With one casual kick, Kizaru had actually snapped a branch off a Yarukiman Mangrove.
The power of the Glint-Glint Fruit was on full display.
The collapse of the mangrove drew everyone's attention—
including Ren Kuro, who wasn't far away.
"The mangrove branch actually got kicked apart… Looks like the Marines have already realized Rear Admiral Megan went missing."
Hancock frowned tightly. As she stared at the wreckage of the fallen tree, a deep sense of unease rose in her heart.
"…Was that a flash just now?" Gin Ichimaru looked into the distance with mild curiosity.
"A flash… and a Yarukiman Mangrove…" A certain annoyingly smug face immediately surfaced in Ren Kuro's mind, and his tone sharpened. "Could it be that guy…?"
"Admiral Kizaru."
"What?! An Admiral is here?" Hancock's heartbeat quickened. She knew all too well what a Marine Admiral represented.
The Navy's highest combat power.
A cornerstone of justice.
The Three Admirals were regarded as nearly unbeatable beings on this sea.
"Something must have gone wrong somewhere. Either way, the situation just got much worse."
Ren Kuro's expression turned grave.
He wasn't afraid of Kizaru—not with Gin Ichimaru at his side.
What truly worried him was the safety of Hancock and her sisters.
If Kizaru wasn't the only one moving, then the sisters could easily end up surrounded by Marines all over again.
"Hancock, listen carefully."
Ren Kuro placed both hands on her shoulders and spoke in a serious tone.
"Leave the lawless zone right now. Go to Grove 13, to Shakky's Rip-Off Bar. I have people I trust there. Rayleigh will protect you."
"And what about you?" Hancock hesitated instead of leaving immediately. "Your opponent is a Marine Admiral!"
"We'll hold Kizaru here. Go, now."
A confident smile spread across Ren Kuro's face, bright and reassuring like sunlight after noon.
The warmth in his eyes finally eased Hancock's fear.
"…I understand."
Choosing to trust him, she took her two sisters and left. She knew staying behind would only make things harder for him.
Once Hancock was gone, Ren Kuro no longer had anything to hold him back.
"Kizaru… I don't know why you suddenly showed up, but I'll make you pay for this."
"Gin Ichimaru, let's go." Ren Kuro smiled faintly. "I'm guessing you're interested in a Marine Admiral."
"Oh my… a Marine Admiral?" Gin narrowed his eyes, and deep within them flickered the excitement of a predator spotting worthy prey. "Now that does sound interesting."
The two of them vanished from the spot in an instant.
Meanwhile…
At the base of the shattered Yarukiman Mangrove—
"Admiral Kizaru, that was a bit too much, wasn't it?! You can't just kick apart a Yarukiman Mangrove!"
The Marines who had just landed quickly tried to stop him from doing anything even more outrageous.
"Oh? Hm… maybe that was a little excessive…"
Kizaru sounded as unserious as ever, though even he knew that kick had gone a bit too far.
And just as he was offering a half-hearted apology to his subordinates—
two figures appeared from behind the fallen mangrove.
"Oh my, so this is the legendary Marine Admiral? You don't quite look the way I imagined."
Gin Ichimaru smiled like a fox as he sized Kizaru up, sounding faintly disappointed.
"Gin Ichimaru, not every important figure carries himself with the grace of Captain Aizen," Ren Kuro said, his voice carrying a clear note of ridicule.
Leaving strength aside—
Kizaru's appearance really was hard on the eyes.
"You're right." Gin's smile deepened. "Compared to Captain Aizen, he really is lacking."
To comment on another man's looks right in front of a Marine Admiral—
only Gin Ichimaru would dare do something like that.
"Oh… and you two are?"
Though Kizaru normally acted indifferent to everything, the moment he saw Ren Kuro, his brows instinctively drew together.
He didn't need more information.
His gut already told him—
these two had come with hostile intent.
"Kizaru," Ren Kuro said calmly, "you came here for me, didn't you?"
"So you're not some nameless nobody after all? Why not tell me who you are?"
Kizaru had finally become serious. His eyes locked onto Ren Kuro, and the suspicions in his mind deepened.
"Do you remember Onigumo?"
The moment those words were spoken—
the atmosphere instantly grew heavy.
"So it was you… Death."
Kizaru gave Ren Kuro a long, hard look. A tremendous aura began to gather within him, as though he might strike at any moment.
"To actually show yourself on your own… that's pretty scary."
His tone sounded almost cautious, but a cold gleam flashed in his eyes.
"Kizaru, you're already a Marine Admiral. Do you really still need to act this annoyingly?" Ren Kuro rolled his eyes. Right now, he genuinely wanted to beat Kizaru senseless.
"And what about this little brother here?"
Every Admiral had Haki trained to an extremely high level. Though Kizaru wasn't especially famous for Observation Haki, he could still sense that Gin Ichimaru was no easy opponent.
"Marine Admiral… one of the Navy's three highest combat powers." Gin didn't answer right away. He looked at Kizaru for a long moment before speaking. "So that means you're one of the strongest people in the Navy?"
"'One of the highest combat powers' sounds about right," Kizaru replied, eyeing Gin with a faint frown, already weighing in his mind how likely it was that he could keep both of them here.
"Oh my… so you want to see what I can do?"
Having noticed the shift in Kizaru's expression, Gin stepped forward, still wearing that same smiling face.
"Well, if that's the case… I can't really refuse."
"What?! He's actually provoking him?"
"That idiot's courting death—that's Admiral Kizaru!"
"I can already imagine how this ends."
The Marines behind them sneered one after another.
In their view, Gin Ichimaru was just throwing his life away.
After all, in the eyes of the world, a Marine Admiral simply could not be defeated.
Ignoring every taunt behind him, Gin narrowed his eyes and slowly drew his Zanpakutō.
"Admiral…"
His smile remained gentle.
But the words that followed were cold enough to freeze the air.
"Be careful."
"My Zanpakutō…"
"will kill you."