'Huff... huff... huff...'
After several minutes of high-intensity combat, the three Fishman officers were all panting heavily, their bodies riddled with shallow sword wounds. While none of the injuries were fatal, it was obvious to everyone that if the fight continued, the outcome was inevitable.
As for Ain, she was also breathing hard, though she was in far better shape than the three officers.
'Strike while the iron is hot!'
In the next instant, Ain lunged forward again, intending to finish the three of them off quickly.
However...
'Clang!!'
A massive force slammed into her left hand, ripping the hilt from her grip and sending her short sword flying. Startled by the sudden turn of events, Ain instinctively leaped back several paces. She quickly raised her remaining short sword, holding it defensively in front of her.
It was then that Ain realized who had intervened.
Arlong had stepped in. Wielding a massive, serrated blade, he had swatted her sword away with ease. Despite being caught off guard, Ain could tell immediately: Arlong was powerful—likely even stronger than she was.
"Brother Arlong!" the three Fishman officers cried out, their faces clouded with shame.
"Go get treated first," Arlong commanded. "This woman isn't someone you can handle."
As he spoke, Arlong cast a wary glance in Sean's direction. He had already gauged the woman's strength; combined with the fact that she had exhausted a significant amount of energy, taking her down wouldn't be too difficult.
The real problem was that man.
Seeing Arlong looking at him, Sean offered a slight smile.
"Arlong, I suggest you give this your absolute best. Ain's true strength isn't what it appears to be."
'What does he mean? Is he just bluffing?'
Arlong glanced back at Ain. The woman was currently clenching and unclenching her left fist; it seemed his previous strike had left her hand numb.
Wait... what is that?
Arlong's eyes suddenly widened. A strange, flame-like pink glow had appeared on Ain's left hand.
'A Devil Fruit user? No wonder that brat said that!'
He didn't know exactly what her ability was, but that pink flame looked incredibly dangerous. His instincts screamed at him to be careful and avoid letting that flame touch his body.
In the next heartbeat, the two clashed again, the air filling with the rapid 'clang-clang-clang' of steel. Ain was faster, but Arlong's raw strength was several times her own. With every collision, even when Ain put everything she had into her strikes, she felt her right hand growing numb from the impact.
As for the power in her left hand, Ain attempted to strike several times, but Arlong remained hyper-vigilant, ensuring she never managed to make contact.
From Sean's perspective, the problem was simple: her intentions were far too obvious. Furthermore, her mastery of the Devil Fruit was lacking; her attack patterns were too singular and limited.
After several rapid exchanges, Ain grew agitated. Her movements became erratic, losing their form and devolving into a desperate scramble.
Sean frowned slightly. In battle—especially when facing a stronger opponent—agitation was the ultimate taboo. He had initially thought she could hold her own against Arlong for at least ten minutes before showing signs of defeat, yet she was faltering after only two.
'As expected, more than just raw power, what Ain needs most right now is mental fortitude.'
'Once we get back, I'll have to have a word with Zephyr about this.'
'Schwing!!'
With the sword hanging at his waist, Sean began to walk forward slowly. In the next second, his figure vanished.
This was Shunpo.
Unlike Soru, which relied on explosive reactionary force, Shunpo was an application of Reiryoku, allowing for silent, ghost-like movement.
At that moment, Ain's right hand was almost completely numb from clashing with Arlong. She probably had enough strength left to block two or three more heavy attacks at most. Arlong, however, gave her no time to recover. Seizing the opening, he raised his serrated blade and brought it crashing down.
Ain hurriedly raised her short sword to defend herself.
But then, disaster struck.
Because she had absorbed too many of Arlong's heavy blows, and because the short sword she used was an ordinary blade rather than a named sword... the steel could no longer withstand the pressure. Before Arlong's blade even fully landed, her sword snapped.
Ain was left holding nothing but a hilt.
'It's over... how can I block this with just a hilt?'
'Am I really going to die in the East Blue at the hands of a Fishman pirate?'
'In the end, I'm still not as good as him!'
She was consumed by frustration—a deep, burning unwillingness to lose.
'CLANG!!!'
