One Piece: Heaven-Defying Talent

"Interesting," Chiba smiled, clenching his fist once more. His powerful Armament Haki wrapped around his fist as he stared up at the meteorite plummeting from the sky.

Ace, seeing this, was alarmed. "Chiba, are you out of your mind? That's a meteorite! Even with all your strength, if you take it head-on, you'll be smashed to pieces!"

Chiba didn't flinch, but Vista grinned, saying, "Ace, what are you worrying about? Captain Chiba's strength is far beyond what we can imagine. You and Joz better move quickly, or we won't stand a chance."

Joz, still uncertain, asked, "Are we sure this won't kill the captain?"

Vista snorted, "Remember that punch he threw earlier? It's on par with that old monster Garp's punch, isn't it? Do you think the three of us could beat Garp?"

"I doubt it," Joz admitted, serious.

"Then stop worrying and focus on restraining Captain Chiba so he gets hit by this meteorite!"

With a determined nod, Joz activated his String-String Fruit, sending countless threads flying towards Chiba. But black and red lightning crackled across Chiba's body, tearing apart any threads that approached.

"I can't even get close! My fruit ability has no effect on him at all," Joz muttered, scratching his head. This was the first time he'd encountered someone so challenging that even his fruit ability was useless.

Ace joined in, raising his hands and shooting flaming bullets at Chiba. Yet, as they neared him, each one shattered against the black-red lightning surrounding Chiba.

In the next moment, the massive flaming meteorite descended directly overhead.

Chiba clenched his fist and punched up at the meteorite.

A deafening bang echoed out.

The meteorite shattered instantly, pieces of it turning to dust from the sheer impact of Chiba's punch.

The powerful force dispersed into the sky, scattering all the debris to powder, leaving nothing but dust floating in the air.

The sound of an elephant's trumpet echoed from Chiba's body, almost as if it reveled in the power being released.

Ace, Vista, and Joz could only stare, slack-jawed at the sight before them.

It was one thing if Chiba had merely smashed the meteorite; they might have expected that. But he'd completely obliterated it, reducing it to dust that drifted away in all directions.

"Unbelievable! Did he really just punch a meteorite to dust?" Joz's eyes widened, his Observation Haki maxed out, yet he could find no trace of the meteorite.

Vista, also scanning the area, muttered, "Where'd it go? Where did the meteorite go?"

Ace stretched out his hand, and after a moment, he felt a fine layer of dust on it. Looking up, he noticed the air was filled with gray particles. Ace took a deep breath and said, "Chiba's punch pulverized the meteorite into dust and scattered it in the air. That's what happened to it—it's all just fine ash now."

Vista and Joz exchanged glances, their faces full of disbelief.

"He punched it to ash? That's… how is that even possible?" Joz murmured. He could hardly comprehend the kind of force needed to shatter a meteorite into fine particles.

Vista's expression turned solemn. He'd thought his meteorite attack, while maybe not enough to take down Chiba, would at least make an impact. But now he realized the captain's strength was far beyond his imagination.

As the sound of the elephant's cry echoed, the three were deeply moved.

A breeze blew, scattering the dust across the sky, painting the air gray. Chiba flew out of the haze, looking at the three of them. "Is that all you've got? Show me everything you've got!"

With strength like this, Chiba mused, he'd still need even more power to face Kaido.

The trio, still reeling from the spectacle, felt no fear—only exhilaration.

Earlier, they'd held back, afraid they might seriously harm Chiba. But now they realized just how much they'd underestimated him.

"Let's go all out! No more holding back. Let's not give the captain a reason to laugh at us," Ace shouted, and his Mera-Mera Fruit power fully awakened. The entire island was engulfed in blazing flames.

Amid the inferno, seven enormous three-legged Golden Crows emerged, each reaching 100 meters in size and circling Chiba rapidly.

A powerful current of air whipped up around the three-legged Golden Crows, forming a flaming tornado—a pillar of fire reaching to the sky, with Chiba at its center.

The heat was so intense that Vista and Joz had to back away, their faces twisted in discomfort. They realized that Ace had never gone this far when fighting them before.

The seven Golden Crows spiraled, intensifying the tornado's power. As the flames compressed inward, the internal temperature rose dramatically. Vista and Joz kept their distance, carefully watching the blazing whirlwind.

Inside the inferno, Chiba could feel the intense heat. Even his body was strained by the oppressive temperature.

"Not bad. Impressive," Chiba commented, admiration in his voice, as a black water dragon manifested around him.

The dragon spiraled around him, unleashing a torrent of black water upon the seven Golden Crows.

Within moments, the flames of the Golden Crows began to extinguish. In no time, the fire of the Golden Crows was completely snuffed out.

Thick steam filled the air as the black water dragon dissipated Ace's firestorm, quenching the flames entirely. Chiba's black water dragon had countered Ace's Golden Crows perfectly.

"How… how is this possible?" Ace gasped, staring in disbelief at the scene before him.

[•———•——•———•]

𝙥𝗮𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣(.)𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

✨ • 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟲𝟬+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.