Chapter 205: Kaito Shirogane: I'm Beginning to Understand Everything
Enel watched as Kaito Shirogane's blackened, charred skin flaked off, revealing pristine, unblemished skin beneath. Under the glow of the crimson flames, that skin seemed to shimmer, as if scaled.
Kaito's body straightened. He crushed the twisted gold weapon in his hand and took a step, closing the distance to Enel.
Kzzzt!
An intense electrical current, using the gold as a conductor, flashed blue and white. This was the visual representation of over sixty million volts erupting at once. But the moment the electricity touched that crimson-glowing arm, it was annihilated.
Not only that, Kaito crushed the golden blade, and his Conqueror's Haki surged, forcing the blue-white electricity to retreat. In this clash of powers, the Haki was overwhelmingly dominant.
Enel noticed this, but he also realized something else.
"The Conqueror's Haki left in that arm by that man is weakening. How much longer can you use it?"
Conqueror's Haki had a very special trait: it could be stored.
Only an extremely powerful user could leave their Haki in an object, to be activated and used by another.
This arm, Kaito was now almost certain, was left behind by the departed Black King Luffy for unknown reasons. It contained an overwhelmingly powerful Conqueror's Haki.
When he'd first attached it, that Haki had been strong enough to almost completely suppress the Satsui no Hado and the God Hand's corruption.
But this Haki was a river without a source. As he used it, its strength and reserves were dwindling. This was the source of Enel's confidence.
But Kaito just smiled, a cruel smile.
He was, at this moment, in his most powerful state. [Solitary Jealous Flame] was maxed out, his stats boosted to their limit.
[Karma Reincarnator: EX051]
[Codename: Mercenary Tao (Changeable)]
[Base Stats]
[Strength: 20+ (Limit Break Threshold, Base Efficacy)]
[Agility: 20+ (Limit Break Threshold, Base Efficacy)]
[Constitution: 35 (Solitary Jealous Flame, Talent Manifestation) (Efficacy 1 · 1.8)]
[Spirit: 32 (Solitary Jealous Flame, Talent Manifestation) (Efficacy 1 · 1.7)]
His Strength and Agility, which hadn't broken their limits, didn't get the Efficacy boost. But his Constitution and Spirit, converted by their Efficacy, were now equivalent to 60+ and 50+ (by First Ladder standards).
The powerful Efficacy from the First Ladder break, combined with his [Solitary Jealous Flame] trait and his bizarre, anomaly-causing Talent Manifestation, made him nearly twice as strong, just in terms of raw numbers, as he was in the last world.
The immense resistance from his high Constitution and Spirit made his recovery from lightning strikes several times faster. Not only that, normal attacks could no longer break his defense, and even the surging Satsui no Hado's influence was lessened.
And this was just his base stats. He was in a special state: Talent Manifestation. He felt his senses amplified to their absolute limit.
This perception was different from Observation Haki's "prediction." It was a special state of transparency.
He felt he had a superhuman ability to accept and understand all information.
It was as if... just by seeing Garp use [Fist Bone Impact], just by seeing Luffy and Garp wreathe themselves in Conqueror's, he had naturally understood the existence of [Spirit].
"Enel, unfortunate for you... right now... heh, I feel like I can do anything."
In this moment, Kaito's heart beat at a normal rhythm, but Enel's pupils dilated. The "voices" he heard inside Kaito were so complex, the information so vast, it completely overwhelmed his ability to understand.
Unlike the chaos of 33,000 spirits fighting, now there was only one voice, one will.
But this one voice seemed to be thinking and processing hundreds of threads of information at the same time.
This data-stream was too much for Enel. He couldn't find his opponent's combat intentions.
Bzzzt~
The sound of electricity. Kaito's wide-open eyes naturally reflected the lightning-form of Enel. He instantly turned around, just as Enel reformed behind him.
Enel spread his hands, aiming at Kaito and the entire space behind him.
"Eighty Million Volts... Discharge!"
Kzzzt!
Blue-white lightning flashed. The ions Enel had released into the air were activated, creating an inescapable net of electricity.
This large-scale, indiscriminate attack was meant to counter Kaito's lightning-immune left arm.
Kaito realized he had successfully predicted Enel's move. A powerful joy surged in him.
