Under the surge of that savage, violent urge…
Kai's fighting spirit burned like a raging inferno.
His battle lust soared to the peak.
That desire—to tear everything in front of him to shreds—made his body crave a fight. A real fight. A fight to the death where his enemy's blood would wash over his skin.
His body…
Was thirsting for blood.
In the next instant—
Kai stepped with Rokushiki—Soru.
His figure blurred, vanishing and reappearing in front of Sword-Lion Gart in what looked like instant teleportation.
Up close.
Face to face.
Less than half a meter apart.
At this distance, Kai could clearly feel the terrifying pressure pouring off Gart's body.
Like a primordial beast.
"Tekkai: Steel Fist!"
Kai clenched his right hand into a fist.
Rokushiki's Tekkai roared to life, condensing the boundless power in his body into that one fist.
Then—
Without the slightest hesitation, he drove it forward.
Crushing.
Overwhelming.
That punch hammered straight into Gart's abdomen.
Boom!
Violent power exploded from Kai's knuckles, ramming straight into Gart's gut. The Sword-Lion's abdomen caved in under the impact as a series of bone-cracking sounds echoed out.
Crack!
Crack!
Several ribs snapped at once.
"Argh!"
The heart-piercing pain flooded Gart's body in an instant, tearing a roar from his throat—a beast-like bellow full of pure rage.
Like a crazed animal, he lifted both fists and smashed down toward Kai in front of him.
However—
Before those fists could fall, Kai's figure vanished again.
A heartbeat later, he appeared behind Gart.
"Life Return!"
With a thought, Kai activated the Rokushiki secret art—Life Return. His consciousness poured into every strand of hair, making it surge and stretch, weaving out like a spiderweb that wrapped around Gart's enormous body.
His hair moved as if it had a life of its own…
Under his control, it could move freely.
It became arms—
Obedient, precise, and nimble.
Under Kai's command, his hair twisted and knotted, forming a web that rapidly bound Gart's body. Strands of hair turned into six "arms":
Two wrapped around Gart's forearms.
Two pinned his legs.
The remaining two coiled around his waist and his neck.
The strand wrapped around his throat tightened bit by bit under Kai's control, trying to forcibly snap the Sword-Lion's neck.
It was a pity…
Kai's mastery of Life Return hadn't yet reached the realm of perfection.
Relying on hair alone, he naturally couldn't strangle to death a notorious pirate with a bounty close to fifty million Berries, especially one who was currently in a transformed Zoan Devil Fruit state.
If Kai already possessed Armament Haki…
The result would be completely different.
If he could coat every strand of hair with Armament Haki and then use Life Return, every hair would become a deadly weapon overflowing with terrifying force.
Just imagining it—
The destruction that would cause was terrifying.
Forget a mere pirate worth fifty million Berries. At that point, even pirates worth sixty or seventy million wouldn't be enough for him to take seriously.
He might even…
Have the strength to clash with pirates worth over a hundred million.
The prerequisite was that he mastered both types of Haki.
On these seas, Haki is the foundation of the strong.
Only by wielding powerful Haki can one become a true top-class powerhouse.
"Shigan!"
Using Life Return to briefly restrain Gart, Kai immediately launched a relentless offensive.
Rokushiki—Shigan.
He focused his strength into his index finger—
Then stabbed again and again into Gart's massive body.
Puchi!
Puchi!
Puchi!
Blood sprayed as Kai's fingers pierced flesh.
One bloody hole after another appeared on Gart's body. As more and more wounds opened, blood poured down, soaking his golden fur until it was completely stained red.
Blood sprayed into the air.
It rained down from Gart's body.
The air itself felt dyed scarlet.
In the blink of an eye, the once-majestic Sword-Lion was left in a miserable state. His body was covered in wounds.
Riddled with scars.
Bloodied from head to toe.
"Damn it!"
"Brat!"
"I'll kill you!"
Gart was livid.
He grabbed at the hair binding his body, using pure brute strength to tear it apart.
Rip—
The strands of hair were ripped free and scattered through the air, falling messily across the ground all around them.
Just as Gart tore away the last of the hair, he whirled around, ready to attack Kai—
Only to find that he couldn't touch even the boy's shadow.
This fight was suffocating for him.
"Damn brat!"
"You don't dare fight me head-on?!"
"Hiding and dodging—what kind of ability is that?!"
Helpless and humiliated, Gart could only roar in impotent rage.
"You want a head-on clash with me?"
"You sure?"
With a flicker, Kai stepped out with Soru and reappeared right in front of Gart, smiling as he looked up at the enraged Sword-Lion.
"Die!"
