Shinko's praise was completely sincere.
Brogy and Dorry, however, clearly felt no joy in the compliment. They could tell their attacks had connected just now, the problem was that whatever they'd hit couldn't possibly be a human body. It felt as though Shinko's entire frame was covered in something impossibly hard, something completely indestructible.
And that was exactly what had happened. At this very moment, his body was coated in an invisible barrier.
{Paramecia: Barrier-Barrier Fruit LV5 - Creates indestructible barriers. The barriers have physical form and can be shaped at will. The user must maintain concentration to keep them in existence.}
Naturally, the Barrier-Barrier Fruit had an obvious weakness: the user had to concentrate to keep the barrier active. But just like Flying Nimbus and Ruyi Jingu Bang, Shinko only needed to pour a portion of his soul into it, which effectively maintained the focus for him. As long as he had stamina left, the barrier would never fade.
That was what Shinko had called...
{Homie: Body Barrier · Vajra Unbreakable Body}
"Gyahahaha! I never would've imagined something like this!"
"Gahahahaha! Indeed..."
They were still laughing, but there was a quiet resolve in their eyes now. It came down to the same warrior's principle: how their opponent pulled it off didn't matter. Devil Fruit power or sheer physical strength, it made no difference, the fact remained that their full-powered combined attack hadn't left a single scratch on him.
Slowly, Dorry and Brogy lowered their weapons.
"Looks like our old friends have hit their limit, too."
They looked down at the deep cracks spiderwebbing across their steel. After a century of endless duels, capped off by this brutal clash, both Brogy's battle-axe and Dorry's giant sword were on the verge of shattering.
Against an opponent who could take their absolute strongest strike without a scratch, while they were already battered and exhausted, they couldn't win. The writing was on the wall. Any rational person would step back and call off a spur-of-the-moment duel.
Except...
Shinko remained silent, quietly observing the two giants.
The giants said nothing either. They simply tightened their grip on their hilts once again.
So what if they couldn't win? Sure, it was disappointing. But did that really matter? Most people believed victory was a warrior's highest honor, but putting everything you had on the line in battle was a victory in itself.
"I am Dorry the Blue Ogre!"
"I am Brogy the Red Ogre!"
They raised axe and blade high into the sky once more.
"We are the Captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates! Warriors of Elbaf!"
Their heavy Armament Haki surged, interweaving once again.
"Brave warrior!" They locked eyes with Shinko. "This will be our final strike!"
Pulling their arms back, the immense presence and terrifying power of both giants gathered into their weapons.
"By the gods of Elbaf..."
Their aura spiked to its absolute peak. It carried the full weight of their hundred-year determination, the very glory they had spent a century chasing through countless duels on this island.
"BEHOLD OUR GLORY!"
The sheer majesty of their stance made the Straw Hats tremble.
"Master Dorry... Master Brogy..." Usopp was on the verge of tears. This was the true resolve of a warrior, the exact thing he had spent his life searching for.
He wasn't the only one who felt it.
Shinko made no move to interrupt their setup. Quite the opposite.
"Hahahahaha!" The Zodiac officer tightened his grip on his iron staff, letting out a booming laugh that shook his lean frame. "Yes! That's it! That's exactly how a battle should be! What kind of warrior backs down just because the opponent is stronger?! You big guys really know how to put a smile on my face!"
He laughed with pure, unadulterated excitement. "I've had my fun today. If it's glory you want, then glory is what you'll get! I might as well show you what I'm truly capable of!"
Shinko roared at the sky.
"GROW!"
'BOOM!'
The iron staff expanded wildly once again, but this time was different.
The Straw Hats stared in sheer disbelief.
"WHAT THEEEEEE?!"
All six of them nearly popped their eyes out of their sockets.
Because this time, when Shinko gave the command, it wasn't just the staff that expanded.
'He' was growing, too!
An aura infinitely grander than anything before erupted from his body. The Straw Hats felt an oppressive, ancient weight descend upon them, like a god from a forgotten era waking from a millennium of sleep.
'BOOM!'
The island groaned under the strain. Centered on the point where he floated in the air, a colossal wave of Conqueror's Haki burst outward. The already fragmented clouds were shattered, blasting a massive hole clean through the heavens.
Shinko's body expanded rapidly.
The Straw Hats watched his silhouette shoot skyward at an impossible speed. In a blink, he had surpassed the mountain-like height of Dorry and Brogy. A second later, he eclipsed the island's central volcano as it spewed magma far below.
Moments later, his head touched the sky.
Clouds drifted around his waist. The sea lay beneath his boots like a shallow pond. His arms stretched out like mountain ranges; his neck stood like a pillar propping up the heavens. His eyes and facial markings burned with a brilliant golden light under the open sun. Below him, the massive prehistoric trees of Little Garden, colossal by any normal metric, looked like tiny blades of grass clinging to dirt.
Golden, flame-like clouds ribboned around his shoulders and torso, drifting like divine sashes. The iron staff in his grip had transformed into a cosmic pillar linking heaven and earth, wrapped in coiling, roaring strands of black-and-red Conqueror's Haki lightning.
Little Garden could no longer bear the sheer weight of his presence or the crushing pressure of his Haki. The island's bedrock began to fracture and crumble into the sea.
{War God Technique: Ancient Giant Body}
{War God Technique: Size Expansion}
And when the two powers combined...
{War God Ultimate Technique · Heaven and Earth in His Form}
"WHAT THE...?! HE'S BIGGER THAN THE GIANTS?!"
"WHAT KIND OF MONSTER IS THAT?!"
The sight of Shinko towering into the sky was entirely beyond the Straw Hats' ability to comprehend.
"This scale..."
Even Brogy and Dorry were frozen in absolute shock.
An Ancient Giant? No, this went way beyond any Ancient Giant. This form was exponentially larger than even the legendary 'Continent-Puller' Oars!
For the first time in their long lives, the two giants felt the exact same helpless awe that normal humans felt when looking up at a Giant.
"Gyahahaha! Dorry, if we survive this, let's go home!"
"Gahahahaha! Yeah, Brogy! Let's return to Elbaf with the glory of having fought a warrior like this!"
Even under the crushing weight of a godlike entity, they let out thunderous laughter. Without a single shadow of hesitation, they threw their full strength into a combined strike aimed straight at the colossal figure.
"Spear of Elbaf · Hakoku!"
The catastrophic blast of Hakoku tore forward with a deafening roar, causing the ocean surrounding the island to violently shake.
At that exact moment, Shinko raised the staff that spanned the sky.
Just raising the weapon whipped up a hurricane-force gale, blasting away every cloud over the ocean for miles and throwing massive tidal waves across the sea.
"Heaven and Earth in His Form..."
"Turn the Heavens Upside Down and Stir the Seas!"
'(Author's Note: Just like with Hitsuji Zishu, this was a small preview showcasing a fraction of Sun Wukong's power. His true spotlight comes later in the major arc. After all, he's inspired by the Great Sage himself, he has to make an entrance worthy of the title!)'
(End of Chapter)
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