Seeing this scene, Aike and the others were deeply shaken.
What kind of people were these?!
"Refused, huh…" Kuma said calmly. "In that case… I can only follow my orders and eliminate you all."
"Bring it on!!" Jin said coldly.
"And us too!" Lola drew her twin blades. "We finally escaped Moria's clutches. There's no way we're letting you kill us now!"
"That's right! If you want our lives, be prepared to lose yours!"
"So what if you're a Shichibukai? We're not afraid of you!"
Inspired by Jin and the others, Buckteeth and the rest glared fiercely at Kuma, as if they wanted to tear a piece of flesh from his body.
They had finally survived.
Finally gained the chance to walk under the sunlight again.
How could they possibly stop here?
Even if they had to die, they would die fighting with honor—not cowering and waiting for death.
At this moment, the ferocity within everyone was fully ignited!
"Well said!" Sanji laughed loudly. "Let this bastard see our resolve!"
The next moment, Sanji began spinning rapidly, heating his leg until it glowed red.
"Diable Jambe!"
"Fsss—"
Without giving Kuma any more time to speak, Sanji launched himself forward and kicked violently toward the Tyrant.
"Extra-Grade… Teppanyaki!"
"Bang!!"
The incredibly heavy strike slammed into Kuma's arm, forcibly driving him backward and opening some distance between him and the others.
In the next instant, Zoro attacked as well.
"One Sword Style—Lion's Song!"
"Slash!"
The iaido strike cut fiercely into Kuma's shoulder.
Under that single blow, a portion of his body was actually split open!
"Szzz…"
"What?!"
Seeing the steel structure exposed beneath Kuma's shoulder, everyone revealed shocked expressions.
His shoulder… was made of steel?
"A cyborg like me?" Franky frowned.
If that was the case, taking this guy down wouldn't be easy.
As an expert, he knew very well how terrifying the defensive power of such a massive body could be once modified with steel.
"So what if he's a cyborg?" Jin shouted. "I refuse to believe he can't be broken!"
As soon as the words fell, Jin used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared in front of Kuma, slamming a heavy punch into his abdomen.
"Super Strength Punch!"
"Boom!!"
The immense impact forced Kuma to slide backward until he finally stopped near a massive boulder.
"So strong!"
Watching Kuma get pushed back that far, Aike and the others were stunned.
Even after just finishing such a brutal battle, they could still hit this monster that hard?
But Jin showed no joy.
His expression remained extremely serious.
Although he had pushed Kuma back, he hadn't caused any real damage.
The man hadn't even coughed up a single drop of blood.
Looking at Kuma's unchanged expression, Jin thought to himself:
'This is the first time I've met someone who can take my Super Strength Punch without changing his face…'
His Sharingan swept across Kuma's abdomen.
For a moment, Jin noticed a strange energy gathering there—but it quickly vanished.
'What kind of energy is that?'
Was that what allowed him to withstand the attack?
Just then, Kuma suddenly spread his arms, adopting a posture as if embracing the sky.
Everyone looked at him in confusion.
"What's he doing?"
"Surrendering?"
"How could that be? A Shichibukai surrendering?"
"Then what is he…?"
Everyone stared at Kuma in confusion.
The next moment, a semi-transparent gas in the shape of a bear's paw appeared between his hands. Under the influence of his power, it kept shrinking… smaller… and smaller…
Seeing this, Jin's pupils contracted.
He immediately realized a possibility.
Compression… then release?!
"Everyone, get behind me immediately!!"
"Huh?!"
Although confused, the others trusted Jin and quickly rushed over, gathering behind him.
At the same moment, Kuma compressed the enormous mass of air until it was only the size of a normal palm, gently holding it in his hand.
Using his Devil Fruit ability, Kuma compressed the air to its absolute limit.
Then he casually tossed the tiny bear-paw-shaped gas toward Jin and the others.
"Earth Release—Earth Flow Wall!"
Without hesitation, Jin activated a ninjutsu.
"Boom!!"
A gigantic wall of earth rose from the ground, shielding everyone behind it.
Seeing the massive wall appear suddenly, Lola was stunned.
"Earth… Earth Release?"
Not just Water Release and Fire Release—now even Earth Release?
Just how many chakra natures did this man possess?
No wonder the World Government was interested in him…
If someone like him were discovered by Mama, he would definitely become a target as well.
