Mud was already closing over Smoker's body.
Anyone could see the panic on his face now.
In the end—
Smoker was still only a young Marine in his twenties.
He lacked mature battlefield experience.
And he had not yet developed the kind of heart that could stare death in the face without flinching.
At his current stage, he was still too green.
If Smoker had developed his Smoke-Smoke Fruit further, then even under elemental suppression, he would never have lost this badly.
He wouldn't have been crushed in a single exchange.
Just as the cadets began to feel real fear and tension—
a calm voice suddenly echoed across the battlefield.
"Soru."
It was Kai.
The instant the word fell, his walking figure vanished from where it had been.
Only an afterimage remained before fading into nothing.
In the very moment before Smoker was completely swallowed by the swamp—
a small figure in spotless white appeared beside him.
A child of only five years old.
"Take this loss and think it over properly."
"And in the future…"
"don't make the same mistake again."
Kai glanced at Smoker with a flat expression.
At that instant, Smoker, who had nearly fallen into despair, saw Kai appear before him—
and it felt like seeing the only lifeline in the world.
The moment he saw him, hope returned.
For the first time in his life, Smoker truly realized how towering Kai's seemingly small figure could feel.
Only now—
only when Kai had come to save him—
did he fully understand how reliable and imposing that small body was.
As long as Kai was here, every problem could be solved.
That was what Smoker felt.
"Stop sulking."
"If you lose, then work harder next time."
"That opponent really is beyond you for now."
"Reflect on why you lost and think carefully about how to get stronger."
"That's what you should be doing."
Kai spoke calmly.
Then, before the mud could completely fall—
his right hand shot out and grabbed Smoker by the collar.
With terrifying speed, he hurled him away.
Whoosh!
A sharp tearing sound cut through the air.
Smoker's body flew more than a hundred meters, tumbling wildly through the sky in a miserable spin.
Mud splattered off him as he flew.
Then—
Boom!
He crashed heavily to the ground, rolling several times and scraping along the earth hard enough to tear up his clothes before finally coming to a stop.
"Cough…!"
Smoker nearly coughed up his lungs.
He looked at Kai with a helpless expression, clearly aggrieved.
Did he really have to be that rough?
Couldn't he have done it more gently?
He hadn't died in Morrison's hands—
but he had almost been killed by Kai's throw instead.
"Still…"
"now that Kai has made his move…"
"this graduation trial is probably over."
Smoker shook his head and let out a weary sigh.
As for what would happen to Morrison next—
he didn't even need to think about it.
Because the moment Kai stepped onto the battlefield—
Smoker had already seen the ending.
"Soru!"
After tossing Smoker away, Kai vanished once more.
The instant he disappeared, the mud crashed down where he had just been standing.
Splash!
The sludge struck the swamp below, exploding into waves of flying muck that sprayed outward.
Only after a few seconds did the turbulence settle.
Morrison frowned, staring toward the white-clad five-year-old standing dozens of meters away.
His expression had become strange.
Clearly, he hadn't expected Smoker to be rescued right from under his nose.
Someone had taken Smoker away—
right in front of him—
and he hadn't reacted at all.
The speed had been too fast.
Of course, part of it was also because Morrison had not been mentally prepared.
In fact, Morrison was more inclined to believe that was the main reason.
He had simply been careless.
Otherwise, there was no way a brat like that could have slipped someone away from him so cleanly.
"So he got rescued."
"Lucky."
"But…"
"we agreed this would be one-on-one."
"And now an outsider has interfered."
"Isn't that against the rules?"
"So the Marines don't keep their word either?"
Morrison cast a cold glance toward the now-safe Smoker, then fixed his gaze on Kai.
Kai stood outside the swamp, looking at him calmly.
Then he spoke.
"To begin with, this battle had nothing to do with me."
"But why did your crew insist on getting involved in it?"
"The Swamp Pirates?"
"You were never our target."
"So why were you so determined to stir up trouble here?"
"You're an outside force."
"And your presence has seriously disrupted this graduation trial, pushing its difficulty far beyond the intended level."
"That makes this very inconvenient for me."
The Swamp Pirates had never been part of the original trial target.
They were not supposed to be involved at all.
But no one had expected them to suddenly appear here.
"Kid, who are you?"
"Don't tell me…"
"you're planning to stand up for that smoke brat?"
"You?"
Morrison stared at Kai coldly, though he no longer dared to underestimate him.
He had seen with his own eyes how Kai had snatched Smoker away just now.
Because of that alone, he could no longer ignore him—
even if Kai was only five.
The moment Kai stepped into the battlefield, everyone's attention shifted toward him.
That included Kurrin, the captain of the Cerberus Pirates.
When Kurrin saw Kai move, his expression changed slightly—
but he offered Morrison no warning.
On the other side, Tina and the cadets finally let out a breath of relief the moment Smoker was saved and Kai entered the fight.
In their eyes—
the battle was already decided.
"Now we're safe."
"Kai really is as reliable as ever."
"In the end…"
"it still comes down to Kai."
The cadets silently thought the same thing.
Farther away, Trull and his Marines watched every movement of the battlefield with tense expressions.
"That five-year-old has stepped in."
"Colonel… do you think he can win?"
"His opponent is Morrison—a Logia user with a bounty over a hundred million!"
"Can a child that young really defeat someone like that?"
For once, even the Marines around Trull were doubtful.
"Watch first."
Trull could not give them an answer.
Because even he himself could not be sure whether Kai could defeat Morrison.
As far as he could tell, the outcome was still unknown.
At the same time, the hundred pirates Morrison had brought all fixed their gazes on Kai—
and then burst into loud laughter.
"Hahahaha!"
"Have the Marines run out of people or what?"
"They're seriously sending a five-year-old brat out to fight our captain?"
"This is ridiculous."
"Looks like the Marines really can't find anyone else."
"I'm calling it now—three seconds."
"That kid will get killed in three seconds."
The pirates laughed wildly.
Gradually, Morrison's own smile faded.
He looked at Kai and spoke flatly.
"Your side broke the rules first."
"You interrupted the fight between me and that smoke brat."
"So next…"
"I'll make all of you pay for that."
"Anyone who interferes with my rules…"
"I never forgive."
"Brat, what you did just now has seriously pissed me off."
"So from this point on…"
"I'll have my men slaughter every companion standing behind you."
"Starting now, all of you are going to die."
A murderous aura swept in every direction.
The moment those words fell, the hundred pirates all grinned savagely, practically itching to rush into the battlefield and butcher everything in sight.
"Funny."
"I was just about to say the same thing."
"You came here out of nowhere and interfered in a Marine graduation trial."
"So now…"
"not one of you is leaving."
"You came all this way, didn't you?"
"Then stay."
"Anyone who dares interfere with today's trial…"
"stays here with the rest."
Kai smiled.
And the instant his voice fell—
he acted.
Without the slightest hesitation, he began to mobilize the terrifying spiritual force within his body.
That power, vast and overwhelming, surged under his control like an endless tide.
Hum.
Hum.
The pressure built rapidly.
The aura around him grew heavier and more terrifying.
Even the space around him seemed to twist and ripple under the force, as though the air itself was being compressed to the edge of collapse.
In the blink of an eye—
that accumulated spiritual force erupted from Kai's body like a volcanic explosion.
It burst outward completely.
BOOM—!
A deep tremor seemed to ring from within Kai as an invisible pressure swept in all directions.
There was no doubt about it.
This was—
Kai's Conqueror's Haki.
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