Chapter Ninety-One: The Young Master Leaves, Farewell! [Fourth Update]

“Want to try another flame?” Shu Mingyuan said with a faint smile.

“Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!”

Shukaku’s chakra surged under his control, and he opened his mouth to spew five fireballs at Ace once more. This time, each fireball was wrapped in a layer of tailed-beast chakra. Though their power had not noticeably increased, there was clearly a subtle difference.

Ace’s face even showed a trace of mockery. The same attack, no matter how many times it came, was useless. He simply stood there, waiting for the fireballs to burst into flames and merge into his body.

But when the fireballs arrived, he suddenly felt a long-lost heat. He had eaten the Flame-Flame Fruit; one could almost say he himself was flame, and it had been a very long time since he had truly felt heat.

And yet this fireball had somehow made him feel it. That meant it could actually harm his body. But how was that possible?

All flames were the same. Unless it was magma, flames that had evolved into liquid fire, nothing should be able to hurt him.

And yet that burning sensation was so real. He frowned. This brat was becoming more and more bizarre.

“Enshrouding Wall of Flames!”

Ace gave a low shout, and a wall of fire rose out of thin air between them. The five incoming fireballs slammed into it, but instead of melting into it as he had expected, they exploded violently.

Sparks flew everywhere, and one tiny ember landed on his arm, bringing with it a faint sting.

“This kid’s fire really is strange! It’s completely different from before, but its power is still so weak. Nothing to fear.” Ace wore a broad smile. Shu Mingyuan’s flame abilities had sparked his intense interest. Compared with that, the matter of his father, Whitebeard, asking him to bring back the Ghost Hunter had already been forgotten.

“Brat, your flames are interesting. Let me see whether your fire is stronger, or mine is!”

Ace laughed loudly, drew his fingers together, and extended his index and middle fingers in the shape of a gun. A point of searing orange-red light appeared at his fingertips, and then with a sharp hiss, streams of flame shot out like bullets, fiercely sweeping toward Shu Mingyuan.

“Fire Gun!”

These flames were highly compressed; once fired, they swept like bullets, and they also carried the firepower of the Flame-Flame Fruit. Once they hit, the damage was by no means something bullets could compare to.

Shu Mingyuan dodged quickly. He stepped and moved, not daring to use Observation Haki in Ace’s presence, relying entirely on his Sharingan’s ability to perceive all things and evade with ease.

Ace was also a man who possessed all three forms of Haki. Shu Mingyuan did not know whether his own Observation Haki could outmatch the other’s; if he were seen through, wouldn’t he be walking straight into the enemy’s trap?

“Looks like this kid isn’t actually someone who ate the Flame-Flame Fruit. Otherwise, with his ability to elementalize, he shouldn’t be this afraid of being swept by the Fire Gun.”

The Fire Gun swept across the desert, punching out hundreds upon thousands of bullet holes.

“Brat, I think I’ve found your weakness. Be careful now.”

“Fireflies: Fire Dango!”

Ace grinned. He spread his hands, and countless glowing streams of fire drifted densely through the air, clinging to Shu Mingyuan’s body with the current of the wind. Then sparks danced, and a fierce, scorching blaze ignited over him.

“Armament Haki: Hardening!”

The boy gave a low shout, and a dark sheen surged over his entire body, reflecting a metallic luster. In the end, Ace’s flames were only fire without roots; after a while they gradually went out. Even so, he still felt a burning sensation on his skin.

Shu Mingyuan sighed. He suddenly realized that he knew very few Fire Release techniques. Aside from Great Fireball Technique, he basically had nothing worth mentioning. Otherwise, he would not have been so passive when facing Ace. It seemed it was time to think about other ninjutsu.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you good at playing with fire? Is that all you’ve got? Stop hiding and bring it all out.”

Ace smiled faintly.

“Divine Fire: Hitherto Unknown Flame!”

He sprang forward, arms spread wide, and two flaming lances rapidly formed in his hands before being hurled heavily at Shu Mingyuan’s body.

The lances had nearly become solid, burning with searing fire and scorching the air until it seemed to crack dryly, as though they were tearing through space itself as they shot forth.

“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”

Ten fingers moved in a blur of seals. A surging torrent of flames burst from Shu Mingyuan’s mouth, and a fireball over twenty meters wide swallowed the lances whole. Within the blaze, Shukaku’s chakra churned, and the great fireball’s fierce temperature roasted both lances until they burst apart!

“A pretty interesting fireball.”

Ace looked at the enormous blaze, the smile on his face growing even wider. He was an expert in fire; of course he could clearly sense just how immense the firepower contained within that fireball was. Though it was still far inferior to his other abilities, this very hand at controlling flame was already enough to arouse his interest.

“Mirror Flame!”

Ace shook one arm, and ring after ring of flames surged out like waves. His arm turned into fire, and as he thrust it forward with force, the surging power of the flames instantly expanded, swelling in a heartbeat to roughly the same size as the Great Fireball.

The two fireballs collided in midair. It was hard to imagine that flames born of the same source would not merge, but instead consume one another like two opposing forces.

Yet the truth of the matter was something only Shu Mingyuan himself knew clearly. He had been maintaining the output of tailed-beast chakra the entire time. Otherwise, once that chakra ran dry, his flames would be no different from ordinary fire and would not be able to harm Ace in the slightest.

Knowing that he could hardly defeat Ace in a contest of flames, he could only rely on other abilities.

He stomped hard, his entire body hardened by Armament Haki, and charged through the layers of fire. Clenching his fists, he rained blow after blow down on Ace like a storm. Compared to his other abilities, Haki was now the more useful one.

“I told you, brat, your strength is useless to me! You’d better come with me and meet our old man obediently!”

“Blazing Sun!”

Flames erupted from Ace’s limbs. Though Haki could strike the true body of a Logia Devil Fruit user, that did not mean a Logia user could only stand there and take the beating.

Ace’s fists hammered out, each blow carrying an intensely scorching flame. Fire had long since become an innate attribute of his body; every attack he made carried flame damage, and as he developed the fruit more and more deeply, the temperature of those flames would only grow ever hotter!

“Heh heh! Super Expansion Technique: Super Thrust Palm!”

Amid the frantic exchange of punches, Shu Mingyuan let out a wicked laugh. His arm suddenly swelled to an enormous size, and before Ace could even react, a giant palm thirty zhang wide slammed down hard, sending him flying.

The slap came so suddenly that Ace had no time to prepare. Who could have expected that this cold, aloof-looking brat would suddenly use such a move? And so, in misfortune’s embrace, he was slapped senseless.

Before losing consciousness, Ace heard a faint, mocking voice.

“I told you long ago that you couldn’t take me with you, but you wouldn’t believe it. This young master’s leaving. Farewell!”

Postscript: That’s four chapters for today. Good night, everyone.