On the island, the old veteran and the youth were locked in a frantic exchange of blows. Unlike the beginning of the fight, Yamato was no longer being completely suppressed by Garp; she had found her rhythm and started to fight back with newfound intensity.
"What a cunning brat. Done acting, are we?" Garp quickly noticed the shift in her movements. His gaze became even sharper, sensing the change in her Haki.
"That's right, the cards are on the table now! I'm different from my idiot old man; I follow a technical route," Yamato declared. "I'm not going to just stand there and take an enemy's attack head-on. That was just for the plot earlier, but now... Godspeed!"
As she spoke, Yamato's body accelerated in an instant. She turned into a streak of light, her golden pupils leaving two shimmering trails in the air.
"Old man, take flight!"
At a speed that Garp's naked eye could barely track, Yamato appeared at his side. Her spiked club slammed into him with a resounding crack.
Bang!
Garp was sent flying by the force of the strike, shattering a mountain peak behind him as he crashed into the stone.
"Hahaha! Old man, I finally got you back for that move! I was just taking a beating earlier!" Yamato laughed loudly as she watched the legendary Marine tumble through the debris.
"What's there to be proud of, brat?" Garp halted his momentum and stood up, brushing the dust from his shoulders. "With this little strength, are you just scratching this old man's itch?" He was secretly surprised, however; Yamato's strike had sent him flying, but it had lacked the killing intent to cause real damage.
Thud!
Yamato stood her ground, planting her spiked club firmly into the earth. "Old man, let's be blunt. What's your purpose here? For the dignified Hero of the Marines, a legendary figure of the Navy, to appear here with only one warship—don't tell me you were just passing by."
"What a smart brat. Have I been exposed so quickly?" Garp scratched his head, letting out a huff.
"Old man, do you have some kind of misunderstanding? It's so obvious that only an idiot wouldn't see it," Yamato said, rolling her eyes at him.
Garp laughed, his tension easing slightly. "I see. Is it really that obvious?" He began walking toward Yamato, but the aggressive aura he had carried at the start of the battle had vanished.
"Brat, I came to see you," Garp said, stopping directly in front of her. His sharp gaze fell upon her, heavy with the pressure of a man who had faced the Pirate King himself.
"Why? Old man, there's no way you don't know who I am," Yamato said, her voice tinged with surprise. "For a Hero of the Marines to come see the child of a notorious Yonko—aren't you afraid of getting into trouble?" If the World Government found out that Garp had traveled to the New World specifically to meet a member of the Beasts Pirates, the fallout would be immense.
"This old man came to deal with a pirate brat. What trouble could there be?" Garp picked his nose, his image instantly shifting from a legendary warrior to an unreliable old man.
Yamato was speechless. This man was truly willful, an outlier within the Marine ranks who played by his own rules. "So, old man, did you come to find me for something specific?" she asked, getting straight to the point.
"Brat, your name is Yamato, right? What is it that you actually want to do?" Garp asked.
"What I want to do?" Yamato raised an eyebrow. All this effort just for that question?
"Are you going to follow in the footsteps of your father, Kaido, and become a notorious overlord of the sea?" Garp continued his questioning, his expression turning serious.
Yamato rolled her eyes again. "Old man, who did you hear that from? I'm different from my idiot old man. I'm not that naive, and I'm certainly not that extreme."
"Oh? So you're saying you're different from Kaido?" Garp became curious. Her answer didn't actually surprise him, but he wanted to hear more.
"Isn't that obvious? I'm a girl, he's a man. How can we be the same?" Yamato curled her lip in annoyance.
Garp almost choked on his own breath. "Brat, be serious with me! Stop talking nonsense!"
"Hahaha! Old man, you really can't take a joke. I was just kidding," Yamato laughed, her spirit undampened by his stern tone.
"Who's joking with a brat like you?" Garp huffed, his grey beard twitching.
Yamato waved her hand dismissively. "Don't get excited, old man. Watch your blood pressure! If something happened to you here, I'd be in big trouble."
"What a brat with a nasty personality. Watch out, or you'll never get married," Garp retorted, clearly annoyed.
"That's none of your business, old man. You should worry about the brat in your own family instead," Yamato snorted.
The corner of Garp's eye twitched at her words. He felt as if she were hinting at his own rebellious family members—his son, Dragon, or perhaps his grandson. "Brat, now that you have this kind of strength, what exactly is your goal?" Garp returned to the subject.
"Old man, who told you that having strength means you have to do something grand? Who made that rule? Can't I just have strength and do nothing, living out my days in idle comfort?" Yamato put her hands on her hips defiously.
"Idle comfort? A brat like you? You're kidding me," Garp said, not believing her for a second. "Does this old man look that easy to fool?"
"Hahaha, okay, saying 'idle comfort' might be a bit much, but I really do have something I want to do," Yamato admitted.
Garp's interest was piqued. "What is it?"
"It's simple: I'm going to knock out all of my idiot old man's teeth," Yamato said, clenching her fist tightly.
"Ha? Pfft... Hahaha! Brat, you say you want to knock out all of Kaido's teeth? For real?" Garp roared with laughter. He had expected many answers—conquering the sea, finding the One Piece—but he hadn't expected this.
"Of course it's for real! For that, I need enough strength. This time, I have you to thank, old man. Otherwise, I might not have achieved this goal so quickly," Yamato grinned. After she returned to Wano, she would definitely find an opportunity to give Kaido a taste of her improved Haki.
Seeing Yamato's serious expression, Garp's mouth twitched. This girl wasn't joking; Kaido was truly in for a headache. "Hey, brat, why don't you come be a Marine with me? Being a Marine is much more interesting than being a pirate," Garp suggested on a whim, his eyes darting as he spoke.
Yamato rolled her eyes once more. "Old man, do you think I'm a three-year-old? Join the Marines? Don't even think about it. It's impossible in this lifetime."
"Stupid brat, is there a need to be so disgusted?" Garp glared at her.
"How else? Don't tell me that the Marines are an organization for protecting the world and the masses. I don't believe that nonsense," Yamato said bluntly. "I have reason to believe that the future Marines might become such an organization, but right now, it's absolutely impossible."
She didn't reject the concept of the Marines, but the current organization was a puppet of the World Government, existing only to protect the interests of the Celestial Dragons and their allies. To her, it was no different from a private army.
Hearing her words, Garp frowned deeply. "Brat, you seem to know a lot about how the world works."
"Of course I do. Before the new era arrives, whether it's the Marines or pirates, they're no different in my eyes because the rules of this world are fundamentally flawed. So, I'm waiting for that era to arrive. Old man, you should be doing the same, right? Waiting for the era that can completely change the Marines," Yamato said. Her golden pupils glowed with an intensity that made Garp's mind shake.
How could this brat be so young, yet feel so frighteningly perceptive?
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