"What helping pirates?! Twisting black and white, falsely accusing good people!!"
Nami's face flushed red with anger, her teeth clenched tight. It was the first time she had ever seen someone so shameless—
"If you were really just arresting pirates, who would care about you?! It's clearly you who ignored the lives of the residents! We were just trying to save people, how is that wrong?! And you—why don't you take a look down there?! Really look at the great things you Marines have done!!"
Her trembling index finger furiously pointed toward both sides of the square—collapsed shops and crumbling homes.
"Little girl, there are some things you shouldn't say carelessly."
Onigumo's eyes flashed coldly as he stared at Nami, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword at some unknown point.
"Those were just accidents—collateral damage unavoidable in the pursuit of pirates. Didn't the elders in your family teach you that when you venture into the world, you should show proper respect when facing people of higher status—"
Whoosh!
Before he could finish speaking, his vision suddenly blurred. A fist the size of a sandbag rapidly enlarged in front of his eyes and smashed him, sending him flying!
Thud! Onigumo crashed heavily to the ground. His cigar snapped and went out, and with a splurt, he clutched his chest and vomited a mouthful of blood.
"Sorry about that."
Shano stood tall above him, one foot stepping down on Onigumo's chest, looking down at him condescendingly:
"I thought back for a second… and yeah, pretty sure I was never taught that."
…
The massive plaza fell completely silent except for the sound of rain.
Countless eyes from all directions locked onto Onigumo lying on the ground.
Onigumo sensed their gazes, and his face turned the color of a pig's liver.
—He had actually been sent flying with a single punch… and worse, was now stepped on by some young brat?!
Since becoming a Vice Admiral of HQ, wherever he went, wasn't he always treated with respect and admiration, with pirates fleeing in fear?
When had he ever been so humiliated?!
"You damn brat!!"
Onigumo suddenly drew both his swords and slashed horizontally toward Shano's ankle.
Shano smirked, withdrew his leg and stepped back. Onigumo seized the chance to roll up and leap into the air, his twin swords swinging wildly—one slash after another, forming a dense scarlet web under the rain.
"DIE!!!"
To dare step on his chest—don't blame him for being ruthless!
In that moment, he could almost see the wretched black-haired brat in front of him getting sliced into countless pieces by his blades!
However—
The rain suddenly sounded louder in his ears, shattering Onigumo's illusion.
The opponent hardly even moved, casually walking like he was taking a stroll, hands behind his back, letting the slashes come. Yet every one of the dozens of high-speed sword strikes was effortlessly dodged.
Not a single cut landed. Not even a scratch.
How… how is this possible?
Onigumo's pupils contracted.
The dodging was accurate to the millimeter.
There were countless moments when his blade nearly touched the opponent's skin—just that little bit closer and it would've hit. But it never did.
It's like the kid predicted everything.
Was it Observation Haki?
No, that's not it!
Those unnatural, twisted body angles—it was Paper Art! Refined to its absolute peak!!
And earlier, these people had shown Geppo…
"Cowardly rat! All you can do is dodge?!" Onigumo roared furiously. "How can a brat from the East Blue be so proficient in Rokushiki?! Who the hell taught you?!"
"Sakazuki."
…Huh?
Onigumo's eyes widened, but just as he was distracted by that name, Shano had already appeared beside him and hooked his right arm around Onigumo's neck, grinning:
"Hey, you were the one who said not to dodge anymore."
Boom! Shano's muscles bulged, his arm like a steel shackle clamping down on Onigumo's neck.
Then he exerted full force—slamming him viciously into the ground!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!!!
Once, twice, three times—Shano continuously suplexed him left and right, no longer holding back his terrifying strength.
The ground on either side cracked like spiderwebs.
Onigumo felt like a rag doll in the hands of a giant, completely losing control, unable to resist.
In his spinning, shaking vision, he saw distant figures—Marines and pirates alike—pointing at him, laughing wildly…
"ENOUGH!!!"
Veins bulged on his forehead as he roared in fury.
Zzt zzt! His disheveled long hair suddenly expanded wildly.
