"Pfft..."
With a hair-raising sound, the ship's rudder that had been deeply embedded in Golden Lion Shiki's head was forcefully pulled out.
Blood gushed like a fountain, yet the grin on Golden Lion Shiki's face only grew more wild and unrestrained.
"Hahaha! I knew I wasn't dead! It's just a damned rudder, after all!"
In the next instant, pitch-black Armament Haki cloaked both of Shiki's hands, seeping into the twin swords Oto and Kogarashi.
Then—he swept them forward in a grand arc, toward the sea of falling sakura blossoms rushing at him!
"Slash Wave!"
Though it was the same sword technique, this golden flying slash gleamed brilliantly as it tore through the cherry blossom sea, wiping out an entire swath of petals in a flash.
!!!
Yahn...
Is this the pinnacle of power on the seas?
Golden Lion Shiki, the great swordsman unleashing his full strength with Armament Haki?!
"Terrifying... I was right. That earlier Shiki was far weaker than I expected—so weak, I was actually disappointed. So this is the true strength of a legendary pirate at full power?"
Yahn muttered to himself as his mind snapped into full alert. His hands moved swiftly, actively manipulating the sea of cherry blossoms.
In response, the vast ocean of sakura stirred with his will. New blossoms spawned endlessly from broken petals, and waves of petals surged in from all directions, aiming to tear Shiki apart.
"Brat! Let me tell you something! Petal-sized blades like these—can't cut a damn thing!"
Having already seen through the nature of the seemingly endless sea of blossoms, Shiki sneered arrogantly. The blood streaming from the wound on his head only made him look more fearsome.
"Conqueror's Haki!"
In the next moment, a tangible burst of Conqueror's Haki exploded from Shiki's body, violently blasting away the cherry blossoms drifting near him and carving out a pocket of space in the petal-filled air.
Then, like a streak of golden light, Golden Lion Shiki shot toward Yahn.
Under Yahn's control, the endless sea of sakura tried to block and strangle Shiki at every turn.
But with his body fortified in Armament Haki, Shiki was like a ship cutting through turbulent waters, golden flying slashes sweeping away cherry blossoms wherever he passed.
In just a few breaths, the distance between them was cut by more than half.
"Die, you brat!"
With another burst of Conqueror's Haki, Shiki forced open another gap. Then, with both of his famed blades—Oto and Kogarashi—coated in dense Armament Haki, he slashed fiercely at Yahn.
"Lion: Thousand Slice Valley!"
Hundreds upon thousands of golden flying slashes screamed through the air toward Yahn, as if roaring with the fury of a lion.
Dodge?!
Yahn, still maintaining his wide-range Observation Haki, rapidly searched for an opening in the Thousand Slice Valley.
In an instant, his Haki assessed the situation.
But—there was no opening.
No—there was only one path: to charge head-on into the lion's roar!
The area covered by the thousand slashes was massive. Worse, Shiki was using his Float-Float Fruit powers to subtly alter the air itself, warping the trajectories of his slashes mid-flight.
The more Yahn retreated, the fewer escape routes remained!
So this is the tyrannical might of the legendary pirate Golden Lion?
Before a lion's roar, retreat meant only one thing—death.
Instead, the only chance was to charge forward, break through one or two slashes, and forcefully carve a path out.
But...
"Dodging in front of a lion? That'd be pathetic!"
Yahn suddenly thrust his palm forward, chanting rapidly under his breath:
"Fluid air, rigid air, strung as gold, worn as silver. Precious treasures, iron will, immovable plinth. Bridge the perilous path between reality and dreams, and coalesce into a single point before the throne of the king—
Bakudō #81: Dankū!!"
In the blink of an eye, a translucent barrier appeared before him.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!
Hundreds of golden slashes slammed into the invisible wall, shattering into golden petals upon impact.
He blocked it!
Bakudō #81: Dankū—the strongest binding spell Yahn could currently use. As long as the incoming force didn't exceed its critical limit, even thousands more of those slashes wouldn't be enough to shatter it.
Just then, through the ripples of force created by the shattered slashes, Yahn saw a shadow hurtling toward him.
The next moment—
The famed blades Oto and Kogarashi, cloaked in intense Armament Haki, came crashing down on Dankū.
CRACK!
With a sharp sound, cracks spread rapidly across the barrier, spiderwebbing until the entire wall shattered.
"Got you now, brat!"
A wild grin split Shiki's face, his aura overwhelming. His twin swords came slashing toward Yahn at terrifying speed.
At that moment, Yahn's pupils shrank—he hadn't sensed how Shiki got past his Observation Haki and closed the gap so suddenly.
He knew his greatest weakness—his body.
If those twin blades struck him, it wouldn't just be a couple of scars—he wouldn't even be lucky enough to be sliced into three pieces.
"My body... might be obliterated in an instant..."
A sense of impending death gripped him, every nerve alight as Shiki's swords neared.
Yahn could already feel the freezing sharpness against his skin.
SWOOSH!
Oto and Kogarashi swept across, one at his abdomen, the other at his chest—
But something felt wrong.
Shiki immediately realized—the sensation from his swords wasn't right.
At some point, all that remained in Yahn's place was a tattered piece of clothing.
"Shunpo: Utsusemi(Cicada Shell)"
Shiki snapped his head upward—and sure enough, Yahn had already reappeared a hundred meters away in the air.
"What incredible speed…" Shiki was inwardly stunned.
"What terrifying swords…" Yahn was still reeling in fear.
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Currently at chapter 325 for advance chapters
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