One Piece: Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

Sage's Haki level isn't very high; after all, he has only just mastered it. Normally, the cultivation of this ability is extremely slow, and only through battles with strong enemies can Haki grow.

Since he mastered Haki, he has only fought Zefa in a life-and-death battle, which significantly increased his Haki level at that time. Other than that, even when using Haki Entanglement Treasure Vault in his daily practice, the improvement is limited.

Mastering and enhancing are two different things.

However, his Haki has an almost infinite rapid recovery.

So with every strike, Sage can recklessly expend all his Haki.

Even under the influence of the Big Dipper Fist, his mastery of Haki is more proficient than anyone else's. Techniques like widening Haki and striking out to create a large area of impact are also within his capabilities.

Seeing Ace dodge, Sage raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Did you notice? Or was it just pure luck?"

"Fire Gun!"

Ace planted his feet firmly on the rooftop, hands on his waist, thumb up, with his index and middle fingers extended to form a gun shape, launching a barrage of small flames that shot out like bullets.

If ordinary flames won't work, then use flames with a wider range! "No matter how much you spread it, in the end, I am still the target."

Sage raised both hands, his fists covered in a pitch-black hue, creating afterimages as he extinguished all the incoming small flames.

But just as he extinguished the flames, clusters of glowing points, resembling the Firefly Stone used by Paru, began to float around him, quickly gathering.

"Even small flames can gather into a big fire!"

Ace opened his hands towards Sage, his palms radiating the same glow, "Firefly: Fire Dama!"

Boom! Those glowing points approached Sage, directly swirling into a massive flame that engulfed him.

Ace revealed a slight smile, saying, "In the New World, there are plenty of you big guys who think that mastering Haki means you can counter Natural Types. Elements cannot be grasped; no matter how powerful your Haki is, it cannot resist nature!"

Haki is not a barrier that isolates everything; it can only grasp the physical form of Ability Users. Once entangled by flames like this, the only outcome is to be burned.

"That's true."

However, as soon as he finished speaking, his eyes widened in shock as a figure appeared behind him, trailing a shadow like a whip.

"But it is also filled with fools like you who think Natural Types are invincible!"

Bang! Sage delivered a powerful kick to Ace's body, splitting him into two flames, with the upper flame condensing into Ace's form. His hands suddenly pulled back, palms bursting with fire.

"Divine Fire: Unknown Fire!"

Boom!!

Ace's hands slammed down hard, throwing out a combination of flames that formed a long flame spear, piercing towards Sage with tremendous penetrating power.

"Penetrating power? Can flames do that?"

Sage's kicking leg instantly steadied, his right hand clenched tightly as Haki rapidly flowed into his hand, transforming into a stream of black fire that charged towards the flame spear.

"Heavenly Break Killing!"

Bang!!

The black stream of fire shot from his palm, colliding with the flame spear, and on the rooftop, flames erupted into massive sparks, blooming like fireworks.

Lily strained to watch the fireworks, and in her view, she could faintly see black intertwining within. In Sage's eyes, this firework not only contained bright red flames but also intertwined with pitch-black energy, transforming into black-red sparks that scattered.

The flame impact occurred, but the power of Haki was also impacted by this flame.

"Fire Gun!"

Amidst the sparks, Ace's figure emerged, fingers pointing forward as he fired a barrage of flame bullets. Sage simply waved his hand, using Haki to widen the External Release, creating an impact that extinguished all the flames.

The impact of Haki also struck Ace, forcing him into a scattered mass of fire that quickly fell onto the rooftop, igniting the surroundings and forming a fire circle that surrounded Sage.

Within the fire circle, firefly lights densely filled the area, radiating a glow almost like flames.

Ace's figure floated in the air, fingers outstretched towards Sage, smiling, "Flame—"

In that instant, Sage moved his feet, disappearing from his original position. His high-speed movement broke through the circle of flames, revealing an opening.

He almost flashed in front of Ace, carrying a force as his fist descended like a shell, striking him in the chest.

Bang! This punch even made the air resonate, penetrating Ace's chest, but was enveloped by a mass of fire.

