Both start in hell: but their talents are multiplied a hundredfold.

"Let's leave. We won't be able to fight freely here," Shen Jue muttered to himself, his already mastered Observation Haki locking onto the three little ones who were lying in ambush in the alley.

Ace, who had stopped Luffy in the alley and used his hand to silence him, breathed a sigh of relief and released Luffy after seeing Shen Jue leave the street.

"Ace! Why are you stopping me! Brother Shen Jue was being held up by the kids, we could have just gone up and snatched the bell and won!"

Luffy's words made Ace's face darken. He angrily tapped Luffy on the head and said, "Shut up! Didn't you see that Brother Shen Jue doesn't have a single flaw?!"

"That must be the Observation Haki that Brother Shen Jue mentioned before," Sabo said in a low voice. "We've already been exposed, but Brother Shen Jue doesn't want to take any action."

"Since the plan has failed, we will have no choice but to take it by force."

"Huh?! We're going to defeat Brother Shen? Really?" Luffy exclaimed dramatically, "But what if we could get Brother Shen to come sailing with us!"

"I will do it!"

Seeing Luffy's determination, Sabo smiled and nodded, then exchanged another glance with Ace.

In the forest near the windmill village.

Shen Jue strolled along, sword in hand, admiring the vibrant wilderness.

"Rubber, rubber..."

"Machine gun!"

Countless fist shadows descended from the sky like a storm!

Luffy laughed and swung his fist as he jumped down from the treetop. He had developed the Nika Fruit's ability to change according to his will to the extreme, and every punch from that rubber machine gun could shatter mountain rocks.

Shen Jue had already reacted. He maintained his leisurely state and did not use the sure-fire Six Styles Iron Body to block Luffy's surprise attack. Instead, he extended a finger covered with Armament Haki.

"Knock knock knock!"

Each punch from the rubber machine gun collided with Shen Jue's fingers, and the pain from the impact made Luffy grimace.

As time went by, seeing that his sneak attack had failed, Luffy decisively stopped throwing punches and jumped back.

"Rubber Rubber - Battle Axe!"

Luffy shouted, stretching and elongating his legs, soaring into the sky, and then crashing down with tremendous gravitational acceleration and weight!

Shen Jue's fingers, also covered in Armament Haki, caught the powerful blow.

Luffy's rubber legs immediately retracted. At that moment, Shen Jue used the Naval Six Styles technique of Shave to move forward and get close to Luffy.

With a flick of his finger covered in Armament Haki, he struck Luffy on the head.

Luffy was thrown dozens of meters away as if he had been hit head-on by a heavy cargo truck traveling at over 100 kilometers per hour, and crashed into a tree trunk.

"Bang!"

Smoke rose from the ground as Sabo and Ace, who had been hiding underground, leaped up and threw out a large number of smoke grenades.

Sabo, brandishing his cane and thrusting it with all his might toward Shen Jue's throat, silently prayed.

Then Sabo, along with his cane, was flicked away by Shen Jue with a single finger.

"Brother Shen Jue!" Ace said with an expression different from usual, even though he was only a few years old. Ace was too mature at this moment.

"Stay here and become pirates with us!"

"Impossible, Ace," Shen Jue shook his head and said, "My dream isn't something that can be achieved by becoming a pirate."

"Let me see if your fists are as strong as your will, Ace."

Ace lowered his face in the smoke, then brandished his fists and launched an attack on Shen Jue.

Shen Jue responded with his fingers as well. The three little ones were much stronger than they were when they were about to set sail.

"That's far from enough. I need to get serious," Shen Jue sighed.

"Finger Pistol - Shattering Jade!" Shen Jue flicked his finger, a spiral of energy covering the jet-black Armament Haki, and then gently flicked it onto Ace's fist.

Ace was struck as if by a heavy blow, and his arm felt like it was about to break, but his stubborn nature only made him more determined.

Ace retreated a few steps, his right hand hanging limply at his waist, the intense pain making it almost impossible for him to throw a punch.

"I won't let you leave! Brother Shen Jue!" Ace roared furiously.

Under intense pain, he mustered all his strength and exhausted all his remaining left hand to throw a punch!

That imposing aura! It sent the birds in the fields fleeing in panic! They scattered and flew into the sky!

Shen Jue saw a trace of black Armament Haki appear on Ace's left arm as he threw a punch!

"Truly worthy of being his son," Shen Jue exclaimed. Then, he flashed to Ace's side, flicked his finger, and knocked Ace unconscious.

Even after he passed out, Ace maintained his fighting stance.

"Then it's just you, Sabo." Shen Jue saw the surrounding mist dissipating, and the bell at his waist was still intact.

A cane came stabbing from an odd angle. Shen Jue was not surprised but delighted. Instead of taking the blow head-on, he dodged the cane's attack by turning to the side.

With a sudden change in force, the cane was thrust towards Shen Jue's throat.

Shen Jue dodged continuously, while Sabo, holding his cane, suppressed Shen Jue's figure in the gradually dissipating mist.

"I am delighted by your Observation Haki, Sabo."

"You have not let me down after all these years of teaching you."

"If you mean the thing about beating me, Ace, and Luffy up every three to five days, I don't like that," Sabo thought to himself upon hearing Shen Jue's words.

"You got distracted," Shen Jue said, then flicked his finger again, sending Sabo and his cane flying.

"Not quite there yet? You need more practice, Sabo."

As the smoke gradually dissipated, Shen Jue's bell was still on her waist.

A figure suddenly flashed by at that moment.

"Huh?" Shen Jue exclaimed softly, and saw Luffy laughing happily as his limbs, which were limp from being overstretched.

"I got it! Brother Shen Jue! It took me ages to tie my hands and feet to the tree!"

"I've decided! This move will be called Rubber Rocket!"

While Shen Jue was entangled with Ace and Sabo, Luffy used himself as a spring and launched himself toward Shen Jue at a speed far exceeding his original speed.

But when Luffy proudly raised the bell in his hand, he was dumbfounded.

What Luffy was holding wasn't a bell, but a stone that Shen Jue had picked up from the ground.

Staring at the large bump on his head, Luffy felt like crying.

Shen Jue smiled slightly.

Coincidentally, after learning Observation Haki from Garp, Shen Jue realized his talent in Observation Haki.

It is precisely about foreseeing the future.

Shen Jue can see the future up to three seconds in advance.

From the very beginning, the three boys' plan was doomed to fail.

As night fell, the three little ones lay on the beach, covered in wounds.

Shen Jue treated the wounds of the three little ones one by one, wrapping them with massive bandages.

After just one night's rest, the three injured little ones will be lively and energetic again tomorrow.

"Big brother! Why do I have to be a Marine?!" Luffy shouted, asking the question.

Shen Jue smiled and said, "I want to protect people's happiness because I've lost family members, and that's when I realized how intense that pain is."

"Protect my family..." Ace lay on the ground, looking at the starry sky, thinking of his mother who died giving birth to him and his father who was publicly executed. He clenched his fists.

Sabo remained silent. He despised the hypocrisy of the aristocracy and his parents' obsession with status and wealth, and longed for freedom, which was why he ran away from home.

He had nothing to say about Shen Jue's choice.

"Haha! I will definitely protect Brother Shen Jue, Brother Ace, and Brother Sabo!"

Luffy's loud laughter became the only embellishment under the starry night sky.

In the end, the three little ones failed to snatch the bell from Shen Jue's waist.