As she ran, Gion drew Konpira and swung hard.
Clang!
Sparks burst as Ain met her blade.
Gion's lips curved slightly.
"I didn't expect you to improve this quickly, Ain."
Clang!
The two separated.
Ain gripped Oto and Kogarashi, her pretty eyes blinking once.
"If I kept standing still, wouldn't that embarrass my man?"
Gion's expression turned unpleasant. She glanced toward White Ghost.
"No wonder he always avoided me back then. So he was already planning for this day."
Clang.
Gion blocked Ain's incoming slash.
"Sneak attacks aren't very honorable, you know."
Ain met her gaze.
"I just can't stand other women looking at my man like that."
Clang!
Gion forced Ain back, narrowing her beautiful eyes.
"After following him, even your way of speaking has become like his."
Ain tilted her head.
"He told me this is called a wife following her husband's lead. Is there something wrong with that?"
After being needled by Ain for so long, Gion could no longer suppress her anger.
"Let's see how long you can keep acting smug!"
Clang, clang, clang!
The two beautiful great swordswomen began clashing at close range, testing each other's fundamentals.
The scene drew countless eyes.
After all, this was a duel between two stunning female great swordsmen.
"Momousagi Slash!"
Gion pulled back and sent a sword aura flying toward Ain.
"Two-Sword Style: Gale Blade!"
Ain refused to back down and sent out a sword aura of her own.
Boom!
The two slashes collided, blasting apart the ground around them.
Elsewhere, Jango punched straight at Tokikake.
"Mighty Tiger Fist!"
"Hahaha! Jango, I didn't expect you to have the guts to challenge me now!"
Tokikake wasted no words. Haki coated his fist as he met Jango head-on.
Bang!
Their fists collided, and the shockwave blew nearby Marines away.
Tokikake felt the force behind Jango's blow, and his mouth curved.
"You really have grown this much."
Jango bared his teeth.
"On this man-eating sea, anyone who stands still gets buried. I don't plan to die that early."
"Hahahaha!"
Tokikake laughed and withdrew his Haki. Jango did the same.
Neither of them used anything else. They simply began trading blows with their bare fists.
"Ora, ora, ora!"
"Muda, muda, muda!"
Bang, bang, bang!
Fist met flesh. Both gritted their teeth and glared at each other.
Bang!
Tokikake found an opening and punched Jango in the chest.
Jango grunted, retreating as he dispersed the impact.
Tokikake pressed the advantage and chased him down.
"Hahaha! You're still too green, Jango!"
Boom, boom, boom!
The two kept exchanging punches.
Jango deliberately left an opening.
Tokikake did not hesitate and punched his shoulder.
Just as he was about to mock him, Jango used Tokikake's force to spin around and slammed his right fist into Tokikake's sleazy face.
Bang!
Tokikake was knocked back.
"Hey! You don't hit the face! That's going too far, Jango!"
Tokikake roared, tore off his shirt, and charged in. A clear fist mark was stamped on his face.
"Hahaha! Vice Admiral Tokikake, you hit my face plenty of times before!"
Jango met the furious Tokikake with fist after fist.
"You've grown bold, haven't you? You actually dared hit my handsome face!"
Tokikake gritted his teeth and punched hard.
"Shave."
"Hm?"
His punch missed.
Tokikake spun around and caught the incoming foot.
"You're aiming for my handsome face again?"
With that, Tokikake grabbed Jango and smashed him into the ground.
Boom, boom, boom!
The ground shook under the tremendous force.
From afar, it looked like Tokikake was swinging Jango left and right like a club while cursing,
"Still want to hit my handsome face?"
When Tokikake lifted Jango again, ready to smash him down once more, Jango suddenly roared,
"Paper Art!"
Tokikake's grip loosened. He hurriedly reached to grab him again.
But Jango did not give him the chance. He leapt into the air, drew his right leg back, and kicked.
"Tempest Kick!"
Swish!
A huge slash flew toward Tokikake.
At another part of the battlefield, Onigumo looked at the opponent before him with undisguised disdain.
Kuro adjusted his glasses, ignoring the look.
"I heard you were beaten terribly during the last battle in the New World and lay in bed for days?"
Onigumo's already dark face turned even darker.
That battle had been the shame of his life.
"Life Return Secret Art: Eight-Sword Style."
The hair behind Onigumo began changing, forming six additional arms, each holding a blade.
"I'll cut down a traitor like you myself."
Kuro's hands transformed into mantis blades and met Onigumo's eight-sword style.
Clang, clang, clang!
"Traitor? Don't misunderstand. We left the Marines through proper procedures. Where does betrayal come into it?"
Onigumo knocked aside one of Kuro's mantis blades, while his other blades slashed toward Kuro's chest.
Kuro's lips curved.
"Cut."
Whoosh.
Kuro vanished from Onigumo's sight and appeared behind him.
Onigumo looked down at the fine wound on his chest, then turned with a grim face.
"For a traitor like you to use the Six Powers so well… You're an insult to the Marines."
Kuro licked the blood from his mantis blade and smiled.
"You've improved a little since last time. Not much, though."
"You're dead!"
Furious, Onigumo coated all eight blades in Haki and unleashed a storm of attacks.
Kuro fought while searching for another opening, but Onigumo was now on guard. Landing another hit would not be so easy.
Meanwhile, Pedro caught John Giant's massive blade.
Clang!
Feeling the Giant Vice Admiral's strength, Pedro smiled.
"As expected of a giant. That strength isn't just for show."
Clang, clang, clang!
John Giant kept hacking at the little insect before him while shouting,
"You traitors! You disgrace to the Marines!"
"Heh."
Pedro tightened his grip on his sword and flashed aside.
Boom!
John Giant's blade smashed into the ground, shaking the area.
Pedro slashed at the giant's leg.
"Leopard Strike."
John Giant had no time to pull his blade back and defend, so he coated his leg in Haki.
Boom!
Pedro's sword strike made John Giant stumble and nearly lose his footing.
John Giant gritted his teeth and glared at him.
"Disgrace to the Marines! Die!"
Pedro picked his ear.
"I was never a Marine, so why do you keep saying that? But…"
His body began to swell.
"You keep calling our captain scum. I can't pretend I didn't hear that."
Roar!
Pedro let out a beastly roar and charged at the twenty-meter John Giant in the form of a nearly six-meter-tall leopard.
John Giant raised his katana and brought it down.
"Die!"
"Shave."
Pedro vanished, dodging the blade and closing in on John Giant's chest. His sword was covered in Haki.
"Leopard Slash."
Splurt!
A massive wound opened across John Giant's chest.
He clenched his teeth and threw a punch at Pedro in midair.
Bang!
Pedro was smashed into the ground by the giant fist.
Boom!
A huge crater appeared under the force of the blow.
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