Thinking of that, a trace of worry appeared in Lola's eyes.
"Interesting…" Kuma said, looking at the rising earth wall with curiosity.
He hadn't expected the other party to also possess earth-type abilities.
But…
Could it really block his attack?
With that thought, Kuma said softly,
"Let's try."
"Ursus Shock."
"BOOOOM!!!"
A terrifying shockwave erupted from the compressed bear-paw air.
In a single instant, the ground exploded into a massive crater shaped like a bear's paw!
As for the earth wall—the primary target—it endured most of the impact, cracking violently as if it were about to collapse.
But fortunately…
It held.
"I-It blocked it…?"
"That power is terrifying…"
Looking around, everyone realized that apart from the area protected by the earth wall, the surrounding land had completely collapsed.
The massive stones nearby had been shattered into gravel!
If that attack had hit them directly, they would have been blown apart instantly.
"Truly… terrifying power…" Jin muttered with a frown.
Even his defensive ninjutsu had nearly been shattered.
Was this the strength of a Shichibukai?
As Jin withdrew his chakra, the cracked earth wall sank back into the ground, revealing the scene ahead.
"This…?!"
"That's insane!"
Right in front of the wall, the ground had been completely obliterated.
A deep crater remained, as if the area had suffered an enormous explosion.
Clearly, due to the rebound of the earth wall, most of the destructive force had been concentrated there.
"Interesting ninjutsu," Kuma commented.
"Tch…"
Jin spat to the side.
Just "interesting," huh?
What an arrogant bastard.
"Hm?"
"Where did Moria go?" Aike suddenly said.
Everyone immediately looked toward the place where Moria had been unconscious.
Sure enough—he was gone.
"What happened?" Nami frowned.
Had Moria actually never lost consciousness?
Did he see another Shichibukai appear and decide to stop fighting, pretending to be defeated?
But…
That didn't make sense.
Were the Shichibukai not supposed to be allies?
Then again, recalling what Kuma had said earlier, another thought appeared in Nami's mind.
'Could it be… he wanted to see what Kuma's purpose was?'
With that thought, Nami fell into deep contemplation.
"He was probably taken away by that invisible guy," Jin said without even turning his head.
The invisible man who had never appeared before might have regained consciousness long ago, but chose not to act when things looked bad.
When Kuma arrived, he seized the opportunity and quietly carried Moria away.
Jin didn't care much about it.
A loser being taken away was no big deal.
"Whatever happened to him doesn't matter," Zoro said as he drew his other two swords, staring coldly at Kuma. "The important thing is dealing with this guy."
"If we don't defeat him, we won't be able to leave."
That compressed air attack was far too destructive.
Even if they ran to the ship, it could still be hit—and then not only their lives, but the ship itself would be at risk.
That wasn't something Zoro was willing to accept.
So this had to be settled here.
With that thought, Zoro raised his two blades and charged toward Kuma at incredible speed.
As he closed in, he leapt into the air and slashed downward.
"Three Sword Style—Tiger Hunt!!"
Facing the tiger-like Zoro, Kuma simply raised his hand calmly and pointed his palm at Zoro's blades.
Seeing this, Zoro froze for a split second before his eyes turned even fiercer.
'Looking down on me?'
Then pay the price!!
However, the moment his attack struck Kuma—
His expression changed.
An unbelievably powerful repulsive force surged from Kuma's body, instantly bouncing his strength back at him!
"Wha—?!" Zoro's pupils shrank in shock.
He could reflect his power?!
"Damn it!"
To prevent his swords from breaking, Zoro had no choice but to change his move and take the rebounding force himself.
The next moment—
"Whoosh!"
Like a cannonball, Zoro was blasted away and slammed into a pile of rubble in the distance.
"BOOM!!"
"What?!"
"What happened?!"
"Why did Zoro get blown away instead?!"
Everyone stared at the scene in shock.
They hadn't even seen what happened.
Was the enemy's attack simply too fast?
"What was that?" Jin frowned. "What kind of ability does he have?"
His Sharingan had seen it clearly.
Zoro's slash had indeed struck Kuma's palm.
But instead of injuring him, Zoro himself was sent flying.
Was it related to his hands?
At that moment, Jin noticed the special pads on Kuma's palms.
Then Kuma finally spoke calmly.
