Although in the game the Rajang species can go anywhere—into the sky and underground—capable of single-handedly chasing down an Elder Dragon and beating it senseless without suffering the slightest injury,
in Sherwin inherited memories, even the most veteran Hunter would always make thorough preparations before every hunt.
As for novice Hunters, the very first lesson they had to learn was how to properly conceal themselves, so as not to accidentally alert monsters they were incapable of dealing with during exploration.
Although the Monster Hunter world has no such thing as Haki, Hunters rely on the various techniques they have mastered to similarly suppress, block, and disrupt their own presence.
And it was precisely on the basis of these concealment techniques used by Hunters that Sherwin developed his own exclusive "Observation-killing."
Additionally, the hunting art Beast Soul Possession, which Sherwin had previously thought was of little use, ended up providing unexpected help in the development of Observation-killing.
Unlike the Beast Soul Possession in the inherited memories and in the game, which is used to strengthen oneself, Sherwin in the world of pirates did not possess any so-called "beast souls."
As a result, even if he used the skill, it amounted to nothing more than possessing emptiness.
But having such a useful skill yet being unable to use it naturally left Sherwin somewhat unwilling to accept it, so he attempted on his own to capture and create beast souls.
Although the inherited memories did not contain a complete method for crafting beast souls, Hunters who had learned Beast Soul Possession more or less had some understanding of this field.
Unfortunately, perhaps because the rules of the two worlds were different, or because the methods Sherwin had grasped still lacked some crucial core steps,
although he successfully produced a vessel for a beast soul, it was completely incapable of housing any "beast soul" within it.
Sherwin originally thought that using Beast Soul Possession under these circumstances would be no different from before, that it would still amount to possessing nothing at all.
However, what Sherwin did not expect was that when he wanted to check where the problem lay and tried activating an "Empty Soul Possession,"
Klee Meow and shermie Meow, who had been accompanying him the whole time, told him that the moment he entered the Beast Soul Possession state, his presence suddenly became obscure.
Although it was far inferior to Rayleigh Observation-killing, it still caused a certain degree of interference to their Observation Haki.
Thus, using Hunter concealment techniques during hunts as the foundation, supplemented by the accidentally tested "Empty Soul Possession," Sherwin successfully developed his own "Observation-killing."
Once this ability was activated, his entire being would enter a state of low presence and drifting, unstable aura, even giving others the peculiar sensation that he was wandering between reality and illusion.
Put another way, in this state, he could give people the illusion of a quantum state, like Schrödinger cat.
So, in a very chuuni fashion, Sherwin gave this state a name—
Monster Hunter Style · Undying Seal Technique!
Mm, at first he really did want to call it something scientific like "Schrödinger Cat" or "Quantum Mimicry,"
but then he suddenly realized that this state was very similar to the theory of the Undying Seal Technique—"not on this shore, not on the other shore, not in between"—so he decisively switched to this name.
Although it was somewhat jarring and very chuuni, still… it was cool!
Besides, he wasn't stupid enough to shout the move name out loud anyway. Wasn't it fine if he just enjoyed it secretly?
And when Sherwin activated the state he had named "Undying Seal Technique," the future seen through Katakuri Observation Haki suddenly became strange.
He could still see what would happen in the future, but in those future scenes, Sherwin figure looked as if an image file had been corrupted, becoming a complete mess.
Katakuri could see himself fighting that mass of existence suspected to be Sherwin, but he could not make out what techniques the opponent used or what effects those techniques had at all.
He could only infer a bit of information by working backward from some of his own reactions in the future images.
But once things reached this point, it became very difficult for Katakuri to react in time, because he also had to divert his attention to deducing what Sherwin would actually do in the future.
Yet by the time he analyzed anything meaningful, Sherwin would already have enough time to land an entire combo on him, making the effort of analysis largely meaningless.
Still, it wasn't that Katakuri Observation Haki had completely failed. At the very least, through the future images, he could still know roughly from which direction Sherwin would attack, and whether he himself would be able to withstand it.
