Chapter Ninety-Six: Fist Imprint!

"Hey, kid! Dinner’s ready!"

"Hah... is it time to eat again?"

Sitting cross-legged on the lawn, Chu Yi slowly opened his eyes and watched Tiger take out one fragrant dish after another from the lunchbox. Although the healing power of the fruit had left Chu Yi without any real hunger in his belly, the rich aroma drifting over him suddenly made him realize that he was hungry after all.

So before Tiger had even finished laying out the meal, Chu Yi hurriedly picked up his chopsticks and attacked the food with gusto, savoring every bite.

"Mmm... Tiger, your cooking keeps getting better and better!"

"Forget being the ship’s battle captain from now on. Just be the cook!"

Eating as he praised Tiger’s skills, Chu Yi looked as though he felt no trace of time passing, as if he still believed there was more than enough of it to spare.

But Tiger...

He could not remain so optimistic.

No one knew how the Navy had arranged its forces.

In the isolated, closed-off Fish-Man Island, no one could know that once Akainu escaped, he had immediately sent word to Marine Headquarters and reported the outcome on Fish-Man Island to Fleet Admiral Sengoku.

Since no one even knew of Akainu’s message, Chu Yi and the others naturally had no way of knowing that after that troublesome man had left, a new storm was already looming on the horizon.

It was obvious that Whitebeard’s personal arrival on Fish-Man Island was an extraordinary event.

If Whitebeard and Chu Yi joined forces, the power produced by their combination would surely create a chemical reaction. The Navy could not simply sit back and watch the strongest contender for the title of Pirate King align himself with the newly risen world’s most dangerous criminal and truly gain the qualifications to stand at the summit.

This battle was tantamount to deciding the future order of the world itself. The Navy would certainly dispatch terrifying strength in response.

And that terrifying strength would not merely threaten Chu Yi and Whitebeard. Even Fish-Man Island itself...

might be caught in the crossfire.

Of course, there was no need to worry about things one did not know.

And yet Tiger’s expression remained dark. What troubled him was not the threat from the Navy, but rather...

Chu Yi’s carefree attitude.

That’s right.

When Chu Yi said he would train, Tiger had assumed he meant grueling, backbreaking cultivation.

Who would have thought that for three full days, aside from the times Tiger interrupted him to bring food, every moment Tiger saw Chu Yi "training" was actually spent in a daze?

Sitting cross-legged on the lawn, idly spacing out!

How could such simple training possibly defeat Whitebeard?

How could such leisurely training possibly qualify him to challenge Whitebeard at all?

Several times Tiger had opened his mouth, intending to scold him, but in the end he had not had the heart. He also feared that Chu Yi had some plan of his own. But today was the very third day Whitebeard had mentioned, and that morning, men like Marco, Jozu, Vista, and the other elites of the Whitebeard Pirates had already begun to set sail in preparation for Whitebeard’s arrival.

Looking at Chu Yi in front of him, wolfing down his food without the slightest trace of tension, Tiger’s face remained grim. Several times he opened his mouth, and in the end he could not hold back any longer. In a tentative tone, he asked, "Hey, kid, aren’t you worried at all?"

"Worried? Worried about what?" Chu Yi asked in return.

"About Poppa, of course!"

Tiger widened his eyes and said sulkily, "When Poppa said he was coming, I told both His Majesty Neptune and Princess Otohime right away. From His Majesty Neptune’s point of view, Poppa’s visit is a good thing. First, he can help our Fish-Man Island intimidate the petty troublemakers. Second, his reputation can protect the two of us, criminals wanted by the World Government."

"But Princess Otohime, with all her thoughtfulness, pointed out that while Poppa’s coming brings us plenty of benefits, for you..."

"Kid, you know this much: Poppa will definitely test your strength. So why... why aren’t you training properly!"

With that, Tiger let out a long sigh, and the darkness on his face turned to worry.

Hearing Tiger’s words, Chu Yi nodded to himself, then smiled and said, "Tiger, I’ve known all along that Whitebeard and I would one day have a fight. Otherwise, what do you think I’ve been training so hard for?"

"You call that hard?" Tiger sneered. "If that counts as serious training, then Mihawk’s been training like mad. At the very least, he still swung his sword a few times over the past three days!"

"And you? Besides sitting there like a lump, what did you do?"

"I?" Chu Yi pointed to himself and smiled without a sound. "What I did was actually quite a lot. It’s just that... none of you saw it."

The words had barely left his mouth when...

Boom! Boom! Boom!

From all around came countless explosions. At first they brought a faint smile to Chu Yi’s face; then they caused Tiger to stare at Chu Yi with astonishment.

What were those endless explosions?

They were, of course, Chu Yi’s shadow clones.

Over the past three days, Chu Yi had seemed to do nothing at all, merely sitting there in silent reverie.

In truth, his main body had been improving his strength through insight, while the arduous training itself had been handed over to his shadow clones.

Having completed his seventh awakening, Chu Yi could now create more than three thousand shadow clones.

Three thousand shadow clones was precisely his limit, allowing both his own body and the bodies of the clones to remain at a normal human level of physical condition.

And one day of training for each clone was equivalent to one day of training for a normal person.

How long was one day of training for three thousand shadow clones?

Nine thousand days of training in total.

Nearly twenty years of training for an ordinary person.

So for Chu Yi, who could absorb the training experience of his shadow clones, there was no need whatsoever for him to undergo grueling solitary cultivation himself. All he needed to do was understand.

Besides, during those three days of hard training, Chu Yi had not gained nothing from his comprehension.

Especially just now, when all the shadow clones used for training vanished, the sharp edge that had once surrounded him disappeared as well, so much so that even Tiger could not help but glance over at him.

That was Chu Yi’s greatest breakthrough in those three days.

The sharp aura around his body was gone.

At this moment, Chu Yi’s body was still in its peak physical condition, yet he looked to the outside world like an ordinary man. Even when Tiger used Observation Haki to sense him, he could not detect the slightest trace of a strong fighter’s presence.

This was a return to simplicity.

An extremely important stage in cultivation.

It was much like "Hawkeye" Mihawk, who had grasped the sword technique that split heaven itself: when he did not hold a sword, he gave people an utterly ordinary impression. But the moment he took up a blade...

he became the world’s greatest swordsman.

At that moment, seeing that Chu Yi had indeed made obvious progress, Tiger drew a deep breath, and the weight pressing on his heart finally settled back into place.

But just as Chu Yi’s return to simplicity had given Tiger a little confidence...

Suddenly—

Boom!

An invisible gust of force swept across the sky above Fish-Man Island.

In an instant, Mihawk, who had been seated on the ground with countless fish-men and merfolk watching him, sprang to his feet. He gripped the wooden sword that had rested between his knees, and his eyes flashed once more with the keen light of a bird of prey.

At the same instant, Jinbe, who was leading Neptune’s forces, showed a look of astonishment. A vast and powerful aura rose from his body, and the Haki concealed within him unconsciously began to coil around him.

At the very same moment...

Boom!

Feeling that burst of force, the state of Chu Yi’s return to simplicity seemed on the verge of breaking. Fortunately, he steadied his mind in time and did not lose control.

But when he followed that invisible gust with his eyes and looked ahead, only to see that on the neatly trimmed lawn in front of him there was now a fist mark...

Boom!

The murderous intent within him, surging to the heavens, could no longer be restrained.

At the center of his brow, the purple Eye of Asura opened. Chu Yi, transformed into Asura, narrowed his pupils and fixed his gaze on that fist mark as he murmured to Tiger:

"Tiger, I may have to go and face them."