Leaves rustled overhead as Luffy sat cross-legged in the middle of the clearing, a wide circle of sunlight falling around him like a spotlight. The wind had settled, the birds had quieted—as if the forest itself was watching.
He held out his right hand, stared at it for a moment, then clenched his fist.
"I'm in the body of a rubber man. I know how this power works. I've read the manga a hundred times."
Slowly, he stood, cracking his neck.
"The Gomu Gomu no Mi... or rather, the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. Mythical Zoan. Right now, though... it's just rubber."
He took a step back, planted his feet in the dirt, and thrust his right arm forward.
"Gomu Gomu no... PISTOL!"
His fist launched forward like a slingshot, stretching ten meters before slamming into the trunk of a thick tree with a solid thwack. The entire tree trembled, and a few startled birds burst from the branches.
His arm snapped back, and he staggered slightly.
"Whoa—okay. That was… smoother than I thought."
He stared at his arm, flexing it again. The skin rippled, bounced, stretched—but never tore, no matter how far he pulled it. His body had become rubber down to the core.
"Alright. Let's try the basics."
He took a few steps back, bouncing on the balls of his feet. His grin widened.
---
🔹 Gomu Gomu no Pistol
He launched another fist—this time twisting his hips and stepping into it. The punch flew faster, hit harder, and embedded into a rock with a loud crack. The recoil nearly spun him off balance.
"Strong… even without Haki, that punch could break bone."
---
🔹 Gomu Gomu no Rocket
He grabbed a thick branch of a nearby tree.
"Let's see if this works like in the show..."
He pulled back—reeeaaallly far—and let go.
BOOM.
He shot forward like a missile, smashing through a bush and landing flat on his back twenty meters away.
"Ow. Totally worth it."
---
🔹 Gomu Gomu no Whip
He leapt to his feet, spun on one heel, and extended his leg outward in a wide, arcing circle.
"Gomu Gomu no... Whip!"
His leg stretched a full ten meters, slicing through three bushes and slamming into a tree. Leaves and bark exploded from the impact. It snapped back, and he winced at the recoil in his thigh.
"Okay... note to self: leg attacks sting more than punches."
---
🔹 Gomu Gomu no Balloon
He inhaled—deeply—and puffed out his chest.
His body expanded like a balloon, round and bouncy, until he looked more like a rubbery beach ball than a human.
He bounced experimentally, rolling into a tree trunk and rebounding with a soft boing.
"This one's more defensive… or good for bouncing off cannonballs."
---
🔹 Gomu Gomu no Bazooka
He pulled both arms back, feet digging into the earth.
"Gomu Gomu no… BAZOOKA!"
His twin palms rocketed forward, slamming into a thick boulder. The rock cracked, splintered, and tumbled down the hill with thunderous crashes.
He exhaled slowly.
---
Luffy stepped back, sweat trailing down his brow, chest rising and falling.
"I'm still getting used to the recoil… but damn."
He looked at his hands, fingers tingling from the shock of the Bazooka.
"I've got a monster's body. This devil fruit alone could take me so far…"
He sat down on a nearby stump, catching his breath.
"But this is just the beginning."
In the silence of the clearing, a squirrel peeked out from a bush, then darted away.
Luffy grinned.
"Tomorrow, I'll try combining movement with attacks. Maybe see if I can replicate some early tricks—like bouncing off trees mid-fight."
He laid back in the grass, arms folded under his head.
"That went well. I think I can try Gear Two. Luckily it won't really do any damage since I'm practically immortal. I genuinely might not use Gear Four—not because it's lame, but by then I'll be insanely OP without my Devil Fruit. Not to say I won't use it... just not as much," he said to himself.
Luffy began to think about all the action he'd be thrown into as soon as he left the island, which made him excited. He kicked himself up with a grin.
'Alright, let's do that one more time,' he thought.
Just like that, Luffy continued training his techniques, using his martial arts knowledge to strengthen and refine each one. And with every move, he discovered something new.
First, he adjusted the angle of his hips during Gomu Gomu no Pistol, twisting his torso for greater torque. The result? His fist flew faster, hit harder, and recoiled smoother.
He tried a Whip Kick again—but this time, he used his stance like a coiled spring, channeling energy from the ground up, snapping his leg in a wide arc. The force shattered a large stone clean in half.
"If I treat these rubber moves like extensions of kung fu, they evolve."
He jumped midair, twisting into a front-flip as he extended both legs—
Gomu Gomu no Drop Kick!
BOOM! The ground cratered beneath him as the impact cracked the earth.
Sweat trailed down his forehead, but he laughed anyway.
"I can upgrade everything… rework every move to match real combat flow."
He launched into a Rocket, then canceled mid-flight by twisting his torso, landing on a tree branch with nimble footing.
The clearing echoed with the sounds of fists, battle cries, and rubber snapping through the air.
He trained until the sky turned golden-orange, muscles burning, heart pounding.
"Soon... I'll make every fighter in the world look like they're moving in slow motion."
As the sun began to dip behind the horizon, Luffy stood still—shirt torn slightly, hands scraped, but his eyes burning with purpose.
"Tomorrow, I'll start combining footwork, observation, prediction... maybe even test how my brain reacts to high-speed rubber movement. If I can see the attack before I stretch..."
He looked up at the treetops swaying above.
"...then I don't need to dodge. I'll already be gone."
He raised his fist to the sky.
"Man I'm so excited "
TO BE CONTINUED