"Teach! I finally found you!"
A figure rushed forward like the wind.
He wore a pink kimono and styled his hair like a geisha. His face was delicate and refined, almost feminine.
But he was no woman.
Xiao narrowed his eyes.
"Izo…"
He recognized him immediately — Izo, former retainer of the Kozuki Family of Wano and commander of the 16th Division of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Without wasting a word, Izo drew both flintlocks.
Haki wrapped around each bullet. As he fired, circular slashes formed around the shots, giving them cutting power in addition to piercing force.
The bullets tore through the air.
Xiao flicked his cloak.
The black cloak spun outward and swallowed the incoming shots one by one.
"Izo," Xiao said calmly, "you really shouldn't have come."
He tilted his head slightly.
"You know what happens when someone stands in my way?"
His tone didn't rise. It only grew colder.
"I won't kill you right away. First, I'll find Kozuki Momonosuke."
"I'll break every bone in his body."
"Then I'll destroy Wano. Not just the country. The culture. The festivals. The language. Everything."
"I'll erase it."
Izo's expression changed.
"You monster!"
He fired continuously, the bullets slashing through the air.
Each shot was precise and lethal. But the black mist in front of Xiao absorbed everything.
Darkness spread across the ground and rose like a wall.
Then it turned into writhing tendrils, sweeping toward Izo.
He retreated while firing, but the darkness closed in from every direction. Cuts opened across his body. Blood stained his kimono.
Xiao hadn't even moved.
He stood there, watching.
Just as Izo felt the pressure closing in completely—
Xiao vanished.
In the next instant, he was standing in front of Luffy again, baseball bat resting on his shoulder.
Izo had only been a distraction.
During that short gap, Monkey D. Luffy had received another injection from Emporio Ivankov and forced himself back onto his feet.
He was running again.
Straight for the execution platform.
Xiao stepped in front of him.
"I already told you."
"If you don't learn Haki, you're not getting past."
This time, the baseball bat wasn't coated in hardened black Armament.
Instead, Armament Haki flowed around it like a thin, twisting current.
"Advanced Armament," Xiao said plainly. "It bypasses the surface and strikes from the inside."
"Normal defense won't help you."
He pointed the bat at Luffy.
"But if you can properly use Armament… you might survive."
He wasn't exaggerating.
He wasn't joking.
He was simply stating the rules.
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