"Boom..."
Almost on instinct, Zephyr threw out his iron fist. The explosive impact tore straight through an entire corner of the Marines Building, sending rubble and dust flying.
Ain and Binz, who had still been sparring hard in the open plaza, both jumped in fright.
They turned and saw two towering figures standing amid the ruins of the Marines Building, where a corner had been blasted open.
One was naturally their teacher, Zephyr-sensei. At that moment, killing intent rolled off him, his expression grim.
The other was a red-haired man with a relaxed look on his face.
"That's..."
In an instant, both Ain and Binz's pupils shrank. Their faces went pale with terror, and their bodies began to tremble.
Because of their age, they had not even been born when this man stirred up a new era across the seas. Even so, no one in the Marines could possibly fail to recognize his face.
The captain of the Sky Pirates, President of the Rainbow Kingdom, the number one enemy of the World Government and the Marines, and the most dangerous criminal in the world: Fire Dragon Yemu.
Why would such a terrifying man appear here? Had he come to kill their teacher?
The thought made Ain's expression change drastically, and she charged forward in fear.
"Don't you dare hurt the teacher!"
Seeing this, Binz hesitated for a moment, then rushed after her.
Using the power of the Marines Rokushiki, Soru, Binz stepped through the air and flew upward before immediately activating his Devil Fruit ability.
"Lush, lush..."
Countless thick vines burst out from the Marines Building, lashing toward Fire Dragon Yemu where he stood.
In the blink of an eye, those vines twisted together and wrapped tightly around Fire Dragon Yemu, binding him in place.
"Did it work?"
Even Binz sounded unsure.
But at that moment, Ain had no time to care. She drew the twin blades at her waist and thrust them straight toward Fire Dragon Yemu's heart as he stood bound and unable to move.
"Clang!"
The sound she expected, a blade piercing flesh, never came. Instead, her sharp twin blades struck as if they had stabbed into steel, unable to move even an inch farther.
When she looked up, she saw Fire Dragon Yemu watching her through the gaps in the vines with a look of admiration.
Just then, Zephyr's urgent voice rang out from behind them.
"Ain, Binz, be careful..."
Before either of them could react, the vines binding Fire Dragon Yemu shattered with a crack, as fragile as paper. Ain's twin blades broke apart as well.
"Impossible..."
At that same moment, Zephyr had already reached Fire Dragon Yemu. He swung his fist and struck directly toward Yemu's face.
"Boom..."
Another impact erupted like a bomb going off.
"Did it hit?"
The three of them stared wide-eyed, all thinking the same thing. Then they instantly saw a scene that filled them with horror.
Fire Dragon Yemu stood there like a statue, without moving at all.
Zephyr-sensei's iron fist, coated in Armament Haki, seemed to have struck some kind of barrier. It stopped an inch from Yemu's face and could not advance any farther.
Everyone present was stunned. Zephyr's eyes widened as well, his expression dark.
"Impossible..."
For the past twenty years, as the man behind the entire Rainbow Kingdom and its strongest figure, Fire Dragon Yemu had rarely been seen in action by anyone on the sea, Zephyr included.
Everyone knew that with Fire Dragon Yemu's potential, since he had been able to defeat Fleet Admiral Sengoku twenty years ago, he must have become unbelievably stronger after another twenty years. Even so, the fact that Zephyr's punch, packed with all his strength, could not even make him move was simply unimaginable.
He was old now, and he had lost an arm, but only his stamina had declined.
In terms of explosive power, he still possessed Admiral-level strength.
And yet a full-power blow like that had actually...
Just then, Zephyr sensed something. His expression changed sharply, and he roared at his disciple Ain.
"Don't..."
But it was already too late.
Just now, Ain had seen Fire Dragon Yemu standing before her with his attention drawn by her teacher, and she thought she had found an opening.
As long as she used the power of the Backward Fruit to make Fire Dragon Yemu's body smaller, they would definitely be able to win.
So, as a trace of purple energy appeared on her arm, she pressed her hand against Fire Dragon Yemu's body without hesitation.
"Retrograde Touch..."
"It worked!"
Until now, her Backward Fruit power had never once failed as long as she touched her enemy.
Just as she was rejoicing, Zephyr-sensei's anxious voice rang out.
Feeling that something was wrong, Ain looked up, only to discover that Fire Dragon Yemu in front of her had not changed at all.
"How is that possible? My ability actually failed!"
At that moment, her pupils shrank. The man before her finally moved, swinging his arm straight toward her head.
"Oh no. Am I going to die?"
In that instant, Ain felt as if she had already seen death.
But...
"Thump..."
The pain she expected never came. Instead, she felt her head being gently patted. At the same time, a soft voice sounded by her ear.
"Not bad at all, Admiral Zephyr. You have two fine disciples."
This scene left not only Ain stunned, but Zephyr and Binz beside her as well.
Just then, a terrifying aura erupted from the man before them and forced all three of them back.
The force was extremely gentle. The three only took a few steps back before stopping, then stared at the man standing in front of them.
At that moment, Ain felt certain of one thing. The man before her, Fire Dragon Yemu, did not seem to have come to kill them. Even so, they still could not let their guard down.
"Crack..."
The building's roof seemed unable to withstand the earlier impact, and countless pieces of rubble fell around the four of them.
Zephyr furrowed his brow, staring at Fire Dragon Yemu, who showed no killing intent.
The two looked at each other for a long while before Zephyr finally asked the question on his mind.
"Fire Dragon Yemu, did you come here to take this old man's life?"
Yemu answered in his usual careless tone.
"Ah, Admiral Zephyr, it's the exact opposite. I came to invite you..."
"!!!"
"Invite me?!"
Yemu's words left all three of them stunned. For a moment, they seemed unable to understand what he meant.
Then Yemu asked a question of his own.
"Ah... it's been twenty years since we last met, hasn't it, Admiral Zephyr? In these twenty years, did you find the justice you were searching for within the Marines?"
Yemu's words made Zephyr's brows knit tightly. Ain and Binz looked at Yemu in confusion, then turned their eyes toward their teacher as well.
As for the answer, of course it was no. Otherwise, he would not be here now.
However...
"What does that have to do with you?"
Zephyr replied coldly.
"Not much, really. I was just thinking, if you couldn't find it in the Marines, why not come to my country and give it a try?"
At that moment, all three of them were shaken.
They finally understood Yemu's true purpose.
"This man actually came here to recruit Zephyr-sensei!"