"Repel."
"R-Repel?!"
Hearing such a childlike explanation, everyone looked shocked.
This wasn't a playground game where someone could simply say "no, you bounce back!"
Did such an ability really exist?
"A Repel-Repel Fruit user?" Sanji guessed.
"Then what about the compressed air earlier? Can that also be explained by repelling?"
"How should I know, idiot?!"
He was only making guesses based on observation.
If the enemy didn't explain it, how could he know?
Damn it.
Silent enemies like this were the hardest to deal with.
"I'll test him."
Franky raised his arm and aimed at Kuma.
"Weapons Left!"
"I'll help too!" Usopp shouted.
Both immediately launched explosive gunpowder attacks.
"BOOM!!"
The explosions struck Kuma directly, kicking up a cloud of smoke.
"Huh?" Franky blinked in surprise. "Why didn't he repel it?"
Even Zoro's power had been reflected.
There was no way he couldn't repel their attacks.
But Kuma hadn't even tried.
A gust of wind blew away the smoke.
Kuma stood there—
Completely unharmed.
Seeing this, Franky's expression darkened.
Now he understood why Kuma hadn't bothered to repel the attack.
It simply wasn't necessary.
'Was my attack… too weak?'
That made sense.
A swordsman of Zoro's level produced far more destructive force.
Still…
It was frustrating.
"So scary…" Usopp gulped.
His attack couldn't even break the enemy's defense.
Just how strong was this guy?
At that moment, Nico Robin launched her attack.
"Twelve Petals!"
Multiple arms sprouted from Kuma's body, attempting to snap his neck.
But unfortunately—
Her strength wasn't enough.
"So strong…" Robin gritted her teeth.
She had used all her strength, but Kuma's neck felt like a mountain.
It wouldn't budge.
"Is this guy really invincible…?"
Seeing their reactions, Kuma spoke calmly.
"With your strength, you are not my opponents."
"Boy."
"I'll give you one chance. If you agree now, I can stop."
This time, Kuma was looking directly at Jin.
"I'll say the same thing again."
"I refuse!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Jin immediately launched a combination ninjutsu.
"Try blocking this!!"
"Boom!!"
As Jin spoke, countless droplets of water appeared around him, gathering into a rapidly spinning vortex.
The next moment, a gigantic water dragon burst out of the vortex, crackling with lightning across its body.
"ROAR!!"
After letting out a thunderous roar toward Kuma, the water dragon rushed forward.
"Lightning Water Dragon Bullet Technique!!!"
"BOOM!!"
The massive water dragon descended from the sky and charged straight toward Kuma.
"Sea water… or fresh water?" Kuma murmured.
When Jin had used ninjutsu by the sea earlier, Kuma had observed everything.
He knew the boy could manipulate seawater.
The only question was whether the water summoned on land was seawater or fresh water.
But…
Either way—
He had no intention of letting it hit him.
With that thought, Kuma raised his hand without hesitation.
"Repel."
"Re—"
Hearing that word, Jin's pupils shrank.
Could he really repel ninjutsu as well?
The next moment answered that question.
He could.
"Truly… a bug-level ability…"
"Whoosh!"
Under the power of the Paw-Paw Fruit, the enormous water dragon abruptly changed direction and shot off into the distance.
Faintly visible upon it was a nearly transparent bear-paw imprint.
"You're kidding…" Sanji said in shock.
Even Jin's ninjutsu had been deflected.
Didn't that make this ability…
Invincible?
The power to repel everything…
Was he really a Repel-Repel Fruit user?
That was absurdly broken.
Sanji's expression darkened.
This ability was even more bizarre than he had imagined.
At this moment, he realized something clearly.
This Shichibukai named Kuma…
Was probably far stronger than Moria.
"What the hell is this guy's ability?!" Usopp cried in frustration. "Why doesn't even Jin's ninjutsu work on him?!"
The others stared at Kuma cautiously.
No one dared attack recklessly again.
Suddenly, Jin stared intensely at Kuma's palms—more specifically, the paw pads.
From what he had observed so far, Kuma repelled every attack using those hands.
That might be the limitation of his ability.
With that realization, Jin began forming a new idea.
'If that's the case…'
'Then let's try overwhelming him with a massive area attack.'
'At the very least… I need to find a way to disable his repelling ability!'
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