Where ever there is '--' its usually POV or Scene Change.
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"Give it a rest...!" I grunted, launching a flurry of strikes.
Neck, shoulder, stomach, chest.
Since he doesn't have any legs, I kept attacking every other part of his body with kicks and my 'Cat Bite : Rankyaku'.
"I have way more experience than you!" Shiki roared, intercepting my barrage. "You won't hit me that easily!"
He blocked almost everything. Even when I hit him, he moved his body at the last second to soften the blow. It didn't feel like I hit him at all! He really is strong! It pisses me off, but he is super strong!
Damn it, I wish this old man's back would just give out right now!
Suddenly, his posture changed. He's preparing a flying slash... No! It's a fake!
I stopped the Haki flow I was about to use for a Cat Bite : Rankyaku and hardened my legs to defend instead. Just then, that old bastard charged at crazy speed. The swords he uses as legs flew right at my neck.
Clang!
"Tch...!" I grimaced as the impact shuddered through my bones. "He can read my moves too."
"My sparring partners are guys who try to chop my head off the moment I blink!" Shiki laughed, pressing his blade against my shin. "I deal with attacks like this every day!"
I caught the blade with my leg, but his Haki was so heavy! I mean, I can handle it, but still! I never thought I'd realize here that Mihawk and Rayleigh were actually going easy on me!
"Jihahahaha! You've survived some hellish battles for your age," Shiki noted, his eyes gleaming behind his sunglasses. "I'm impressed!"
Don't attack me with your powers while talking casually!
I sensed movement in the air. You're trying to crush me with debris from my blind spot. I can see that coming, you know!?
If he gets away, it'll be annoying. I'll shoot it down!
I didn't survive daily 360-degree attacks for nothing! Fighting the guy in front of me while blocking attacks I can't see is easy for me! I used a no-look 'Cat Bite Rankyaku: Screen Breaker' to blast the debris away.
This time, the debris was on fire, so I knocked it toward the sea where it wouldn't hurt anyone. Seeing that, the Golden Lion laughed aggressively.
"Interesting," he mused, floating back slightly. "I didn't think you were this capable. To be trained enough to fight me head-on at your age..."
"I may not have as much experience as you," I retorted, catching my breath, "but the quality of the hell I've been through is just as bad."
After all, I had to fight the 'Dark King' and 'Hawk-Eye' both at once for three days without eating, drinking, or sleeping! How many people in this world have done that?!
"Yeah, I can tell," Shiki nodded, his expression darkening slightly. "I can feel that you've been through some crazy battles. ...But still—!!"
"Hey, at your age..." I interrupted, trying to get under his skin, "do you really need to be in such a rush to die? You're young and have a future. Maybe you should rethink your life choices—"
"Don't you dare pity me, you brat!!!!!"
--
This brat is ridiculous... what kind of experience makes a pirate like this even though he's still young!?
Shiki watched as all his attacks using the debris as obstacles were dodged effortlessly.
He fights mainly with his legs, but he has speed like a Devil Fruit User. He probably had a talent for Observation Haki, but he has improved it way past the limit of what you can learn in a short time!
The Golden Lion set the debris on fire and dropped it on the Holy Land. But the pieces that were dangerous, or the ones falling where people were, were instantly smashed and blown away by the boy's powerful long-range kicks.
Tch, if I fought him on that island I found recently, I could definitely capture him and take him back...!
It would be a waste to kill him here, Shiki thought. His strength is obviously good enough. He is smart, and if you talk to him, you can tell he is serious by nature. He is annoying as an enemy, but if he were an ally, there would be no one more reliable.
If possible, I want to recruit him and his subordinates.
"What's wrong!? Is the steering wheel on your head hurting!?"
"Don't underestimate your elders, brat!"
But it won't be that simple. The fact that I want him so badly is proof that he is an incredibly dangerous pirate.
The moment I showed an opening, he fired a sharp kick at my neck. I heard a sound like a rifle bullet passing by. The kick was so fast I could barely see it, and it passed right by my neck as I dodged.
I countered with my sword-leg, but he stopped it with his leg covered in Haki.
What is up with his Haki!?It's strong, sure, but the speed at which he turns it on and off is abnormal! What kind of training lets you do that!!
Usually, once you activate Armament Haki, you don't turn it off until the clash is over. But kuro uses just enough Haki to protect himself, almost to a dangerous degree. If he makes just one mistake, he would get seriously hurt.
When attacking, he puts Haki on his leg only at the moment of impact. When kuro pulls his leg back, the Haki is already gone. When defending, he puts it only on the exact spot he needs, right at that moment.
If Kuro covered the wrong spot or was too slow, he could lose a limb.
To block my attacks with that kind of Haki usage... his Observation Haki must be seeing the future! And it's still evolving!
Since he knows a move like 'Sovereignty', he must have learned from someone famous in the New World.
Swords... No, his weapons are his speed and legs. Weapons that require focus on stance or blade angle wouldn't fit him.
While clashing head-on with a storm of kicks that felt like an invisible wall, the Golden Lion looked at Kuro's hands. They were covered in small cuts and cracks. And for some reason, both hands had fresh, bad burns. They were hands that had been used far more than his age would suggest.
I thought maybe he used blunt weapons like knuckles with Haki, but those aren't hands for gripping. But his fingers are strangely well-trained... claws like the guy in Whitebeard's crew? No, those claws wouldn't fit his range... Is he holding swords between his fingers? No, I don't know any pirate or marine who fights like that.
--
"Stop trying to measure my range!" I snapped, kicking him back.
