In the same instant, Saint Saturn's figure vanished.
The next moment, the razor-sharp tip of his spider-like leg was screaming through the air, aimed directly between Kyle's eyes. It was impossibly fast, impossibly ruthless.
But just as the attack launched, Kyle moved. He advanced instead of retreating, spun the black-and-gold naginata in his hand, and slammed its heavy hilt into the ground.
"Earthquake: Ground Roar Wave!"
Rumble—!
The world around Kyle erupted. The solid earth transformed into a surging, furious wave. The ground violently churned and cracked, sending up a wall of smoke and rock dozens of meters high, like a great beast opening its maw to devour everything.
The sudden, earth-shattering tremor caused Saturn's unstoppable attack to hesitate for a fraction of a second.
Now!
The air was thick with smoke, completely obscuring the view. It didn't matter to Saturn; his Haki could clearly "sense" Kyle's presence right in front of him. His leg accelerated again, piercing through the smoke and accurately stabbing into the chest of the figure he perceived.
There was no blood, no scream of pain.
The "Kyle" that had been pierced simply dissipated like a wisp of smoke, transforming into countless specks of light that slowly vanished.
It was an illusion.
For the first time, a hint of genuine surprise appeared in Saturn's eyes. His flawless Observation Haki had been deceived. Was it the interference from the sudden earthquake, or did this pirate's Devil Fruit have the power to fool perception itself?
He slowly retracted his limb and scanned his surroundings. The thick smoke gradually cleared, and the forest returned to a dead silence. There was no trace of Kyle. Not only was the pirate gone, but the Buccaneer boy and the unconscious one with the large head had also vanished without a trace.
He had not only escaped a member of the Five Elders unharmed, but he had taken the very targets of the Elder's wrath with him.
Saturn's face was grim, his silent fury making the air grow cold. He would remember that pirate.
After confirming they were a safe distance away, Kyle casually dropped the unconscious Ivankov to the ground. He leaned against a tree, taking several deep breaths. That escape had looked effortless, but it had been incredibly dangerous.
The moment he saw that five-pointed sigil in the sky, he knew the old monster was not someone he could fight head-on. Not yet. His own Conqueror's Haki wasn't strong enough to bypass whatever monstrous defense the Elder possessed, and his full-power sneak attack had barely left a scratch. The recoil from that blocked strike still made his hand ache, which told him everything he needed to know.
So, from the very beginning, his goal had never been to fight. It was to save the boy, and then to run. It wasn't shameful to retreat from a fight you couldn't win. Give him a few more years, and he'd come back to twist that monster's head off.
"You..."
A hoarse voice interrupted Kyle's thoughts.
Kuma was looking at him with an incredibly complex expression, a mixture of gratitude, awe, and deep confusion. "Who... are you?"
Kyle looked up, the tense expression on his face melting away, replaced by his usual cynical grin. "We meet again. My name is Kyle. Just a passing, righteous pirate."
Kuma obviously didn't believe that for a second, but he didn't know how to ask more. This man had saved them from Charlotte Linlin, and then again from that incomprehensible monster.
"Why?" Kuma asked the real question burning in his heart. "Why did you save us? We're just... slaves."
At the word "slave," the smile on Kyle's face slowly faded. He looked at the burly young man before him, whose face was still that of a boy, and thought of the difficult, tragic life he knew this "tyrant" was fated to live. A man who was gentle to his core, who would one day bear the pain of the entire world; a man who should have been consumed by darkness but somehow remained kind.
Kyle was silent for a moment. "A minute ago," he said, changing the subject, "you said you wanted to become a hero like Nika, to save people. Did you mean it?"
Kuma was startled, then nodded, his expression firm.
"Good," Kyle said. He stood up and walked over to Kuma, looking down at the boy. "But what if I told you there are no saviors in this world? What if Nika is just a legend? A symbol?"
"No, that's not true! I..." Kuma started to protest, but then hesitated.
"Only you can save yourself. Or rather, anyone can be Nika," Kyle's voice became unusually serious, a strange light flickering in his golden eyes. "You asked why I saved you. I'll tell you now."
"It's because I saw the defiance in you. The refusal to be a slave, the refusal to be slaughtered, the refusal to accept this rotten world."
"So, keep running, Kuma." Kyle extended a finger and gently tapped the boy's chest. "Don't ever stop. Measure the world with your own two feet, see it with your own eyes, and use that power of yours to swat away all the pain and sorrow you find. Run. Fight. Resist."
His voice grew stronger, filled with a passionate fire. "Fight for all the beautiful things in this world that are still worth protecting!"
Kyle's words struck Kuma's heart like a hammer. He remembered his father's dying words, Ginny's defiant smile, the desperate prayers of his friends. He finally understood. The meaning of resistance wasn't to become someone else; it was to become himself. The purpose of power wasn't for destruction, but for protection.
Kuma slowly raised his head. For the first time, the flame of true belief ignited in his eyes, burning away the fear and inferiority that had clouded them his whole life.
"I understand," he said, his voice quiet but incredibly firm.
He stood up, walked over to the unconscious Ivankov, and hoisted him onto his back. Then, he held out his right hand, and a cute, pink paw pad appeared in the center of his palm. A strange, powerful sensation surged through him. He felt like he could do anything.
"Thank you, big brother," Kuma said, looking back at Kyle one last time, as if to burn his face into his memory forever. "I have to go save my friends."
Kyle leaned against a tree and waved a lazy hand. "Go on. And make sure you run fast."
Kuma said no more. He aimed his palm at himself and Ivankov, and the paw pad gently pressed.
Whoosh—!
Their figures transformed into a streak of light, vanishing from the cave in an instant.
"What a convenient ability."
Kyle looked at the now-empty cave and smiled. He picked up his naginata, stretched, and his joints popped with a series of loud cracks.
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