"A Devil Fruit user?"
When those words suddenly came from Golden Lion Shiki's mouth, Yoriichi Tsugikuni was visibly caught off guard. He had no idea what he'd done to make Shiki believe he was a Devil Fruit user.
But Yoriichi didn't have time to dwell on that, because just as his attack was blocked by Shiki's twin sabers, he noticed someone else charging toward him at high speed.
The air around him warped subtly. From the void beside him, a short blade suddenly pierced out, aiming straight for his abdomen.
"Oh? Here it comes!"
With both sabers locked against Yoriichi's katana, Shiki sensed the surprise strike and grinned broadly.
"Hm?!"
The dagger struck downward in a flash. Yoriichi glanced sideways, then forcefully stepped on air-
[Moonwalk].
Kicking off midair, Yoriichi launched himself skyward, narrowly dodging the strike. Gaining some distance, he spun midair and slashed toward the space where the attack had come from.
VMMMMMM!
A surge of Conqueror's Haki burst forth as his black blade carved into the air. And just then, from the previously empty space, a sharp scream erupted.
A thin figure was ejected from the void, tumbling violently toward the ground below.
"What?!"
Shiki's heart tightened. He couldn't help but mutter in shock.
The one who had ambushed Yoriichi was none other than the notorious assassin Horace Dean, a user of the Paramecia-type Clear-Clear Fruit, with a bounty of 420 million Berries.
When Horace Dean activated the Clear-Clear Fruit, he—and everything he touched—became invisible. Even light passed through him. For most people, detecting him was impossible, and even users of Observation Haki found it nearly impossible to track him.
Though his bounty was just shy of 500 million, Horace Dean had once assassinated a pirate with an 1.1 billion bounty. To recruit him, Shiki had promised him the title of First Division Commander in the Flying Pirates.
What Shiki never expected was for Yoriichi to detect Horace Dean's ambush, even while fully engaged in battle against himself. This had never happened before.
Not even someone focusing all their attention on sensing Horace Dean—let alone someone mid-fight—could have predicted that strike.
Yet not only did Yoriichi detect it, his counterattack landed cleanly and forced Horace Dean out of hiding.
Judging by the amount of blood spilled, Horace Dean was either dead or critically wounded.
Shiki's face was full of disbelief. But Yoriichi, the one who had struck down the invisible assassin, seemed confused by Shiki's reaction.
To Shiki and the others, Horace Dean had vanished into thin air. But to Yoriichi, he was never hidden at all.
In Yoriichi's Transparent World, Horace Dean's so-called "sneak attack" was as blatant as any other. Every movement, every breath, every twitch was laid bare before him.
From Yoriichi's perspective, he hadn't even realized Horace Dean had activated the Clear-Clear Fruit.
Sweeping his Observation Haki over the spot where Horace had crashed, Yoriichi saw the man's aura flickering faintly—he wouldn't last long without immediate medical attention.
But Yoriichi didn't have time to finish him off. Right now, his only focus was on Golden Lion Shiki.
"This kid's Haki... it's stronger than before!"
Shiki felt a chill when Yoriichi turned to look at him. This pirate who had ruled the seas for decades suddenly found a trace of hesitation in his heart.
After his defeat at the Battle of Edd War against Roger, he had lost his arm at the hands of this very youth. That double blow had shaken even a lion's pride.
Unable to sleep peacefully due to the pain in his missing arm, Shiki's personality had begun to shift without him realizing it.
"Golden Lion Shiki is... hesitating?!"
At Yoriichi's level, he could sense his opponent's mental shifts with ease. The instant Shiki showed hesitation, Yoriichi noticed.
And in that moment, his killing intent surged.
This was it, an opening!
A chance to kill Golden Lion Shiki!
Yoriichi let gravity pull him downward, locking eyes on Shiki. He tapped his left foot in midair and launched himself forward like a bullet.
A sharp whoosh tore through the sky, ringing in Shiki's ears. He barely saw a blur flash past his vision. Reacting on instinct, he crossed his sabers in front of him.
CLANG!!
Sure enough, Yoriichi had closed in and slashed directly at Shiki's chest. The strike was blocked—but before Shiki could breathe, Yoriichi stomped the ground, flipped forward, and came down from above, blade slicing toward Shiki's forehead.
His attacks were seamless and fast.
Shiki's Observation Haki couldn't even detect Yoriichi's movements. He could only guess Yoriichi's position from the wind and the faint flicker of motion.
Realizing the next strike was from above, Shiki tilted his head just in time. The blade skimmed his left shoulder, leaving a gash 6 or 7 centimeters deep.
Before he could recover, Yoriichi's blade curved mid-air and swept toward his throat.
From above his head to behind his back, Yoriichi had transitioned from a vertical to a horizontal slash with fluid grace.
"You brat!!"
Sensing imminent danger, Shiki roared in fury and ducked low.
Then he activated his power.
The remnants of a pirate ship, previously split open by Yoriichi suddenly twisted and merged into a massive sphere, hundreds of meters wide.
As Shiki dodged the strike, this giant ball of debris shot up from below, hurtling toward Yoriichi.
Eyes narrowing at the sudden threat, Yoriichi drew his blade across his chest and slashed outward.
But at that very moment, the sphere created by Shiki's Float-Float Fruit exploded into pieces. Yoriichi's slash cut straight through the fragments and gouged a massive chasm in the ground.
The shattered wood, metal, and stone scattered in the air—and then spiraled inward, surrounding Yoriichi like a storm.
They rushed toward him like a whirlwind of ruin.
WHOOOOOOSH!!!
The debris howled, as if trying to bury him alive.
If Yoriichi didn't know his opponent was Golden Lion Shiki, he might have thought some edgy maniac had just used Planetary Devastation like in some ninja world.
The remnants of the pirate ship spiraled and compacted, completely engulfing Yoriichi's figure.
At this moment, the only thing left in the sky was Shiki's floating figure—and a massive orb of wreckage suspended before him.
Yoriichi had vanished completely.
"HAHAHAHA!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Golden Lion Shiki laughed wildly, his voice echoing over the western cliffs of Migo Town. Seeing Yoriichi buried beneath the wreckage, the surrounding pirates cheered loudly.
The roar of waves crashing against the cliffs was drowned out by their laughter.
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100 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter
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