Shanks frowned.
The current situation wasn't what he had wanted.
Although he was willing to offer Makoto some guidance and let him experience how the true powerhouses of these seas fought, he had no intention of allowing their battle to end in a prolonged stalemate.
If he wanted to maintain his position as one of the Four Emperors and preserve his influence among both pirates and Marines, his bloodline alone wouldn't be enough.
His personal strength was equally indispensable.
And to maintain that position, he needed to remain overwhelmingly stronger than the vast majority of fighters on these seas.
If he continued struggling against Makoto without achieving a decisive advantage, people might begin questioning whether he truly deserved his title as one of the Four Emperors.
With that in mind, Shanks decided it was time to raise the difficulty.
Although Makoto had already cultivated his Armament Haki and Observation Haki to extraordinarily high levels, those abilities were merely the foundation for someone seeking to stand at the very top of the seas.
To truly dominate the world's strongest fighters, mastering Conqueror's Haki was essential.
And Shanks was someone who had cultivated Conqueror's Haki to its pinnacle!
Precisely because of this, he possessed an ability that the overwhelming majority of Conqueror's Haki users had never mastered.
That ability was known as Observation Killing.
Simply put, Shanks could use his Conqueror's Haki to conceal and distort the flow of his own presence.
This prevented an opponent's Future Sight from perceiving the trajectory of his future movements.
Meanwhile, Shanks himself could continue using Future Sight normally.
The specific method involved coating his entire body in Conqueror's Haki.
He could then choose which parts of his presence to reveal, which to distort, and which to conceal completely.
And this was the best method Shanks could think of for dealing with Makoto under the current circumstances.
After all, he had already announced that he intended to guide the young man.
If he suddenly resorted to Conqueror's Haki Coating or even more powerful attacks, people might begin regarding him as a vicious and underhanded individual.
Having made his decision, Shanks immediately acted.
Conqueror's Haki began flowing across his body, wrapping around him like an invisible current.
Eventually, he concentrated even more of that power around his arm and sword.
Almost simultaneously, Makoto noticed that something about Shanks's aura had changed.
And that wasn't all.
While using Future Sight to predict Shanks's movements over the next few seconds, Makoto suddenly noticed that the frequency of his opponent's attacks had decreased.
Previously, their weapons had been colliding dozens of times every second.
Now, the predicted number of collisions had been reduced by half.
'Does he think these exchanges are meaningless?'
'Is he preparing to overwhelm me with a more powerful attack?'
Just then, Shanks's sword suddenly pierced through the surrounding cloud of black lightning.
Its tip moved lightly toward Makoto's shoulder.
The attack looked completely ordinary.
It couldn't even be considered particularly sophisticated swordsmanship.
Yet this seemingly simple movement caused the expressions of every powerful fighter present to change dramatically!
That was because Makoto wasn't the only person affected by Shanks's Observation Killing.
Everyone else's Observation Haki had also been disrupted!
The more heavily someone relied on Observation Haki in battle, the more terrifying they found this ability.
It was as though they had suddenly gone blind.
And within that darkness, Shanks's sword was already pointing toward their vital points.
Makoto was naturally no exception.
Having only recently acquired advanced Observation Haki, he had been eager to use it and had already begun depending on its capabilities.
Although his Three-Tomoe Sharingan granted him extraordinarily powerful dynamic vision, even that couldn't compare to directly predicting the future several seconds in advance.
After all, an opponent could potentially attack dozens or even hundreds of times during those few seconds!
Unfortunately, Makoto's Observation Haki had now become completely ineffective.
It was almost as though he had been blinded.
The only thing he could rely on was his own eyesight.
Three tomoe suddenly appeared within his eyes.
They spun rapidly as Makoto used his Sharingan to analyze Shanks's incoming attack as thoroughly as possible.
However, he quickly realized something.
At this point, neither dodging nor blocking was possible!
As a swordsman who had reached the pinnacle of both swordsmanship and Observation Haki, Shanks had already anticipated every possible evasive movement Makoto could make.
He had deliberately selected the angle that would be most difficult for Makoto to avoid.
Even Hawk-Eye, who was observing from a distance, took a step forward as though preparing to leave.
In his opinion, Makoto's defeat was now inevitable.
Of course, there was nothing shameful about losing to Shanks.
The fact that Makoto had managed to fight Shanks to this extent was already an astonishing achievement.
It practically guaranteed that his name would someday become famous throughout the seas.
However, at that moment, Makoto did something extraordinary once again.
Instead of retreating, he charged directly toward Shanks's incoming attack!
It looked as though he was preparing to risk his life in a desperate exchange.
Yet even this seemed to fall within Shanks's expectations.
After all, young men like Makoto were particularly susceptible to getting carried away by their emotions.
