"Ah, what a hassle."
Kuzan looked at Issho, who was full of fighting spirit, and scratched his head with a bitter smile.
"If possible, I really don't want to fight an opponent like you. By the way, can't you just let me take Nico Robin away?"
"Sorry, I can't do that."
Issho shook his head slightly, and his Supreme Grade Great Grade Sword, Yakuza Kasen, was slightly unsheathed. Then he said with certainty,
"Miss Robin is a very precious companion to us now."
"A precious companion? Hahahahaha!~"
Kuzan suddenly laughed when he heard Issho's words. Then he took up a stance and said,
"In that case, I'll have to fight you."
"What a coincidence. I think so too."
Issho nodded in agreement and made the first move. His long sword, charged with power, suddenly unsheathed, and he swung it fiercely at Kuzan while shouting,
"Gravity Blade: Fierce Tiger!"
Boom!~
A massive force of gravity was applied horizontally along the trajectory of the swing, crushing and destroying everything in its path, including Kuzan.
"Oh dear!~"
Kuzan's body, which had been crushed by gravity, reformed. He looked at Issho with a serious expression and said in a deep voice,
"Gravity? What a terrifying ability."
As he spoke, he opened his palm toward Issho. Two ice spears instantly condensed beside his arm and then shot out at Issho.
"Ice Block: Two Spikes!"
Clang! Clang!~
Issho continuously swung his sword, cutting down the incoming ice spears. Then he swung another vertical gravity attack at Kuzan, crushing his body along with the ice beneath his feet and creating a bottomless abyss.
However, such an attack obviously could not harm Kuzan. His body, crushed by gravity, reformed completely unharmed.
Issho also knew that attacks not imbued with Armament Haki could not harm Kuzan, a Logia-type Devil Fruit user. So when Kuzan's body reformed, Issho suddenly rushed forward, and Yakuza Kasen, imbued with Armament Haki, slashed down at him.
Seeing this, Kuzan opened his mouth and exhaled cold air onto his right hand. The cold air condensed into an ice blade in his palm, which he then coated with Armament Haki to meet Issho's attack.
Clang! Clang! Clang!~
The two fought fiercely. The aftermath of each collision caused the frozen sea to tremble violently, and the ice surface cracked as if an 8.0-magnitude earthquake had occurred.
As their battle grew more intense, the area around them became a forbidden zone where freezing air, gravity, and Haki intertwined, making it impossible for others to approach.
"So strong!"
Yamato looked at the commotion caused by Issho and Kuzan's battle, her face full of excitement.
"So Mr. Issho is actually this strong! And that ice-cold bastard—he's also that strong!"
"Indeed."
Naruto stared intently at the battlefield, his gaze flickering slightly as he silently calculated the gap between himself and the two.
The conclusion he reached was simple.
It was incalculable.
Because the gap was far too large.
Not to mention the disaster-like Devil Fruit abilities of Issho and Kuzan, even the Haki leaking from their battle made Naruto feel a temporarily insurmountable difference.
So far, among the people Naruto had encountered in this world, only Kaido could compare to these two in terms of strength.
Aside from him, even King, the second-in-command of the Beasts Pirates, felt far less powerful than the two currently fighting.
"I'm still too weak after all..."
Naruto sighed softly, feeling that his growth speed was indeed too slow.
"Naruto! Yamato!"
At that moment, Robin's voice came from above.
"Are you two alright?"
"We're fine."
Naruto looked up at Robin, who was leaning over the side of the small boat floating in mid-air, and shook his head.
Then he grabbed Yamato, jumped onto the boat, and said,
"Don't worry. Mr. Issho won't lose."
"That's right!"
Yamato looked at Robin with determined eyes.
"As long as we're here, no one can take you away!"
"Mm!~"
Robin bit her lip, remembering what Issho had said earlier, then nodded firmly to Naruto and Yamato.
"I will never compromise with anyone again."
Saul, you were right. The sea is truly vast... and I think I've finally found companions who are willing to protect me.
Robin looked at Naruto and Yamato, then at Issho fighting Kuzan below.
"Hehe, that's more like it!"
Yamato giggled as she grabbed Robin's hand.
"Even though that ice-cold bastard is strong, Naruto and I will surpass him one day. When that happens, we'll help you beat him up and make him apologize properly!"
Although Yamato still hadn't fully understood what had happened between Kuzan and Robin, in her mind it was simple.
Since Robin was so afraid of that ice-cold bastard, he must have bullied her.
She couldn't beat him now, but that didn't matter.
When she became stronger in the future, she would definitely give him a good beating and make him apologize to Robin. If Robin refused to forgive him, she would keep beating him.
So far, the list of people Yamato planned to beat up had increased from one to two:
Kaido and Kuzan.
"Naruto, when do you think we'll be able to surpass Kaido and that ice-cold bastard?" Yamato suddenly asked.
"How would I know?"
Naruto shook his head helplessly. Then he looked at the two still fighting below, a confident light flashing in his eyes.
"But I don't think it will take too long."
"Hehe, I knew it!"
Yamato suddenly laughed inexplicably.
"What?"
Naruto looked at her in confusion.
"What did you know?"
"Nothing!"
Yamato shook her head and quickly changed the subject while looking at the battlefield below.
"Naruto, do you think Uncle Issho can defeat that ice-cold bastard?"
