Admiral Kizaru's body elementalized, countless photons rearranging themselves in midair.
Before the words even finished leaving his mouth, a light-speed kick came roaring in—one strike was all it would take.
"It's over, kid."
Borsalino muttered, golden light surging.
Suddenly, a strangely shaped kunai appeared out of nowhere beside Borsalino's leg.
The kunai was still spinning, wrapped in a paper tag covered in jutsu script.
Space warped—then a hand seized the kunai's handle.
A Hokage cloak snapped in the wind.
Borsalino maintained the kicking posture.
Behind his sunglasses, his eyes widened slightly.
He… blocked it.
The man who had appeared out of nowhere had stopped the light-speed kick with one hand.
The sensation from his ankle was unmistakably real—not an illusion.
Kizaru pulled his leg back, his body retreating as he dissolved into photons, widening the distance.
He re-formed in midair, hands in his pockets, head tilted as he examined the man who had arrived so abruptly.
Blond hair, blue eyes, a white Hokage cloak with "Fourth Hokage" written on the back.
A gentle smile hung on the man's face. Borsalino clicked his tongue.
"So scary."
"Someone can actually keep up with my speed."
He pushed up his amber-tinted sunglasses with a finger.
Minato flicked his arm, which had gone slightly numb—the impact just now had been heavy.
Hearing the question, he raised his head.
"No."
"I'm not light."
A special three-pronged kunai appeared between his fingers.
"I'm just a bit faster than light. But I'm in a hurry—this isn't my spacetime, and the time Shinju can keep me summoned is limited."
"Faster than light?"
That joke wasn't funny at all.
"Then let's test it."
Kizaru raised both hands.
Yasakani no Magatama (Eight Sacred Jewel Curve).
Countless dazzling light bullets poured down.
No blind spots—carpet bombing.
Minato didn't move. Only when the light bullets were about to brush his hair did his figure vanish.
The next second—
Minato appeared behind Borsalino, a blue chakra sphere in his hand.
Rasengan slammed hard into Kizaru's back.
Kizaru reacted instantly, his body elementalizing in a flash.
The Rasengan tore through golden photons, failing to strike anything solid.
Photons gathered again at a distance. Borsalino touched his back—his suit had been punched open.
Barely missed.
"So dangerous."
He said "dangerous," but his movements never paused.
His finger tapped rapidly—several laser beams shot out.
Minato vanished again. The beams punched through the ice.
The two launched into a chase in the air, Marineford's sky becoming their stage.
Below, marines and pirates alike stared, stunned—no human eye could catch their movements.
All they could hear was the explosive crack of air ripping apart, and the occasional burst of flame.
The longer Kizaru fought, the more shaken he became. No matter where he moved, the blond man kept up.
Even arriving ahead of him.
Light speed was supposed to be unsurpassable.
Yet the other man's method of movement completely violated common sense.
Shinju's intel was accurate. In the gaps between flashes, Minato's mind worked quickly.
The Pika Pika no Mi (Glint-Glint Fruit) turned the body into photons—its movement speed truly hit an extreme, to the point even neural response struggled to keep up.
But it had a fatal weakness: light could only travel in straight lines.
To turn, it had to rely on mirror-like reflection—or stop and re-elementalize.
That was the opening.
Minato threw his kunai again.
This time, not one—dozens.
Special kunai filled the sky, scattering across every corner of the battlefield.
Borsalino stopped, looking at the chaotic spread of kunai around him, confused.
"Giving up already~?"
"Tossing away your weapon isn't a good habit."
A sword formed in his hand—Ame no Murakumo (Heavenly Cloud Sword), a long blade made of photons.
Borsalino became a streak of light, thrusting straight for Minato's throat.
Minato watched the light blade stab in. The instant it was about to pierce him—
Minato vanished.
Borsalino stabbed empty air, inertia carrying him forward for a short distance.
In that moment, a fierce sense of danger surged up his spine.
Above—
Kizaru snapped his head up.
Minato was upside-down beside a kunai above him.
In his hand was a massive Rasengan—
Odama Rasengan.
"Too slow."
Minato's voice sounded right beside his ear.
Kizaru tried to elementalize to evade, but it was already too late.
