Charging time: One hour.
When Klein felt he could no longer build up any more power, red light burst from his eyes.
The wooden floor beneath him cracked apart, and the entire Marine warship trembled violently from the power radiating off his body.
The disturbance was so great, everyone aboard felt like they were caught in a tsunami.
The deck broke into chaos.
"Th-the ship's shaking?!"
"What's going on?!"
"It seems... it's coming from Lord Klein's room!"
"..."
Many had no idea what was happening, but Gloriosa and Shakky were women who had mastered Kenbunshoku Haki.
With just a bit of focus—
—they immediately sensed a terrifying surge of energy spreading out from Klein's room.
Beneath the warship—
—the sea visibly rippled, wave after wave expanding out into the distance.
Gloriosa's eyes held a trace of panic. "W-What in the world is he doing?!"
"I can feel it… such terrifying power..." Shakky's temples were beaded with sweat, a trace of fear flickering in her beautiful eyes. "We have to make Klein stop, or the whole ship might come apart!"
The next second—
Zzz—Zzz—!
Crimson-black lightning crackled out of the room. Marines and female warriors who couldn't withstand the Conqueror's Haki dropped unconscious where they stood.
Gloriosa's pupils dilated. She looked nervous. "Should we go check on him?"
"Training is one thing, but this is insane. The ship's about to fall apart!" Shakky noticed the deck beneath her feet beginning to splinter.
Her face was filled with shock.
Inside the room—
Klein launched a punch.
'King's Fist!'
A devastating shockwave burst from his fist, forming an enormous beam of compressed air and light.
CRACK—CRACK—
The room's walls instantly shattered. Directly in front of the shockwave, a scroll fluttered in the fierce wind, absorbing the force of King's Fist.
Splintered wood spun through the wind.
Os, Gloriosa, and Shakky arrived at the door, but there was no need to open it—nothing blocked their view anymore.
They saw it with their own eyes—an overwhelming shockwave being absorbed into the scroll, its dazzling brilliance vanishing the moment it touched it.
"What… is that?" Os's eyes were wide, filled with disbelief.
Gloriosa stood stunned, her hair whipping in the wind. "That scroll... it actually blocked Klein-sama's attack?!"
"No—!"
"It's more like... it's absorbing the energy!"
Unbelievable.
Even standing ten meters away, she could feel the terrifying force of that blast.
Compared to that shocking slash from before—
—it was no less powerful.
Perhaps even more violent. More savage.
She felt that if she had taken that hit head-on, she would've been obliterated on the spot!
Shakky couldn't make sense of it with any knowledge she had. "I don't know what Klein-sama is doing, but this power... it's no longer human."
[Loyalty +2+1]
[Affection +2+1]
[Affection +2+1]
System prompts rang out. Klein withdrew his fist. The surrounding light faded, and the black-red lightning vanished instantly without a trace.
Even the wind stopped.
The scroll fell to the floor with a soft plop. Klein walked forward and picked it up. The surface was covered in strange, messy "doodles."
And at the top of the opened scroll, a title was written:
[S-Rank Ninjutsu: King's Fist!]
'If you're doing a massage, do the full set. If you're putting on a play, commit to the role.'
Naturally, this knock-off ninjutsu scroll had to look the part.
A bright smile spread across his face. "Well, it was a bit loud. Next time, I won't do this on the ship."
"Klein-sensei, what exactly are you doing?" Os asked, staring curiously at the scroll in his hand.
"Ninjutsu?!" Shakky's eyes widened at the sight of the scroll. "It does look like some kind of ninja technique… but Klein-sama's not a ninja, is he?"
Her long lashes fluttered like butterfly wings. Just a moment ago, everyone clearly saw it—an enormous shockwave, launched with a bare fist.
"If I say it's ninjutsu, then it's ninjutsu." Klein chuckled. "This thing's a real treasure. You'll see just how useful it is in the future."
"It's destined to become a nightmare burned into the hearts of pirates!"
"They'll tremble at the mere mention of 'ninjutsu'!"
This was his very first ninjutsu scroll.
And inside, Klein was overjoyed.
'Logia fruits… I can make scrolls for every element with these.'
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique!"
... …
'And mine are way more high-end than the ones where they blow on it with their mouth in Naruto.'
The ninjas from Wano...
Pathetic.
A real ninja—
That would be me, Moretti Klein, a man who can do it all!
Praise the Fool.
Yeah!
Gloriosa frowned deeply. She didn't know what Klein's goal was with all this, but it clearly wasn't simple.
There had to be something deeper behind it.
She just couldn't figure it out.
Soon, the warship arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago.
Klein roamed the island while wiping out pirates and bulk-buying materials to craft more ninjutsu scrolls.
At night, he'd quietly fly away using his Devil Fruit power, heading for uninhabited islands.
To maximize each attack's power, he even swapped out his innate Kenbunshoku ability in favor of Giant's Strength during scroll creation.
Divine Evasion!
Basic Punch!
King's Fist!
Meteor Volcano!
Great Flame Commandment!
Fire Fist!
Flame Ring: Flame Emperor!
Darkness Star(Yami Yami no Mi)
Mist World(Smoke-Smoke Fruit)
Undying Thistle!
Seawater! (Just plain water. Very watery.)
…
Among them was also a massive dose of blue flames from the Phoenix Fruit.
If he was already cheating, learning a healing technique seemed perfectly reasonable, right?
To cram in even more, Klein nearly drained himself dry. The exhaustion hit hard, like he was running on empty.
His entire body felt weak—he hadn't felt this "depleted" in ages.
But...
He couldn't stop!
Don't stop. I want more!
The more scrolls he crafted, the stronger he became.
In the end, he loaded all the completed scrolls into his in-game inventory, or stuffed them into a Storage Scroll.
"If I ever get the Paramecia-type Soul-Soul Fruit, I'll make one of these scrolls sentient. That way I won't need to cast anything manually."
"A fully matured ninjutsu scroll should learn to cast on its own!"
"Jieh-heh-heh-heh—!"
Klein was overflowing with confidence.
He could almost see himself pinning Imu beneath him and beating the arrogance out of him…
Yonko, Admirals—bring it on.
"Let's see how you handle a full combo from me. You dead yet?"
Right now...
He was even looking forward to clashing with Rocks.
"Rocks, man, why aren't you out pirating yet—?"
"Your big bro's been waiting for you!"
"Well, once I get more fruits, these scrolls are gonna have even more styles. Just thinking about it gets me hyped."
Klein was grinning from ear to ear.
This was perfect for him.
***
These past few nights, passing ships spotted something strange—
A mysterious rumor began spreading across the seas.
That on some remote island, the weather was absurdly violent—
Lightning one moment, flames the next, then magma, then shrouded in fog, then buried in blizzards…
When Klein returned to the warship, a furiously training Os caught sight of Klein's exhausted expression and immediately panicked.
"Klein-sensei, are you sick?!"
"No, just tired," Klein replied. He looked completely drained…
…but his eyes sparkled with excitement.
He wasn't the least bit sleepy.
In fact, he wanted to shout:
"Who will fight me?!"
Arrogant?
No—
He was uncontainably inflated!
Os scratched his head. "Then why do you look so pale?"
"Keep training," Klein ordered. "Once the sun's up, we head for the New World. Let's reach the G-14 Base early."