"Bullet! I won't stop until you can't get up!"
Teach laughed, blood dripping from his claws, his own blood—as he faced Bullet head-on. Leaning forward, he lunged, his bloodstained claws slicing through the air.
Compared to Bullet, Teach was still far behind—in raw strength, physical toughness, and even Haki. His claws had fractured multiple times, cracking under the sheer power of Bullet's punches during their continuous clashes.
Though his injuries were constantly healing through Life Return, the disparity between them was undeniable.
Now, however, his claws were enveloped in stable, flowing Armament Haki. Through unrelenting combat, he had shattered his bottleneck—fully mastering Haki emission. His Haki could now deal internal damage, allowing him to truly wound Bullet and stand on the same battlefield.
"Then come on," Bullet grinned, watching Teach charge toward him. "Let's see how I'll knock you down."
There was a faint ache in his chest—the first sign of Teach's growing strength. That small injury had been deliberate. Bullet had allowed it, to heighten the thrill of battle.
But he wasn't merciful. He was Douglas Bullet, the "Heir of the Devil," a man who thrived on crushing enemies, devouring challenges, and proving his supremacy through battle.
He would crush Teach completely with his own monstrous power.
In an instant, Bullet disappeared. His speed was explosive, his Haki-clad fist driving straight at Teach with a force that seemed to split the air itself.
The punch tore through space, generating an air cannon that roared toward Teach like a compressed storm.
Teach didn't flinch. Retreat was impossible—his Observation Haki could see the attack coming, but his body couldn't evade it at that speed.
So he met it head-on.
Raising his claws high, he swung downward with all his might. Lightning flashed around his claws, their edges glinting like blades of divine metal.
Facing Bullet's punch, the surrounding pressure alone sliced the air apart. Bullet felt waves of cutting force emanate from Teach's strike—it was as if he were clashing with a living blade.
Clang! Boom!
The collision shook the entire island. The ground within a hundred meters split open, cracks radiating outward like a spider's web, some more than a meter wide.
The terrain itself warped—the earth beneath them rose violently, while the surrounding ground sank inward. Shockwaves burst outward in a dome, flattening half the island's forests.
From the high ground, Gar and the others shielded their faces, bracing against the gale-like winds sweeping outward from the center of the island. Trees bent, rocks shattered, and debris flew in every direction.
They weren't unsteady—it was simply the sheer force of the wind.
Pito stood calmly on a tree, her expression composed. She had once witnessed the earth-shattering clash between Whitebeard and Roger—their aftershocks alone could blow men skyward and bend entire forests. This battle's force wasn't quite that level but it was terrifyingly close.
Her gaze stayed fixed on the battlefield. Having spent considerable time with Teach, she understood his limits better than anyone.
Against Bullet—a monster second only to Roger and Whitebeard—Teach's chances were nonexistent. But still, he fought.
Teach was in his prime, his body honed and fortified beyond belief. Yet his stamina was already over half spent—his energy draining faster than even during his battle against Ares.
His physique was monstrous. Years of training had forged it, and he had used lightning itself to temper his body.
He couldn't command lightning like a true Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, but with Life Return and fine control through Observation Haki, he could channel it through his muscles for brutal physical tempering.
The one hundred million volts of lightning he could endure were enough to refine even his bones.
He lacked Kaido's natural durability and the monstrous adaptability of certain Devil Fruits but he believed his body would eventually reach that level.
Perhaps he would never surpass Kaido, but he would stand among the strongest—the elite few of the Grand Line.
After all, even legends like Garp, Zephyr, Rayleigh, Roger, and the future Red-Haired Shanks hadn't been born monsters. They had forged themselves through battle and hardship.
Facing Bullet's fist, Teach's claws trembled violently. His hardened claws, reinforced with Armament Haki, bent under the enormous pressure. Bullet's Haki, his physical might, and his monstrous power all completely outclassed Teach's.
Gritting his teeth, Teach's brows furrowed. The muscles of his arms bulged, veins like coiled dragons bursting under his skin. He pushed every ounce of strength he had into resisting but it wasn't enough.
Bullet's grin widened. "You've got guts, Teach."
He increased his force. The overwhelming power exploded through Teach's defenses, and with a single devastating blow, Teach was sent flying.
He crashed backward, body limp under the sheer impact.
The ground tore open as his feet dragged twin trenches hundreds of meters long before slamming into a rock wall.
Boom!
Stone shattered. Dust billowed. Teach's body was buried deep in the rock face.
