Luffy slowly lowered his hands and gently wrapped them around his brother's neck. "What does that mean?" He was already strong for a seven-year-old. He was still trying to understand all the improvements he'd learned, but he was really good with Conqueror's Haki! Shanks had said so! He'd already used it to befriend Levi! Well, he'd said it was Leviathan, but that was too long for the youngster, so Luffy decided to call the beast Levi.
"You always ask me how I knock everything down in one hit! Even the biggest animals! I want to show you! It's a brilliant idea I got from reading some books!" Sabo exclaimed excitedly.
Luffy looked at his brother with the same curiosity and enthusiasm. Being able to knock things down with a single punch sounded amazing.
"It's not completely finished yet, so I haven't quite figured it out, but I still want to show it to you," the ten-year-old finished, smiling at his brother who was still hanging on his back.
"Fine, I'll watch! I guess that sounds great... but only if you give me back my meat!" Luffy shouted. No way was he going to let Sabo have his snack! It was his!
Sabo laughed as his little brother climbed off his shoulders and turned to give Luffy back his snack. "Always with the food! You're amazing, Luffy!" He took his little brother's hand, the one without meat, and pulled him toward a stream where he'd found a rock to practice on.
It was the perfect place to show off his new move. Well, the beginning of a new move. He hadn't given it a name yet, and he didn't like hitting, so it was something he'd probably change. But he was proud of what he'd done so far, and since he was ten, he wanted to brag a little to his little brother.
Luffy followed Sabo to the stream and sat on the bank with his feet in the water, enjoying the rest of his snack. However, he kept an eye on his brother; Sabo would probably get angry if he didn't. He watched as the older brother approached a large rock on the bank of the stream. It was probably five or six times bigger than the blond boy.
Sabo closed his eyes and rested his fist on the rock, his arm outstretched. "Sometimes, Luffy, breaking something isn't about how hard you hit it... but where you hit it," the older boy said enigmatically.
"Don't confuse me, Sabo!" Luffy groaned. He knew his brother was going to use complicated words. He hated it when he did.
The older boy just laughed, "Good, good." He took his fist away from the rock and opened his eyes, smiling, "I'll show you, what do you think?"
Luffy nodded enthusiastically and continued watching.
Sabo turned toward the rock, closed his eyes again, and withdrew his arm, his fist clenched. Without opening them, he thrust his hand forward and drove it up to his wrist into the stone. There was a moment before fine cracks spread from the point of impact across the rock. The blond boy slowly withdrew his hand, frowning as he studied the hole he had created.
Luffy watched with boredom. He thought his brother would have done something cooler with the way he was asking him to teach him. Just as the younger boy was about to yell at his brother for wasting his time, the rock began to vibrate. The cracks extending from Sabo's fist slowly widened until the rock crashed to the ground with a loud crash, becoming a pile of rubble. Luffy's eyes lit up as he ran toward his older brother. "How the heck did you do that?! Can you teach me?!" he shouted excitedly. He really wanted to. Sabo had made the entire rock collapse with a single punch!
The frown vanished from Sabo's face, and he smiled at his excited little brother. "It's not finished yet. It's supposed to be stronger and faster than that." He sighed. "Well, I'll figure it out later... though I don't really think it's a fist," the blond boy said, staring at his hand. "Besides, it needs a cool name! Something like... Crab Claw!" he shouted. He snapped his hands like claws at his brother before pausing to think. "You know what, I'll figure it out later." It didn't sound so bad, actually. At least the claw part wasn't.
Luffy burst out laughing: "What nonsense, Sabo! Crab Claw!"
The blond boy gazed at his little brother with affection. He loved it when he laughed. It was contagious. "Let's just say it's a work in progress. But like I said, it's definitely not supposed to be a fist," he said, looking at his hand curiously once more.
"What do you mean?" Luffy asked as his laughter faded.
Sabo kept staring at his hand. "Well, it's a little hard to explain, but it doesn't seem quite right to me. I think it should be a palm or something," he finally replied.
"A palm strike?" Luffy asked. "What would a palm strike be a good attack?"
The older boy shook his head and smiled. His little brother probably wouldn't understand; he was too direct. "It doesn't matter, that's not the point. I just wanted to show you how to do this much," he said, pointing to the rock fragments. "Okay, listen carefully, and we can practice later, shall we?"
"Sounds good!" Luffy shouted, jumping to his feet and pumping his fists. He wished he could do that!
"Alright Luffy, now I'm going to teach you about cores!" Sabo said excitedly; he loved talking about this kind of thing.
"Nuclei?" the seven-year-old boy asked curiously.
Yes! I believe that if you can destroy a core, you can destroy anything.
Luffy extended his hand in a dive, the memory still echoing in his mind. At the time, he hadn't been able to grasp it and had relegated the lesson to the back burner, only to forget it with age. But he had remembered, and perhaps it was time to try again. The wolf was weakened and dazed from the recent attacks, and there was no better opportunity than the one before him. He was going to give it his all. As he fell, the boy began to exert himself, hardening his body with all his spirit and will. If he had to describe the sensation, it would be like flexing a muscle to the point of tearing. It was almost too much... Perhaps it was too much...
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