Draped in his "Justice" coat, Kizaru slowly rose from the deep crater where he'd crashed. His usual laid-back and frivolous expression was nowhere to be seen—replaced instead by a rare look of solemnity.
That kick just now hadn't caused him serious harm, but the sheer speed of it…
It was faster than he had anticipated.
Kizaru's eyes narrowed behind his tea-colored sunglasses as his body suddenly turned into particles of light and vanished from the spot.
Zero-point-zero-zero seconds later.
Kizaru reappeared directly behind Ron.
His right leg, glowing with blinding radiance, shot forward in a sideways kick—executed with unfathomable speed and overwhelming force.
—Faster than his usual Yasakani no Magatama!
—Stronger than his standard Ama no Murakumo!
Kizaru had stopped holding back.
His foot swept through Ron's body.
—No impact. No resistance.
The expected sensation of striking flesh and bone never came.
Instead, the figure before him shattered like an illusion.
The moment Kizaru registered this, his Observation Haki screamed in warning.
—A dangerous presence was rapidly approaching from the side!
Without hesitation, he dispersed into particles of light and flickered away.
A violent shockwave, infused with Ryou, erupted in his wake—an air cannon so powerful that it blasted a straight hole through a distant hill, sending shattered rocks tumbling down like an avalanche.
Ron calmly retracted his fist, his knuckles still glowing faintly with Ryou. He turned toward where Kizaru had reappeared, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"Observation Haki… It looks like mine is a little better."
Kizaru remained silent. His usual nonchalant smirk had faded, replaced with a rare expression of seriousness.
The Armament Haki that coated that last punch… It was terrifying. It reminded him of Zephyr in his prime.
If he had taken that hit directly, even he would have suffered severe injuries.
And then there was this:
His sharp Observation Haki.
Without realizing it, this twenty-year-old had already reached a level where he was capable of threatening an admiral.
Ron disappeared from the spot.
Kizaru did the same, his body once again dissolving into photons.
The two reappeared in mid-air above the battlefield, their attacks colliding in a blinding clash—one fist, one foot.
—Power against Power.
A devastating shockwave exploded outward, ripping through the ground beneath them.
Violent winds howled in every direction, sending dust and debris flying like a raging storm.
But before the impact had even fully settled—
The two figures vanished once more.
Across the entire Sabaody Archipelago, they reappeared and clashed, only to disappear again in an instant.
Their battle was so fast, so intense, that even the most hardened pirates—those with bounties exceeding hundreds of millions—could barely track their movements.
It wasn't long before the entire Sabaody Archipelago was shaken by their fight.
One by one, people stepped out of buildings, their heads tilting skyward.
"What the hell is happening?!"
"You don't know yet?!"
"That's Traveler Ron… fighting against Admiral Kizaru!"
"Ron… and an Admiral?! What the hell is going on?!"
"I heard Ron attacked a Celestial Dragon, and that's why Kizaru showed up!"
"Attacked a Celestial Dragon…?"
"Not just attacked—he killed one! I saw it with my own eyes!!"
As the truth spread, the entire Sabaody Archipelago erupted in chaos.
Killing a Celestial Dragon—
That was an event so massive, so world-shaking that it would send shockwaves across the entire planet.
And within the archipelago, a group of reporters from the World Economy News had already caught wind of the situation.
Their hands trembled with excitement as they rushed to contact headquarters—
This was a story too big to miss.
The news quickly reached the ears of the one and only Big News Morgans.
"…He killed a Celestial Dragon…?"
For the first time in a long while, even Morgans—the man who thrived on chaos and headlines—felt his heart skip a beat.
Inside the newsroom, several staff members wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads, their expressions filled with shock.
"It's him again… Traveler Ron… That crazy bastard. He actually dared to assassinate a Celestial Dragon?!"
"This is an unbelievable headline! If we publish this, the entire world will go crazy!"
"But… there's no way we can print this, right? If the World Government finds out, they'll be furious!"
"Boss… what do we do?!"
Under the anxious gazes of his staff, Morgans' sharp beak curled into a maniacal grin.
"Those bastards in the World Government actually think they're gods?"
He let out a wild, raucous laugh.
"I am the King of News! Do they really think they can stop me from spreading a story that will shake the entire sea?!"
"Get this news out there—immediately!"
"Also, send word to our contacts in Sabaody. Deploy every Visual Den Den Mushi we have! Capture as much footage of this battle as possible!"