"What kind of idiot doesn't think about range during a fight, you brat!!" he yelled back.
"I feel like there are tons of pirates like that!"
"...Oh, well, yeah. I guess those guys exist," he conceded unexpectedly.
"You actually agree?!"
His attention span is good, but his stamina is on another level. With my quick Haki switching, I could probably fight at full power for three days straight.
Shiki took the cigar from his mouth. He pulled a piece of debris soaked in oil closer and pressed the cigar against it to start a small fire.
"—Tch, again!" I clicked my tongue.
"Jihaha... Nice Observation Haki! Take this!"
He spread the fire to other debris and gathered a massive amount of burning wreckage again.
"Iron Fire Roll!!"
This one-trick pony! Even if it's smaller than before, are you really firing that at this distance!? I thought he wouldn't use fire carelessly if I was close!
Crap. If I believe what he said, using 'Sovereignty' will damage my legs!
I don't blindly trust enemies, but his assessment is probably right.
My legs are already overworked from fighting against slashes with Haki that are at least on Mihawk's level... It's too reckless to gamble when I don't have my guards or Hancock for aerial battles.
That gigantic fire-wolf will reach me in 4 seconds. But according to the future I saw, it will explode like a shotgun blast in 2 seconds. I have 1.5 seconds!
To change the slashes into a clean 'thrust', you have to kick a wide area almost simultaneously to make the slashes collide and form the shape! That's right. I struggled to figure out that unexplained attack Rayleigh showed me. I only just managed to fire it for the first time without hurting myself earlier.
But now, I need that attack again.
To get that much piercing power, I need roughly 200 to 300 slashes!
I don't know the exact number, but it's about that much. Why do I need that many? Simple. If I don't crash that many slashes together, I can't get the distance or the piercing power. A serious Cat Bite Rankyaku is powerful, but it lacks piercing power. It would just bounce off.
If the Golden Lion has a second attack ready, I'm done. 1.2 seconds left!
...Then!
"Winter Cat..." I whispered the stance name.
Luckily, thanks to the obstacles, I have a decent foothold. Enough to boost my power!
"Imitation—!"
"Come on! What will you do, Kuro!?" Shiki shouted, the pressure increasing.
The overwhelming pressure of a pirate—and a Conqueror.
--
With all that heavy debris floating around, he can't fire 'Sovereignty'.
To intercept this much mass, he would have to fire a shot that puts a huge burden on his legs. If he can't do that, he has to dodge. With the 'Black Cat's' legs, that would be easy, but he would have to run a long distance.
Many of the debris falling on the residential area of the Holy Land had been blown away.
I saw Sengoku, but I didn't expect Garp to be here too... Staying here any longer is bad news.
In an aerial battle, I have the advantage because I can move freely. That is why this pirate, Kuro, who can run around the sky even more freely than me, is someone I want on my side. But he is also the biggest threat.
Well, I set up what I needed to set up. The job is done. It's about time—
Snap. A high-pitched sound rang out.
In the dry air, it sounded like a small spark touching metal. But in the next instant, the sound swelled up like a flock of noisy birds—
"Hey, hey... no way," I muttered, eyes widening.
"—Imitation—!"
"He completed it just from that hint!?"
"—Sovereignty!!"
"Wave Slicer!!"
--
The attack definitely blew away the burning debris. I fired it as an experiment, thinking that at worst he would just dodge it due to the time lag. But the move itself worked.
If creating it with just kicks is too much work, I just have to place the slashes first... and then wrap them into a powerful thrust! It's good enough for an on-the-spot idea!
The power barely dropped. The movement was minimal, and it saved energy, so I can say the technique has leveled up. The problem is that my maximum firepower without my claws didn't finish him.
The fire that looked like it would burn everything turned into sparks and scattered. The shattered debris fell harmlessly. The 'Sovereignty' I fired collided with the Golden Lion's slash and exploded with a roar.
And then—
"Jihahahahaha!"
...You bastard.
The rooster-guy with the steering wheel in his head had already fled far away when the attacks collided.
"You always exceed my expectations, you bastard! I want you even more now!" he called out from the distance.
"Then why don't you come within reach!?" I yelled back. "You can't get what you want unless you reach out your hand!!"
"You're right, but Sengoku and the others will be here soon. I'm taking my leave!"
All the remaining debris started to free-fall.
Damn it. I catch myself thinking that it's fine if the number of Celestial Dragons decreases a bit, but the ones who will get hurt first are the weak people. If I chase him too far, I can't stop the debris. And if I get lured away and counter-attacked, I can't expect help from Sengoku or Garp.
"I got the main prize anyway!" Shiki shouted.
...Got it?
He was heading toward a ridiculously huge ship visible in the distance. All that's left is the falling debris and... wait!
"You!! No way!!" I gasped.
"You knew what I was after, didn't you? You should have been more careful!"
One object, a massive, clean-looking cube, was floating against gravity toward the ship along with the Golden Lion.
Is that...!!?
"The Food Warehouse!?"
Why!? Or rather, when did he— Ah!?
After I saved the fishman, I wondered why he bothered to chase me all the way down to the ground...!!
Kuzan told me that his ability is to float things he touches! That means—
He didn't chase me down to fight; he came down to touch the Food Warehouse!
This is bad. No matter what—even if I die—I have to steal that back!
"Want to try reaching out? You can't steal what you want unless you reach out your hand! Jihaha!"
"Wai—"
The moment I put strength into my legs to chase him, all the remaining debris began to rain down on the Holy Land.
"See ya, Kuro! Let's meet again in a world of violence and plunder!"
"GOLDEN LIOOOON—!"
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