"I don't know."
Naruto thought seriously for a moment before shaking his head.
With his current experience, he couldn't accurately judge their strength.
Because the gap was simply too large.
"Big Fox, can you tell who will win?" Naruto asked in his mind.
"I can't tell."
The Nine-Tails replied.
"The two of them are very close in strength. It's difficult to determine a winner. Even if one eventually wins, it will probably end in mutual destruction."
Naruto frowned slightly when he heard this.
"Then do you have a way to stop them?"
If possible, Naruto didn't want to see Issho and Kuzan end up destroying each other.
The Nine-Tails was silent for a moment.
"With your current strength, you probably can't even get close to their battlefield, let alone stop them. However… if you really want to try, you could throw a Tailed Beast Ball into the middle of their battle. That might interrupt them."
Naruto's forehead instantly filled with black lines.
"Throw a Tailed Beast Ball at them? That's a terrible idea!"
He paused.
"...Actually, it might work."
The Tailed Beast Ball was powerful, but it probably wouldn't seriously harm those two.
He had already confirmed this when fighting Uncle Kaido.
Whether Issho or Kuzan was stronger than Kaido was unclear, but the gap shouldn't be too large. So Naruto felt that a Tailed Beast Ball might interrupt their fight without causing serious damage.
But what would he do after interrupting them?
After thinking for a while, Naruto gave up the idea.
He had a feeling that those two probably wouldn't fight to the death anyway.
However, what Naruto didn't expect was that Issho and Kuzan's battle, without any interference, lasted for three full days.
The aftermath of their fight left the frozen sea completely devastated.
Naruto suspected that if their battlefield had been an island instead of the ocean, the island might have been sunk entirely.
Even after the battle ended, the area remained unstable, filled with constant blizzards and gravitational disturbances.
It was simply terrifying.
When Issho and Kuzan finally emerged from the battlefield, both looked somewhat disheveled.
Kuzan's shirt was mostly torn, revealing several clear purplish bruises on his upper body. The remaining part of his coat had probably been removed beforehand, which was why it remained intact.
Issho was not much better. Although his clothes were still intact, they were covered with frost, suggesting that the injuries beneath were probably not light either.
However, these injuries were minor for people like them.
From their overall condition, aside from surface wounds, they didn't appear to have any serious problems.
Naruto couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Uncle Issho!"
Yamato immediately jumped beside Issho and asked excitedly,
"So? Did you win?"
"Sorry."
Issho shook his head.
"I failed to win this battle. I am truly ashamed."
"Hey, that's enough!"
Kuzan said irritably when he heard that.
"I am, after all, a candidate for the strongest combat power of Marineford. Aren't you satisfied that you fought me to a draw?"
"It wasn't a draw."
Issho spoke very seriously.
"Before the battle ended, I had already begun to fall behind. If it had continued, I would certainly have lost."
Kuzan scratched his head.
"Well, what you said is true."
"But if we had continued fighting, even if I won, it would probably have been a Pyrrhic victory."
"Winning is winning, and losing is losing."
Issho replied firmly.
"I am not someone who cannot accept defeat."
In fact, if Kuzan had not called for a truce and promised not to capture Robin this time, Issho would have continued fighting even if he knew he would lose.
"Oh dear, say what you will."
Kuzan slung his jacket over his shoulder and looked at Naruto, Yamato, and Robin.
"Nico Robin, it seems you've found some good companions this time. I hope you cherish them."
"Of course, if I hear that you commit any more crimes, I will still be the first to come arrest you."
"Well, that's it."
After saying that, he turned around to leave.
"Oh, right!"
After walking a few steps, Kuzan suddenly stopped and turned back toward Yamato.
"What is your relationship with Beasts Kaido?"
As a Marine Admiral candidate, Kuzan naturally knew Kaido well. Yamato had used Kaido's signature techniques more than once, and the horns on her head clearly came from the same race.
It was hard not to make the connection.
"He's my dad!"
Yamato answered without hesitation.
"Do you know that bastard Kaido—the twisted gorilla?"
Kuzan sighed.
"There probably aren't many people on this sea who don't know the name Beasts Kaido."
Then his tone became slightly complicated.
"I didn't expect you to be his child. Your father did something world-shaking not long ago."
"World-shaking?"
Yamato looked curious.
"What did that bastard do?"
"He was in Wano—"
Kuzan suddenly stopped himself.
Then he waved his hand.
"Never mind. Since you're his child, it's not my place to tell you."
"That's all for this time."
"See you next time—no, it's better if we never meet again."
"I wish you good luck."
"Goodbye."
This time Kuzan truly left.
After he departed, Issho sighed.
"I didn't expect you, Yamato, to be the child of Beasts Kaido. This is truly..."
Issho had never liked pirates.
And a pirate like Kaido, who had overthrown an entire country, was even worse.
He remembered that when he first met Naruto and Yamato, both of them had declared that their dream was to become pirates.
Thinking of that now, Issho's feelings became complicated.
If he continued traveling with pirates, it would seriously contradict the principles he had lived by his entire life.
So Issho could already foresee the future.
If he could not change Naruto and Yamato's dream of becoming pirates, then the day they truly became pirates would likely be the day he parted ways with them.
Just thinking about that possibility made Issho feel a deep sense of melancholy.
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