With both hands clasped together, the space around Kouta suddenly collapsed inward, followed by an immense force surging outward in all directions.
"Pseudo: Shinra Tensei!"
The lion heads and slashes rushing toward him were instantly scattered.
Kouta stepped through the swirling dust, blade in hand, rapidly closing in on Shiki.
"Soru, Step-Slash."
With a sharp whoosh, he appeared above Shiki's head, and brought his sword down hard.
Clang!
The moment his blade collided, Kouta could feel it, Shiki's Haki hadn't shattered. A manic grin split his face.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!!!"
"Old man, you'd better obediently stay and train with me!"
"Ha ha ha…"
He kept swinging with brutal force, pressing the attack, while Shiki had been forced entirely onto the defensive.
"What's the matter, old man? Out of steam already?"
He roared in fury, "If this is all you've got, then just die already!"
Veins bulged on his arm as he raised his sword for a powerful slash.
Clang!
A golden blur shot backward at high speed.
Shiki tried to steady himself, but the force from Kouta's slash wouldn't allow it.
So, he used the momentum, letting it launch him toward his main island even faster.
Kouta narrowed his eyes as he watched Shiki fly off in the distance.
"Is he trying to run?"
"No, that doesn't make sense."
"A man of his level wouldn't consider fleeing from a younger opponent."
He shook his head, not overthinking it. Locking eyes on Shiki, he activated his ability.
"Teleportation."
In an instant, he appeared behind Shiki, slashing straight at his back.
Clang!
Red light flared in Shiki's eyes. He anticipated it and raised his blade just in time to block.
Though he couldn't match Kouta in speed, his Observation Haki was top-tier.
While he hadn't yet mastered future sight, this elite level of Haki, combined with decades of combat experience, gave him supernatural reflexes.
Using the force of the clash, he shot up and back, landing at the edge of his main island—right beside the sea-water barrier cloaking its perimeter.
"Oh…"
"So he plans to use seawater against me."
Kouta remained still, watching Shiki with interest. He tugged the sake gourd from his waist and took a leisurely sip.
"Come on, old man. If you've got anything else, you'd better show it now."
"Because after this... you're going to help me train my Haki properly."
Hic.
He blew out a puff of alcohol at Shiki, a slight flush coloring his cheeks.
Looking at the half-empty gourd, he shook it.
"Not enough."
"Jihahahaha! You brat! Don't get cocky. You really think you've already won?"
Shiki bellowed, then turned and kicked out a slash toward the island's edge.
"Slash Wave!"
The seawater barrier trembled like jelly. With a squelching pop, a chunk of it was sliced clean off.
Shiki spread his fingers wide. The severed water, like exploding fireworks, broke into countless droplets and scattered in all directions.
In an instant, the entire sky was filled with a dense rain of seawater.
He flicked his hand again.
The rain of droplets dispersed further, becoming a thick fog of seawater mist.
It enveloped the whole sky, cloaking everything like a foggy winter morning.
This was a trap he had specifically prepared to counter Kouta's teleportation.
Inside this blanket of seawater mist, he didn't believe Kouta could simply teleport away.
Shiki grinned arrogantly.
"Jihahahaha! Go ahead, brat, see if you can escape this!"
"This is my special gift for a Devil Fruit user like you!"
With a clench of his right hand-
The misty vapor that had dispersed now surged back, rapidly gathering around Kouta.
Kouta looked at Shiki like he was watching a fool.
So all that buildup… was for this?
To him, it wasn't even worth reacting to.
Because Kouta had no intention of moving in the first place.
If the old man liked putting on a show, then he'd show off a trick of his own too.
The guy was practically half in the grave already—no sense in ruining his last moments of fun, right?
As the mist condensed, droplets rapidly formed across Kouta's skin.
A look of horror instantly spread across his face.
And then, his entire body was swallowed up by seawater formed from the connected droplets.
He clutched his throat, holding his breath, and bubbles escaped from his mouth as if he were drowning.
It looked very convincing.
"Jihahahaha…"
Shiki burst into roaring laughter as he saw Kouta submerged in the seawater.
The frustration from earlier battles was instantly swept away.
He simply stood there, laughing nonstop as he stared at Kouta.
"…Hmm?"
Kouta had been waiting for Shiki's follow-up slashes.
But left, right, nothing came.
He couldn't help glancing at Shiki out of the corner of his eye.
"…Ugh."
The old man was still laughing, unmoving.
"Still laughing, huh? You're not even going to follow up with a slash to finish your little show?"
Right now, he really wanted to call out.
"Your performance takes effort, you know?"
This wasn't how Shiki treated Luffy at all.
Why was he suddenly so clever now, just for Kouta?
With that thought, Kouta gave up the act and started showing off random swimming styles in the water.
Frog stroke. Freestyle. Backstroke. Butterfly. Dog paddle flair. Lazy turtle glide…
He had it all covered.
Shiki, watching Kouta cycle through swim styles underwater, finally realized-
He'd been played.
All that flashy setup? Probably looked like the antics of a complete idiot to this guy.
Because clearly, Kouta wasn't afraid of seawater at all.
"This ability… is way too broken."
In his decades of life, Shiki had only known a few Devil Fruit users who could resist seawater like this.
Even he could manipulate seawater to a degree, ignoring the curse of the sea.
But to be completely submerged like this? That was impossible.
What he didn't know, was that Kouta wasn't a Devil Fruit user at all.
Veins bulged on Shiki's forehead as he glared at Kouta.
"Too cocky. Way too damn cocky."
"This bastard clearly doesn't take me seriously!"
Furious, he lunged at Kouta, both legs sweeping rapidly.
"Die, brat!"
"Lion: Thousand-Cut Valley!"
Dozens of golden slashes tore through the mist, racing toward Kouta, still submerged.
"…Hmm."
Kouta stopped swimming and turned, meeting Shiki's furious gaze with calm eyes.
"So now you realize the difference between us?"
"Then be a good boy and spar with me properly."
He didn't even glance at the incoming golden slashes. His spatial domain expanded in an instant.
BOOM!
A surge of power blasted away the seawater and the slashes entirely.
Then, Kouta teleported behind Shiki, drew Zankū, and struck hard at his back.
Clang!
Shiki, utterly fed up with Kouta's teleportation, could only spin around and raise his blade to block once again.
The impact sent his body flying downward.
BANG!
He crashed into the side of a massive mountain below.
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