The deck was fire and ruin. Kuma's bellows and the screams of dying men filled the air, but on one shattered stretch of boards, all sound seemed to vanish.
Jin and the pale man in the fedora faced one another, the space between them heavy with stillness. One beast and one killer—each measuring the other.
Then Jin smiled faintly, violet eyes gleaming.
"Come now," he said lightly. "Courtesy demands I return the favor."
He blurred forward, body moving with a predator's simplicity. No wasted motion. No flourish. Just speed, precision, and lethal intent. His leg snapped sideways, aiming directly for the man's throat.
The strike was fast—too fast for most eyes to follow.
But the man reacted.
"Iron Body!"
His arms crossed before his neck, muscles hardening into steel. The kick landed like a thunderclap. The impact hurled him backwards across the splintering deck, his boots screeching against the wood until his spine slammed into the base of the mast. The timber shuddered, threatening to crack.
The man lowered his arms slowly. They trembled faintly under the lingering force. His breath hissed, but his eyes had changed. No longer human.
His pupils narrowed into vertical slits. His skin rippled, bursting into scales, hard and glistening in the firelight. A long tongue flicked from between sharp teeth as claws extended from his hands, each tipped in black keratin. His spine arched, stretching into a tail lined with jagged barbs.
The human mask was gone. What stood before Jin now was reptilian, cold-blooded, a predator stripped bare.
Jin tilted his head. "So soon? Usually people like you wait. Play at holding back." His smile widened, edged with mockery. "You don't follow the script."
The lizard-man hissed, claws clacking together like knives. His voice rasped, deep and guttural.
"Scripts are for fools. Against a monster like you, delay is suicide. The longer I waste, the closer I am to death. I don't waste breath."
Jin chuckled softly. He couldn't help it. "You're smarter than most. I'll give you that."
His amusement faded. His violet gaze sharpened to a blade's edge. "But smart doesn't save you."
The lizard-man's muscles flexed. His tail lashed the boards, sending splinters flying.
"Tempest Kick—World Cutter!"
He lunged, body twisting, leg slicing the air twenty-four times in an instant. Blades of compressed wind roared toward Jin in a deadly fan, cutting off every avenue of retreat.
Jin's eyes narrowed. His own leg blurred, striking again and again, each kick a slash of violet-tinged force.
"Tempest Kick—Chaos Sever!"
Dozens of blades clashed midair, the night filling with metallic shrieks as invisible edges shredded one another. Shards of energy split the mast, gouged trenches into the deck, and sent sailors screaming as stray blasts severed limbs and shattered bone.
Through the storm, the lizard-man charged, claws raised high.
"Iron Body—Claw Shatter!"
Ten curved blades of flesh and steel crashed downward, a storm of talons to rend Jin apart.
Jin didn't move back. Didn't flinch.
"Dragon Tremor!"
His fist arced upward, wrapped in spiraling vibrations. The punch met the claws with a sound like mountains grinding together.
For an instant they held, claw and fist locked. The impact drove waves through the ship's frame, cracking beams, snapping ropes, blowing loose sails into the night sky.
The lizard-man snarled, pressing harder, tail whipping toward Jin's ribs.
But Jin was already gone, sliding aside with a pivot of his heel. The barbed tail ripped through the space he'd vacated, shearing a deep gash across his shirt. White cloth fluttered, sliced clean through, leaving a faint scratch along his stomach.
Jin glanced at the cut and sighed. "My shirt. Pity." His tone was utterly flat.
The lizard-man's grin widened, bloody and cruel. His tongue flicked along his claws, savoring the metallic tang. The wounds already forming across his arms began to knit closed, scales sealing over the damage.
Jin's eyes narrowed at the sight. "Regeneration." His voice was thoughtful, clinical. "Faster with blood stimulation. And your power climbs with the transformation."
The lizard-man hissed, circling, tail cracking against the boards. "You analyze too much. All prey bleeds the same when the throat opens."
"Perhaps." Jin rolled his shoulders, the faintest smirk tugging his lips. "But I'm not prey. I've seen creatures like you before." His eyes burned like coals. "You break. All of you do."
The lizard-man's claws flexed, and then he was gone—body blurring with frightening acceleration.
Jin pivoted, intercepting the strike, but the force was immense. Their blows collided again, claw against knuckle, sparks flying.
This time the lizard's other arm came up, stabbing for Jin's side.
But Jin's hand shot out, catching the scaled wrist. His grip clamped down, bones grinding under his fingers.
"Got you."
The tail whistled again, a black blur tipped with razors. Jin shoved the lizard away at the last instant, letting the tail scream past his abdomen. The barbs clipped his shirt, leaving another slash across the fabric but not his flesh.
The lizard-man landed in a crouch, tongue flicking, eyes gleaming. His arms bore shallow cracks where Jin's vibrations had rattled his scales, blood seeping before sealing again.
"You're fast," Jin admitted. His tone was even, almost polite. "And durable. But not enough." He rolled his shoulders, stepping forward, each stride heavy with intent. "I've measured your limits. You're done."
The lizard-man's grin faltered. For the first time, doubt flickered. He could feel it—Jin hadn't even begun to exert himself. His breathing was steady, movements effortless, while the lizard's lungs already burned.
"Here's the deal," Jin said quietly. "I'll give you one chance. If you take this next hit and stand, I'll let you crawl away. If not—" His voice turned flat as stone. "You won't see the sunrise."
The deck fell silent. Even Kuma's bellowing and the clash with the other agents seemed distant, muted by the weight of those words.
The lizard-man's jaw tightened. He could not retreat. To retreat was death. To fight was death. But hesitation was worse.
"Fine," he rasped. His scales gleamed darker, his body coiled like a spring. "Then I'll meet you head-on."
Jin's smile vanished. His face emptied of expression. His eyes became violet voids.
He stepped in.
"Five-Dragon Fist—Mountain Shaker."
The punch came from the simplest stance. A forward bow, weight rooted, fist extending like the thrust of a spear. But the air collapsed around it. The world bent. For one frozen instant, it felt as though a mountain had manifested on Jin's arm, a peak crashing forward to obliterate everything in its path.
The lizard-man screamed, every ounce of will and training pouring into his counter. His claws folded into fists, muscles locked, scales blackened with Haki's hard sheen.
"Armament—Six Kings Gun!"
He threw his body forward, both fists colliding with Jin's strike.
The world convulsed.
The sound was not an explosion but a collapse, as if air itself had been crushed. The impact sent concentric ripples across the deck, boards splintering outward. Men screamed as they were hurled into the sea. The mast cracked further, sails tearing loose and whipping like dying wings.
At the center, Jin and the lizard stood locked, fist to fist.
Neither moved. Not yet.
The clash hung suspended in time.
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T/N :
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