"Take this! And this! And this!" Luffy pummeled the gorilla, blow after relentless blow. His fists moved like machine guns, unleashing an endless torrent of punches. Each strike felt exhilarating, firing him up even more.
"Hahaha!" he laughed, practically drunk with the thrill. He'd never experienced a fight quite like this before. Fighting felt incredible. Fighting felt… exhilarating.
"Hit, hit, hit! Punch, punch, punch! Smash, smash, smash! Boom, boom, boom!" Luffy's shouts mingled with his laughter as he unleashed his energy. "This is even better than being with a beautiful woman!" he joked, though half-serious. "I never understood the real thrill of battle until now. This—this is wild!"
"Because this… this is intense!" He let out another boisterous laugh, cursing in excitement. It was something from his past life—a brash, almost reckless thrill he hadn't known before.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" He kept landing blow after blow. By now, it was as if he'd forgotten this was only a sparring match. The fight was beginning to feel like a duel to the death, with each strike feeding his satisfaction even more. Oddly, he could feel his Conqueror's Haki gradually strengthening, almost imperceptibly, but undeniably there.
"Hahaha!" Luffy couldn't stop himself, delivering a flurry of punches. But then—suddenly, he felt a warning, a prickling sense of danger. His Conqueror's Haki signaled something unsettling. In that moment, time seemed to freeze. Luffy's eyes widened as he noticed an ominous shift in the gorilla's gaze.
"What… what is this feeling?" The gorilla's eyes appeared to turn an eerie shade of gray, though Luffy couldn't be sure if it was the color or simply the effect of its intense stare. The creature's face looked drained of life, and for a brief, chilling moment, Luffy felt like he was staring into the eyes of death.
"No way… what is that?" His instincts kicked in, and he swiftly withdrew, leaping backward just in time.
"BAM!" The gorilla struck the ground with such fury that the shockwave roared through the air. Had Luffy stayed in range, he'd have been seriously injured—perhaps even killed.
Gasping, Luffy was both shaken and grateful he'd dodged in time. His eyes widened as he took in the gorilla's new, more dangerous presence. It was as if his opponent had transformed from a casual sparring partner to a force on the edge of breaking loose.
Activating his Conqueror's Haki again, Luffy examined the gorilla's consciousness. The change was obvious—the gorilla's previous relaxed state was gone, replaced by an intense focus, stretched to a breaking point. Luffy's quick thinking pieced it together: he had provoked the gorilla's rage. This was no longer a practice match; the beast had been pushed into a frenzy.
The gorilla's eyes gleamed red, almost like it was in some primal, bloodthirsty mode. Luffy could sense it now—this wasn't just fighting; it was a true clash. There was a lesson here, he realized. When someone was pushed to their limit, their intent and strength would transform, surging forward with a new intensity. For a gorilla, it meant a berserk rage. For a human, it was the serious resolve to fight with everything they had.
Luffy nodded to himself, a grin creeping onto his face. Up until now, his opponent hadn't been using its full strength.
The gorilla's strength, after all, was on an entirely different level—easily in the billions. Now, though, it was done holding back. It unleashed its full power in one explosive burst.
"Alright!" Luffy nodded, sensing the gorilla's serious intent through his heightened awareness. When his opponent was restraining their power, he could feel that lingering restraint in their consciousness. But now, every ounce of the gorilla's energy was focused, with no hesitation in sight. This ability to gauge his opponent's mindset was proving immensely helpful, and Luffy couldn't help but feel it was a perfect advantage.
"ROAR!" The gorilla let out a deafening bellow, and the sheer force of it washed over Luffy like a massive wave of air pressure. He felt the warning alarms of danger going off within him.
Without even thinking, Luffy dodged sideways—just in time, as the gorilla lunged at him with speed that defied belief. The massive creature seemed to move like lightning, shooting forward as if it were a cannonball—and possibly even faster.
"What the—?" Luffy could feel its gaze locked onto him, even as he dodged, like a predator stalking its prey. Despite moving out of the gorilla's direct path, a chill ran down his spine, and he couldn't shake the feeling that it would still somehow strike him.
"Uh-oh!" Luffy's intuition screamed at him to brace himself. With that monstrous speed and ferocity, it was clear the gorilla had been pushed past its limits and was now attacking with everything it had.
"SLAP!" The gorilla's enormous hand managed to connect with his arm, catching him mid-movement. A sharp crack echoed as Luffy was thrown backward, tumbling across the ground with a less-than-dignified thud.
