The next morning was beautiful.
After breakfast, Sengoku followed Garp and Jiro to the foot of the mountain in a daze.
Two enormous boulders sat there, one on each side of the path.
The hillside ahead was covered in marks left by rocks crashing down it.
Garp walked behind the larger boulder and waited for instructions as though this were perfectly normal.
Sengoku stood there, staring blankly at him.
Garp pointed toward the other boulder.
“You go over there.” Sengoku took his position and awkwardly copied Garp by placing his hands against the rock.
Then he looked at Jiro, having no idea what he was supposed to do.
“Ahem.
Since it’s Sengoku’s first time, give him a demonstration, Garp.” Garp grinned.
“Watch closely, Sengoku.
We’re going to carry these boulders up the mountain.
Yes, all the way up there.” “You can push yours if you want.
I don’t mind.” “It doesn’t matter how long it takes.
You just need to get it to the top.
Understand?” Sengoku became even more confused.
What the hell?
You want me to carry this huge rock up the mountain?
Is this a joke?
Garp looked at him seriously.
“Do I look like I’m joking?” He lifted his boulder and began climbing.
“I’ll go first.
Take your time thinking about it.” “There’s a surprise waiting for you later.” Garp really did start carrying the boulder up the mountain.
His movements were slow, almost like a turtle crawling, but Sengoku didn’t dare laugh.
He had to climb the same mountain himself.
Sengoku crouched and tried to lift his boulder, but it didn’t move.
It was a little heavy.
He looked at Jiro, and Jiro looked back at him.
“Is it heavy?” Sengoku nodded.
“Can’t lift it?” He nodded again.
“Don’t want to climb?” Sengoku was about to nod a third time when Jiro raised the wooden stick.
His face immediately turned pale.
Holy crap!
He’s really going to hit me!
Sengoku hurriedly used all his strength.
His choices were simple: climb the mountain or get beaten and then climb it anyway.
He wasn’t stupid.
“Get up!” His face turned bright red.
His legs trembled, and his hands gripped the boulder tightly.
“Up!” The rock rose.
He had actually lifted it.
Sengoku took his first trembling step.
His entire body protested under the strain.
Gritting his teeth, he took a second step, leaving a deep footprint behind.
He looked up.
The summit was still far away.
Garp had already covered some distance, moving at a steady rhythm.
At that pace, it wouldn’t take him long to reach the top.
Sengoku finally understood what Garp went through every day.
Holy crap.
If he does this every day, how could he not become strong?
There were no shortcuts to becoming stronger.
It all came from sweat and suffering.
Sengoku refused to fall behind.
He wasn’t inferior to Garp.
“I can climb the mountain too.” “I can do this.” “Come on, Sengoku!” “One, two.
One, two.” He continued forward one step at a time, leaving a footprint with each one.
Was he tired?
Of course he was.
Sweat poured from his body.
The sun blazed overhead, and his clothes were completely soaked.
A sea breeze swept past, cooling him slightly.
When Sengoku looked up again, he had covered a third of the distance, but he was already exhausted.
Jiro stood beside him, watching closely.
He wouldn’t allow Sengoku any chance to slack off, and the stick in his hand could come down at any moment.
However, Jiro was also training.
Climbing the mountain wasn’t only Sengoku’s task.
As Sengoku struggled forward, he noticed that Jiro was leaving deep footprints despite carrying nothing.
What he didn’t know was that Jiro had made his own body heavier using the Turtle-Turtle Fruit.
The fruit focused mainly on defense, but it also granted tremendous vitality and recovery.
Jiro had discovered that he could use its power to increase his body’s weight and make his own training more difficult.
As his Devil Fruit development improved, he had begun to understand some of the Turtle-Turtle Fruit’s basic abilities.
“At least it isn’t completely useless.
It can’t grant elementalization like a Logia, but the strength of a Zoan depends heavily on the user’s body.” “After eating it, my physical strength increased nearly tenfold, especially my defense.” “It also gave me powerful vitality and recovery.
I can even use its power to weigh down my body and restrict my movements.” “That’s all I can manage for now.
I’m still far from freely transforming into a turtle.” Zoan Devil Fruits had three basic forms.
The first was the human form.
The user’s appearance didn’t change much, but they could still benefit from some of the animal’s abilities.
The second was the full animal form.
By transforming completely, the user gained the animal’s vitality, defense, attack power, and other natural traits.
The third was the hybrid form, which combined human and animal characteristics.
Reaching this stage required greater proficiency and enough practice for the fruit’s power to become instinctive.
These three forms weren’t especially difficult to achieve with enough training.
What came afterward depended on how deeply the fruit was developed.
Whether a Mythical Zoan could truly display its potential also depended on its user.
Kaido’s fruit, for example, belonged to the Fish-Fish Fruit family.
Even if an ordinary person obtained such a Mythical Zoan, they might never develop it anywhere near Kaido’s level and would only be able to use its most basic abilities.
Beyond normal development was Awakening.
Every Devil Fruit could awaken.
A Zoan Awakening greatly enhanced the user’s physical abilities, while a Paramecia Awakening could generally extend its power to the surrounding environment.
“I still don’t know whether my Turtle-Turtle Fruit is some kind of Mythical Zoan, but it shouldn’t be too bad.” “Developing the fruit and tempering my body are both important, but my body is still the foundation.
I’m already more than ten times stronger than before, and I’ll keep improving as my training deepens.” “My Armament Haki and Observation Haki need work too.
My combat methods are still too limited, so I need to develop techniques of my own.” He needed to combine his Devil Fruit with his other abilities and create unique methods of attack.
Jiro had been thinking about this often.
If he wanted to survive whatever the future brought, he needed to become stronger.
Only the strong got a say.
While he was at it, he could train the two boys and let them experience his “care” firsthand.
Someday, after they became successful, they might remember him and even feel grateful.
“Sengoku, don’t stop.
Look at Garp.
He’s already reached the top.” Sengoku, who had paused to rest, was forced to move again.
He gritted his teeth and continued climbing.
Garp had indeed reached the summit.
He stood above them, waved at Sengoku, and then pushed his boulder.
The massive rock began rolling down the slope.
Straight toward Sengoku.
“Holy crap!
Garp, screw you!” So this was the surprise.
Garp really had been plotting against him.
“I’m doomed.” Sengoku couldn’t dodge while carrying his own boulder.
His only choice was to drop it and escape, but it was already too late.
He watched helplessly as the rock came crashing toward him.