"Y-Yes, boss! Right away!"
With that, the gears of fate began turning—
And the whole world was about to witness a battle that would go down in history.
The Sabaody Archipelago was composed of countless massive trees, forming a total of seventy-nine distinct zones.
Ron and Kizaru's battle had started in Zone 22 but had now escalated all the way to Zone 54.
By the time Sentomaru arrived at the archipelago aboard a Marine warship, bringing along Pacifistas, the two combatants had already fought their way to Zone 60, where the World Government's garrison was located.
Gion and Hina had been following the battle closely, and upon reaching the area—
They were immediately greeted by a shocking sight.
High above in the sky, two radiant figures clashed violently—one wrapped in black and red light, the other blazing with golden brilliance.
A deafening explosion tore through the air as their attacks collided, unleashing an unimaginable shockwave that blasted outward in all directions.
The sheer force of the impact sent the ground beneath them flying apart, uprooting chunks of earth and stone. Gion and Hina were caught in the ensuing storm, forced to slide backward over ten meters before they could stabilize themselves.
At the epicenter of the collision, a massive spherical battlefield spanning over a hundred meters in radius had formed.
Within it, black-red Haki and golden light constantly clashed, grinding against one another, generating crackling shockwaves that rippled outward like ocean waves.
The World Government's facilities and Marine structures below didn't stand a chance—reduced to rubble in an instant. Countless Marines were swept off their feet, flung into the air like ragdolls by the storm of energy.
"If it's a head-on clash you're looking for… then you're even less of a match for me."
Ron stood at the center of the battlefield, his jet-black hair billowing in the wind, his aura blazing like molten fire. His calm words carried an undeniable weight.
Kizaru's expression shifted dramatically—
Because at that very moment—
Ron clenched his right fist, coated in Advanced Armament Haki (Ryuo), causing his power to surge to an even greater level.
With an unstoppable force, he shattered Kizaru's defenses in an instant!
From below, Gion and Hina could only watch in sheer disbelief.
Kizaru's body shot through the air like a meteor, blasted away by Ron's devastating punch!
His trajectory was a straight line—from Zone 60, all the way toward the distant sea. Along the way, he crashed through the massive tree branches that made up Sabaody, snapping them apart like twigs, before finally being sent completely out of the archipelago's borders, hurtling toward the ocean.
Sentomaru had just set foot on Sabaody's shore when he witnessed the unthinkable—
His "old man"—the legendary Admiral Kizaru—was blown off the island, flung across the sky!
But before he could even process what had happened—
The ocean beneath Kizaru began to rise unnaturally.
A towering rectangular pillar of seawater, hundreds of meters high and over a hundred meters wide, suddenly materialized—launching itself straight toward the falling Admiral!
The timing was absolutely flawless.
Sentomaru's voice rang out in alarm.
At the final moment, just before Kizaru could be trapped inside the water prison, his hand formed a blade of light—
With a swift downward slash, he cleaved the water construct in two.
The shattered seawater plummeted back into the ocean, creating towering waves that roared across the surface.
But just as Kizaru exhaled in relief—
A blood-red light streaked through the sky.
Ron appeared above Kizaru, his entire body steaming with crimson energy.
His right leg, wreathed in Advanced Armament Haki, descended like a black-red thunderbolt, cleaving through the air with terrifying force!
Kizaru barely had time to react—
His body plummeted toward the sea like a shooting star!
Just as he was about to crash into the ocean, a flash of golden light erupted.
Kizaru converted himself into photons, vanishing just before he touched the water!
His body reformed on the deck of a Marine warship, standing near the shore.
Looking up at Ron, Kizaru's voice carried a rare trace of extreme seriousness.
"So, it seems you've mastered Observation Haki to the level of seeing the future... How troublesome."
Sentomaru and the surrounding Marines turned toward him.
But the moment they saw him, their blood ran cold.
Admiral Kizaru was badly injured.
Standing on the warship's deck—his right shoulder had collapsed inward, and blood dripped from the corner of his lips.
A suffocating silence filled the air.
How could Admiral Kizaru, one of the strongest forces of the Marines, possibly be wounded?!
Sentomaru, the one who knew Kizaru's strength the best, broke into a cold sweat.
"Even the old man… wasn't his match?"
Just how strong had he become?!
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Advance Chapters: .com / ElvenKing20