Chapter 287 : Dragon [3]
He snapped his head toward where the Sunny was heading, his usual joyous mood and big smile for a few seconds frozen as he felt something inside his heart. A feeling which he had only felt once, like it was a dream.
"What happened, Luffy? Did you see something?" Usopp, fishing on the side, asked as he saw his captain suddenly act different.
They had just recently defeated one of the 7 Warlords of the Sea. The fight against Doflamingo was beyond anything Usopp had experienced before, even more dangerous compared to when they entered Enies Lobby two years ago.
It still gave him shivers thinking about what had happened in the last few days. That Doflamingo was a scary dude. However, finally everything was over; they were out of Dressrosa now, and none of the Marines were chasing them down either.
Now they only wished to reunite with the rest of the Straw Hats who had departed to the next island before them due to Big Mom's Pirates' interference.
"I... felt something. Something strange." Luffy blinked, not knowing what that feeling was, but still smiled nonetheless.
"Strange? Like what what?" Usopp asked in confusion.
"Like drums were playing." Luffy's smile got bigger.
---
Dum Dum...
Dum Dum...
Kaido stopped mid-air, his fire breath left forgotten in his mouth as he assessed where this sound came from. His Observation Haki surged forth and quickly found one figure among all those ants running around on top of that big elephant.
Strange thing, this particular ant wasn't running, but rather glaring at him. And as he stood, almost visible shockwaves rippled out of him with each beat, distorting the very space itself.
The running Mink Tribe people all but paused as this beat started, earlier terror of the death literally looming on top of their heads forgotten.
Almost immediately, they felt lightheaded, like a stronger pressure had fallen on top of them. Like heaven itself was descending down on them.
"What is this? Conqueror's?" Inuarashi and a few in the Mink Tribe held the knowledge of the outside world enough to know what this power could be. However, they were wrong; this wasn't Conqueror's.
Ace, the only other Conqueror Haki user besides Kaido himself in that place, could instantly verify. However, that didn't mean that this was not just as much a deterrent in this situation.
Heart palpitations to heightened blood pressure were the result of this sound of heartbeats which almost rang unrestrained in Mokomo.
Ace remembered this beat well. He had only experienced this two times. While the second was nothing but a flash which was gone before he could tell otherwise, the first time was so inevitably remarkable that he could never forget it.
That was the day that boy, much younger than him and even Luffy, stood against all three Admirals and even almost sank Marineford himself.
Hell, Ace doubted that that old man Garp shot and did it first so that the Marines could save some face.
A smile came to his face. He was much stronger than before, strong enough to handle even an Emperor's deputy, but not an Emperor. He was worried about how to salvage this situation, but now he was looking forward to this.
Maki was the same. She knew about this beat more than anything, and yet that bastard Yuta hadn't told her yet how it works. An irritable look was plastered on her face.
However, not everyone was like her and Ace. Those who didn't know better, that this was not yet another terrifying enemy or just outright weren't strong-willed enough to stand up to the might of King's Engine, were shaking from scalp to boot. Even Straw Hats were not different in this case. The only thing stopping them from completely falling unconscious like how real Conqueror's Haki affects people, is that these beats were restrained, more used to power up and not for suppression. And it was intended keenly at one person.
"Ahhh..." Another voice, more like a scream, tore through the silence as Momonosuke let out another scream as the entire island all but shook like it heard his screams.
"Don't shout in my ears..." He shouted back with irritation. "And what you mean it's different?" Momonosuke asked with confusion.
No one knew what he was talking about and to whom, but the reply came, and again he was the only one who could listen to it.
"IT'S DIFFERENT, THIS WASN'T WHAT IT WAS BACK THEN, COULD IT BE? IS HE HIM?"
"Him who?" Momonosuke asked with more confusion, further blocking his ears to stop this ear-shattering sound. He might have to wear earplugs to talk with this elephant from now on.
"CAN YOU HEAR THIS? IS THIS WHAT I THINK IT IS?"
"What? Speak clearly and stop shouting. What are you hearing?" Momonosuke asked aback, and suddenly there was no reply.
And then... Light came back to Zunesha's eyes for the first time in the last 800 years.
"Joy Boy.....
Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum...
Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum....
The sea itself started to rise. It felt like the sky darkened at that time and from nowhere came the voice of the owner of this magnificent heartbeat.
"Don't you underestimate me...."
Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum... The beats intensified.
"I haven't been whooping my arse for a year, training day in and day out for nothing." He said and reached out for his scarf. By now everyone's eyes were on him. Half expectations and half of them contained fear.
He tugged his scarf and let it loose. However, instead of falling down, it floated up, still half-tugged in under his arms. It formed an arc in the air above him like some kind of deity had descended.
Power oozed out of him, leaking out, painting his hair golden and his eyes became crimson as three tomoe merged together to make a completely different pattern altogether.
"It's time to see how much stronger I have become." Yuta grinned as a powerful shockwave shook the area around him, separating him from the rest.
Kaido, up in the air by now, had spotted Yuta and even recognized him. However, at this time, his image in front of him contrasted with another one which he had been chasing for so long.
"You're the one who killed Jack. You'll pay for that, brat." shouted Kaido as he once again started to charge his fire breath. His earlier relaxed attitude was gone, as an aura of the strongest powerhouse on this sea surged around him.
"Yuta," Maki on the side shouted. She herself wasn't sure whether Yuta could fight that monster. While time and time again this boy had subverted her views on strength, that dragon was another monster altogether.
Yuta didn't even look back at her. Now he only had Kaido in his eyes. A bigger smile started to form on his face.
He bent down, muscles swelled around his legs as an equally swelled grin on his face was telling his mood.
*Boom.
A crashing sound erupted from where he was before he wasn't. Now only a crater of sizable size was left behind. A shockwave pushed others backwards as Yuta all but vanished.
Kaido was ready to incinerate the boy and the entirety of Mokomo Kingdom together when his Observation Haki rang out in danger.
His eyes widened to comical levels when the golden-haired kid who was giving him a dangerous feeling all but vanished from his place, only to appear right in front of him.
"What, how?" He didn't see anything. It was like the boy teleported.
"Time Skip," Yuta grinned.
Making a fist, he was right in front of Kaido's head.
"I have been training hard for the last year. I might not be as good in Haki as Maki and Ace, but every bit of it mattered, and let me show you how."
With that said, a black coating of Armament Haki covered Yuta's hand before more powerful golden lightning flickered around him.
"With Armament, I can exert more ROFA power without making my limbs get torn apart. While due to the binding vow made to combine Reverse Curse Energy and One For All, I still can't exert more than 50% of OFA as it gets limited there.
However... I have mastered up to 50% of ROFA with Haki's help. And now put another 50% buff on top of that with King's Engine." If it was possible, Yuta's smile got bigger than before.
"ROFA Shock Overdrive... 75"
xxx
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