Hearing Aike's words, Jin's heart skipped a beat. He immediately turned around.
When he clearly saw that thing, his pupils shrank.
"What… is that?"
A strange mass of gas… shaped like a bear's paw?
Wait…
If he remembered correctly, when Kuma had used that compressed air bomb earlier, it had also taken the shape of a bear paw!
Could it be…
That bastard wasn't unconscious yet?
"Everyone, be careful! That guy might not be down yet!"
"After taking such a terrifying attack, he's still alive?!"
"Is he a monster?!"
Hearing Jin's warning, Buckteeth and the others turned pale with fear.
After such a catastrophic strike, he could still wake up?
Was that even human?!
The lightning just now had been like divine punishment!
The next moment—
A gigantic figure suddenly appeared at the edge of the crater.
Bartholomew Kuma.
"What a terrifying rookie," Kuma said calmly. "You almost killed me."
"Your current condition doesn't make that sound very convincing…" Jin said grimly.
Although Kuma looked battered—his glasses shattered and clothes torn—his body didn't show serious injuries.
Even the scorched areas from earlier had miraculously returned to normal.
It was as if…
He had used some special power to remove the injuries from his body.
For a moment, despair began spreading through the battlefield.
How were they supposed to fight an enemy who couldn't even be killed?
"Run! Run away!"
"That guy is a complete monster!"
"Brother Jin!" Aike shouted urgently. "You guys go! We'll hold him back!"
"That's right! Without you we wouldn't have gotten our shadows back! It's time to repay you!"
"Brothers, prepare for battle!"
"Even if we die, we'll buy enough time for Brother Jin to escape!"
"Yeah!!"
"Brother Jin, hurry and go!"
"You guys…"
Jin froze when he saw Aike and the others stepping forward.
In this situation…
They were thinking about covering his retreat?
Even though Aike's legs trembled, he still gripped his weapon tightly.
Jin suddenly smiled.
These friends…
He hadn't made them for nothing.
He patted Aike on the shoulder and stepped forward, walking past him.
"Brother Jin?"
"This kind of enemy isn't something you can handle," Jin said calmly. "Step back."
"That's right."
"Even the Pirate Hunter too…?"
"Hey, what's wrong with all of you?!"
Aike and the others stared in shock as each member of the Straw Hat crew stepped forward and prepared to fight again.
Even at a time like this…
They still refused to give up?
Seeing the Straw Hats ready themselves again, Kuma spoke calmly.
"So you've prepared yourselves to die?"
"We never said we planned to die here!"
"Three Sword Style—Oni Giri!"
Without hesitation, Zoro rushed forward and slashed fiercely toward Kuma's head.
"Buzz—"
The sharp blade struck Kuma's palm.
Just like before, the terrifying repelling force blasted him away.
"Whoosh—"
"BOOM!!"
"I'm not done yet!"
Sanji roared and rushed forward the instant Zoro was blown away.
His blazing kick slammed toward Kuma's chest.
"Bang!"
Sanji was also sent flying.
But Jin seized the opening created by his two companions.
The moment Sanji was blasted away, Jin appeared before Kuma.
"Raikiri!"
"Whoosh—"
Lightning pierced the air.
But Jin's expression darkened.
Kuma had dodged.
Instead of blocking the attack, he chose to avoid it.
After the previous experience, Kuma had clearly learned his lesson.
He wouldn't allow lightning to strike his body again.
"…This situation is really bad," Jin muttered.
He dispersed the Raikiri.
His chakra was running low now.
He couldn't afford to waste it.
"Damn it! What the hell is your ability?!" Franky shouted angrily.
As he spoke, he fired a cannon at Kuma.
But it was useless.
After scanning the group, Kuma finally spoke.
"I ate the Paw-Paw Fruit."
"I am a Paw-Paw human."
"I possess the ability to repel everything."
As he spoke, Kuma even showed the paw pads on his hands.
"Repel everything…"
Jin glanced toward the strange gas floating in the crater.
"Which means…"
"That thing… is the injury you repelled from your own body?"
"Correct."
"H-Hey! Don't joke around!" Buckteeth cried out.
"How can such an ability exist in this world?!"
"Wouldn't that make him basically invincible?!"
"Devil Fruit abilities are mysterious," Kuma replied calmly.
At that moment, memories surfaced in his mind.
The day he obtained this Devil Fruit.
If not for extraordinary luck, such a top-tier fruit would never have fallen into his hands.
After all—
It had originally been prepared for the Celestial Dragons.
Jin took a deep breath.
"No matter what ability you have… that's not a reason for us to surrender!"
"Exactly!"
Zoro and Sanji climbed out of the rubble and returned beside their comrades.
Neither of them had given up.
"You still intend to resist…"
"We never said we'd stop!"
"Your courage is admirable," Kuma said calmly.
"But it's not enough."
"Tell you what."
"I'll give you a chance."
"A chance to live."
Everyone froze.
What did he mean?
The voice from the Den Den Mushi had clearly ordered them to be eliminated.
Was this man planning to defy the World Government?
Or was he simply mocking them?
"What are you trying to say?" Jin asked.
