371 Chapter 371
371 (A/N: Sorry for the late upload. Enjoy your two chapters.)
And Gin, by instinct, did, but Johnny was dumbfounded enough that he missed the command. Taking a crossed air slash at his chest, that sent him back a few meters, his clawed feet digging trenches in the ground.
Still, there was no injury.
Johnny blinked and looked at Coby, who was retracting two arm blades from his hands.
"He can even withstand my air slash…" Coby mumbled, "You know, that's just downright cheating. And that's me saying it…" While his own fruit gave him regenerative abilities, getting hurt wasn't something people liked.
"Shishishi… what else do you expect from a mythical zoan?" Luffy said, "Griffon's have the durable body of a lion. They might not be dragons, but they are considered to have strong hides… even Kuina had trouble cutting through Laffitte when he went half-zoan. And while Johnny might not be there yet in terms of durability, as I'm pretty sure Laffitte had trained his fruit to be more durable, but he's still vastly stronger compared to others."
"True, he also has wings, so flight shouldn't be an issue." Coby said, "But then again with Geppo, it isn't an issue for anyone. Still, you might want to work on your flight ability. With his unbreakable skin, he will be a menace in the sky."
"I wouldn't say unbreakable skin," Sparky said, who had just gotten near Johnny. Even though Sparky had gotten taller, he was still half the height of half-zoan Johnny. "I beat Laffitte, and I found out a few of his weaknesses…"
"Oh, you mean your sea stone chain-saw? That thing is an abomination." Coby said, almost shivering at that thing.
Sparky darkly chuckled, before quickly changing back to a kid-friendly monkey, "Not quite." He said stretching all three of his right hands forward like fists, "Can you stretch out your right hand… it might hurt a bit."
Johnny now a bit confident, nodded and stretched out his bird-like palm —that had talons for nails— towards Sparky's three fists.
And just as he did, Sparky attacked, not moving an inch from his spot, "Rokuogan!"
"Agh…!" Johnny hissed he took back his hand, he felt the attack in his bones and muscles. And it hurt like a bitch! Even though there wasn't any notable wound on his hand, he could still feel the pain from inside.
"So, shockwave-based attacks still hits hard, huh? It's a given with how they neglect one's durability and directly attack the insides of the target…" Zoro said, a small, "I still haven't gotten Internal Destruction down yet, so this might help." Johnny felt a shiver run down his spine, "Hey, it might even train your internal durability."
"Welcome to the punching bag club." Gin said with a flat expression, "Where we are the punching bags…"
"Hey, you don't have to be so crude about it," Coby said.
Gin gave him a flat look, "You use the spikes on my back to sharpen your own claws…"
Coby shamelessly smiled, "like I said, you don't have to be so crude about it…"
Luffy just laughed, "Don't worry Johnny, you will get used to it… And besides, Barto's shields are far better for learning and honing Internal Destruction…"
"Ugh… thanks, I guess." He said, before looking down at his hand, the pain was already lessening. "The recovery rate is also amazing… man, I lucked out, didn't I?"
The others just laughed, happy for their crewmate.
"Wait, we still have Yosaku to get his fruit?" Luffy said, looking at him, "I'm gonna be honest with you… I already have someone in mind for that fruit, but if you want it…"
"Um, no captain." Yosaku said, clearing his throat, "I actually have a fruit in mind that I want. But… uh, it's a bit of a hard to get… but…"
"Now, I'm curious!" Luffy said, "Is it a zoan?"
Yosaku blinked, "Yes… a mythical zoan!"
"Hah! Thought so… I always thought you would work great with that kind of fruit." Luffy said, "But a mythical zoan is kind of rare, you know. It's not something we can even find in auctions. But hey, speak your mind. It might take a few years, but we might get that in the future, sometimes being patient in the long run pays off."
Luffy was thinking about Teach, not the best example, but the man had a zealous dedication for that one fruit.
Even now, Yosaku was a bit hesitant, "It's a pretty powerful fruit…"
"Come on, spill it." Zoro grunted, "Fruits can only get you so far. There are people that are far stronger than you and me, even without devil fruits." Of course, he was thinking about Mihawk and Shanks.
Luffy just nodded. He had spoke to Zoro before about giving him the Griffon fruit, as Kuina rejected it. But Zoro had rejected the fruit for more or less the same reason. And it was true, Haki mattered the most in the long run.
His grandpa, Bogard, Roger, Rayleigh, Shanks, and Mihawk were prime examples of top-tier people without any fruit, just raw strength. So yeah, he could understand it.
But at the same time, Luffy also thought differently. If he was given a chance to eat another fruit. He would. Not even questioning the how of things.
While some people might see Devil Fruits as crutches, that was a complete misunderstanding of things. Some people are born strong, like Oden, Kaido, and Big Mom. Not to mention the whole extinct race of Lunarians.
But are they considered to have crutches? No, people will pay it off as having natural-born talent. Heck, even Fishman are ten times stronger —on land— than humans. And they gain double that strength in the sea.
It didn't matter if you were born with strength or earned it through hard work. At the end of the day, what mattered was how strong you were.
It might be hard to understand for some. But back before coming to this world, he was a powerlifter. A very good one at that. But he was no national-level winner in any lifts.
Even with almost ten years of training, people much younger than him were able to beat him in strength just because of genetics. Same for height and looks. Some people are born tall with good looks, while others are average or even short with sub-par looks. Back in that world, those kinds of things couldn't be changed, but here they could so why wouldn't he?
Was he ever lacking in hard work? Nah. He made sure to be the hardest-working motherfucker in the room. And yet some things are just completely out of your control. So no, he didn't view devil fruits as being shortcuts. That was just the wrong way of seeing things, in his opinion. Still, he respected Zoro and Kuina who stuck to their beliefs.
"Anyway, what's your choice?" Luffy asked.
"Its the… … …" Yosaku said, and the people in the room had a surprising looks on their faces. Yosaku, like Usopp, had a great admiration for the giants. Mainly because of their strength, so he chose a fruit that would give him just that with a bit of extra.
Luffy just grinned before laughing. "A very bold dream… and I love it!" he said, setting his feet on the nearby chair, "I won't promise anything, but… heh, just get strong. I will see if I can do anything or not."
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A/N: So yeah, Yosaku won't get a fruit for quite a while. But don't underestimate him, he will gain strength his own way.
I had to re-read the whole Water Seven arc when I wrote this. And what was surprising is that 'doriki' that was measured for the CP9 agents wasn't taking into account the zoan physical boost.
Even Jabra said himself that, while Kaku might be 20 points higher than him, it was without his wolf-zoan fruit. That's really impressive.
And also zoans had types. Herbivores zoans such as cows, bison, or giraffes give less of a physical boost than carnivore zoans.
Ancient zoans has extreme durability regardless of whether they are prey or predator. But of course, carnivores do get more of a boost than the others.
So as for what Yosaku's fruit will be, any gusses?
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