Sabaody Archipelago, Island 13.
"Senior, consuming Conqueror's Haki like this—do you think you're still young?"
El, who easily blocked Rayleigh's angry blow, looked at his opponent—who hadn't been this angry in many years—and couldn't help but laugh while teasing him.
"Humph..." Seeing his sword slash, containing a large amount of Armament and Conqueror's Haki, being easily blocked by El—who even had time to mock him—the burning anger in Rayleigh's heart instantly cooled as if doused by a basin of cold water. Not only that, but he also restrained himself from falling back into such a state of rage.
Using Observation Haki differs from Armament Haki; to use Observation Haki effectively, one must remain calm. Otherwise, even if trained to the point of seeing the future itself, anger can render it unusable.
Just like Katakuri—because Luffy saw his mouth hidden under his scarf, he went from fighting Luffy unscathed to being temporarily unable to use his future sight due to extreme anger, allowing Luffy to wound him.
Seeing El's smug demeanor, Rayleigh snorted coldly while taking the initiative to end the collision of Conqueror's coating. Instead, he employed the emission and internal destruction of Armament Haki combined with Future Vision Observation Haki to continue slashing at El.
Since even Rayleigh's previous sword slash coated with Conqueror's and Armament Haki could be easily blocked by El, naturally his normal sword slashes were easily handled.
As the sound of metal clashes continued, the high-level Armament Haki contained in their swords created Haki shockwaves sweeping in all directions.
But just as the fight grew intense, Rayleigh's brow furrowed. El's strength seemed to weaken rather than strengthen as the battle continued. He noticed El blocking his sword slashes a beat slower than normal, as if unable to keep up with his speed. Seeing this, Rayleigh was stunned for a moment—then a trace of anger appeared on his face.
"Boy, are you looking down on me?" Rayleigh stared hard at El and accelerated his offense.
Looking at Rayleigh's arms gripping the sword, El replied in a low voice, "You can think that." With difficulty blocking Rayleigh's attack again, El grinned and continued, "Just treat it as a child showing filial piety to the older generation."
"If that's the case, then die with your filial piety!" First Shakky was hurt, and now he was being looked down upon—it made Rayleigh completely lose his usual elegant and easygoing demeanor. He maintained a fully focused appearance while using Future Vision to find flaws in El amidst his continuous swift sword slashes.
Facing Rayleigh's relentless swift sword slashes infused with high-level Armament Haki, El's eyes weren't fixed on Rayleigh's eyes but on his arms gripping the sword. Because once he met Rayleigh's gaze, his passive ability would automatically read Rayleigh's thoughts.
As long as he didn't look into others' eyes—or consumed some Haki while indirectly looking at them—El couldn't read minds. In this way, El's innate Observation Haki functioned like ordinary Observation Haki.
Combining his Observation Haki with the reaction speed granted by Life Return (Seimei Kikan), El could barely keep up with Rayleigh's initial attack speed. However, when Rayleigh intensified his offense, El's reactions couldn't match Rayleigh's Future Vision.
After several exchanges of swords, Rayleigh slashed a large hole in El's black robe. He wanted to carve a permanent scar on El's body. However, due to the passive defense of Life Return and strong Armament Haki, Rayleigh's sword couldn't completely cut El's body—just like the sword fight between Mihawk and Shanks before he lost his arm; neither could leave a permanent scar on the other.
"Boy, if you don't take this seriously and your Armament Haki runs out, you'll die!" Looking at El, whose clothes were torn by his sword, Rayleigh said sharply.
Although he could almost wound El, Rayleigh wasn't happy at all. This kind of battle made him even angrier.
Just like when Kaido fought his mortal enemy while longing for a hearty battle, Rayleigh wanted to kill El but also wanted a satisfying fight—yet El wouldn't allow it, deliberately avoiding his mind-reading ability, which annoyed him.
In response, El said nothing, simply raising the corner of his mouth and taking the initiative to attack Rayleigh with a sword slash. His attack was easily defused by Rayleigh, who then found another opening through Future Vision and once again created a huge hole in El's black robe.
As large holes and faint sword marks repeatedly appeared on his body, and with his Armament Haki constantly depleting, El didn't know how long it took—but finally, he achieved his goal.
"My bad, I kept you waiting!" With the sound of metal clashing, El blocked Rayleigh's sword that had been trying to leave faint marks on his body. Looking at Rayleigh's shocked expression, he grinned and said, "Thank you for your teaching. Let's start the next round!!"
As his words fell, El's eyes seemed to transcend time and space, directly gazing into the future.
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