"Aaagh!" He winced in pain, but his body had already adapted to the sensation. Over time, he'd grown used to this, and the sharp pangs of agony were more familiar than fear-inducing. Luffy staggered back to his feet, holding his left arm, which was likely injured and temporarily out of commission. He sighed in relief, though, knowing that had his instincts not kicked in when they did, he'd be in far worse shape—or even dead.
In the distance, Rayleigh, the Dark King, observed with calm detachment. Although his observational Haki was active, he refrained from intervening. He'd become wiser about such things; it was the very reason he had his Haki active—to prevent another incident like last time, where Luffy had gotten hurt by surprise.
When Rayleigh sensed the gorilla's rage and saw the explosive force of its attack, he quickly assessed that Luffy's life wasn't in danger, only that he'd been injured. This was Luffy's training, after all, and getting a little banged up was part of the process. If he stepped in each time, it would only hinder Luffy's growth. On another level, Rayleigh felt a strange, almost indefinable shift in his perception of Luffy since he'd lost his mythical powers.
"Funny," he thought aloud. "There's something different now."
For Rayleigh, and even for Red-Haired Shanks, the idea of Luffy being the one to rewrite history was partly based on his potential as a wielder of the legendary Nika power. That was the true hope of those like him. Without it, though… Luffy was still an outstanding, promising youth. Perhaps exceptionally gifted, with endless potential, yet Rayleigh knew there were plenty of capable and talented young fighters in the world. And when he thought of the greats, Red-Haired Shanks alone was a once-in-a-century prodigy, rivaling even Roger.
Shaking his head, Rayleigh brushed aside these thoughts. Luffy was still, even now, someone worth admiring, power or no power. Rayleigh had resolved to keep him safe regardless.
"Though," he murmured, "Luffy, maybe you're not the chosen one we all thought. But that doesn't mean you can't forge your own future. You're someone worth betting on."
Rayleigh knew that, with or without the fruit, Luffy had potential that couldn't be ignored. Watching him now, the Dark King felt a fond respect toward his pupil, even as the gorilla's rage flared up again.
"ROAR!" The beast hammered its chest with fury, its red eyes blazing with pure aggression, leaving Luffy stunned in place.
"Aw, crap!" With his injuries beginning to set in, Luffy knew that pushing the fight further could spell serious trouble. "I can't keep this up," he muttered, realizing his opponent was far from backing down. The gorilla was a juggernaut, and in its blind fury, it would show no mercy.
The ground trembled as the gorilla charged, each step a mini-earthquake. Luffy wobbled, struggling to keep his footing as he cursed under his breath.
"Darn it! I messed up!" he called out, half-hoping the gorilla might actually hear him. "I didn't mean to make you mad! I forgot we were just sparring!" But his words fell on deaf ears. The creature was far too deep in its fury to pay any attention.
After all, it was Luffy who had broken the rules first. He'd forgotten this was only practice and gotten carried away with the thrill. And now, he was paying the price for that impulsiveness. It was a lesson, he realized, but one that came painfully.
"Guess I'll have to go all in!" Gritting his teeth, Luffy's gaze hardened, focusing squarely on the gorilla as he prepared for a final stand. He had one last card to play, and he'd bank it all on his Conqueror's Haki.
With a determined glare, he unleashed his Haki, the invisible force radiating out and blanketing his opponent. The last time he'd tried this, his Haki was far weaker. But now, after countless battles and hours of training, it had reached a new level of strength. He poured all of his energy into it, hoping it would be enough.
From a distance, Rayleigh felt the sudden pulse of Haki and gasped in surprise. Luffy's Haki had a complexity, an almost foreign energy to it. This wasn't just regular Haki—it was something that even Rayleigh couldn't fully comprehend.
"What's going on?" he muttered, both puzzled and intrigued.
The gorilla, mid-charge, faltered, its body freezing as it staggered under the pressure of Luffy's Haki. Its expression went blank, as if stunned, its rage momentarily replaced by confusion. In that instant, it seemed to feel as though its very mind were under assault, a sensation as if something had exploded within its skull.
Gradually, the bloodthirsty look faded from the gorilla's eyes, replaced by its usual, calm clarity. Luffy's Haki had overpowered the creature's mind, snapping it out of its frenzy. The gorilla finally stilled, letting out a deep breath, and looked at Luffy with a newfound calm.
For now, at least, the battle was over.
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T/N:
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