Ace's entire body transformed into flames, spreading outward, his face revealing a sinister grin, quickly turning into fire, wrapping around Sage's body.

From the flames, several strands gathered above Sage, forming Ace's figure, his face radiating flames as he sneered, "Embrace of the Flame Mother! And—"

His fist raised, igniting with intense flames, he thrust downwards.

"Fire Fist!!"

Boom!!

A flame as thick as a barrel struck the burning inferno, descending with immense force, crashing heavily to the ground, sending sparks and debris flying, scorching the earth.

Ace descended from the air, landing firmly in a horse stance, grinning wickedly at the burning flames, "This move can also be rated as 'not bad'?!"

As he spoke, he straightened up, lowered the brim of his hat, and addressed Lily and the snarling Miote beside her, "Tell your Captain to be more polite in the future, if he's still alive."

The fiery flames even made Lily's cheeks flush slightly. Her left hand rested on the hilt of her sword, looking at Ace with a hint of mockery in her eyes.

"Save those words for Sage, if you're not dead."

Bang!!

The burning flames inexplicably exploded, sending a wave of air that kicked up a cloud of dust. The wave, carrying flames, scattered into the sky and fell to the ground, adding another layer to the surrounding fire.

Amidst the dust, Sage's figure gradually emerged, walking out from the crater.

"Oh? It seems you're not completely unscathed." Ace stared wide-eyed, grinning oddly.

Before him, Sage's shirt was burned away, with most of the fabric destroyed, and the gem buttons on his shirt shattered, falling to the ground as he moved.

On his body, Sage's arms and some areas, even his cheeks, bore burn marks.

A gust of wind suddenly rose, blowing through Sage's still relatively intact Fur Cloak, causing his white hair to flutter.

"Lily, catch."

Sage removed the Fur Cloak and tossed it towards Lily.

Lily reached out to catch it, draping the Fur Cloak over her arm.

Sage tore off the nearly burned shirt, revealing a strong yet well-proportioned upper body. His pupils nearly shrank to pinpoints as he glared at Ace, his tone extremely flat, "You really are infuriating."

"Because I am fire!" Ace sneered.

"Hey, you freckled guy!!"

A crisp voice rang out as Renetia ran up from the front, baring her teeth, "Are you an enemy?!"

Ace's expression stiffened, instinctively glancing at the approaching little girl, his mouth twitching, "Hey, you don't seem to have the right to say that to me."

Renetia, who also had small freckles on her face, retorted, "I don't care! Do you want to die?!"

Renetia pulled out a Mechanical Hammer from her waist, baring her teeth, "How dare you fight us? I'll send you to your death with one shot!"

"Ah, don't do that! Captain is very angry right now."

Just as Renetia's voice fell, another voice sounded from the side. Marika walked out from an alley, glancing at the tattoo on Ace's back, surprised, "Whitebeard Pirate Crew?"

"Whitebeard?!"

Renetia was taken aback; even a little girl like her knew of Whitebeard's reputation.

But soon, she bared her teeth at Ace, "So what if it's Whitebeard? We are Natural Disasters!"

She was out buying materials with her subordinate when she first saw the smoke and then the flames, which is why she came over.

The reason was the same.

The rain had stopped. "Portgas D. Ace, bounty of 550 million Belly. I've seen your bounty notice; I didn't expect you to join the Whitebeard Pirate Crew."

Marika walked up from behind, standing beside Renetia and Lily, glancing at Ace before looking at the tense-faced Sage, "Did you cause the flames? To be able to injure Sage, you're quite strong."

"What are you doing here?"

Sage shot them a glance.

Marika replied, "I saw the Navy on the way; it seemed they were chasing some Straw Hat Kid. Then there was smoke and fire here, of course, it would attract attention."

"Luffy?!"

Ace's eyes lit up, looking at them with a smile, "You guys are quite the bounty hunters, are you planning to ambush me?"

"No, Sage would get angry. We're just here to watch."

Marika smiled, "After all, I don't think you can win, right, Captain?"

"Are you that confident? Your Captain is injured, after I defeat him, I'll go find Luffy!"

As soon as Ace finished speaking, his pupils shrank, the confident smile on his face freezing.

