"Yeah... even though this isn't the first time I've seen it, I'm still amazed every time I watch the captain's training method."
Tashigi sighed in admiration as she stood beside Robin, both of them gazing out toward the distant sea.
From the corner of the deck, Zoro happened to notice the two women returning.
His eyes lingered on Tashigi for only a brief moment.
She really does look exactly like Kuina...
The resemblance was uncanny.
When he had first seen her aboard the ship, he'd genuinely been stunned.
But she's only similar in appearance.
Her swordsmanship... her talent... even her temperament... they're nowhere close to Kuina's.
After the thought crossed his mind, Zoro calmly withdrew his gaze and resumed his training.
To him, Kuina was irreplaceable.
Tashigi was simply a stranger who happened to share the same face.
Far out at sea, Kaito continued swimming through the ocean.
Thick iron chains wrapped tightly around his body, while three large ships were connected behind him by enormous towing cables.
Despite dragging all three vessels at once, his speed through the water remained astonishingly fast.
With my current physique...
Even without concentrating my talent on Constitution, I probably wouldn't lose to Chinjao in terms of physical strength.
As he continued pushing his body to its limits, Kaito quietly evaluated his own overall power.
Day after day...
Month after month...
Relentless training naturally produced results.
Especially with the Talent Panel accelerating every aspect of his growth, every one of his abilities had advanced at an astonishing pace.
First...
His physical strength.
Using his previous opponents as a benchmark, Kaito estimated that his current physique had already reached the same level as Chinjao's.
Although Chinjao had grown weaker with age and no longer possessed the power of his prime, he was still easily comparable to a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral.
And as someone who had never relied on a Devil Fruit, his physical body remained extraordinarily powerful despite his age.
Among everyone Kaito had fought so far...
Chinjao possessed the strongest physique.
Next...
Haki.
Although he still couldn't learn the advanced form of Armament Haki due to lacking the inheritance of Internal Destruction, his mastery and efficiency continued improving every single day.
The same held true for his Observation Haki.
His sensory range had expanded by several kilometers, while the precision of his perception had become increasingly refined.
Then came swordsmanship.
His battle against Koshiro hadn't simply ended in victory.
By replaying the duel while concentrating his Weapon Talent, Kaito had completely analyzed Koshiro's swordsmanship.
He absorbed everything he learned and turned it into nourishment for his own style.
As a result...
His swordsmanship had taken another significant step toward the level of a true Great Swordsman.
Finally...
There was his Dragon-Subduing Leg technique.
He had never stopped improving it.
Since creating Dragon Battles in the Wild, he had continued refining its flaws while developing entirely new techniques.
Once I enter the Grand Line...
Besides searching for more Devil Fruits...
I'll also need stronger opponents to accurately gauge my overall strength.
Kaito smiled inwardly.
Ever since the Talent Panel had appeared...
His strength had increased far too quickly.
So quickly, in fact, that none of the enemies he'd encountered—not Vice Admiral Henry of West Blue nor even Chinjao—had been capable of putting any real pressure on him.
Crushing opponents one after another certainly felt satisfying.
But it also made it difficult to accurately judge where he stood compared to the world's true monsters.
Sooner or later...
He would inevitably face the greatest powers on the seas.
Marine Admirals.
The Four Emperors.
If he couldn't accurately measure the gap between himself and those monsters before fighting them...
He wouldn't be able to make the best decisions during battle.
"Hm?"
Just as Kaito was evaluating his strength, something suddenly caught his attention.
A crimson gleam flashed through his eyes.
His swimming instantly stopped.
He slowly looked toward the distant horizon.
Whoosh!
Almost the instant he looked up—
A thin white line suddenly swept across the ocean from the far distance.
It raced toward him at incredible speed, arriving almost instantly.
Crack...!
The white line passed directly over Kaito and the three ships he was towing.
Everything it touched froze solid.
Kaito himself was instantly encased in ice.
The hulls of the three ships were trapped as well.
Looking farther into the distance...
The sea behind the white line had completely transformed into a frozen glacier.
Yet the freezing wave didn't stop there.
It continued rushing toward the harbor where the War Pirates' fleet was anchored.
Before anyone aboard the ships could react...
The entire harbor froze solid.
Every ship became locked in place by thick ice.
"What's happening?!"
"The ocean... it's frozen!"
"Is this some kind of strange weather phenomenon?"
"No!"
"Our ships are trapped in the ice!"
The sudden disaster caught everyone completely off guard.
Looking at the vast frozen sea around them, every crew member wore an expression of utter disbelief.
This ability...
Robin stood frozen on the flagship's deck.
She had been about to call Kaito back when she suddenly recognized what had happened.
Her pupils contracted sharply.
Her face instantly turned pale.
The scene shifted back to Kaito.
Completely encased in solid ice, he resembled an enormous frozen statue.
Boom!
Suddenly—
An overwhelming force erupted from inside the ice.
The glacier surrounding Kaito exploded into countless fragments.
Covered in a layer of frost, he leaped out of the shattered ice and landed steadily atop the glacier, his sharp eyes fixed in the direction from which the freezing wave had originated.
Far away...
A tiny black dot slowly came into view.
Thanks to his exceptional eyesight, Kaito quickly identified it.
It was...
A man riding a bicycle across the frozen sea.
Well...
Talk about perfect timing.
I was just thinking about finding an opportunity to test myself against one of the world's strongest fighters...
And now one has delivered himself to me.
A faint smile spread across Kaito's face.
There was even a hint of excitement.
Without hesitation, he drew the golden saber at his left hip.
Turning toward the three frozen ships behind him, he unleashed several razor-sharp flying slashes in rapid succession.
Boom!!
The deafening explosions shattered the ice imprisoning the ships.
At the same time, the slashes carved a broad channel straight through the frozen sea, connecting directly to the harbor where the rest of the fleet remained trapped.
The crew members aboard the rescued ships immediately leaned over the rails to inspect what had happened.
Kaito raised his voice.
"Return to the main fleet immediately!"
"Tell Robin to assume command!"
"Lead everyone straight to Reverse Mountain!"
-------------------------
For advanced chapters, visit patreon.com/Varnok