Chapter 741: Who Are You Fighting, Pirate?
Chapter 741: Who Are You Fighting, Pirate?
"This guy..."
It wasn't just Kuro who looked stunned—Kaku and Zoro, who had already retreated to a safe distance, also wore expressions of shock.
The pain of broken wrists was something they could endure, but to fight with raw, bleeding stumps instead of hands? They both admitted they couldn't do it.
This man's willpower was ironclad!
"What's wrong?" Kuro taunted, his voice sharp. "You afraid just because you lost your left palm? If you won't attack, then—"
"Then I'LL GO!!"
With a shrill screech, the rough-looking man lunged forward like a tiger. After a brief delay, his blue lightning-like Haki surged through his right arm once more. His hand formed a blade-like edge, and he launched a Piercing Thrust.
Boom!!!
The attack pierced straight through Kuro's body—but the body instantly dissolved into an afterimage, rippling like water and vanishing. The shockwave from the hand blade surged forward, carving a deep gash across the ground. Like a column of force, it tore a massive hole through distant structures far ahead.
Thankfully, Kuro had already cleared the area of bystanders. Otherwise, this level of combat would have caused catastrophic casualties.
"Stabilized your internal bleeding already?" Kuro's voice echoed from behind Giruon. He reappeared, Yokai Blade sheathed, then instantly unsheathed in a single motion.
"Hundred Shadows Slash!"
A single blade became a hundred golden arcs crackling with electricity, all converging on Giruon.
"No matter how fast you are, there's only one real blade!" Giruon roared. He turned, his right hand splayed wide, and grasped the hundred blade afterimages. With a popping sound, they vanished as he seized the real Yokai Blade.
"Control!"
Kuro's eyes flashed. Giruon's body shuddered mid-air.
Chi!
The Haki condensing in his hand wavered slightly. Half his palm vanished into the blade's edge as blood erupted from his wound, cascading down the blade. The free-flowing blood spilled like liquid while its essence got absorbed into the Yokai Blade, restoring part of its power.
"Got you!"
Ignoring the bloodied wound, Giruon gripped the blade tighter. He raised his severed left wrist, blue-black lightning Haki gathering at the stump.
"Unparalleled Piercing Thrust!"
A concentrated wave of force surged through the broken wrist, trailing blood from the wound as it aimed straight for Kuro's head.
"You damn—!"
Giruon gritted his teeth, Kuro snarled. His eyes hardened. Golden lightning erupted from Yokai Blade as he pushed downward with all his might.
Chi!
Half of Giruon's palm separated from his hand as Kuro's blade sliced through. At the same time, Giruon's left wrist slammed into Kuro's face.
Boom!!
Crack!
A thunderous explosion echoed. A brittle sound like shattering glass followed.
Kuro's body flew backward dozens of meters. Suspended mid-air, he twisted and stabilized himself, hovering upright. His face was a blood-smeared mess.
"That Damn Hurt!"
He bared his teeth, snarling. The strike had left his face a bloody ruin.
After stabilizing mid-air, he exhaled a thick breath and inhaled deeply.
He had activated his Black Tortoise Body at the start of combat—without it, that punch would've caved his skull. Even then, the technique had been pierced. The pressure he'd been holding inside his body shattered completely.
Now he needed to gather his strength again.
"Defensive technique?" Giruon studied him. "Your defense's impressive."
His eyes flicked to his own left hand—now a mangled stump connected to his wrist by bone fragments. "Inconvenient."
With a sharp motion, he sliced his left wrist against his right, severing the dangling hand completely. Blood poured from the fresh wound.
The brutal display made everyone's pupils contract.
"Kiah!"
With a violent shake, the bleeding stopped. He raised both cleanly severed wrists, declaring, "Now my combat won't be hindered!"
"You fight like a damn demon!" Kuro spat. "What, you've got some death wish toward that old man? Why fight this hard?!"
Giruon paused, then slowly replied, "My battle knows no limits. Only victory can satisfy my hunger."
He stepped forward, wrists spread wide. "Come. Let's continue."
Thud!
As the words hung in the air, he vanished, reappearing before Kuro in an instant. His wrists gathered force as a Piercing Thrust slammed into Kuro's abdomen.
Boom!
Caught completely off guard, Kuro doubled over, vomiting violently.
"Your strength weakened! Is your physical strength failing? I won't hold back! Kiah!!!"
Giruon's eyes blazed. His wrists drove upward into the Navy's stomach, launching Kuro's body high into the air like a ragdoll.
He drew his wrists to his waist, legs coiled. The air distorted around his gathering force as the blue-black Haki concentrated at his wrists.
Thud!!
He shot upward like an arrow, breaking through the air itself. His wrists became a black-blue blade as he smashed into Kuro's chest.
Boom!!!
The wave of Haki tore through Kuro's body, erupting skyward like a pillar.
"Heaven and Earth Unparalleled Piercing Thrust!!"
The suspended figure high above bellowed like a thunderclap. The sound shook the heavens.
Kuro's body plummeted earthward. Giruon landed, panting as he stared at the wreckage. "I won."
The Navy lay sprawled, eyes wide with an expression both horrified and eerily blank.
"Something's wrong."
Giruon frowned. His gaze swept the surroundings. The three Navy men watching nearby stood motionless. Even at their companion's death, their faces remained wooden, like puppets.
His eyes narrowed. The world around him seemed to bleed crimson, twisting space itself.
PU!
He looked down in shock. A black-red blade protruded from his chest.
The blood-red illusion shattered.
The fallen Navy corpses rippled, then dissolved into flat ground. No bodies remained.
"Who have you been fighting, pirate?"
A voice laced with gruesome amusement sounded behind him.
Giruon turned. Kuro stood there unharmed, smiling.
Chi!
Yokai Blade twisted in his chest, slicing upward from heart to shoulder in a wide arc.
"I won."
Kuro said it casually, flicking his blade toward Giruon's neck.
Chi!
The blade sank halfway into his neck—then stopped.
Giruon's wrists, charged with Haki, gripped the blade edge.
"Roooar!!!"
He roared like a beast, other wrist rocketing toward Kuro's face.
"Tch."
Kuro yanked Yokai Blade free, retreating rapidly through the air. He reappeared ahead of Giruon, blade flicking loose the absorbed blood which pooled on the ground.
"Your vitality's persistent", Kuro observed. "But with my Killing Intent inside you, defeat is inevitable."
(End of Chapter)
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