Gart's bloodshot eyes locked onto Kai. With a furious roar, he clenched his right fist, gathering all his brutal strength and smashing it straight toward the boy.
His fist hadn't even landed yet—
But the fist wind already struck.
A surging current of air battered Kai's body, swirling around him like a whirlpool in the sea, making his movements feel suddenly sluggish and heavy.
"You want a frontal clash?"
"Then…"
"As you wish."
Kai chuckled.
He didn't evade.
Instead, he stepped forward.
He clenched his right fist and punched straight toward Gart's enormous incoming fist.
"Tekkai: Steel Fist!"
The limitless power in his body erupted once again, condensing in an instant into his fist.
Then—
As Kai drove his punch out…
That tidal wave of force fully unleashed.
In the next moment—
Their fists slammed into each other head-on.
The clash began.
Gart's fist was even bigger than half of Kai's entire body. Compared to that, Kai's fist looked laughably small, like he was tickling a giant.
However—
When the two fists collided—
Kai's "tickle" exploded like a volcanic eruption.
A terrifying force burst forth from his small fist.
This time, he held nothing back.
He combined his raw, monstrous physical strength with the power of Rokushiki's Tekkai—
Fusing them into one.
All poured into this single punch.
A fist that shook the world.
Kai's punch even tore the air, producing a sharp, ear-piercing sonic boom.
Boom!!
Two titanic forces crashed together head-on.
The terrifying, overwhelming power from Kai's fist surged forward, running straight along Gart's arm.
Then—
Crack!
A crisp, sickening sound rang out.
The bones in Gart's massive fist began to fracture.
"Argh!"
The stabbing pain shot up his arm and into his heart. Sweat poured down Gart's forehead as he roared in agony, veins bulging across his temple.
Rumble!!
The stone tiles beneath his feet shattered and collapsed again.
The ground under and around him gave way under the impact of the shockwave, sinking and crumbling.
Around the two of them—
Rumble!!
The entire ground trembled violently.
Crack!
Crack!
More and more fissures snaked through the earth, dense as a spiderweb.
The battlefield was left in tatters, riddled with countless holes as the ground caved in.
Broken rubble flew in all directions, debris scattering everywhere.
In the end—
Kai's punch completely blew apart Gart's right fist.
It didn't stop at shattering the bones.
His entire arm—
Was blown clean off.
Splurt!
A cloud of blood mist blossomed in the air.
Gart's right arm was completely destroyed.
Blood gushed madly from his severed shoulder, spraying into the sky like a crimson fountain.
The heart-rending pain made Gart's veins stand out on his forehead, his eyes bloodshot as he howled in torment.
"ARRRGH!!"
His anguished screams echoed.
The severed arm fell from midair, tumbling down until it landed with a dull thud beside Kai's feet.
Kai slowly drew back his right hand.
He lowered his head and glanced casually at the severed arm lying by his boots.
Just a look.
Then—
He raised his foot.
And stomped down.
Boom!!
The ground and the severed arm both caved in under that stomp, a half-meter-deep crater opening up. Cracks spread from the impact point, spiderwebbing across the ground.
When Kai finally drew his foot back…
The arm beneath it had already been reduced to a mangled lump of flesh. Even the bones had been crushed into powder and mixed into the pool of blood.
Then—
Kai's gaze shifted, once more locking on the screaming Sword-Lion Gart.
"Soru."
His figure blurred again.
At the same time, he stepped on the air with Rokushiki—Geppo, shooting up to appear right above Gart's head.
In the next second—
Kai grabbed for Gart's remaining left arm with both hands.
Once he got a firm grip—
He braced his feet against Gart's shoulders, using the Sword-Lion's massive body as leverage. His hands tightened around the arm as he unleashed a surging burst of strength.
He intended to rip that entire arm right off.
In that instant—
Rip!
Blood mist blossomed anew, dancing in the air.
Kai tore the arm free and held it in both hands. As the blood sprayed over him, his face—streaked with crimson—curved into a vicious smile.
"I now declare…"
"You're dead."
At this point—
Gart's last remaining arm had been ripped off alive by Kai.
After violently tearing off the Sword-Lion's left arm…
The blood gushing from the stump sprayed everywhere, dyeing Kai's body red.
Then—
He stepped on the air with Geppo again and landed steadily back on the shattered ground.
He stood there, gripping the severed arm in both hands, his entire body bathed in that eerie, scarlet blood—
Combined with the dense muscle lines across his body and that cruel, savage grin on his face…
The sight struck straight at the soul.
Right now, he looked like a tyrant—
A brutal, merciless tyrant born from pure carnage.
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