Under Garp's watchful gaze—
and before the eyes of hundreds of assembled Marine s—
The battle erupted.
Bogard struck first.
"Soru!"
With a shout, he vanished.
The Marine s' Rokushiki technique, mastered to perfection, made his body disappear in a blur.
In the blink of an eye, he was gone without a trace.
Even with the naked eye, none could follow his movement.
As a Marine Headquarters Lieutenant Commander and one of Garp's trusted subordinates, Bogard had long since refined his mastery of the Rokushiki's Technique to the pinnacle.
In the next instant, he reappeared beside Kai, power condensed at his fingertip.
His finger lashed out—
swift as lightning!
The motion was like a bullet leaving the barrel, bursting forth with terrifying speed toward Kai's forehead.
Whoosh—!
A shrill sonic crack split the air.
A violent gust surged outward, sweeping across Kai's face.
The very air rippled; the shockwave tore through space itself, scattering his hair in the turbulent wind.
"Shigan—Finger Gun!"
Another Rokushiki technique unleashed!
Yet even as the strike closed in, Kai didn't move—
not even a hint of evasion.
Then, before everyone's eyes,
Kai called forth a power he had only recently mastered—
Rokushiki—Life Return
Three days ago, aided by the system's enlightenment, he had not only learned the art of Life Return but had already brought it to near-perfection.
And after several days of further refinement, his control had become even more profound.
Now, with a single thought, Kai could manipulate any part of his body at will.
He closed his eyes briefly, channeling his consciousness entirely into his hair.
In that instant, his hair came alive.
It moved as if it possessed its own mind—each strand extending, writhing, and whipping through the air like living tendrils.
Soon, the swirling mass of hair wove together, forming six arms that lashed out toward Bogard.
Shhh! Shhh! Shhh!
The sharp whistle of cutting air filled the battlefield.
The six hair-formed arms coiled with lightning speed:
two wrapped around Bogard's arms,
one around his neck,
two around his legs,
and the last around his waist.
In a heartbeat—Bogard's attack was nullified.
His Shigan froze in place—just ten centimeters from Kai's forehead—unable to advance a millimeter further.
He was completely immobilized.
The energy gathered at his fingertip dispersed into nothing.
Kai had effortlessly neutralized the assault—
calmly, almost lazily.
He hadn't even moved his feet.
He merely stood there, expression indifferent, gazing at the restrained Bogard before him.
Then—
with a thought—
the hair tightened.
The tendril around Bogard's neck constricted sharply, closing in with lethal pressure, as if ready to snap it clean in two.
"Th—This is…"
Bogard's face flushed crimson as oxygen fled his lungs. His eyes bulged with blood, terror and disbelief carved into every line of his face.
He stared blankly at Kai, throat dry, unable to utter a word.
What kind of monster…?
His mind reeled.
His world shattered.
"L-Life Return?!" he finally gasped.
He could hardly believe it.
Kai—this child—had opened the battle by using Life Return, the ultimate secret art of the Rokushiki!
That technique could only be grasped by those who had fully mastered the Rokushiki, transcending its limits entirely.
Its difficulty was said to far surpass the basic Rokushiki themselves.
Even Bogard had never been able to learn it.
That was why, upon witnessing it firsthand, his shock was absolute.
Eyes wide, mouth trembling, he stared at Kai as though seeing a ghost.
"Impossible! I've trained the Rokushiki for years and still can't use Life Return! But him—
that boy—he's only four years old!"
Half a month ago, Kai hadn't even learned the Rokushiki.
Yet now—
in just over ten days—he had not only mastered every technique,
but also ascended to its supreme form, the Rokushiki—Life Return
The realization hit Bogard like a thunderclap.
He'd imagined countless ways Kai might evade his strike—
but never this.
To have his body directly bound and his attack stopped cold by living strands of hair?
The pressure around his neck grew tighter.
His breath came short and ragged, his inner energy in disarray.
Face reddened, he unleashed his strength in desperation, struggling to break free from the living bonds that bound him.
Meanwhile, the entire exchange had been witnessed clearly by every Marine present.
"W-What kind of technique is that?!" a new recruit stammered.
They could hardly believe what they were seeing—
a Lieutenant Commander, defeated and restrained after one exchange.
"One move… he subdued Commander Bogard with just one move?!"
"That can't be right!"
"What is that technique? I've never seen anything like it!"
"So terrifying!"
"Mr. Kai… he's too strong!"
Shock rippled through the ranks as the Marine s broke into astonished whispers.
Finally, someone spoke up, voice trembling yet reverent:
"That… that's the advanced form of the Rokushiki—
The Secret Art, Life Return! It allows the user to channel their consciousness into any part of their body, granting full control over it."
"In other words… they can truly manipulate their body however they wish!"
"For example, Mr. Kai has infused his consciousness into his hair—
and now, he can control it as easily as his own hands!"
The explanation fell—
and silence followed.
Dead silence.
"Th-The Rokushiki Secret Art?!"
"That's… beyond the Rokushiki themselves!"
"So that's what it means to transcend them…"
"If I remember correctly, Mr. Kai only began learning the Rokushiki half a month ago!"
"Then how—how is this possible?! In just half a month, he's already mastered the Secret Art?"
"My god…"
"What kind of monster is he?!"
The silence shattered.
The air erupted with gasps, shouts, and awe.
Hundreds of Marine s stood frozen, eyes wide with shock, reverence, and disbelief—
all fixed on the small figure standing calmly at the center of the battlefield.
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