So in the following battle, whenever Katakuri saw a future scene where he was sent flying, he would decisively choose to avoid the clash by using pseudo-elementalization.
As for Sherwin, in order to maintain the state of the "Undying Seal Art," he could not activate Link Time at the same time.
This caused the two sides to fall into a stalemate all at once, turning into a situation where neither could do anything to the other.
As a potion-chugging Hunter, continuing the fight posed no problem for Sherwin at all.
He could even try switching into Link Time at the instant of an attack to catch Katakuri off guard.
However, after thinking for a moment, Sherwin instead chose to proactively shut down the "Undying Seal Art."
After all, his main purpose in fighting Katakuri was to push his Observation Haki to a higher level.
Although this state allowed him to stalemate or even gain the upper hand, it did not provide much help to his Observation Haki…
Since he had already confirmed that he had a way to deal with the situation, at worst he could just reopen the Undying Seal Art if things turned unfavorable.
"Hm?"
Realizing that the future images he was seeing had suddenly become clear again, Katakuri not only failed to feel happy, but became even more vigilant.
Because this Hunter before him had far too many strange and unusual tricks, and he had no idea what kind of stunt the other side was about to pull next.
Right under Katakuri cautious guard…
Sherwin changed weapons.
Since this was going to be a prolonged battle, of course he had to bring out a shield.
After equipping a shield and Sandai Kitetsu, Sherwin hooked his finger at Katakuri. "Come on. Now we start round two."
Although he still did not know what Sherwin was up to, there was no way Katakuri would retreat.
He decisively activated his awakened ability, turning the surrounding ground into thick, sturdy mochi pillars that smashed toward Sherwin.
"Mochi Rain!"
Monster Hunter Style · Red Radiant Meteor!
With the stacking of Aerial Assault Style and demon mode, even if Katakuri attacked the point of Sherwin opening based on the future he foresaw, Sherwin could still react in time.
By coordinating with his shield to block, at the very least there was no major problem with protecting himself.
What more, he still had Link Time as a trump card to deal with sudden situations.
These were precisely the reasons Sherwin dared to stop the Undying Seal Art. Otherwise, he would never ignore Robin safety just for the advancement of his Observation Haki.
Although it wasn't like Luffy, who could fight Katakuri for a short while and cause a qualitative transformation in his Observation Haki, it had to be said that under the pressure of every single strike landing precisely on his weak points, Sherwin Observation Haki did indeed improve quite a bit.
Therefore, even though he had been getting suppressed, Sherwin wasn't flustered at all, continuing to farm experience for his Observation Haki off Katakuri.
However, while Sherwin fought calmly and unhurriedly, Katakuri was growing increasingly anxious.
Unlike him, who had fallen into a stalemate from being treated as a sparring partner, the situation of the other members of the Big Mom Pirates was far from good.
If he couldn't break the deadlock on his side, let alone capturing Nico Robin, they might all end up trapped here.
And moreover…
Having seen what would happen in the near future, Katakuri no longer cared about his stamina consumption.
He frantically created one Unstoppable Donut after another, and in almost an instant, dozens—nearly a hundred—white rings floated around him.
"Huff… huff… huff…"
Releasing so many Unstoppable Donuts at once was a considerable drain even for Katakuri.
However, this was only the beginning. After taking a brief moment to catch his breath, he decisively unleashed his ultimate move.
"Buzzcut Mochi!"
Countless Armament Haki–coated mochi arms stretched out from those donuts. Yet not all of them targeted Sherwin—some split off, smashing toward the Felynes who were fighting the others.
"Damn it!!!"
Sherwin also hadn't expected Katakuri to suddenly turn his attacks toward the Felynes.
He decisively activated Link Time. In that extreme-speed state, he instantly avoided all the mochi arms striking at him and rushed straight in front of Katakuri.
Monster Hunter Style · Secret Art · Crimson Sky Final End!