"If you hand over the head of Straw Hat Luffy…"
"I'll spare the rest of you."
However—
Before he even finished speaking, the Straw Hats answered in unison.
"I refuse!"
"Refused… huh…"
Kuma nodded slowly.
Without another word, he raised both hands and began compressing the air.
Jin's expression changed.
He immediately rushed toward his companions.
The others also understood what Kuma was about to do and hurried toward Jin.
Soon, the enormous bear-paw-shaped mass of air was compressed into a tiny sphere.
Kuma lightly tossed it toward them.
"Earth Release—Earth Flow Wall!"
"Ursus Shock!"
"BOOOOM!!!"
The compressed air exploded instantly.
A horrifying shockwave erupted.
This time, the power was even greater than before.
Even behind the earth wall, the terrifying force could still be felt.
Several weaker people were instantly knocked unconscious.
'Hold… hold on!!' Jin roared internally.
The cracks on the earth wall spread rapidly.
His eyes widened.
Fortunately—
It held.
When Jin withdrew his chakra, the wall slowly sank back into the ground.
"W-We survived…" Nami sighed in relief.
"Now's not the time to relax!" Zoro shouted.
"That guy—"
Before he finished speaking, everyone realized something.
Kuma was gone.
The next moment—
A strange sound reached their ears.
Like air inflating.
Hearing that familiar sound, Jin's pupils shrank.
He spun around instantly.
Behind them—
Kuma was holding Luffy's body.
Using his ability, he had extracted a strange gas from Luffy's body.
Meanwhile—
Usopp, who had been carrying Luffy earlier, had been blasted far away.
"Whoosh—"
"BOOM!!"
He crashed into a distant pile of rubble.
"Usopp!"
"Luffy!!"
"Bastard! What are you doing?!" Zoro roared.
He immediately rushed toward Kuma.
"Don't move."
Seeing Kuma's palm pressed against Luffy's chest, Zoro froze instantly.
He didn't dare take another step.
That Devil Fruit ability was too bizarre.
If Kuma could repel injuries…
Could he also repel someone's organs?
If he blasted Luffy's heart out—
Luffy would die instantly.
"That gas… is Luffy's injury, isn't it?" Jin said slowly.
"What are you trying to do?"
"It is Straw Hat's injury," Kuma replied calmly.
"So that's how you recovered earlier…"
"Correct."
"…What a ridiculous ability," Jin said.
"If you want to save Straw Hat," Kuma continued, looking at Jin,
"then come and take this injury upon yourself."
"What do you mean?"
"If no one accepts the injury within a certain time," Kuma explained,
"it will return to its original owner."
He pointed toward the other mass of gas floating nearby.
"My injury included."
"I'll give you one chance."
"If you want them to live… you must bear both injuries."
Before Kuma could finish—
A massive sword wrapped in Haki suddenly flew through the air toward him.
Kuma instantly released Luffy and leapt away.
"Slash!"
"BOOM!!"
The sword slammed into the ground, blasting a massive crater.
Everyone was stunned.
"What… was that?"
"A sword?" Jin said in surprise.
Where had it come from?
And such a massive one…
The wielder had to be enormous.
Before anyone could figure it out—
Another gigantic shadow flew over.
It landed directly on the strange injury gas.
"Huh?"
"I'm… what…?"
Before the zombie could finish speaking—
His face twisted.
The injury gas was absorbed into his body instantly.
The next moment—
"BOOM!!"
His body bulged grotesquely.
Then exploded.
Fragments scattered everywhere.
"What the hell just happened?!" Aike cried out.
He stared at a giant elephant foot lying near him.
"…Wait," Merry said suddenly.
"Isn't that the General Zombie?"
They had seen it earlier when searching for Hogback.
Just then—
A black shadow flew out of the wreckage.
It shot toward the distance.
As the dust cleared—
A gigantic figure appeared.
"M-Moria?!"
Buckteeth collapsed onto the ground in terror.
They had barely managed to fight Kuma.
Now another Shichibukai had arrived?!
"Jihihihihi!"
"You guys sure fought hard," Moria laughed.
He scanned the battlefield.
The entire area had been devastated.
Even Moria had to admit it.
The Straw Hats were impressive.
After fighting him to the brink of death, they had still pushed Kuma this far.
They had the strength to enter the New World.
If they learned Haki—
Their power would grow tremendously.
While thinking this, Moria casually tossed someone onto the ground.
The returning shadow flew back into that body.
"Eh?!"
"Isn't that Usopp?!"
"Damn it! Why does Moria have Usopp?!"
The Straw Hats glared at him angrily.
"Relax," Moria waved his hand.
"I just borrowed his shadow."
"He's not dead."
After arriving here, he had heard Kuma explaining his ability.
So Moria had dragged the unconscious Usopp over, stolen his shadow, and stuffed it into the corpse of a General Zombie.
Then he threw the zombie onto the injury bubble.
Just as he expected—
The revived zombie counted as a living being under the rules.
It could absorb the injury.
Jin frowned deeply.
The situation was becoming impossible to understand.
First Kuma—who seemed to deliberately give them a chance to survive.
Now Moria—
who had just attacked Kuma.
What exactly…
was going on here?
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