Knowing his enhanced speed wouldn't save him from a severe cut, Luffy dodged to the left. While his superior speed allowed him to move before the cut, it didn't allow him to dodge it completely, and time seemed to slow down before his eyes.
Seeing where the sword would strike, Luffy strained his right shoulder to its limit. Something inside him knew it wouldn't be enough. If he didn't do something, he'd lose his arm! He needed more! Much more! The teenager continued to strain his shoulder harder and harder as the sword descended, internally screaming with effort. He had never pushed his Haki to this point, and he still wasn't sure he could save his arm. Everything he had was focused on hardening his skin. Every ounce of willpower in his body. Absolutely. Everything.
Just as the sword was millimeters from Luffy's skin, a small dark gray, almost black, spot formed and was large enough to block the blade that would have taken his arm, a metallic sound echoing in the air.
The two teenagers locked eyes before their gaze shifted to the dark-haired boy's shoulder, where Zoro's sword was being stopped. The blade had begun to crack at the edge, where it had grazed Luffy's gray haki.
He had finally done it. Even with the exhaustion, Luffy was on top of the world. He had pushed his limits like never before, and the one he should be thanking was the opponent in front of him. "Thank you, Zoro! If I hadn't met you, who knows how long it would have taken me to do that!" exclaimed the straw-hatted teenager before completing his leftward movement, Zoro's sword falling from his shoulder.
The only two reactions from the verdet were confusion and panic. "What the hell is this kid talking about?!" he thought. "How on earth did he do that?! Who was this guy?"
Taking advantage of his opponent's brief distraction, Luffy withdrew his fist for one final blow, closing his eyes and concentrating. He began to recall the feeling he'd experienced with the new form of Armament Haki he'd finally unlocked. He'd seen its defensive capabilities, but now he wanted to see what it could do offensively.
Focusing on his fist, he felt the skin on his four front knuckles harden, just like his shoulder. Without the imminent loss of an arm, Luffy had time to feel the difference between the enhancement and the new form. He could feel his Haki rising up the tops of the bones in his knuckles and the blood surrounding them along with the skin, creating the appearance of gray metal. The sensation was similar to the enhancement, but... more so.
He finally opened his eyes and noticed that only his knuckles felt like metal. He shrugged at the sight and looked up at Zoro. It seemed he had a long way to go. "Well, if you gave it your all, I suppose it would be rude of me not to," he smirked. Luffy had only one last word before lunging forward to deliver a devastating right hook: "Maybe you'd like to block."
With his eyes wide open, Zoro raised his swords at full speed, just in time. His opponent's fist moved faster than he could see. Gray knuckles slammed into the blades, shattering them in his hands; the only one that survived was the one he held in his mouth. However, his face was not spared. Upon impact, the swordsman felt his nose snap as he was sent flying through the air, crashing straight into a tree trunk.
Instead of crashing into it, as anyone would expect, his body ripped through it and pierced it. The verdet's body slammed into several more trees before being stopped by a large rock, which cracked it severely on impact. If it had been anyone else, they probably would have lost their head from the blow, or crashing into the trees and hitting a rock would have shattered their body. Luckily, it was Roronoa Zoro, and, in short, he was strong.
Letting his hardening wear off, Luffy struggled to his feet, unaware of how exhausting using his new weaponry would be. He needed to train. The straw-hatted teenager turned and surveyed the destruction he'd caused, hoping his new crewmate was still alive. Perhaps he should have held back a little?... No, Zoro didn't seem like the type to appreciate that. He relaxed at the sound of a groan coming from where the swordsman had landed. Hoping not to hurt his new crew member too badly, Luffy approached to check on the other teenager. "Hey... Are you alive?" he asked the green-haired boy.
Slowly, Zoro sat down, ignoring the pain. Before answering, he glanced at what remained of the two swords he was holding. "Damn... I'll have to replace them eventually ," he thought, and loosened his grips to pinch his nose. Then he held it to stop the bleeding, glaring at Luffy. "No thanks to you... How the hell are you so strong?!" he demanded, taking off his bandana.
Luffy laughed and thought about how he had gotten to this point: "I've been training practically my whole life. Even coming here is part of my journey to become stronger before I decide to become a pirate!"
Zoro looked at Luffy confused: "So you're not a pirate?"
"No, not yet. I promised my brothers that each of us would embark on our own journey the day I turned seventeen. So, instead of staying in my village and training there for the next year, I thought I'd take a trip around the East Blue and gain some experience at sea," the dark-haired teenager replied.
"As silly as it may seem, it was very clever of him," the verdet thought. "So you're not a pirate yet, but I suppose part of the journey you're on right now is finding crewmates for when you DO leave," he asked.
Luffy's eyes widened at Zoro's question: "THAT'S A GREAT IDEA! WHY WASN'T IT KEPT FROM ME?"
The swordsman could only sweat a little as he looked at the boy. "He might be even more foolish than I thought ." Sighing, he stood up from his seat before addressing the boy he would apparently call his captain in the future: "Listen... I won't let anything stand in the way of my ambition, not even you. I'll join your crew, but... if you ever stand in the way of my dream, I won't hesitate to take you down... for good." Zoro stared intently at Luffy, waiting for his reaction.
"YESSSSS! MY FIRST CREW MEMBER! AND HE'LL BE THE BEST SWORDSMAN IN THE WORLD! THE PIRATE KING DEMANDED NOTHING LESS IN HIS CREW!" shouted the future pirate captain, raising his fist.
Laughing at his future captain's antics, Zoro walked over to where his white-hilted sword had fallen. Fortunately, upon examining it, he found it undamaged and sheathed it. Then he started walking toward the village. After all, he owed Luffy a meal.
"Uhhhhh... Zoro?" asked the black-haired boy.
"What's wrong, Luffy?" replied the green man, somewhat irritated. He was hungry and needed a drink.
"Where are you going?" he asked. "That's definitely NOT the way back to the city."
Zoro froze in place before turning around and walking in the opposite direction, acting as if nothing had happened.
"It's not the right path yet..." Luffy sweated a little.
A mark appeared on Zoro's head as he turned around once more, "I knew it!"
Luffy tried not to laugh, but gave up after realizing that Zoro was heading in the same direction he was originally going.
"What the hell are you laughing at?!" Zoro yelled at Luffy, as the younger boy rolled on the ground.
"I can't help it! You have a terrible sense of direction!" she managed to say between laughs.
The swordsman frowned. "It isn't! The village must have moved or something!"
"Sure, sure, whatever you say!" replied the younger boy, still rolling on the ground. After a second to compose himself, Luffy stood up before telling his new friend that he knew the way back to the village and gestured for him to follow, turning to walk in that direction.
.
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