Whoosh! A gust of breath surged from Sage's mouth and nose like wind.

With each breath, the burned skin on his body seemed to be submerged by normal skin, gradually shrinking back to its normal state.

The burns from earlier completely healed in that moment, as if they had never existed.

Life Return! Activate!

In that instant, a visible white aura began to swirl around him, rising upwards.

Whoosh! A white energy burst from his nose, spreading out like steam on the ground, forming a wave of air that rippled outward.

Bang! His body, which was almost the same as Ace's, suddenly expanded, growing taller while his muscles swelled like armor on his surface.

The muscles on his shoulders became thick like heavy shoulder pads, the muscles at his elbows bulged, forming round shapes like joints connected to mechanical Iron Man, and his collarbone expanded like a heavy armor collar.

In an instant, he transformed into a three-meter-tall muscular armored monster!

Dragon Transformation Breathing Technique! "80%."

Sage looked down at Ace, baring his white teeth, "Come on, round two!"

Simply relying on Haki and physical techniques wouldn't hit Ace; instead, it would be countered by the power of flames. Although Sage was confident that he could hit him after a long fight, there was no need for that.

One swift move, and it would be over.

"Ability User?" Ace was taken aback, "What is this? The power of the Muscle Fruit?"

"Who knows."

Sage locked his thumb against his fist, a cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, "You've used quite a bit of power, but I haven't even started yet!"

Bang! The sound of a bullet being fired echoed as his thumb flicked, transforming into a black conical bullet that struck Ace's face directly.

That face exploded into flames, the bullet piercing through the fire, creating a hole that shot off into the distance, piercing through several buildings in a row, creating identical small holes, and under the sunlight, beams of light shone through these buildings.

"Eh? Flames?!" Renetia stared at the flames erupting from Ace's head, momentarily stunned.

Marika's smile also froze slightly, but quickly returned, "So it's a Natural Type; no wonder Sage is taking this seriously. Is this the strength of the Grand Line?"

The scattered flames reformed into Ace's face, now turned sideways, looking gravely at Sage's hand, a mark cut into his cheek, blood trickling down.

He almost couldn't react! "Haki can do this?" Ace said in disbelief.

Was that the shape of an Armament Haki condensed bullet?

Entanglement?

But there was clearly no physical object; could pure External Release achieve this level?!

Bang! Before he could react, another sound of air breaking rang out. Ace was startled and quickly elementalized as the 'bullet' pierced through his chest, sending flames scattering.

Sage revealed a sinister smile, his thumb flicking like an afterimage. This was simply using Haki External Release, relying on the power of the Dragon Transformation Breathing Technique, allowing Haki to be fired like a bullet.

Bang bang bang!!

The black bullets, moving like afterimages, struck Ace's body, causing him to burst into flames, like shooting at a target. Sage fired Haki while Ace did his best to dodge, but against the extremely fast bullets, his elementalized fiery form clearly began to struggle to respond.

Even under the continuous barrage, he couldn't even actively expand; the density of Haki attacks was too overwhelming!

Bang! The flames dodged another 'bullet', but Ace's true form within the flames gritted his teeth slightly.

He felt a graze on his side. Bang! Just as he registered that sensation, another familiar sound echoed, the energy pressing directly towards his forehead amidst the flames.

Ace's pupils shrank, crossing his arms to block.

Smack!!

The swirling flames stopped, revealing Ace's true form. In the flames, he had his arms crossed in front of his head, and on his hands, a layer of pitch-black color had appeared.

"Armament Haki?"

Sage halted his attack, laughing, "A Natural Type can use Armament Haki but not Observation Haki? You're really a brainless fool!"

Armament Haki only requires control of will, but Observation Haki, as a perception ability, needs to maintain calm during battle to be used.

No matter how hot-blooded someone is, as long as they use Observation Haki, they must be calm during combat.

Impulsive people cannot possess Observation Haki.

Ace shook his arms, now covered in Armament Haki, looking at Sage with a gradually serious expression.

This speed, and this kind of power, while not exactly the same, gave Ace a similar feeling. That swollen, fierce body gradually merged in Ace's vision with an old fool who only knows how to laugh foolishly.