The aroma of freshly cooked jungle alligator was rich and smoky, but the atmosphere around the campfire was electric. Leo and Luffy, fully recovered, sat side-by-side, playfully arguing over who got the biggest slab of meat.
Luffy had somehow managed to devour an entire leg of the giant alligator in one continuous bite. "Mmm! Delicious! I need to refill my belly immediately!" he mumbled through a mouthful of meat and bone.
"Wait, Luffy, stop! That's the growth piece!" Leo yelled, slapping his hand onto the last remaining shank. "I need this section—it gives me the highest power-to-satiety ratio for my current body state! You've already reached your capacity!"
Luffy stopped chewing, tilting his head with a confused, meaty grin. "Capacity? What's a capacity? Does that mean I can hold more meat?"
"No, it means you're eating purely for maintenance now! Your body's gains are stalling! You're wasting precious energy!" Leo groaned, clutching the meat defensively. "We need to save this for when we're actually pushing our limits tomorrow!"
"Wasting meat is a crime!" Luffy declared, eyes suddenly serious, and he lunged for the shank, forcing Leo to pull it away quickly.
Rayleigh, finishing the last sip of his drink, watched their easy camaraderie with a serene smile. He set the bottle down, and the playful air instantly vanished.
"Alright, you two," Rayleigh said, his voice quiet but commanding. "Instead of arguing over meat, why don't you put that energy into a proper training exercise?"
Luffy was instantly on his feet, grinning wildly. "Yeah! I want to see how strong Leo is!
Leo felt a familiar anxiety clench his stomach. Fight the protagonist? With the broken Devil Fruit? He's the main character! Well, it hasn't awakened yet, but still! the challenge was too tempting, the ambition too ingrained.
Well, it's just training, I will see how far I have come.
Round 1: Protagonist Power
The fight began with explosive speed. Luffy immediately entered Gear Second, his skin turning pink and steam jetting from his body, transforming him into a terrifying blur of rubber flexibility and innate talent.
He was instantly in Leo's face, his fist coated in Armament Haki.
BAM!
Leo was too slow. Luffy's punch connected with his chest, sending a shockwave through his body that defied his defense. Leo skidded backward several feet, spitting dirt.
Too fast! His speed is too high! Leo realized.
Luffy continued his assault, launching a flurry of powerful, Haki-coated strikes. Leo dodged two, three, four, but the fifth slipped past his guard, slamming into his side.
Health: 95/100
Leo gritted his teeth, his arms blackening as he coated both forearms with Armament. He was being completely overwhelmed by sheer speed and power. He's not even thinking! He's just hitting!
Round 2: The Gamer Counter
Luffy backed off for a second, letting Leo catch his breath. That was his mistake.
Leo didn't rush in. He used his Observation Haki to predict the next punch—a sweeping right hook. Leo dropped low, rolled under the punch, and lunged.
Leo coated his Kukri knife in a solid layer of black Haki, aiming for Luffy's unguarded side.
CLANG!
Luffy barely reacted, coating his side just in time. The impact sent a painful vibration up Leo's arm, but it was enough to stagger Luffy.
Now it was Leo's turn to press the attack. He used his superior battlefield awareness, dodging Luffy's wild counters and landing precise, Haki-coated cuts against Luffy's rubber body. The knife found the gaps in Luffy's defense that pure power couldn't.
Leo was using his levels, his strategy, and his Observation Haki perfectly. He was overwhelming the protagonist.
Luffy laughed, rubbing a scrape on his arm. "WOW! You're strong, Leo! You got me!"
Luffy stopped moving entirely, planting his feet. His expression changed, turning serious. Black Haki flowed up his right arm, covering his entire shoulder. He bit his thumb, his face contorting.
"Here it comes," Leo muttered, knowing exactly what was next.
Luffy took a massive breath, his arm suddenly swelling to the size of a giant tree. Gear Third.
"Gomu Gomu no… Gigant Pistol!" Luffy roared, winding up the colossal, black-armored fist. The air screamed as the massive weapon was launched.
Leo knew a simple dodge wouldn't work. The area of effect is too wide, and the speed is too high. He had to meet it. He focused every fiber of his being, channeling all his Armament Haki into the Kukri knife.
He had spent months training one move—a precise, focused counter-attack designed to pierce the center of a large, armored target. He whispered the name of his new ability.
"Execute: Shadow Edge!"
Leo lunged, not trying to punch, but aiming his small, Haki-coated Kukri knife directly at the center of Luffy's giant palm. He focused his Haki not on the surface, but on pushing his will through the target, attempting the early stages of Ryou.
KRAKOOM!
The sound was not a hit, but an explosion. The clash of Haki against Haki, of giant rubber against focused steel, sent a shockwave of compressed air screaming outward. Trees were instantly snapped in half. The very ground shuddered and cracked beneath their feet.
Luffy's massive fist stopped inches from Leo's head. The small, Haki-coated Kukri knife slammed into the massive Gigant Pistol; the impact wasn't a pierce, but a detonation of wills
Then, the materials gave out.
With a final, terrible CRACK, the high-carbon steel of the Kukri knife—the knife that had survived the ambush in New York and the monsters of Rusukaina—shattered into a dozen fragments.
The force of the impact, now unbound, slammed both combatants backward. Luffy's massive arm recoiled, and he deflated instantly, falling backward into the dirt. Leo, propelled by the raw kinetic energy, tumbled over the earth, landing hard and skidding to a painful halt, his breathing ragged.
"STOP!"
Rayleigh's voice, for the first time, was sharp, cutting through the chaos like a knife.
He calmly stepped between the two combatants, surveying the damage. Leo lay on the ground, his body aching, the broken hilt of his Kukri clutched in his hand. Luffy was instantly on his feet, though exhausted, rubbing his giant palm and grinning like an idiot.
Luffy shook his head, his face beaming. "That was amazing, Leo! You almost got me!"
Leo closed his eyes, his breathing shallow. He says I almost got him, but he's already standing and laughing. I'm still behind the main character.
Rayleigh looked at Leo, his eyes filled with profound respect. "That is enough. The fight is over."
Rayleigh sighed, rubbing his chin. "When you arrived here, Leo, you were nothing but a simple boy with a stubborn heart. Your growth in this time has been more monstrous than Luffy's. He has great potential, but you... You have learned to control yourself. You have learned the strategy."
He took away a few fragments of the shattered steel in his hand. "But now," Rayleigh said, his voice lowering to a serious tone, "you need a new weapon."
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