“Damn it, don’t you look down on me, Uncle Beckman.”
Luffy couldn’t break free from Beckman’s large hand and shouted angrily, demanding not to be underestimated.
But Beckman had no time to coddle Luffy right now; his attention was entirely focused on the duel about to begin.
Kazi and Shanks stood on the shore, about ten meters apart.
“Newcomer, let me see what you’re capable of.”
Suddenly, Shanks pushed off with force, his entire body surging forward rapidly.
He gripped Griffin in his right hand, coated it with Armament Haki, and slashed horizontally straight toward Kazi.
“Hahaha, well played.”
Kazi didn’t hold back either; he gripped his cursed blade muramasa in his right hand and coated it with Armament Haki as well.
“Draw-and-Slash!”
A beam of sword light, fast to the extreme, swept across.
In an instant, Shanks’s Observation Haki sounded an alarm, and he struck his blade against Kazi’s Draw-and-Slash.
Boom!!!
The damage from both attacks completely canceled each other out, and Shanks used the force to retreat.
You can tell an expert just by their first move.
At first, Shanks thought Kazi’s strength was not simple, but after trading that one blow, he realized the opponent was very strong and not to be underestimated; he had to go all out.
“I didn’t expect to meet a man like you in the East Blue.”
“Hahaha, I didn’t expect to meet you so soon either, Red Hair.”
A smile appeared on both of their faces; this was the thrill of meeting a formidable opponent, the kind where you could finally cut loose and fight with everything you had.
The next moment, Shanks released his full Conqueror’s Haki, and Kazi released his own as well.
However, Kazi’s Conqueror’s Haki was simply no match for Shanks.
Not even ten seconds later, most of Kazi’s Conqueror’s Haki had been pushed back by Shanks’s.
“Tch, damn genius freak.”
Shanks was the person with the most powerful Conqueror’s Haki openly known in the world of the Pirate King.
Roger was dead, Joy Boy was dead, and Imu’s strength was unknown before his rebirth, with no specific details.
Facing this man who had climbed to the top of the Four Emperors relying on his swordsmanship and Conqueror’s Haki, it was only natural that Kazi’s Conqueror’s Haki would fail.
But it was also true that he felt annoyed, so he had to find another way.
“Space Slash.”
“Chain Slash!”
Kazi decisively refused to continue competing in Conqueror’s Haki with Shanks and casually unleashed five Space Slash attacks.
Shanks used his Observation Haki to predict and dodge four of the slashes, then raised his hand to strike the final one.
Hmm?
The feel of this slash was completely different from the one before, and Shanks was still puzzled.
Suddenly, his Observation Haki sent a fierce alarm from behind him.
“Space Displacement.”
That’s right, those five attacks were launched by Kazi intentionally, hitting five different positions, just to force Shanks to deal with at least one attack, making it impossible to dodge them all.
While Shanks was dispelling the Space Slash, Kazi used his Space Displacement ability to instantly appear behind Shanks.
“Illusion Sword Dance!”
The moment Kazi, like a total rat, arrived behind Shanks, he immediately unleashed the Illusion Sword Dance, not knowing the meaning of the word “polite” at all.
“Shanks!”
“Boss!”
Luffy and the members of the Red Hair Pirates broke out in a cold sweat; this man who had suddenly appeared was truly formidable.
How did he get there just now?
So many of them hadn’t even managed to see Kazi’s movements clearly.
If Kazi knew, he would definitely be unable to resist throwing out a couple of taunts.
I used Space Displacement to get there, not my own speed, so of course you couldn’t see it.
Shanks’s body was already moving at the limit, and he hurriedly turned to dodge Kazi’s attacks.
But Kazi’s Illusion Sword Dance allowed him to unleash dozens of slashes in an instant, making it impossible for Shanks to avoid them.
Shanks frowned tightly, five wounds appearing on his body.
Using this brief moment, he quickly swung Griffin at Kazi, blocking the remaining attacks of the Illusion Sword Dance.
