Nine powerhouses on the level of Admirals, Emperors, and Warlords...
"Smoker, you really do remember quite the cast of heavy-hitters…" Kuzan sighed. What else could he expect? Smoker was practically the Navy HQ's own embedded war correspondent. Of course he'd have seen it all.
He had witnessed the battles between Wright and Kaido, with "Golden Lion" Shiki, and with Sakazuki—all from start to finish.
If any of those three had their full strength replicated, this was going to be a mess...
That thought made Kuzan's expression darken.
"Borsalino still hasn't arrived… if Redfield brings out that kohai of his, we're in serious trouble."
"We need to eliminate these fakes immediately."
Smoker clearly understood what Redfield's trump card was. Among all the powerful figures etched into his memory, one stood out above the rest—Fleet Admiral Wright of the Marines!
"If these guys can benefit from Wright's healing abilities, we're done for!"
The Straw Hat Pirates shuddered at the thought.
"No way!"
"Less talking, more fighting!" Kuzan barked. "Or I'll freeze all of you and toss you into Impel Down myself!"
...
"Fleet Admiral~~ I've arrived on the island where Sleeping Ancient Town is located~~ Seems like there's~ a bit of a commotion~"
Borsalino spoke lazily into the Den Den Mushi strapped to his wrist—he wasn't using a black-line snail.
Wright knew full well how this guy operated. After the mess he made on the Sabaody Archipelago from misusing a secure line, Kizaru had been strictly limited to standard communication snails only.
"Mmh. Get over there quickly, senpai. If there's movement, they've probably already started fighting."
"Mmm~ but~ the Straw Hat Pirates's ship is docked on the shore~"
Kizaru looked up at the Thousand Sunny, its figure trembling with nervous sweat. The ship's spirit, Merry, was peeking over the railing, but ducked out of sight the moment Kizaru's eyes met hers.
"Oh~ a ship's spirit~ how mysterious~"
"Cough…"
"Well then~ time to get to work~"
Flash—
Kizaru vanished in a burst of light.
The center of the forest was total chaos. The environment had been utterly decimated by a barrage of attacks:
Magma, meteors, laser blasts, earthquakes, flying slashes, wind blades, lightning strikes, shockwaves, and combatants flitting about like ghosts…
It was total pandemonium. At this rate, the island would sink into the sea.
"That old man's been gone a long time now…" Smoker wiped blood from the corner of his mouth. His opponent was Bartholomew Kuma. As an ally once, Smoker knew him well.
But Kuma's strength was clearly among the highest of the Warlords. If Mihawk was the strongest non-Devil Fruit user, then Kuma was surely the strongest among the Devil Fruit-powered Warlords. No question.
Even Enel couldn't compare to the conceptual-level mastery Kuma had developed with his powers.
And even though this one was just a fake, Smoker was still struggling.
Kuzan, a genuine Admiral, was fending off three fake Admirals on his own—and barely holding out. Their strength was weaker than the originals, sure, but three-on-one was still overwhelming.
The Straw Hats had it no better, facing off against three fake Emperor-level foes and two Warlord-level enemies. Luffy, in Fourth Gear, was squaring off against Whitebeard. Zoro, with his bandana tied, clashed against Golden Lion Shiki. And Sanji, thoughts on Robin, faced down Kaido.
Unfortunately, even as fakes, these three were far too powerful for the crew to beat quickly.
But it was a rare opportunity—a trial by fire to force their power to evolve.
As for Pato… his combat strength was basically zero. He stood anxiously on the sidelines—these clones were made with his ability, but they answered only to the one who summoned them: Redfield. Not Pato.
"Ahh… at least they're not cooperating with each other," Kuzan muttered.
He slipped into his elemental form to evade a slash from "Issho," conjuring an ice wall to block a magma punch from "Sakazuki," and kicked the teleporting "Borsalino" away with a grunt.
"Ice Time Capsule!"
"Sakazuki," who had just broken through the ice wall, was frozen solid. Kuzan coated his leg in Armament Haki and shattered the frozen clone with a crushing kick. A smile finally broke across his face.
"Took you long enough."
Flash—BOOM!
A massive laser beam tore through the battlefield in a deafening explosion. A familiar sing-song voice rang out:
"Oh~ how strange~ someone out here looks exactly~ like me~"
"How troubling~ guess I'll just take him out~"
The real Borsalino suddenly appeared in front of the fake "Borsalino." The imposter had barely let out a startled "Wao~" before the real one's cold, expressionless kick shattered him on the spot.
BOOM!
The imposter burst into glowing leaves and vanished. The battlefield fell momentarily silent. Everyone realized at once—the real Admiral Kizaru had finally arrived.
"Geez~ Fleet Admiral never said~ things would be this fun~" Kizaru slipped one hand into his pocket, a lazy grin back on his face.
"Kicking myself like that~ such a weird feeling~"
"Marine Headquarters Admiral, 'Kizaru'!"
The Straw Hats were visibly shaken. None of them had forgotten what this man did to them two years ago.
"Ever been kicked… at the speed of light?"
That line was seared into their memory.
"So… what the hell is going on here?" Kizaru stared at the impossible array of enemies, clearly just now grasping the situation.
"Borsalino, we'll clean up these fakes first. The Straw Hats can wait—we need to stop Redfield before he finds that thing," Kuzan said, parrying "Issho's" sword with an icy blade.
"I say, Issho-san—how is your Observation Haki this sharp? Weren't these clones not supposed to have Haki?"
"Well~ these things~ I wouldn't know much about them myself…" "Issho" replied calmly.
BOOM!
A massive gravity field erupted across the battlefield, affecting both friend and foe alike.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!"
"Kaido" swung his kanabo, blasting Sanji away. Sparks of electricity danced around him as he transformed into his dragon form, glaring furiously at "Issho." The Straw Hats' jaws collectively dropped.
"Wait—he's a dragon?!"
"So Kaido's true form is… a dragon?!"
"Hmph… I just feel like… what I'm doing doesn't feel just. If I keep going, I might lose myself."
"Thus, my heart finds a sliver of peace," "Issho" said with a soft smile, gripping his sword.
"..."
Kuzan and Kizaru exchanged a look—and without a word, both launched simultaneous attacks on the largest threat on the field: "Kaido."
"You get that big, and you're just asking for it," Kuzan muttered, leaping into the air and hurling a barrage of icy spikes.
"Ice Ball!"
"Oh~ a dragon~ how scary~"
"Might as well~ take him out~"
Kizaru ascended in a beam of light, hands crossed as particles of energy formed around him.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
"Kaido"—defeated.
—————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/JuanPiece [remove the parentheses ( )]
Note: This fanfic has been completely translated and is available on my Patreon.