In the blink of an eye, it transformed into six spear-like spider limbs, flailing like octopus tentacles as he broke free from Shano's grasp. In a flash, he drew six more swords from who-knows-where, gripping them tight.
Splash!
Onigumo stood firm in the puddled rainwater.
At this moment, combined with the terrifying spider-like limbs writhing behind him, he glared coldly through the downpour—emitting overwhelming pressure.
"What a day… things keep happening one after another, completely beyond my expectations."
He cracked his neck, the sound popping like firecrackers, and stared down expressionlessly at Shano:
"I was just playing around with you at first, brat. Didn't expect you to have some real skills and make me lose face. But—playtime's over."
The two swords in his hands, along with the six behind, all turned pitch black with a glossy sheen.
"Eight Sword Style: Silken Annihilation!"
With that icy declaration, all eight blades converged on Shano simultaneously!
Vrrrm!
Intersecting sword energy surged from all directions, sealing off every escape route.
"Rankyaku: White Thunder!!"
Shano didn't hesitate—he spun and kicked, unleashing a vacuum blade.
A deep-blue slash like a crescent moon expanded to several meters in length, colliding head-on with the incoming sword energy!
BOOM!!
A massive explosion followed as the Rankyaku blast shattered all eight slashes!
Step step step…
Onigumo was forced back several steps by the shockwave before he could steady himself. He looked up in disbelief.
All eight sword slashes had been blocked by just one Rankyaku?!
Shano grinned, unsurprised.
His Six Styles mastery had been judged "supreme" by the system—and it wasn't for nothing.
His Rokushiki techniques had truly reached the peak!
In terms of sheer mastery, even CP9's Rob Lucci during the Enies Lobby incident was slightly inferior!
"What's this? You're a swordmaster who uses eight blades?"
Shano laughed wildly. "What a coincidence… me too!!"
Zzt zzt!
Just like earlier, Shano's jet-black hair suddenly expanded and extended, transforming into over a dozen braid-like appendages as hard as steel.
"Oops—my math's not great. Looks like I've got a few more."
He nodded toward Onigumo with a grin, "Hope you can handle it."
As soon as he spoke—
His figure vanished from sight.
The next instant, he was already overhead, and his hair—now countless steel whips—rained down on Onigumo's face like a storm!
He knows this technique too?!
Onigumo's expression changed drastically as he quickly raised his blades to counter.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The hardened, Haki-wrapped spider-hair clashed with his swords, sparks flying in all directions with each strike.
The crowd around them was left dizzy from the blinding speed of the clash.
Their arms weren't idle either—Onigumo wielding his blades, while Shano had transformed his arms into blade-like shapes, relying purely on his monstrous physical strength!
At first, the two seemed evenly matched.
But over time, in the relentless exchange of blows, the Haki coating On Onigumo's blades began to weaken.
Whereas Shano's stayed just as strong as before!
Four Techniques of Armament Haki:
Coating
Hardening
Flow
Internal Destruction
Aside from Internal Destruction, which he had only recently begun to grasp, Shano had mastered the other three.
And his strength—tempered over years—was already at a level most couldn't dream of!
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!!
With a final deafening clash, all eight of Onigumo's swords were sent flying to the ground!
Shano's immense force pushed him back, his military boots gouging two deep trenches into the plaza stone.
"Outta blades, huh?"
Shano slowly approached, grinning viciously as he stared at Onigumo's twisted face. "Too bad—I've still got mine!"
THUMP!
He thrust both arms into Onigumo's shoulders. Then in an instant, they returned to normal shape as he grabbed Onigumo's wrists and yanked inward.
SPURT—
Agonizing pain surged through him. Onigumo vomited a mouthful of blood, but his shoulders went limp—he couldn't even struggle.
He could only watch as his own joints were twisted into grotesque angles, broken bones piercing through skin, blood spraying.
RUMBLE!
The rain poured harder now, and lightning flickered on the distant horizon.
"Strength, speed, Six Styles mastery, Armament Haki… and even your precious Life Return—I surpass you in all of it!"
Shano gripped his neck like he was holding a baby chick, lifting Onigumo up and locking eyes with him, full of scorn:
"Tell me—so this is the standard of a Marine Vice Admiral?"