Jiro’s Devil Fruit was developing more slowly than anything else.
After more than a month, it had reached only thirteen percent.
He had spent a great deal of time studying the Turtle-Turtle Fruit and considering what other benefits it might provide.
Defense, vitality, and recovery were its basic abilities.
If he wanted anything more unusual, he would have to uncover the fruit’s deeper potential himself.
With his current defenses, Garp, Sengoku, and Tsuru couldn’t break through his guard.
Neither could ordinary pirates.
I could stand here and let them hit me, and they still wouldn’t move me.
Jiro’s goal was to build a truly indestructible body.
Developing his Devil Fruit, strengthening Iron Body, and improving his Armament Haki were all essential.
Ideally, he wanted Iron Body to become a natural part of him so that he wouldn’t need to consciously activate it.
The strength of such a body would be difficult to imagine.
“Aren’t any of you going to step forward?” The three children shook their heads.
Jiro smiled.
“Come on.
How are you supposed to learn this technique if you won’t come closer?” They continued shaking their heads.
None of them wanted another beating.
“I don’t usually teach this technique,” Jiro said.
“I’m in a good mood today, so don’t waste the opportunity.” The three immediately became interested.
Jiro walked over to one of the enormous boulders and raised a finger.
They knew that boulder well and understood exactly how hard it was.
“See this?
One bare finger, without any protection.” “Keep watching.
You’re all familiar with this rock.” “Finger Pistol.” His finger slid into the stone as easily as if it were soft clay.
When he pulled it out, a finger-sized hole remained.
The three children immediately jumped up and crowded around the boulder.
Their eyes lit up as they touched the hole.
“Dad, I want to learn!” Garp shouted.
“Teach me everything!” Sengoku immediately changed his attitude.
“Uncle, no pain, no gain.
Train me as hard as you want.” Tsuru nodded.
“You can be as strict as necessary, Uncle.” The three were willing to endure anything if it meant learning a powerful technique.
Garp stepped forward first.
“Dad, teach me.” His attitude was unusually respectful.
He lowered his head and waited for instructions.
Jiro raised his finger and demonstrated the movement again.
“Many people know this technique, and you may encounter it in the future.
I can teach it to you on one condition: never tell anyone you learned it from me.” The Six Powers were Marine techniques that ordinary people couldn’t easily learn.
Many Marines knew them, but Jiro didn’t want to attract unnecessary trouble by revealing that he could teach them.
The three nodded.
“Understood, Dad.” “No problem, Uncle.” “Okay, Uncle.” Once they learned the technique, it would belong to them.
They simply wouldn’t mention who had taught them.
“This technique is called Finger Pistol.” “The principle is simple.
Concentrate the strength of your entire body into one finger, then thrust it forward with explosive speed.” “Your finger also needs to be strong enough to withstand the impact.
Reaching the point where you can pierce stone as easily as I can will require a great deal of training.” “Watch my finger carefully.
See how rigid it becomes?” Jiro turned and thrust again.
Another hole appeared in the boulder.
His finger entered and withdrew effortlessly, without any unnecessary movement.
“I’ll demonstrate it one more time.” Training Finger Pistol was difficult and required a long time to master.
Sengoku and Tsuru had already stayed for a month and no longer wanted to leave.
They had returned home two days earlier to visit their families, then come straight back.
From then on, they planned to stay at Garp’s home for training and only visit their parents occasionally.
Their families were grateful to Jiro.
After visiting once and seeing how the children were doing, they left them in his care.
They were happy that their son and daughter were learning how to protect themselves.
The world was dangerous, and everyone understood the importance of strength.
“All right.
Practice on your own.” The afternoon was reserved for individual training.
Physical strength was essential, but so was learning Finger Pistol.
Every technique required time and repetition before it could be mastered.
Once they learned one ability, Jiro would teach them another.
Finger Pistol placed tremendous strain on the fingers.
Garp foolishly tried to stab the boulder immediately and nearly injured his finger.
His lack of thought left the other two speechless.
Sengoku and Tsuru decided to begin with the first step: concentrating their strength.
They needed to learn how to focus their power into one finger and make it rigid enough to withstand the impact.
Before today, neither of them would have imagined trying to pierce a rock with a finger.
Jiro had done it effortlessly, but they understood how destructive Finger Pistol could be.
If it struck a person, it could pierce straight through them.
“Concentrate your strength and harden the finger,” Sengoku murmured.
“Once those two steps are done, the rest should be easier.” “I’m not an idiot like Garp.
I’m not going to stab a rock without thinking.” He extended one finger and focused on gathering his strength.
The first step was the hardest.
Tsuru was equally speechless about Garp’s behavior.
Garp ignored them and continued practicing through action.
Thinking about it was useless.
If his father could do it, then it wasn’t impossible for him.
After thrusting his finger forward for half an hour, Garp finally began to understand the feeling of concentrating his strength.
Since he still couldn’t make his finger rigid enough, he stopped attacking the boulder and practiced against the softer ground instead.
It hurt less.
After watching him for a while, Sengoku and Tsuru also stood and began practicing.
They repeatedly thrust their fingers forward, returning to the most basic movement: a firm stance and a straight thrust.
Under the scorching sun, all three became completely absorbed in their training.
Meanwhile, Jiro sat at the summit and stared out across the sea while studying the power of his Devil Fruit.
He increasingly suspected that the Turtle-Turtle Fruit wasn’t an ordinary Zoan.
It might be a Mythical Zoan, though he still needed to discover its exact form.
Jiro transformed further.
A thick turtle shell covered his body.
Unlike the ordinary green shell he had first produced, this one was a deep, heavy black.
His hands and feet changed into powerful turtle-like limbs as he crouched against the ground.
Only by transforming could he sense the fruit’s power clearly.
He lifted one foot.
When it came down, the earth shook.
The force was so immense that it felt as though the entire island had trembled.
At the foot of the mountain, the three children were knocked off balance.
They looked toward the summit in confusion.
“What happened?” “Was that a volcanic eruption?” “Should we run?” The three exchanged uneasy looks.
Garp stared toward the top of the mountain.
The tremor had come from there.
Had his father caused it?
The shaking ended almost immediately.
Jiro had stopped testing the fruit after startling even himself with its power.
He returned to human form and appeared beside Garp at the foot of the mountain.
“It’s nothing.
Keep practicing.” Then he vanished again as quickly as he had arrived.
The three stared after him with envy.
They wanted to appear and disappear like that too.
It looked incredibly cool.