ivankov's jaw dropped.
"What a crazy boy, hi-hah!"
Shanks understood now as well.
As expected of a lunatic.
He's using the damage I send his way to comprehend it.
Jin smirked.
"Thanks for the compliment. So keep cranking up the power, Shanks."
"I'll oblige you," Shanks said.
He knocked Jin's claw away and swung.
"Divine Departure!"
"Haha! Dragon Claw—Mighty Grab!"
Boom!
Jin clamped his Haki-coated claws around the edge of the saber and held on tight, focusing on the Ryuo flooding into him.
"Haah!"
They both poured strength into it.
The ground around them split open, leaving deep gouges everywhere.
Bang!
In the end, Jin couldn't hold it and was blasted backward, his heels carving two furrows across the dock.
"Haah… haah…"
They stared at each other.
But while Shanks' expression grew steadily darker, Jin's only got more ecstatic.
So that's it.
Let the Haki flow like water.
Let it move as naturally as breathing.
Then, through contact, drive it straight into the enemy's body from the outside.
"Heh…"
He thought it through once, then did it.
Shanks' eyes went wide.
He could see Haki slowly flowing over both of Jin's hands.
Dragon's eyebrows rose.
"He figured it out."
"What a genius boy, hi-hah!" Ivankov's eyes sparkled.
Jin bared his teeth in a feral grin.
"Come on, Shanks. One last move."
"Bring it," Shanks answered, gripping his saber tight.
"Dragon Claw—Mighty Vajra Claw!"
Jin's hands glowed with Ryuo as he charged.
Shanks raised his blade.
"Divine Departure!"
Boom!
Their attacks struck toward each other—yet claw and edge never touched.
They stopped just short.
Conqueror's Haki erupted from both of them and slammed together.
Rumble, rumble.
Stone shattered. Wind howled.
Marines and pirates with weaker bodies went white-eyed and dropped where they stood.
Dragon, Ivankov, Benn Beckman, Yasopp, Lucky Roux—all of them stared, eyes wide.
"Hi-hah… Shanks, are you out of steam?" Jin laughed, pouring on more force.
"Kh… lunatic!" Shanks spat, increasing his own.
Black lightning crackled faintly around them.
"Their attacks… aren't touching!" someone shouted.
"Yeah," Benn Beckman said quietly. "They've stepped onto that level now."
Rumble!
A deafening sound came from the sky.
Everyone looked up.
"The sky's splitting!!"
The clouds overhead were ripped apart, pushed to either side.
"What kind of monsters are those two?" small-time grunts cried out, terrified.
"Big news! Big news!"
The reporter from the World Economy News Paper snapped shot after shot—first the torn sky, then the two locked in their clash.
He was practically shaking with excitement.
"Haah… you're running out of juice, Shanks," Jin grinned.
He twisted his left hand, hooking Shanks' saber away, and thrust his right claw straight toward Shanks' face.
Shanks' eyes flew open.
There was no time to dodge.
Pain exploded across his cheek.
He was sent flying toward the ship.
"Haah!"
Jin's claw raked across the left side of Shanks' face, blasting him away.
Jin sucked in ragged breaths, using the very last of his strength just to stay standing.
"Shanks!"
The crew scrambled to catch their captain as he crashed into them.
"Raise anchor! Get us out of here!" Benn Beckman shouted.
"Hahahaha! Shanks, let's fight again next time! This was good. This was fun! Hahahaha!"
With his crew's support, Shanks pushed himself upright and stared bitterly at Jin on the dock.
"You're strong. Next time we cross swords, I'll be stronger still. Make sure you're not dead by then."
Jin smirked.
"That's exactly what I was going to tell you. Don't die on the Grand Line, Shanks. Next time, I'm definitely finishing you."
"Hmph. Big talk," Shanks said, touching the wound on his face and baring his teeth in a crooked grin.
The two of them held each other's gaze as the ship slowly pulled away, getting smaller and smaller on the horizon.
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