Robin had joined Kaito Arisawa after Mangu.
Because she was a Devil Fruit user, Kaito not only made her his chief steward but also personally supervised her combat training with great care.
Although Robin was older than Kaito and had been fighting for survival since childhood, she had never devoted much of her energy to systematic strength training. In the beginning, during their sparring sessions, Kaito could defeat her with relative ease.
But that gradually changed.
Under Kaito's guidance and increasingly intense training, Robin's growth became evident.
From winning effortlessly, Kaito found himself needing more time to defeat her. The fights became harder. The gap narrowed.
By the last year, they were often evenly matched. Sometimes Kaito won. Sometimes Robin did. And when he did win, it was often because his stamina gave him the edge.
For Kaito, this development brought both satisfaction and pressure.
He was pleased because Robin had grown stronger. After Mangu, he now had another formidable combatant at his side.
But he also felt pressure.
Deep down, he did not want to rely on his subordinates to carry the battlefield. He wanted to be the strongest himself.
He would never suppress Mangu or Robin to preserve his pride. That was not his style.
But under that silent pressure, he pushed himself harder than ever.
Losing to someone like Mangu—an extraordinary talent born with monstrous strength—was acceptable.
Losing to a woman?
Even if she was a Devil Fruit user, even if she was exceptional… that would sting.
Some things, however, do not bend simply to effort.
Robin's talent did not lie solely in management and intellect. Once properly guided, her potential in combat blossomed at astonishing speed.
That was why, at this point, her strength was no weaker than in the original timeline two years later.
As for Kaito—
Since the day Robin could fight him to a draw, he had vaguely sensed something.
Over the past year, although he secretly intensified his own training, Robin's improvement had seemed… strangely measured.
Her growth slowed just enough to match his.
According to his observations, she was not slacking. But coincidentally, her rate of improvement aligned almost perfectly with his own.
Heh.
A smart woman not only has high IQ, but high EQ as well.
Watching Robin unleash her full power against the Marines now, Kaito immediately confirmed his suspicion.
She had indeed been holding back during their sparring sessions.
He could easily guess why.
Nothing complicated.
She had been protecting his pride.
What a considerate woman. Now I feel a little embarrassed…
Kaito ran a hand through his hair, his gaze drifting briefly.
He did have a bit of machismo, after all.
As the captain and leader, he had to maintain authority in front of his men. If he could not project strength and dominance, how could he command a pack of wolves?
"Six Styles: Shave!"
A Marine Commodore was still a Marine Commodore.
Even in the Four Seas, that rank meant he was a branch commander—no weakling.
After narrowly avoiding Robin's giant palms, the Commodore quickly scanned the battlefield, searching for the source of the Devil Fruit ability.
His eyes locked onto Kaito and Robin standing at the periphery of the battlefield.
In an instant, his legs kicked against the ground dozens of times. The explosive force propelled him forward at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
He shot toward them like a bullet.
So fast!
Robin's eyes sharpened the moment she noticed him.
"Six Bloom: Twist!"
Maintaining her arms crossed before her chest, she captured his movement and activated her ability.
Six arms burst forth from the rapidly advancing Commodore's body. They grabbed his limbs and neck simultaneously, twisting with joint-lock precision.
Plop!
The sudden restraint disrupted his momentum. He stumbled and crashed to the ground, face flushing red as he struggled violently against the twisting force.
Damn it! Don't think this is enough to beat me!
The fact that he had mastered the Six Styles was proof of his physical strength. Only those with superior bodies could even begin to learn them.
Robin's combat style relied heavily on the development of the Flower-Flower Fruit.
Compared to the Commodore, her raw physical strength was still inferior.
The strength of the manifested arms depended entirely on her own physical foundation.
Six arms alone were not enough to completely suppress him.
With a roar, the Commodore forced his way free. The six arms fractured under the strain and dissolved into drifting petals.
Pain shot through Robin's body.
She frowned slightly—but did not retreat.
In her sparring sessions with Kaito, injuries were routine. Minor pain was nothing.
Without hesitation, she launched another attack.
"Dazzling Hundred Blossoms: Giant Tree!"
Even while fighting the Commodore, Robin had not stopped attacking the surrounding Marines.
However, her "Colossal Bloom" technique consumed enormous stamina. With her current physical limits, she could only use variations of the "Dazzling Hundred Blossoms" technique.
But even that was devastating.
Behind the Commodore, a massive arm erupted from the ground.
It clenched into a fist.
Like the strike of a titan, it descended mercilessly from above.
Not good!!
The Commodore, who had just regained his footing, sensed the shadow looming behind him. His expression changed drastically.
He tried to use Shave again to evade—
But just as he moved, he felt a sudden tug at his feet.
Arms had sprouted from the ground, gripping his ankles.
For a split second, his movement faltered.
And that was enough.
Boom!!!
The colossal fist crashed down.
The earth shattered under the impact. Dust and debris exploded outward in a violent shockwave.
The Commodore was driven straight into the ground like a nail struck by a hammer.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the street. The surrounding Marines were thrown backward by the aftershock.
When the dust settled, the Commodore lay embedded in a crater, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
He was not dead.
But he was no longer standing.
Robin lowered her arms slowly, breathing slightly heavier.
Her gaze remained cold.
The battlefield had shifted.
And for the first time, the Marines understood—
This was not a simple pirate crew.
This was a force led by monsters.
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