Smoker stared at Grun, lighting a cigarette and taking a drag.

  “Judging by how those pirates reacted, they didn’t know you were a Devil Fruit user.”

  “Who are you really? Why did you infiltrate the Shattered Pirates?”

  Was he a spy for another pirate crew? A bounty hunter? CP? Or perhaps a hidden ally?

  Grun didn’t answer. Instead, he calmly removed his shirt, revealing a lean and muscur figure.

  “I didn’t expect to enter someone as troublesome as you in the Marines,” Grun said ftly.

  “It seems I won’t be able to leave unless I defeat you.”

  Smoker raised an eyebrow. "‘I’? What an old-fashioned way to talk..."

  Grun’s body began to transform.

  He grew to over three meters tall. His face stretched into a sharp, pointed beak. Feathers spread across his arms, f broad e-like wings, while his legs morphed into sharp bird talons, the cws gleaming ominously.

  “A hybrid form?”

  Smoker cracked his knuckles with a smirk.

  “My powers might e from my Devil Fruit, but hand-to-hand bat is my real passion!”

  “In a close fight, I won’t lose to someone like you!”

  Grun snorted and fpped his wings, closing the distao Smoker in an instant. He shed out with a powerful kick.

  The attack was so fast that even with Observation Haki, Smoker could only raise his arm to block.

  With a loud crack, Grun’s leg smmed into Smoker’s arm, sending a wave of pain through it as if struck by an iron rod. The force hurled Smoker backward.

  Mid-air, Smoker adjusted his posture, nding firmly on his feet, though he skidded several meters before ing to a stop.

  “ower and speed!” Smoker thought, flexing his arm despite the lingering pain.

  Grun, now fully transformed into a giant e, folded his wings and dove at Smoker with blinding speed. His sharp beak aimed straight for Smoker’s head like a spear.

  Smoker’s eyes widened. “If that hits, I’ll have a hole in my skull!”

  Prepared this time, Smoker dodged to the side and coated his hands in Armament Haki, grabbing Grun’s beak and hurling him toward a nearby boulder.

  But with a simple fp of his wings, Grun steadied himself, gracefully avoiding the impact.

  “Tempest Kick: Rain!”

  Smoker unleashed a flurry of razor-sharp air bdes like a rainstorm.

  Grun remained calm, c his wings in Armament Haki to shield himself. The air bdes struck his wings with a g, sparking like metal oal but failing to pee.

  With a powerful sweep of his wings, Grun stirred up a cloud of dust, redug visibility to zero.

  Taking advantage of the chaos, Grun luhrough the dust cloud, his razor-sharp wings sshing at Smoker’s waist like guillotine bdes.

  “Iron Body!”“Armament!”

  Smoker barely had time to reinforce his defenses.

  Even so, Grun’s attack tore through, leaving a deep gash along Smoker’s side. The yered defenses saved him from being cut in half, but the pain was searing.

  “That hurts! Damn it, this guy’s insane!”

  Darkness rippled across Smoker’s body, abs the damage.

  Despite his tendency to fight recklessly and push himself to the limit, Smoker wasn’t about to uimate an oppo like Grun.

  Raising his hand, Smoker activated his power.

  “Dark Water!”

  The swirling dust around them was sucked into Smoker’s palm, clearing the battlefield.

  Grun fpped his wings, h above. He g Smoker, surprised to see him still standing.

  “That attaded. How is he not hurt?”

  Smoker’s expression was serious.

  The brief csh had made it clear: Grun had the upper hand in both speed and power.

  Spitting out his cigar in frustration, Smoker’s voice carried a note of irritation.

  “Who the hell are you?! Someone as strong as you shouldn’t be this unknown!”

  Over the years, Smoker had taken dowy of pirates with bounties over 100 million, but Grun was easily among the stro—perhaps even on par with Dofmingo from two years agrun’s expression was cold.

  “To someone about to die, knowing my name won’t mean anything.”

  He spread his wings, the feathers sharpening and darkening as Armament Haki coated them. The soft white feathers transformed into deadly bck arrows, glinting with a cold light.

  "e Feather Arrows!”

  Grun fpped his wings, unleashing a barrage of feather-like arrows toward Smoker, then charged straight at him.

  No way to dodge!

  Smoker’s eyes widened as he quickly released a sphere of darko absorb the inihers with its gravitational pull.

  But in the instant, Grun appeared in front of him, nding a powerful kioker’s stomad sending him flying.

  Smoker crashed hard into the ground, clutg his chest as he forced himself to stand. Just as he was about to terattack, his eyes narrowed.

  The dark sphere he had created earlier was still floating in midair, lingering for a few seds before slowly dissipating.

  Could this be...

  Smaze lit up with realization.

  Most Logia users, and even some Paramecia with transformation abilities, could separate parts of their bodies or use their powers remotely.

  For example, Akainu could hurl magma, and Katakuri could create mochi out of thin air.

  But Smoker’s dark matter had always beehered to him, vanishing the moment it broke tact.

  Yet now, after Grun’s kick, the dark matter had remained i hadn’t disappeared immediately!

  Smoker took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement as he repyed the feeling from that moment.

  Grun wasn’t about to give him time to think. With a sweep of his wings, he unleashed another flurry of feather arrows.

  Distracted, Smoker couldn’t dodge in time. He braced himself, shielding his vital points as dozens of feathers pierced his body.

  Gritting his teeth, Smhe pain, holding his hands in front of him and fog ily.

  This sensation was rare—rarer than the Devil Fruit itself. He couldn’t let it slip away.

  Grun frowned, puzzled, and paused his attack.

  “What are you doing?”

  Logically, he should have pressed his advantage, but Grun’s pride got the better of him. If his oppo wasn’t resisting, he wouldn’t take the cheap shot.

  Smoker maintained his stance for several minutes, and Grun simply watched, his curiosity growing.

  Suddenly, Smoker felt a breakthrough.

  Extending his hand, a small bck sphere appeared before him.

  As the sphere formed, the air around it ulled inward, creating a fierce gust of wind.

  The su grew stronger, drawing in nearby stones and debris, though Smoker himself remained ued.

  After a few moments, the sphere disappeared. Smoker’s face lit up with excitement.

  Grun tilted his head, baffled.

  “Are you pnning to use that bck sphere against me? Don’t waste your time!”

  Though the bck sphere was stra was far too slow to pose a real threat.

  Smoker smirked. “Apologies fetting distracted, and thank you for waiting! That move was just a test—I ’t use it in a real fight yet. Let’s tinue!”

  Without another wrun fpped his wings, sending more feather arrows flying at Smoker.

  Smoker dodged swiftly, the feathers striking the rocks behind him and pierg through, leaving smooth, crack-free holes.

  “e Arrow Barrage!”

  Grun unched wave after wave of arrows.

  Smoker focused, using Observation Haki to evade as much as possible. What he couldn’t dodge, he blocked with Iron Body and Armament Haki.

  Still, the relentless storm of feathers was overwhelming. Smoker couldn’t avoid everything, and some arrows found their mark, drawing blood.

  Damn it, when will this end?How does this guy have so mahers?!

  Despite the onsught, Smoker refused to rely on his Devil Fruit abilities. He relied solely on Haki and his bat skills, recalling the words of his mentor, Zephyr.

  “True strength isn’t fed—it’s earned in battle. The same goes for Haki.”

  “Training increases the amount of Haki you have, but only fighting improve its quality.”

  “You must face death itself to push your Haki to the level.”

  Smred at Grun, his resolve unshaken.

  You... you’re the key to my growth!