Boom! Boom! Boom—!
The already-damaged wall behind the bar—previously torn open by Kaito's golden slash wave—was struck again with terrifying force.
A massive hole exploded outward as Sai's body smashed through it.
But that was only the beginning.
After crashing through the bar, Sai continued flying like a human cannonball. He burst into the open street and tore straight through the buildings in his path.
One structure after another was pierced through and destroyed.
Deafening explosions echoed across Rumtown in rapid succession. Dust, shattered wood, and broken stone were hurled violently into the air.
Sai's body traveled in a straight line for hundreds of meters before finally losing momentum. He slammed into another house, which collapsed completely under the impact, burying him beneath the rubble.
His form disappeared under the ruins.
The moment Sai was launched from the bar, Kaito stepped forward and vanished from sight as well.
He had already given chase.
"Ahhh!"
"Hide—quick!"
"Damn it! Kill those bastards!"
"You're dead!"
"Kill them all!"
"…!"
"Kill!"
Kaito's beheading of Boo, his overwhelming defeat of Sai, and his instantaneous pursuit happened so quickly that neither the Eight Treasures Navy nor the Sword Gang members inside the bar could clearly follow it.
Especially the Eight Treasures Navy.
Under the relentless storm of bullets pouring in, they had no time to focus on anything else.
Chaos consumed the bar.
After several of their comrades fell to gunfire, the remaining Eight Treasures Navy members either scrambled desperately for cover or roared in fury as they launched their counterattack.
Though they were pirates, they also served as the official military force of the Kano Kingdom. Firearms were hardly foreign to them.
Gunfire intensified.
Several Eight Treasures Navy members raised rifles and began firing back at the Sword Gang.
Under the counterattack, Sword Gang members quickly began to suffer casualties as well.
Boom!
Facing the return fire, Sword Gang members dispersed immediately, taking cover behind tables, pillars, and broken walls.
Mangu did not retreat.
With explosive speed that defied his massive frame, he charged straight toward the nearest enemies.
His title as the Sword Gang's strongest combatant was not empty.
His towering body was not just for show—he possessed monstrous, innate strength far beyond that of ordinary men.
It was like watching baseball collide with bowling.
As he closed the distance, the savage mace that had rested on his shoulder swung outward in a blur of afterimages.
The impact was devastating.
More than a dozen Eight Treasures Navy members were crushed before they could even react.
Their broken bodies were flung backward like projectiles, slamming into their own allies and causing further casualties.
"Clutch!"
Almost simultaneously, Nico Robin moved.
After the initial exchange of gunfire, she had already taken cover. Crossing her arms calmly before her chest, she activated the power of the Flower-Flower Fruit.
"What is this—?!"
"Hands?! Damn it—!"
"Watch out! She's a Devil Fruit user!"
"…!"
As petals fluttered through the air, arms sprouted from the bodies of the Eight Treasures Navy members.
Those arms locked onto their targets—gripping heads, necks, and shoulders.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The sickening sound of bones snapping echoed one after another.
Several Navy members had their necks twisted instantly.
Even those who survived were rendered incapable of continuing the fight.
In a single move, Robin inflicted heavy casualties upon an elite force.
Her role within the Sword Gang was not limited to administration. She was one of its high-level combatants.
Kaito's reverence for strength extended to every corner of his organization.
He had invested nearly all his resources into training his core troops—and he had done no less for his top fighters like Mangu and Robin.
Robin's present strength came partly from her years of hardship before joining the Sword Gang, but equally from Kaito's relentless supervision and training.
Compared to her state in the original timeline, this version of Nico Robin had been honed and hardened.
"Finish them!"
"Bastards! A bunch of gangsters dare challenge us? Kill them all!"
"Kill!!!"
The heavy losses enraged the Eight Treasures Navy.
Eyes bloodshot, many abandoned gunfire and charged forward with their guandao blades, closing in for brutal close combat.
But the Sword Gang members were not common street thugs.
They were the product of Kaito's disciplined training.
Faced with the ferocity of the Eight Treasures Navy, they did not falter. They drew their swords and met the charge head-on like wolves.
The bar became a battlefield.
…
Meanwhile—
Hundreds of meters away.
Under the full concentration of his Constitution talent, Kaito crossed the distance in moments.
He arrived at the ruins where Sai had been buried and came to a stop.
Without hesitation, he swung the golden saber in his right hand.
Boom!!!
A violent golden slash wave erupted outward.
The rubble exploded into the air as the ruins were torn apart by the roaring shockwave.
"Die!!!"
Almost at the same moment, a blood-covered figure burst from the wreckage and lunged toward Kaito.
Armament Haki coated his right leg.
It was Sai.
Though Kaito's previous strike had severely injured him, it had not stripped him of his ability to fight.
Enduring fractured ribs and internal damage, Sai's expression twisted with rage as he unleashed his strongest attack.
"Eight-Impact Fist: Martial Heel!"
The Eight-Impact Fist was the martial art passed down through generations within the Eight Treasures Navy.
Sai's right foot was not only hardened with Armament Haki—it also condensed the vibrational shockwaves of the Eight-Impact Fist technique.
The power contained within the strike was enough to destroy a warship.
The attack was both ferocious and fast.
Even with his extraordinary Constitution-enhanced reaction speed, Kaito had yet to awaken Observation Haki.
He could not evade it.
Boom!!!
Sai's "Martial Heel" connected solidly with Kaito's chest.
A violent shockwave erupted from the point of impact.
A visible ring of compressed air burst outward in all directions.
The ground beneath them collapsed under the force. The surrounding earth shattered, forming massive craters as the shockwave expanded.
The roar was deafening.
And yet—
Amid the devastation—
Kaito Arisawa remained standing.
Like a steel nail driven into the earth, his body did not move.
Not a single step backward.
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