In this moment, he felt he could understand Gojo Satoru's irrepressible arrogance after his awakening, his "Honored One" state.
This power, blooming from his very soul, this feeling of understanding everything, of grasping everything... it gave Kaito a truly ecstatic feeling of "Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one."
Facing Enel's attack, Kaito didn't need to think. His muscles twitched, and the breath of lightning hissed in his own nostrils.
The high-rank Setsuna he hadn't been able to fully activate before... now, it bloomed.
"Setsuna... Fifth Rank~"
Kaito's voice had an upward-lilting tremor, an external sign of his overflowing emotion.
He couldn't see it, but his face was alive, his eyes bright, his entire being radiating a faint, spiritual light.
The pain of his tearing muscles couldn't touch him. Kaito's form vanished.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of sonic booms exploded. Enel's lightning had only just begun to flash from his palms when an intense impact hit him.
Kaito's face was stretched, blurred by a speed so fast he hadn't even fully completed his punch. The air pressure from his fist, and the air mass he was pushing, slammed into Enel and shattered his form.
Enel reformed in the distance, his expression now grave.
He realized the "bug" before him, due to a series of coincidences and changes, was now unimaginably powerful.
Perhaps... he shouldn't have appeared. He could have waited for this state to end, for the man to revert to that chaos...
But the Enel corrupted by the [God of the Abyss] didn't know about the [Law of Causality]. He snorted and pulled back.
"Did you forget to use your Haki? What a shame. You won't get another chance—"
Boom!
He couldn't see the movement. He couldn't read a coherent thought. The impact hit him again.
This time, Kaito's right hand was a spear.
[Devil Lance]!
Pff!
Enel's elemental form was shattered. The white-hot vapor cloud from the pierced air, like a long spear, skewered his body.
Kaito paused, his form becoming visible.
His eyelids were low. His body was starting to bleed from the strain, but he didn't care. He was intoxicated by his own power.
And he wasn't just attacking; he was gathering information. From the warship, the injured Vice Admirals were tending to the wounded. Chaton, at Cindy's request, was preparing to land and help.
And further away... Garp's Conqueror's Haki flared again.
Time was short. His body couldn't support the 32x speed of 5th-rank Setsuna for long.
More importantly, he had found the massive weakness Enel gained from his corruption.
Kaito's eyes focused on the four heads: Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Pleasure. They were foreign objects, and they were uncoordinated when Enel turned to lightning.
Enel's form dissolved, hundreds of currents of electricity flowing through the air. Kaito understood. He was trying to stall, or even escape.
But Kaito, in this state, had an incredible [Instinct]. It wasn't Observation Haki. He didn't know what it was, but he just knew what his opponent was thinking.
He could even predict it.
The reason Enel's [Mantra] was hearing so much information was because Kaito had realized he could simulate other people's thought processes.
Just like copying their physical abilities or Haki... once he [Understood] their personality, their core... he could think like them.
He was, at this very moment, roleplaying several people's thoughts at once... including Enel's.
Kaito exhaled, the hot air condensing. After that one breath, light flashed in his left hand. The [Dragonslayer] appeared.
At 5th-rank Setsuna, he couldn't guarantee his own attacks would flow perfectly. Sometimes, his Armament Haki or Satsui no Hado couldn't even keep up with his limbs.
Just like that first attack, where he'd hit Enel with his body's shockwave before his fist even connected.
But this [Dragonslayer]... it didn't have that problem.
Kaito gripped the massive sword in his left hand and pointed it at the sky.
Enel, still streaming away, was suddenly gripped by a baseless terror. His [Mantra] screamed at him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of sonic booms. Then, crimson Conqueror's Haki exploded in mid-air, an indiscriminate blast.
It was like a hurricane sweeping the sea.
Tyrannical, cruel, resolute. This was a domineering spirit as cold as the River Styx. In that instant, Chaton, Gion, and the others could only shield their faces as the Haki lashed them.
Dozens of nautical miles away, a figure was pierced by the crimson lightning and forced to reform.
Enel's face was pale, his four extra heads all twisted in terror.
"Crap..."
Pff!
A straight, black sword-light, like the Spear of Longinus, tore the sky, pierced Enel's chest, and skewered all four of the heads.
(End of Chapter)
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