The expected blow from the serrated blade never landed. Instead, a figure appeared instantly in front of her. Looking up, she saw that Arlong's serrated blade had also snapped. The broken half of the blade was spinning through the air like a top before slamming into the ground dozens of meters away, embedding itself deep into the earth.
Before Arlong could react, the figure in front of her moved again, delivering a devastating whip-kick that sent Arlong flying backward.
"Nami, take care of Ain. I'll handle the rest."
"O-Okay!"
Thirteen-year-old Nami quickly ran over to support the swaying Ain.
Sean didn't even look back; he simply continued walking forward with slow, steady steps.
'He didn't even look back at me... is he completely disappointed in me?'
"That's not it!" Nami quickly replied, overhearing Ain's heartbroken whisper. "Brother Sean said that this fight was great training for you. He said it would help you realize where your problems are, instead of just training blindly."
'My problems...'
Before Ain could dwell on the thought, the exhaustion finally caught up with her. The moment she relaxed, her strength vanished, and she lost consciousness.
'''
"Brother Arlong!"
Seeing Arlong kicked violently through the second floor of Arlong Park, the Fishmen screamed in panic. The three officers rushed forward to rescue him.
However, the rhythmic 'tap-tap-tap' of Sean's footsteps seemed to be amplified ten thousand times. Each step felt like a hammer blow to the hearts of everyone present.
Finally, one Fishman couldn't take it anymore.
"Everyone, attack together! Kill him!"
"Charge!"
With one person leading the charge, a second and third quickly followed. Ultimately, aside from the three officers checking on Arlong, over fifty Fishmen surged toward Sean.
"So Ain has collapsed from exhaustion?" Sean mused. "That works out. It's the perfect time to test this new power."
"Strike, Hekireki!"
A flash of azure light instantly enveloped the blade in Sean's hand. The sword, which had previously looked ordinary, was now anything but.
This was the Zanpakutō Sean had crafted—imbued with elemental power—in its Shikai state.
When he first achieved Shikai, Sean had been puzzled. After the encounter with Gion, he had assumed that any Asauchi he created would eventually evolve into a Zanpakutō seen in the original series.
But that didn't seem to be the case. At the very least, this particular blade had never appeared in the original story.
Why?
Sean couldn't quite figure out the pattern. Perhaps the world of the Shinigami, much like the world of One Piece, actually existed in its entirety. The original manga only focused on the main protagonists and key supporting characters, leaving a vast majority of the world unexplored.
Had that led to his misconception?
'Well, it doesn't matter!'
Sean looked at the dozens of Fish-men closing in on him. He raised Hekireki, pointing the blade toward the heavens.
"Roar... Let the lightning descend!!"
'Rumble...'
Terrifying energy churned violently in the sky. In the next instant, azure bolts as thick as pillars slammed down into the earth. It was a scene of absolute devastation, a natural disaster that left everyone paralyzed with fear.
Of course, as the area-of-effect attack unfolded, the lightning seemed to possess a will of its own, carefully avoiding Sean, Ain, and Nami.
When the storm subsided, Nami stood there, eyes wide with shock. The dozens of Fish-men who had been charging forward so aggressively were now charred black, collapsed on the ground, their fates uncertain.
'Oops, I forgot about Nami. This kind of scenery isn't great for her development.'
"Incinerate everything... Thunder Flame!"
With a swing of Hekireki, lightning that resembled raging fire clung to the corpses of the Fish-men.
Perhaps the heat wasn't as extreme as Old Man Yamamoto's Ryūjin Jakka. Perhaps Sean couldn't push the temperature to tens of thousands of degrees yet. However, a continuous output of several thousand degrees was more than enough to erase these Fish-man corpses from existence.
'As I thought, my Reiatsu is still too low. Just two moves cost me nearly thirty percent!'
'Even though the system allows my body to continuously recover Reiatsu in this world, the recovery speed is still limited.'
'Damn it... Gion's Zanpakutō consumes physical stamina, but I have to rely on Reiryoku...'
'Whatever, I'll worry about that later. Now...'
With everything dealt with, Sean turned his gaze toward the second floor of Arlong Park.