Namu Tenjin. Tenma Dai-Jizai.
Two stand opposed, two transcend.
Among countless choices, one path is chosen.
The many are narrowed into the one.
No room remains.
This is the true move.
The Heavenly Origin of Zero answers my sword.
Emptiness holds good and no evil.
Wisdom exists, reason exists, the path exists.
But the heart is empty.
At the ultimate extreme—this is no longer swordsmanship.
This hall admits no one.
Save the one who has awakened to the Way of the Sword.
…
A deep, echoing Zen chant resounded beside Kairos D. Vale's ears.
It felt as though the voice had traveled through space and time itself—arriving from some distant, unknowable place.
Kairos stood within the raging rainstorm.
The rain soaked through his clothes.
Yet he remained unmoving, twin swords in hand.
His spirit had already surpassed this world—
touching the Realm of Emptiness.
"Namu Tenma Dai-Jizai Tenjin… Horse-Headed Kannon… sever all evil with wrath…"
Kairos murmured softly.
His voice drifted like spring wind across the earth.
Like the first light of dawn breaking the darkness.
The cold rain no longer felt cold.
Everything seemed warm.
Peaceful.
"Boy…"
Ivankov's pupils shrank violently.
The fighting spirit inside him—
was fading.
In Ivankov's eyes, Kairos was no longer human.
He was a Buddha.
And not just metaphorically.
Behind Kairos, a phantom truly began to appear.
A towering Buddha manifestation.
Its gaze burned with divine fury, its face like that of a wrathful demon.
Four arms extended outward, each gripping a sacred sword.
Behind it burned a blazing halo of fire.
This was—
Tenma Dai-Jizai Tenjin.
"Iva, stop holding back! Let's attack together!"
Inazuma could feel something was terribly wrong.
The aura surrounding Kairos was too strange.
That Buddha manifestation seemed to have descended upon the world itself.
Its gaze overlooking heaven and earth made Inazuma's mind tremble.
He even felt the urge to kneel.
"This sword…"
Kairos continued murmuring.
"…is the path of my emptiness. My life itself…"
Nothing else mattered anymore.
Only the will within his heart.
"Don't come any closer!!"
Ivankov suddenly roared toward Inazuma.
He was the one standing at the center of it all.
He understood more clearly than anyone else—
Kairos was unstoppable.
Even if Ivankov used every technique he had…
every hidden trump card…
he still wouldn't be able to shake Kairos in this state.
He was not Kairos' opponent.
So Ivankov gambled.
He gambled that Kairos meant what he had said at the start—
that this was merely a sparring match.
Not a fight to the death.
If Inazuma intervened now, not only would they suffer needless damage—
the entire nature of the duel would change.
And if that happened—
if Kairos truly decided to kill—
both of them would die here in East Blue.
"…Ishana Dai-Tenshō!"
Kairos' chant suddenly rose in intensity.
Brilliant light erupted beneath his feet, illuminating the world around him.
It was like a second sun had descended upon the sea.
Then—
the light condensed.
And in a single instant—
it blossomed.
The Heavenly Origin Flower bloomed.
A dazzling explosion of color gathered around Kairos' swords.
They became the only light left in the world.
Behind him, Tenma Dai-Jizai Tenjin raised its four arms.
Golden divine swords lifted high.
The wrathful deity glared down at Ivankov—
yet did not strike.
"Six Paths, Five Rings—Kurikarā Heavenly Manifestation!"
Kairos called out the name of the Noble Phantasm.
The sword fell.
A boundless river of sword energy surged forward, crashing into sky and sea.
Air.
Rain.
Wooden planks.
Ship masts.
Everything—
was vaporized.
Even the moonlight pouring down from the sky dimmed.
This was a sword capable of severing all things—
karma,
sin,
curses,
and even fate itself.
This was the ultimate concept Musashi Miyamoto had pursued her entire life—
the manifestation of Zero.
A blade that reached the very sky of Emptiness.
"Face Growth Hormone—!"
Ivankov tried to act.
But the sword light swallowed him whole.
Before his eyes—
only dazzling brilliance remained.
Under such a strike—
resistance was impossible.
Crack.
A dull sound echoed.
Armament Haki shattered.
Boom—!
The sword light tore through the transport ship and surged onward into the distant night sky.
In an instant—
the night lit up.
Clouds scattered.
The countless stars in the sky lost their brilliance.
Only the rainbow-colored sword light remained.
The blade seemed to connect sea and sky—
a true pillar between sky and sea.
"…So beautiful."
Inazuma stared with wide eyes.
Those were the only words he could say.
Before that sky-piercing sword—
his heart held nothing but awe.
Time passed.
No one knew how long.
Finally, the Heavenly Origin Flower that had bloomed over East Blue began to fade.
The transport ship was nearly destroyed.
A massive section of its hull had been cut away.
Seawater rushed inside.
The ship would soon sink.
"Iva!! Iva!!"
Inazuma snapped back to his senses and shouted desperately.
He searched everywhere.
But Ivankov was nowhere to be seen.
Had he—
died?
After being struck by a sword like that…
there could only be one outcome.
Inazuma's tears began pouring down uncontrollably.
Then—
tap.
The brilliant sword light finally vanished.
A figure stepped forward from the fading glow.
Kairos.
The twin swords had disappeared.
Sandai Kitetsu was back in his hand.
"Inazuma—!"
Rage exploded through Inazuma's chest.
Even knowing it meant certain death—
he rushed forward.
Kairos raised his hand calmly and pointed toward the broken hull of the ship.
"If you waste any more time…"
"…he'll really sink to the bottom."
Inazuma froze.
Floating on the sea nearby—
was Ivankov's massive body.
His face was pressed directly against the water.
He had already gulped down several mouthfuls of seawater.
And he was slowly—
sinking.
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