They often lacked the caution and respect for their own lives that came with experience.
Shanks had already prepared a response.
He would pierce Makoto's shoulder with his sword while simultaneously using Conqueror's Haki to erode the young man's fighting spirit.
That should make Makoto understand that victory was impossible.
Unfortunately, what happened next made Shanks's pupils contract.
His sword tip did indeed pierce Makoto's shoulder.
Everything unfolded exactly as his Future Sight had predicted.
However, he didn't feel the expected resistance of steel passing through flesh.
In fact, he didn't feel as though his sword had pierced anything at all!
'Elemental transformation?'
'No, impossible!'
Shanks's attack was infused with Armament Haki.
Ordinary defensive or elemental abilities shouldn't have been capable of avoiding it.
He was even confident that his sword would have pierced Makoto's shoulder if the young man had reinforced it with all his Armament Haki.
What he hadn't anticipated was that Makoto would employ something as unreasonable as intangibility!
Most importantly, Shanks had never encountered this particular technique before.
For a moment, he couldn't think of any method outside Devil Fruit abilities that could produce such an effect.
Having successfully avoided Shanks's attack, Makoto immediately retaliated.
His blade slashed toward Shanks's face without the slightest hesitation.
At the same time, a pitch-black sword slash erupted from the weapon.
Shanks's expression turned solemn.
Rather than dodging, he raised his knee and launched a powerful side kick.
His foot struck the incoming slash, shattering it completely!
Meanwhile, Gryphon transformed into a series of afterimages as Shanks swept his sword across Makoto's body.
Unfortunately, none of those attacks produced the sensation of striking anything solid.
Seeing this, Shanks felt an almost absurd sense of disbelief.
His Observation Haki clearly indicated that his attacks should hit Makoto.
Yet no matter how many times he struck, he couldn't achieve any results!
For a moment, Shanks even wondered whether Makoto had somehow used Observation Killing against him.
Alternatively, perhaps he had already fallen under the influence of some mysterious Devil Fruit ability, and everything he was currently experiencing was merely an illusion.
At this point, Shanks still didn't know that Makoto possessed the Memory Fruit's abilities, so he continued searching for an explanation among the Devil Fruits.
Meanwhile, Makoto understood perfectly well that relying on intangibility was an extremely conservative way to fight.
However, he couldn't care less.
'So what if I'm playing defensively?'
'That bastard Shanks actually used Observation Killing against me! Isn't he being just as desperate to win?'
That's right.
Makoto had already realized that Shanks was using Observation Killing.
It was a technique available only to those who had cultivated Conqueror's Haki to an extraordinary level.
Furthermore, only someone who possessed Conqueror's Haki could perform it.
Makoto's current mastery of Conqueror's Haki was nowhere near sufficient.
Naturally, he couldn't use the technique himself, nor did he have any way to counter it directly.
And Shanks's speed had been so overwhelming earlier that Makoto hadn't even had an opportunity to activate Making Fake Become Real.
He would have to find another way to regain the advantage!
After his initial slash failed, Makoto immediately unleashed another barrage of sword attacks.
One black slash after another shot toward Shanks.
Naturally, Shanks shattered every attack with his sword.
However, the relentless force behind the barrage still pushed him dozens of meters backward.
Large sections of the ice beneath his feet cracked and collapsed.
To the strongest fighters watching, Makoto's approach was little more than a meaningless waste of stamina.
However, the ordinary Marines and pirates who lacked their understanding saw something entirely different.
In their eyes, Makoto had used overwhelmingly powerful sword energy to temporarily suppress Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Four Emperors!
A series of astonished gasps spread across the battlefield.
Everyone's attention settled firmly on Makoto.
They could hardly believe that someone so young already possessed such terrifying strength.
Kizaru smiled knowingly.
Having interacted with Makoto more than anyone else present, he was finally beginning to understand how the young man thought.
That realization made him feel considerably more reassured.
As long as Makoto wasn't a reckless fool who allowed his emotions to dictate every decision, he would become an extraordinarily valuable asset, both to himself and to the entire Marine force.
Meanwhile, Shanks was feeling increasingly frustrated.
Given his strength and position, he had always considered himself extremely knowledgeable about the countless strange abilities found throughout the seas.
Yet Makoto had completely exceeded his understanding.
Finally, he couldn't help asking,
"What exactly is that ability of yours? I've never heard of a Devil Fruit that works like this."
Makoto smiled faintly.
"It's the Memory Fruit."
A trace of disdain appeared on Shanks's face.
"If you don't want to tell me, just say so. I happen to know where the real Memory Fruit is."
"And it certainly doesn't have an ability like yours."
Makoto shook his finger.
"That just means you've encountered a fake Memory Fruit."
"The one I'm using is the real thing."
