"Rear Admiral Kata Kongbo! Are you alright?" Yar rushed forward, worry written across his face.
"I'm fine," Kata Kongbo waved him off, though blood slipped from the corner of his mouth. His eyes locked onto the young man standing calmly at the port, a heavy weight pressing down in his chest.
A mistake… I underestimated him. I thought I could subdue him, but this boy… his power is terrifying.
For justice, for the pride of Marine, Kata Kongbo knew he could not retreat. His jaw tightened as his gaze hardened on the figure before him.
"He must be brought to justice," he muttered, his eyes narrowing.
He turned to his subordinates. "Stay here!"
In the next instant, his figure blurred as he launched himself skyward with Moonwalk. But then—his pupils shrank.
The youth who had been standing motionless at the docks was suddenly there in the air before him. He didn't know when Kaito had moved, only that now the young man was hovering directly in his path, looking down at him with cold, emotionless eyes.
That face, expressionless yet resolute, carried the aura of someone standing above the world. His black-and-white eyes radiated disdain and pride, as though Kata Kongbo wasn't even worth noticing.
The Rear Admiral's brows furrowed. That gaze, that contempt—it was infuriating.
With a sharp clang, he drew his sword from its scabbard. In an instant, his blade was coated with a pitch-black sheen: Armament Haki.
Kata Kongbo was no ordinary officer. Stationed here at headquarters, he had mastered both Observation and Armament Haki, the Marine Six Styles, and was an accomplished swordsman.
With his blade in hand, a fierce aura burst forth from him. The killing intent of a true swordsman filled the sky as he launched himself toward Kaito.
But Kaito merely sneered. His lips curved into the faintest smirk, his eyes sharp with arrogance. His right fist clenched, and he threw a single punch.
"Blood Requiem—First Step."
A deafening hum filled the air. From his fist, a massive beam of white compressed force shot forth, tearing through the sky like a pillar of destruction.
Kata Kongbo's heart lurched.
"Impossible!"
He felt it—the overwhelming, fatal pressure racing toward him. His body screamed to evade, but it was already too late.
Teeth clenched, he swung his blade. A pale crescent of sword-light tore free, sharp and swift like a swallow in flight.
"Secret Technique—Swallow Return!"
The crescent slashed toward the incoming beam, sword pressure tearing apart the air. The two attacks collided with a violent crash.
The crescent shuddered, resisting for only a heartbeat before the beam crushed it apart like brittle glass. The overwhelming power surged onward, racing straight for him.
"No… this can't be!" Kata Kongbo's eyes widened in disbelief.
This was his strongest technique, a strike that could hold its own even against a Vice Admiral. Yet it shattered like nothing before Kaito's single punch.
Desperately, he layered every defense he had left—Armament Haki, Iron Body, and his sword reinforced with Haki. He braced against the incoming force.
The white beam struck.
The defenses shattered one after another in the blink of an eye. In that final instant of panic, Kata Kongbo felt his world drown in blinding white.
Boom!
The beam consumed him. His cloak tore free, fluttering down through the smoke. His body was gone.
…
Kaito lowered his fist, frowning.
"Tch. I didn't mean to kill him…"
He had used only half the strength he used against Luffy. That same amount had left the rubber-boy alive. Yet this Rear Admiral had been obliterated instantly.
Too weak, he thought. The high-end combat power here is far beneath the shinobi world…
Of course, he had forgotten one crucial thing—he was no ordinary shinobi anymore. He was a Six Paths peak-level powerhouse, strengthened further by the God-Tree Fruit, the progenitor of chakra itself. With its power, he had surpassed even Kaguya, stepping into an entirely new realm.
By comparison, the Pirate World was fragile. Perhaps even a single Ōtsutsuki could wipe it clean. And he was far beyond that.
"It seems I'll need to start holding back," he muttered quietly.
…
On the warship below, silence reigned.
Yar stared upward, disbelief etched into every line of his face.
"The Rear Admiral… killed? Just like that…?"
The Marines around him trembled.
"One strike?"
"The commander who's led us for seven years… gone in a single move?"
Panic spread like wildfire.
"Retreat!" Yar roared, snapping out of his daze.
As Kata Kongbo's adjutant, he knew the truth more than anyone. His commander's strength had been top-tier among Rear Admirals, even capable of dueling a Vice Admiral. Yet Kaito had erased him instantly.
This wasn't power on the level of a Vice Admiral. No—this was Admiral-class power.
Face pale, Yar shouted again. "Withdraw immediately! Report to Headquarters! Only an Admiral can face this monster!"
The warships began to turn away in frantic retreat.
But Kaito didn't pursue. His gaze softened slightly as he looked at the Marines scattering like frightened birds.
At least they protect civilians. Flawed as they are, they're still better than the pirates who plunder without conscience.
He exhaled slowly.
"So… Marine will be hunting me now."
Resolving himself, Kaito descended back to the island. He would give it half a month. If no one came, he would seek information from underground intelligence groups. Whatever dangers threatened Turner Village would be erased before he left.
…
At Marine Headquarters, a solemn silence filled a spacious office.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku set down the transponder snail, his face grim.
He looked at Tsuru and Garp. "You both heard."
Tsuru's expression tightened. "Kata Kongbo was one of the strongest Rear Admirals. To fall in a single move… the boy who did this already has the strength of an Admiral."