If this encounter with Silvers Rayleigh had happened somewhere else, Kizaru might have simply avoided the fight.
But this place was the Sabaody Archipelago, right next to Marine Headquarters.
He could call for reinforcements at any moment.
Moreover, he had twenty warships and hundreds of Pacifistas available as support.
If things truly escalated into a fight to the death, Kizaru was not afraid of Rayleigh.
"Rayleigh."
As he spoke, golden light gradually gathered in Kizaru's hand.
The Ama no Murakumo Sword, formed from light, became even more solid.
"You have been famous on the seas for a long time."
"It is time you paid for the mistakes of the past."
Kizaru's meaning was obvious.
He intended to capture Rayleigh.
Rayleigh simply smiled.
It was only an Admiral. He had fought people like this before.
Even Kizaru, the most senior Admiral in the current Marines, did not intimidate him.
"If you want me to take responsibility," Rayleigh said calmly, stepping forward,
"you will need the ability to make me."
With that, Rayleigh moved first.
Kizaru responded immediately, charging forward with his light sword.
[You picked up one piece of Devil Fruit growth experience.]
[You picked up one piece of Armament Haki comprehension.]
"Amazing," Renji murmured while collecting attributes below.
This was truly a battle between the world's top fighters.
It was mesmerizing.
Rayleigh's speed was incredible.
He could actually keep up with Kizaru, who possessed the Glint Glint Fruit.
"Hah!"
"Hah!"
Kizaru and Rayleigh collided again.
After a brief exchange, they separated once more.
Neither side had a decisive advantage.
They were probing each other.
For Renji, this situation was perfect.
[You picked up one point of Strength.]
[You picked up one point of Agility.]
[You picked up one piece of Devil Fruit growth experience.]
[You picked up…]
In less than a minute, Renji had collected more than ten attributes.
"This is insane," Renji said in surprise as he felt the changes within his body.
The attribute bonuses from Rayleigh and Kizaru were outrageous.
In terms of quality, they were only slightly below the attributes that dropped when Edward Newgate and Kaido clashed.
The difference was that Whitebeard and Kaido had only briefly tested each other.
Rayleigh and Kizaru, however, were genuinely trying to defeat one another.
After only one minute of collecting attributes, Renji's freshly attained Admiral level strength had already stabilized.
He could even feel himself beginning to approach the mid-Admiral level.
"Fight harder," Renji said with a grin as he watched the two.
"The more intense the battle, the better."
Meanwhile, the Straw Hat crew had used the opportunity to regroup.
Watching the battle between Rayleigh and Kizaru, which looked like gods clashing, Monkey D. Luffy was no longer carefree.
His face was full of tension.
"While the Marines are being held back, we need to leave now!"
The others nodded quickly.
They lifted the completely immobile Roronoa Zoro and prepared to retreat.
"Trying to run?"
Sentomaru had been watching them the entire time.
This entire operation was meant to satisfy the Celestial Dragons.
The bigger the incident became, the happier the Celestial Dragons would be. The attack against them would gradually be forgotten.
However, the main culprit behind this incident, Luffy and his crew, still needed to be captured if possible.
Without Luffy, this mission would not have happened.
Causing trouble during such a critical Marine operation was unacceptable.
"Pacifistas!"
"Capture Straw Hat Luffy and his crew!"
At Sentomaru's command, the three Pacifistas that had been standing idle began moving toward the Straw Hats.
During this time, two more Pacifistas had returned after completing their assignments.
Combined with the three already present, there were now five Pacifistas.
[You picked up one piece of Devil Fruit growth experience.]
[You picked up one piece of Armament Haki comprehension.]
[You picked up one point of Strength.]
[You picked up one piece of Conqueror's Haki comprehension.]
[You picked up…]
On the other side, Renji continued collecting attributes like crazy.
Rayleigh and Kizaru had already exchanged over a hundred blows.
Even though fights at this level did not drop attributes with every strike, the hundreds of clashes had still produced dozens of attributes.
Most of them were rare attributes like Haki comprehension or Devil Fruit growth experience.
Renji's strength was increasing rapidly.
"This feels incredible," Renji said happily.
Since reaching the Vice Admiral level, his strength had mostly improved slowly through training and accumulated attributes.
He had not experienced this kind of explosive growth in a long time.
Ironically, the rapid growth he never experienced at lower levels had now appeared at higher levels.
"This is unbelievable," Renji muttered.
"I have been in this world for three years."
"The attributes I collected in those three years might not equal what I gathered in these five minutes."
Renji looked up again at the battle above.
Then he picked up two more glowing attribute clusters.
[You picked up one piece of Devil Fruit growth experience.]
[You picked up one piece of Conqueror's Haki comprehension.]
"These two are monsters," Renji said.
Battles between top tier figures of the world were extremely rare.
Even gathering them in the same place was difficult.
Let alone making them fight seriously.
Renji then glanced toward Luffy.
Perhaps that boy could be useful.
At the very least, someone should keep an eye on him.
Strange things always happened around him.
He might be the perfect catalyst for Renji's growth.
"How terrifying."
At this moment, Kizaru and Rayleigh separated once more.
Rayleigh remained completely unharmed.
Kizaru, however, had a cut on his shoulder.
Unfortunately, although Rayleigh's attack had been infused with Armament Haki, Kizaru's mastery of the Glint Glint Fruit was extraordinary.
Before the sword landed, Kizaru had deliberately split part of his shoulder apart with light.
"Impressive, as expected of you."
The wound on his shoulder gradually filled with yellow light.
Kizaru's body returned to normal.
After this exchange, Kizaru had clearly come out slightly worse.
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Big thanks to Swider for joining my P@t reon
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