"As everyone knows, the Memory Fruit allows its user to manipulate both their own memories and those of other people."
"So what do you think would happen if I awakened my Memory Fruit, made myself forget that I'd ever eaten it, and instead remembered eating some kind of contract-based Devil Fruit?"
"What sort of powers do you think I'd possess then?"
Shanks's expression changed.
He understood what Makoto was implying.
'Is he saying he can use the Memory Fruit to imitate the abilities of other Devil Fruits?'
'Impossible! That's completely ridiculous!'
Unfortunately, what Makoto did next forced Shanks to reconsider.
"That's right. I can imitate all kinds of Devil Fruit abilities."
"As long as I've personally witnessed a technique, I can reproduce it exactly."
With those words, Makoto threw a punch into the air before him.
Cracks immediately appeared throughout the surrounding space.
At that exact moment, Making Fake Become Real activated.
[Ding, Making Fake Become Real triggered...]
[Making Fake Become Real succeeded!]
[You have successfully defined the awakened ability of your Memory Fruit.]
[By modifying your own memories and making yourself believe that you have eaten a corresponding Devil Fruit, you can reproduce Devil Fruit techniques that you have personally witnessed and remember.]
Originally, Makoto's punch had merely used Spatial Manipulation to create a series of Spatial Rifts.
It was fundamentally different from Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
However, once Making Fake Become Real succeeded, Makoto suddenly experienced a completely different sensation.
It genuinely felt as though his fist had struck the air itself, transferring an enormous amount of force directly into the atmosphere.
The next instant, a powerful wave of explosive vibrations surged toward Shanks!
The ice beneath Shanks shattered once again, forcing him to leap high into the air.
Now, even Shanks had no choice but to believe it.
'The Memory Fruit actually has an ability like this?'
'No...'
'Maybe what he ate wasn't the Memory Fruit at all.'
'Perhaps it was some unknown and mysterious Devil Fruit, and he simply believes it to be the Memory Fruit!'
After arriving at that explanation, Shanks actually became less surprised.
Instead, the astonishment spread to everyone else watching.
Even Whitebeard was shocked!
Facing the countless gazes suddenly directed toward him, Whitebeard looked down at his enormous fist.
For a moment, he felt rather helpless.
The power he had taken such pride in had just been copied by a little brat in such an absurd fashion.
The most important point, however, was that Makoto's punch was practically devoid of real strength in Whitebeard's eyes.
It could barely do more than shatter the ice.
If Whitebeard himself had thrown that punch, he could have destroyed Shanks, the crew standing behind him, and their entire pirate ship in one blow!
Makoto also realized the difference.
Although he had successfully reproduced the ability of Whitebeard's Devil Fruit, the destructive power of his attack was nowhere near Whitebeard's level.
Clearly, he hadn't actually copied Whitebeard's strength or mastery.
Instead, he had used the Memory Fruit as an intermediary to unleash a punch imbued with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's ability.
The attack's power depended on Makoto's own physical attributes.
Furthermore, because it was an awakened Devil Fruit ability, the stamina required to use it was enormous.
That considerably reduced the technique's practical value, especially as an offensive ability.
However, Makoto wasn't particularly concerned.
After all, he had already mastered top-tier Haki and powerful cursed techniques.
He wasn't exactly lacking in offensive options.
On the contrary, the ability to imitate Devil Fruits was far more interesting for its versatility.
It would allow him to possess all sorts of strange and unusual abilities.
Who knew when one of them might prove useful?
For example, right now.
Facing Red-Haired Shanks, Makoto raised his hand and formed a peculiar gesture.
Almost instantly, Shanks felt the space surrounding his body become enclosed.
Some strange force began attempting to cut through his flesh.
However, the Armament Haki coating his body completely blocked the attack.
Makoto sighed softly.
'As expected, this technique is practically useless against someone as powerful as Shanks.'
Shanks examined him with a grave expression.
"What did you just do to me?"
"It didn't work against you anyway. What's the point of explaining?"
What Makoto had actually used was ROOM: Shambles, a technique belonging to Law, the user of the Op-Op Fruit.
The reason he was particularly interested in this ability was that it also involved manipulating space.
Unlike Makoto's Spatial Slashes, which directly severed their targets, Law's Devil Fruit ability could cut through a target while allowing the separated body parts to remain connected.
In other words, the technique could complete a separation in spatial terms while simultaneously preserving the target's physical connections.
Makoto found this property extremely fascinating.
As for how he had managed to learn the technique, the explanation was simple.
Earlier, while everyone's attention was focused on Makoto and Shanks, Law had taken the opportunity to rescue Luffy and Ace.
And by witnessing Law use his ability, Makoto had satisfied the activation conditions for his awakened Memory Fruit!
…