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“I haven’t eaten any Devil Fruit.”
Shin told Whitebeard plainly.
“You haven’t eaten any Devil Fruit?”
Whitebeard wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Honestly, he was skeptical of Shin’s claim, or rather, he didn’t believe it at all.
“If you don’t want to talk, then let’s continue the fight.”
Whitebeard didn’t press further. What he wanted now was a thrilling battle. Whitebeard was a battle enthusiast, but his immense strength meant he rarely found a worthy opponent. But now, he had one.
Shin’s strength was beyond his imagination, but even so, Whitebeard felt no fear.
“<Quake Punch!>”
A white, spherical halo of energy formed around Whitebeard’s fist as he threw a punch at Shin.
Anything struck by Whitebeard’s fist would be shattered. However, Whitebeard had to actually hit his target. As he swung, Shin had already appeared behind him.
The Kusanagi Blade unsheathed, flashing like a stream of light, and slashed across Whitebeard’s massive back.
Blood gushed out, and Whitebeard was sent flying by the force of the blow. Most would have lost the ability to fight after such an attack, but Whitebeard was no weakling—he possessed monstrous vitality.
In the original story, even in his old age, after Akainu had damaged half his face, he still hadn’t died. He could even continue to fight and thrash Blackbeard.
And now, Whitebeard was still in his prime, his strength at its peak. His endurance was naturally even greater.
Getting up again, Whitebeard’s expression didn’t change, as if the wound on his back was nothing.
The Naginata, Murakumogiri, was back in his hand. As Shin had sent him flying, Whitebeard had managed to retrieve his weapon. Murakumogiri—as a Supreme Grade Sword—could withstand the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit without shattering.
Whitebeard held his Naginata and rushed towards Shin. Despite his large size, Whitebeard’s speed was incredible.
Even without using techniques like the Six Powers for explosive speed, Whitebeard’s own explosive power was immense.
With a single step, the ground cracked. In the blink of an eye, Whitebeard was upon him. His Naginata descended with the force of a mountain cleaver, slashing towards Shin.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The sound of steel clashing rang out. Murakumogiri and the Kusanagi Blade collided. In terms of weaponry, Shin should have been at a disadvantage.
But Shin, holding his sword with one hand, blocked Whitebeard’s full-power attack.
————
“It’s hard to imagine what kind of incredible power is hidden in that body of yours.”
Whitebeard looked at Shin, stunned by his strength. He was born with immense strength. He had never lost in a contest of strength before—but this time, he truly had…
“I don’t know how strong I am either.”
Shin spoke the truth, then with a powerful swing, he pushed Whitebeard’s Naginata aside and swung his own sword straight at Whitebeard.
Whitebeard’s reaction was also extremely fast. He quickly used Murakumogiri to block in front of him. Though he was sent flying again by Shin’s slash, his injuries weren’t as severe.
“This is the first time I’ve suffered such a huge loss.”
Whitebeard got up, his gaze fixed on Shin.
He had many enemies in his life, but no matter who they were, none had ever gained an advantage over him. He had fought Roger, Shiki the Golden Lion, and the Marine Hero Garp, but he had never suffered a loss.
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“I think our fight can end now.” Shin said to Whitebeard.
“What do you mean?”
Whitebeard, who was about to continue the fight, was stunned by Shin’s words and forgot to act.
“We have no grudge. To me, this was just a spar. So let’s end it here.”
Shin had no interest in continuing the fight. Whitebeard was no match for him. If Shin had gone all out, Whitebeard would be dead by now.
Whitebeard nodded. He wasn’t an unreasonable person. If the fight continued, he would likely die. He couldn’t die yet. He was worried about his sons. They were still fledglings.
“This time, I lost. Thank you, Shin boy, for holding back.” Whitebeard said to Shin.
“Well, I think the sea would be a bit dull without you old geezers from a bygone era.”
Shin smiled faintly and said to Whitebeard.
“Old geezers from a bygone era?” Whitebeard was stunned for a moment upon hearing this.
“GURARARARA! Shin boy, you’re not wrong.”
Whitebeard didn’t get angry but instead laughed heartily.
If anyone else had said that, Whitebeard would definitely have been angry and let them know the strength of an old geezer from a bygone era.
But since it was Shin who said it, it was a different matter. Shin’s strength had earned Whitebeard’s recognition, so Whitebeard didn’t mind him saying so.
“An old geezer’s strength also improves. I’ll keep up with this era. I hope you won’t be defeated by this old geezer.”
Whitebeard clenched his fists and said to Shin.
At this moment, Whitebeard wasn’t the old man of the future. He still had a competitive spirit. Though he had been defeated by Shin this time, Whitebeard didn’t want to give up.
Shin shook his head slightly. Whitebeard’s strength had already reached its peak. It was basically impossible to improve.
In fact, let alone improving, maintaining his current state was the best he could hope for. The peak period was from forty to sixty years old. After sixty, unless one had no hidden injuries from the past, their strength would slowly begin to decline.
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“System, use one Divine Replication Card to copy Whitebeard’s Powers.”
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Shin instructed the System. He hadn’t forgotten his other purpose for finding Whitebeard.
In fact, this purpose was the most important. He copied the power of Whitebeard’s Tremor-Tremor Fruit—and even Whitebeard’s other strengths were also copied.
Shin clenched his fists.
At this moment, his fists were wrapped in Armament Haki, but it was completely invisible.
This was Whitebeard’s Armament Haki. It looked as if there was nothing, but in fact, it was covered by Armament Haki.
He had copied not just the ability of Whitebeard’s Tremor-Tremor Fruit, but also Whitebeard’s other strengths with one Divine Replication Card.
Shin was very satisfied with the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. Though he hadn’t used it yet, Shin felt he could overturn the entire sky and sea.
He had copied Whitebeard’s Tremor-Tremor Fruit, so his current level of development of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was also Whitebeard’s.
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Shin and Whitebeard went back together.
When they walked out of the shattered island, the crew of the Whitebeard Pirates were stunned.
What did they see? In their minds, their invincible Pops—the man who would never be defeated by anyone, was actually injured?
And looking at the injuries on his body, they were very severe.
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