"Defeating a hero head-on is the greatest show of respect," Renji Kai thought as he skimmed the system store.
Almost immediately the Uchiha Itachi character card caught his eye.
Uchiha Itachi was the genius of the Uchiha clan, a prodigy who unlocked the Mangekyō Sharingan early and mastered powerful illusionary techniques. Whether those illusions would work on someone like Shanks—Renji had no idea.
Luckily the Itachi card cost only 100,000 reputation points—pocket change after the windfall he'd earned in Impel Down.
Without hesitation, he purchased it.
Ding! Uchiha Itachi character card redeemed. 100,000 reputation points deducted.
His status pane updated instantly:
Host: Renji Kai
Available Avatars: Might Guy, Uchiha Itachi, Granny Chiyo
Avatar Uses Remaining: 4
Reputation Points: 315,000
Even after spending a hundred-thousand he still had more than three-hundred-thousand left.
Renji selected Possess – Uchiha Itachi.
Ding! Uchiha Itachi avatar activated. One avatar use consumed.
A surge of power flowed through him and his pupils morphed into the triple-bladed Mangekyō pattern.
"Hey! Have you two had enough? Your opponent is me, Shanks!" Renji bellowed.
In the same instant his body scattered into a flock of pitch-black crows.
Both duelists—Shanks and Barrett—glanced sideways, startled to see Renji dissolve into birds.
Before Shanks could react, Renji re-materialised beside him—
Thud!
A straight punch slammed into Shanks's abdomen, hurling the Emperor into the rail.
Ben Beckman finally lost patience. He raised his rifle and pumped a stream of bullets at Renji—but each round passed harmlessly through another burst of crows.
Shanks barked orders while hauling himself up. "Leave this guy to me—everyone else, take down Douglas Barrett!"
Dark red Conqueror's Haki flared from Shanks's body. The airborne crows burst into smoke and Renji re-formed, scowling—his instantaneous body flicker snuffed out by pure Haki.
Like Barrett, Shanks could release overwhelming Conqueror's Haki at will.
Barrett blinked in surprise at the equal display of dominance—then had to defend himself as the Red-Hair crew swarmed.
For the moment the two titans left Renji and Shanks facing one another.
"Zoan-type Devil Fruit?" Shanks guessed, watching Renji's crow transformation.
"Hah. You don't even use a Fruit—why would I? Only rookies rely on those things," Renji answered lightly.
Across the deck Barrett nearly spat blood. "Oi! My Devil Fruit is not useless!"
Shanks narrowed his eyes. "So you've reached this level of power without a Fruit… The East Blue really turns out monsters."
"Indeed. But tell me—how does your protégé with one arm compare to me? Was pinning your hopes on him worth it?" Renji asked, voice casual.
Shanks stiffened—Renji even knew about Luffy? Had this man been stalking him all along?
On the open sea, 'coincidence' was rarely coincidence.
"Enough games," Renji said, Mangekyō spinning. "Taste true fear—Tsukuyomi!"
Shanks's vision went black.
When he came to, he was bound to a wooden post, thick seastone chains biting into his skin. All around stretched an endless ocean—not blue, but a churning sea of blood.
Crows wheeled overhead before merging into Renji Kai.
"Where is this?" Shanks forced himself to stay calm.
"Think of it as a new world I created—one where you're my captive," Renji said serenely.
Shanks strained against the chains but his strength was gone.
"In here," Renji continued, "even your greatest power is useless. Don't waste energy."
Shanks barked a laugh. "A cheap illusion? Maybe I'm stuck, but you can't harm me here. Once the fight outside ends my crew will finish you, and this dreamscape will shatter."