Nameless Deserted Island. Deep in the Primeval Jungle.
BOOM—!!
A pillar of orange-red fire roared forth like an incandescent dragon, tearing through the jungle canopy and vaporizing a thirty-meter-high rock formation into scorched gravel. The resulting heatwave turned the surrounding ferns to ash in an instant.
"The destructive potential is terrifying..."
Sabo stood amidst the cinders, staring at his right arm. It was no longer flesh and bone, but a swirling vortex of living flame. His blue eyes flashed with shock. He had only tried to layer his basic Haki flow into the fire, and the resulting explosion already eclipsed seven years of physical training.
A short distance away, Ace sat cross-legged on a flat boulder.
A massive haunch of roasted lizard meat lay before him, but he wasn't eating. He held his right hand out, palm up. A cluster of pure, crimson-gold fire danced quietly above his skin.
Unlike Sabo's fire, there was no black smoke, no crackling, and no flickering instability. This divine flame was a perfect work of art—noble, silent, and exuding a profundity that made the air itself seem to bow in its presence.
Ace stared at the flame, his mind drawing parallels to a fruit famous in the New World.
Marco the Phoenix. The Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Phoenix.
"Both are avian mythical creatures. Both possess the power of fire and rebirth," Ace mused, a confident smirk touching his lips.
But he understood the fundamental difference. The Phoenix's cyan-blue flames were "Flames of Resurrection." They granted abnormal recovery, but they lacked the searing heat and destructive bite of true fire. That was why Marco, despite being nearly unkillable, often lacked the "finishing move" power to end a fight against top-tier opponents.
His Suzaku form was different.
In ancient mythology, the Suzaku represented the Primordial Li Fire of the South—the true sovereign of all flames.
Ace flicked a spark of the crimson-gold fire toward a jagged obsidian rock.
Hiss—
There was no explosion. The moment the spark touched the stone, the obsidian didn't turn red or melt into lava—it was simply vaporized. In less than a second, the rock vanished into a wisp of white steam.
Ultimate destruction. Absolute healing.
This was the true terror of the Suzaku. It didn't just compensate for the Phoenix's lack of lethality; it pushed the concept of fire to the absolute peak of the world's power system.
"Ace!"
Sabo walked over, de-activating his Logia state. He looked satisfied, if a bit winded. "How was that? I'm still getting used to the 'flow' of the fruit."
"It's a start," Ace said, handing his brother a massive chunk of meat. "How's the body holding up?"
"Strong, but... it's strange." Sabo took a bite, rubbing his right shoulder. "The Logia dispersion is fine, but when I try to coat the flames in Haki, I feel a dull ache here. Probably just old strain from the waterfall training."
Ace's gaze sharpened. He knew exactly what that was. Sabo had pushed himself to the brink for seven years to keep pace with Ace's monstrous growth. Even with the bandits' herbal tonics, subtle micro-tears in the bone marrow and muscle fibers remained—hidden injuries that would eventually become a bottleneck for his Haki development.
"Take off your coat. Turn around," Ace commanded, standing up.
"Huh? Why?" Sabo asked, but he complied instantly, trusting Ace with his life.
Ace stepped forward, his right hand erupting into bright crimson-gold flames.
"Stay still."
He pressed his burning palm directly onto Sabo's scarred shoulder.
"Hiss—!"
Sabo winced, expecting the agony of a third-degree burn. But the pain never came.
Instead, a majestic, gentle warmth seeped through his pores. It felt like sinking into a legendary hot spring. The golden fire wandered through his system, seeking out every micro-tear, every bone-spur, and every lingering inflammation. Under the touch of the Suzaku's "Fire of Rebirth," his cells reorganized at an impossible speed.
Ten seconds later, Ace withdrew his hand.
Sabo rotated his arm, his eyes wide. The chronic heaviness that had plagued his shoulder for years was gone. He felt clear. He felt... perfect.
"You can heal people?" Sabo stared at Ace as if he were a ghost. "Fires destroy things, Ace. They don't fix them!"
"This is the Authority of the Suzaku," Ace said simply. He had just scrubbed Sabo's "low-level flaws" from existence. "As the First Mate of The Eclipse, I can't have you slowing down because of a stiff shoulder."
Ace shouldered his massive machete, his eyes reflecting the dark depths of the jungle.
"We stay here for two more months. No Marine surveillance, plenty of meat. We don't set sail until our Haki and Fruit abilities are perfectly integrated."
"Fine by me," Sabo grinned, gripping his alloy staff. His fighting spirit was now a physical heat.
The next two months were a catastrophe for the nameless island.
The "Eclipse Twins" turned the prehistoric jungle into a private laboratory of destruction. Every day, the earth shook with the roar of fire and the crack of Haki-infused strikes. The ancient beasts that once ruled the island were relegated to "sparring partners" and "dinner."
Sabo's "Fire Fist" began to take on the terrifying scale that would one day make him a legend.
Meanwhile, Ace mastered the transition between his Human, Hybrid, and Full-Beast Suzaku forms. A single sweep of his wing, coated in Haki and high-temperature fire, could turn a cliffside into a sea of molten magma.
By the time they finished, the island's ecosystem was effectively leveled.
On the deck of the Black Eclipse:
"The tests are complete," Ace said, donning a fresh dark-red windbreaker. Standing at the bow, he looked like a force of nature—restrained, suffocatingly powerful, and ready. "The connection between our Haki and our fruits is polished. It's time."
"Where to, Captain?" Sabo adjusted his top hat, his smile sharp.
The anchor rose. The black mainsail caught the wind. The Black Eclipse tore through the fog of the Dead Zone, leaving the ravaged island in its wake.
Ace looked toward the horizon, where a distant smudge of land began to appear.
"First stop... Orange Town."