The Rasengan crashed into his chest, the immense impact slamming him down from the sky.
The ice surface exploded into a crater. Borsalino lay at the bottom.
His suit on his chest was completely shredded, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) had blocked most of the damage, but his insides still shook from the vibration.
He pushed himself up, staring at Minato in the air—his gaze had changed.
No more lazy indifference. Now there was weight.
"What kind of ability is that?"
Borsalino demanded.
Minato landed on the ice, picked up a kunai, and twirled it around his finger.
"Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)."
"A spacetime ninjutsu."
Borsalino narrowed his eyes.
No wonder—no matter how fast light was, it still needed time.
A spatial jump didn't.
In a domain filled with these kunai, the other man was everywhere—an omnipresent god.
"What an annoying ability."
Kizaru rose to his feet.
"Looks like I'll have to get serious."
He crossed his arms. Photons churned wildly, his presence climbing.
Shinju had said the Glint-Glint Fruit user relied too heavily on the fruit.
His taijutsu and Haki weren't weak either, but under absolute speed suppression, they were basically decoration.
As long as the routes of light were locked down, even an admiral would just be a target dummy.
Minato formed seals.
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique).
Three shadow clones appeared.
Each clone held a kunai and instantly scattered, forming a triangle around Kizaru.
Borsalino tried to attack, but all three clones threw their kunai at the same time.
The kunai collided in midair, changing direction and creating a bizarre angle.
Borsalino tried to fly upward—yet a kunai was already above him.
That one was thrown by the original.
"Hiraishin Kekai (Flying Thunder God Barrier)."
Minato spoke softly.
A strange resonance formed between the four kunai. A transparent barrier snapped open in an instant, trapping Borsalino inside.
Borsalino fired a laser. The beam struck the barrier wall—and was swallowed whole.
He frowned.
This barrier completely severed his connection to the outside.
"...So this is your tactic?"
Kizaru looked at Minato.
"Trap me?"
Minato shook his head.
"Not trap."
"Resolve."
Minato vanished again.
This time, he appeared directly inside the barrier.
Senpo: Rasengan (Sage Art: Spiraling Sphere)—natural energy fused into the attack, multiplying its power.
Borsalino could only raise his arms to block, getting blasted backward again. Before he could stabilize—
Minato appeared at his left, a kick slamming into his waist. Then his right.
Minato's figure became countless golden flashes inside the barrier. Every blink came with a heavy blow.
Kizaru had become a punching bag.
He tried to counter.
Light-speed kicks, lasers, Ame no Murakumo—every attack missed.
Kizaru felt suffocated. He'd always been the one toying with others using speed.
Today, someone else was toying with him using speed.
It felt awful.
The continuous strikes made his Haki defense begin to loosen.
Cuts appeared across his body.
They weren't deep, but they hurt—and worse, it was humiliating.
A Navy Admiral getting beaten down by some unknown nobody.
If word got out, how was he supposed to show his face again?
Kizaru snapped.
Blinding light erupted from his entire body as he tried to force the barrier open.
Minato was prepared. The original and three clones pressed their hands to the barrier wall, pouring chakra in.
The barrier didn't budge. No matter how bright the light became, it couldn't break through that spacetime wall.
"Stop wasting your effort."
Minato's voice came through the barrier.
"In this space, I am the rule."
Borsalino panted, the light gradually dimming.
He had to admit it.
In speed, he had lost.
Lost completely.
On the other side of the battlefield—
Akainu watched Kizaru trapped inside the barrier, his face so dark it looked ready to drip water.
That useless bum slacked off in peacetime—fine.
But at a critical moment, he actually dropped the ball, and now he was going to make others clean up his mess.
The course of this war—
had completely broken away from the Navy's script.
Kizaru was still struggling inside the barrier, trying to find a flaw.
Minato reinforced the seal, then popped a soldier pill into his mouth to restore chakra.
"Still want to continue?" Minato asked.
Kizaru stopped moving, then calmly straightened his torn-up suit.
"What rotten luck, running into my natural enemy."
He simply sat down, no longer bothering with pointless attempts.
"Akainu, Aokiji… it's on you two now."
(End of Chapter)
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