Even so, Shanks still sustained three more wounds.
“Are you a Devil Fruit user?”
Shanks seized the chance to step back, his gaze terrifyingly serious.
Kazi’s ability was too tricky; it was impossible to guard against.
And his swordsmanship—he had never seen this style on the seas, but judging by the Flying Slash and the power behind it, he was undoubtedly a Great Swordsman.
Moreover, Shanks had recently lost his left arm; his dominant hand was gone, and while his right hand was also very powerful, it was still not as good as his left.
“That’s right, I am a Devil Fruit user, and at the same time, a swordsman.”
Kazi wasn’t stupid enough to go around broadcasting what kind of fruit ability he had, although that was a trait of pirates.
“This is bad.
The opponent is not only tricky in ability but also possesses formidable physique and swordsmanship, and he even has Conqueror’s Haki.
With no obvious weaknesses, Shanks is in trouble.”
Beckman lit a cigarette, watching this high-level duel, and couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat for Shanks.
It wasn’t just Beckman who was worried about Shanks; the other members of the Red Hair Pirates were no longer grinning and joking around.
“Shanks will definitely win.”
Luffy heard Beckman’s words and felt anxious, but he still firmly believed in Shanks in his heart.
Meanwhile, Makino and the others, who were seeing off the Red Hair Pirates, had long since hurriedly retreated to a distance of a hundred meters.
They had originally thought Shanks would be able to end the battle quickly, but now it seemed better to stay further away to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
“A swordsman, huh.”
“I see.
Next, I will use my full power.”
Shanks held Griffin, his aura suddenly rising.
Advanced Conquerors Haki swirled around Griffin, and black and red lightning raged all around.
Shanks unleashed his full aura, and the terrifying Conqueror’s Haki even began to affect Kazi’s fruit ability.
No wonder that at the end of Wano Country in the original story, Aramaki was so intimidated by Shanks’s Conqueror’s Haki from far away that he dared not move.
The current Shanks hadn’t reached that level yet, but being this close, it had already greatly affected Kazi.
This was also partly because Kazi’s current mastery of his fruit ability wasn’t deep enough.
If the level of fruit development was very deep, the impact would be reduced significantly.
This was not good.
Kazi felt immense pressure; he didn’t know Advanced Conquerors Haki yet, and he wasn’t confident about a direct clash.
He had no choice but to use that move.
Kazi let out a roar, coated muramasa with Armament Haki, and used the power of the Space-Space Fruit to compress the surrounding space.
One layer.
Two layers…
A total of five layers were compressed, which was Kazi’s current limit.
A milky-white ball of light appeared on the blade, his eyes locked firmly onto Red Hair’s figure.
“Divine Departure!”
“Space Compression Slash!”
muramasa and Griffin didn’t even make contact, but the intense sound of the collision was already deafening.
Black and red lightning shrouded the surroundings, and the strong wind blew Makino and the village chief, who were a hundred meters away, back repeatedly, unable to even open their eyes.
The surrounding space seemed to have shattered.
With five layers of Space Compression, every time one layer collided and pushed out, the space vibrated violently.
After vibrating five times, Shanks’s Divine Departure was finally canceled out.
He blocked it!
Kazi felt a surge of joy; it seemed he had underestimated his current strength.
Sure enough, only by fighting a strong opponent can you know exactly where you stand.
Since Kazi now had the power to block Shanks’s Advanced Conquerors Haki, he felt much more at ease.
After clashing with Shanks, Kazi immediately retreated a step, and then, taking advantage of the fact that Shanks’s Conqueror’s Haki intimidation was less intense, he used Space Displacement to attack from overhead.
Relying on his excellent Observation Haki, although Shanks struggled, he was no longer as flustered as he was at the beginning.
Kazi and Shanks attacked each other, but most of the time it was Kazi using his fruit ability to attack, while Shanks’s attacks found it difficult to catch up with Kazi’s figure.