Moments later, he emerged—bloodied but unbroken. Bullet's punch had been beyond anything he could block, even at full strength.
But he wasn't done. Not yet.
His claws trembled uncontrollably, two fingers bent at unnatural angles broken clean through.
"Damn… that guy's toughness," Teach muttered under his breath.
Bullet's physical durability was frightening, second only to the likes of Kaido and Big Mom. Even Whitebeard, the man Teach once called "Old Man," couldn't match that level of physical resilience.
But in raw strength, Bullet still hadn't reached Whitebeard's peak, he'd get there only decades later.
Yet this world had already shifted. Who knew what the future held?
Bones cracked audibly as Teach's claws regenerated under the effect of Life Return.
The pain was unbearable. Fingers were connected to the heart, as they said, but Teach's expression didn't twitch. He'd endured worse.
He never intended to win this fight. His purpose was to grow, to push himself past every limit, to use this battle as the hammer and fire of evolution.
A chance to clash with a monster like Bullet was too rare to waste. In the entire first half of the Grand Line, and even across the Four Seas, few could match this power.
Life Return circulated within his body, stabilizing his state. His heartbeat steadied, his wounds sealed. He was back at his peak, at least for the moment.
Bullet no longer waited for attacks, he advanced. Offense was his way of life.
His speed was unbelievable, pure physical velocity without enhancement. It rivaled even the speed of former Admiral Zephyr at his peak.
And Bullet hadn't even reached his peak yet. With twenty more years of growth, he would stand shoulder to shoulder with Roger and Whitebeard themselves.
Bullet appeared before Teach in an instant, swinging a devastating punch. Teach's Observation Haki flared—he saw the attack's path and tilted his head, narrowly dodging.
The next punch came immediately.
"I've seen a more distant future," Teach said quietly, sidestepping again and countering with a fierce kick to Bullet's abdomen.
The impact was solid, like striking a wall of steel wrapped in Haki. Black and red lightning danced in the air as their Haki clashed.
Bullet only staggered two steps, absorbing the blow.
Then he retaliated. His fists blurred, striking at blinding speed.
Teach defended desperately, dodging where he could, blocking with his arms and shoulders where he couldn't.
A punch cut through the air toward Teach's right temple. He raised his arm to block, the impact forcing him back several meters.
He countered with a punch of his own, colliding with Bullet's next strike.
Then came the storm.
"Bullet Punch!"
Bullet's fists became a blur, hundreds of punches per second, each moving faster than bullets.
Teach could see them, but his body couldn't keep up.
He barely dodged a few but soon the barrage overwhelmed him.
In less than three seconds, over a hundred punches landed.
Each impact shook his frame, driving pain deep into his body. Even his Armament Haki couldn't fully block Bullet's force, his Haki seeped inside, dealing internal damage.
Teach gritted his teeth, enduring the storm. He needed a breakthrough or he'd fall here.
Then... dark purple light flickered in his pupils.
A wave of Conqueror's Haki exploded outward, crushing the air like an abyssal vortex. The ground cracked beneath him, the pressure suffocating.
Bullet's grin only widened. He answered with his own, an Asura-like aura bursting from his body, even more intense.
The two wills collided, shaking the heavens.
At that instant, Teach's Observation Haki evolved again. His vision extended further, he could see several seconds into the future.
He vanished, dodging Bullet's next blow, and blocked another with his arm, using the motion to twist into an offensive stance.
Armament Haki surged down his arm, coating it in metallic black.
Conqueror's Haki flickered across his claws—unstable but undeniably there. Black and red lightning intertwined around him.
Bullet's eyes narrowed. That's…
"Demon Claw: Pierce!"
Teach's claws spiraled forward like a black drill, stabbing straight toward Bullet's chest.
Bullet's blood raced with excitement.
"Among all the people I've met, you're a monster no less than me," he said, genuinely impressed.
This was Conqueror's Haki coating, a skill reserved for the world's strongest.
Teach's mastery was crude, unstable but for someone so young, it was extraordinary. With time, he would truly reach that level.
Bullet raised his arm, his own Conqueror's Haki wrapping around his fist. Black and red lightning cracked between them.
"Zehahahaha! Thanks for the compliment," Teach laughed. "But I'm still far from it!"
Though Bullet was only five years older, his strength placed him among the world's elite. Teach knew exactly where he stood but he also knew where he was headed.
He had long understood that Conqueror's Haki could be weaponized, and though he lacked the exact technique, years of study and observation of his old man, of Roger, and other powerhouses had led him here.
Now, facing Bullet's full might, he was finally stepping into that world.