The two of them fell into a brief standoff.
Kuzan lowered his head and slowly wiped away the shallow line of blood on his arm.
His expression turned completely cold—there was no trace of dismissal left.
The way he looked at Rain was no longer "this is an interesting kid," but "this is a major threat that must be eliminated immediately."
"…I take back what I said," Kuzan's voice was ice itself. "You're not just an accomplice of devils. You're ten thousand times more dangerous than those scholars."
He raised a hand again, cold air gathering once more.
Kuzan's killing intent spread. "Glasses guy, you're strong. But if the Buster Call gets stopped by you, the Marines will lose face."
He was clearly about to get serious and end this.
"Ice Block: Partisan!"
With a casual sweep, frost condensed into several lifelike ice birds. Screeching with bone-deep chill, they dove at Rain from multiple angles!
"Again? Seriously?!" Rain cursed under his breath.
The ice birds were agile. Vacuum slashes alone might not intercept them all.
In the next instant, a strange-looking pistol appeared out of nowhere in Rain's empty left hand.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
He didn't even bother aiming.
Under Rain's terrifying Observation Haki, every ice bird's path was crystal clear.
Five shots in a flash—five Armament-coated bullets punched cleanly into each bird's core.
Crack!
All five Partisans exploded midair, turning into a storm of ice crystals.
Kuzan's icy gaze locked onto Rain's left hand.
That gun… had appeared from nothing.
"…A space-type Devil Fruit?" the thought flickered through Kuzan's mind, and he immediately replayed the fight in his head.
His eyes slid from the gun to the sword, then to Rain's fists.
Body technique, swordsmanship, Haki, marksmanship… this kid had raised every combat skill he could possibly think of to a monstrous level.
Finally, Kuzan's gaze settled on Rain's face—too young, absurdly young.
"Come on…"
"This isn't 'genius' anymore… what kind of monster crawled out of nowhere?"
Kuzan exhaled a breath of cold. He knew it—this was not an enemy he could let walk away.
"So how many surprises do you have left?"
He lifted his hand again, and this time the murderous intent behind it was far heavier than before.
"Tch… trouble." Rain felt that swelling killing intent and his palm slicked with sweat around the sword hilt.
Do we really keep fighting? Even going all out, the best case against a future admiral is mutual injury—and the commotion will be enormous.
My goal is to stall. Not to trade my life with a monster here.
Rain's eyes swept over Kuzan's cold face, and a thought struck him.
Win the mind first.
"Vice Admiral Kuzan!" Rain's voice cut sharply through the cannon thunder. "Are you proud of this Buster Call?!"
Kuzan's motion paused. He looked at Rain coldly. "Hm?"
"These scholars are being erased just for researching history—Ohara is being wiped out for that!" Rain pointed at the burning giant tree in the distance. "Tell me, what kind of bullshit is that?!"
"It's for the world's future." Kuzan shrugged, his face returning to that lazy seriousness. "And besides, they did break the law."
"For the future, you burn the past?!" Rain stabbed a finger toward the rubble shattered by bombardment. "This is the Marines' justice?!"
For a moment, Kuzan had no words.
He looked at the burning Tree of Knowledge, and a trace of struggle flickered in his eyes—so faint it was almost invisible.
But he still drew in a breath and prepared to continue the mission. "Talking won't change—my job is—"
BOOM—!!! BOOOOM—!!
Just as Kuzan raised his hand again to attack—
Dense cannon fire suddenly erupted out at sea!
Rain and Kuzan both turned sharply toward the sound.
A refugee ship packed with civilians had been struck precisely by the broadside guns of a Marine warship.
Shells chained across the deck in rapid explosions.
Wood splinters, flame, and screaming civilians were hurled into the air. In seconds, the ship became an ocean of fire and sank.
Kuzan's pupils contracted violently.
For the first time, disbelief spread across his drowsy face. He recognized the flag of the ship that fired.
"…Sakazuki… that bastard…" Kuzan forced the name out through clenched teeth.
Rain's heart jolted too. He immediately flared his Observation Haki to the direction Smoker and the others had gone.
After confirming their ship hadn't yet left the port, he let out a quiet breath of relief—
But his anger ignited completely.
Rain snapped back to Kuzan and demanded, like a strike to the soul:
"Vice Admiral Kuzan!!"
His voice boomed like thunder, even overpowering the cannonfire.
"Is this the justice you believe in?!"
He pointed at the sinking refugee ship.
"Even civilians who only wanted to live have to be exterminated?!"
"I… I'm not like that bastard!!"
Kuzan was hit where it hurt, his composure cracking.
His presence dipped. His voice went dry. "I… I'm just… carrying out orders…"
"Carrying out orders?" Rain pressed harder. "Your orders are to be an accomplice to the man who just sank a civilian refugee ship? What's the difference between you and him?!"
"…"
Kuzan couldn't find an answer.
He looked at the burning sea, then at the blood line on his arm.
Then, suddenly, he went: "Ow."
Rain: (´・ω・`)?
"Ara ara…" Kuzan clutched the arm with the shallow cuts. "That hurts… I can't… I'm done…"
Under Rain's stunned stare, the future admiral acted like all strength had drained out of him and flopped down onto the ice with absolutely zero dignity.
"Aaaah… it hurts… I'm badly wounded…" Kuzan began reading lines in a flat, ridiculous tone. "That glasses guy's mysterious sword technique broke my bones… can't move… ah, no… I'm falling asleep…"
Then he pulled his green eye mask down over his eyes and "passed out" right in front of Rain.
"zzzZZZ…"
Rain: (*ﾟﾛﾟ)
"Did I… pass a persuasion check?!"
He understood instantly—Kuzan was letting him go, in his own way.
Rain didn't hesitate. He turned and sprinted toward the port.
"Hey…"
After two steps, Kuzan's voice drifted from behind him.
"I at least need to know… who beat me today," Kuzan said lazily. "So I can report back."
Rain stopped.
He turned his head, lifted a finger, and nudged the plain black-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Clark."
His voice was calm and steady.
"My name is Clark."
Then Rain's body blurred into an afterimage, and without another pause, he vanished completely into smoke and fire.
Leaving Kuzan alone, lying on the ice, continuing to "sleep" peacefully.