A gentle breeze swept through the area, sending the Marine coats draped over Kaito and Zephyr's shoulders fluttering noisily in the wind.
Zephyr's tense body suddenly relaxed. He looked at Kaito across from him and smiled.
"Kaito, your strength has far exceeded your teacher's expectations. Honestly, the title of Admiral feels like an understatement for someone like you."
Kaito let his arms fall loosely to his sides and returned the smile.
"I could say the same—Zephyr-sensei, in your current state, I think you could easily take up the role of Admiral again."
The two of them laughed at the same time, as if they hadn't just been trading fierce blows moments ago.
After a brief laugh, Zephyr rolled his neck and grabbed his Marine coat, tossing it aside. He then slowly began unbuttoning the shirt underneath.
As he undid the buttons, he said,
"I've had my fill of that position. Best to leave it to the younger generation. What I want now is for you to show me your full power, Kaito."
After undoing the last button, Zephyr slipped off his shirt, revealing a muscular physique brimming with raw strength.
Seeing this, Kaito followed suit. He shrugged off his coat and started unbuttoning his shirt as well—he knew this meant Zephyr was about to go all out.
Once ready, Zephyr let out a thunderous shout. His muscles began to swell at a speed visible to the naked eye, with thick veins bulging across his skin.
Soon, his body was covered in dense black fur, and a pair of gray bull horns sprouted from his head, etched with dark patterns resembling those found on Devil Fruits.
A thick layer of bony armor emerged across his shoulders, gleaming with a milky-white sheen under the sunlight.
This was the power of the Bull Demon Fruit—Zephyr had entered a half-beast form.
Twin streams of white vapor puffed from his now bull-like nostrils. With a grin that exposed two rows of gleaming white teeth beneath a blackened face, Zephyr looked at Kaito.
In a deep, booming voice, Zephyr said,
"Thanks for waiting, Kaito. This is the true power of your Bull Demon Fruit. What do you think?"
Kaito raised an eyebrow. There was no denying that Zephyr's current form radiated raw power and presence, but...
That face? That blackened, bull-nosed face? Yeah... it was hard to look at.
Imagine a regular human face suddenly turning pitch black and sprouting a bull's nose—definitely not something you'd call handsome.
But out of respect as a student, Kaito forced a stiff thumbs-up and said,
"Looks... cool!"
"Bullshit!"
"?"
A big question mark popped over Kaito's head. What was wrong with that answer?
Zephyr curled his lip in irritation and snapped,
"I've seen myself in the mirror. What part of this bull face screams 'cool'? You need to be honest with your teacher, brat!"
"..."
Kaito was left speechless. If he'd known this would happen, he would've just told the truth. Now he'd basically shot himself in the foot.
Frustrated, Kaito didn't say another word. He immediately activated the power of the Asura Fruit, enlarging his body to match Zephyr's size.
Zephyr gave a nod of approval when he saw this.
"So that's the power of the Asura Fruit, huh? Not bad. Come on, then! Show me what kind of boost that fruit's given you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zephyr stomped down hard with one massive foot. A terrifying crack split the ground, racing straight toward Kaito.
Of course, that kind of attack meant nothing to someone who could fly. Kaito used the power of the Deva Path to soar into the air, where four of the arms on his back transformed into cannon barrels. Without hesitation, he launched round after round of laser blasts down at Zephyr.
Zephyr frowned at the barrage of lasers. It reminded him of a certain monkey...
What he didn't know was that Kaido had thought the exact same thing when he faced Kaito's lasers.
Zephyr slammed both palms against the ground. A thick earthen wall rose up in front of him, covered in the same spiral black markings that adorned his horns.
Boom!
The lasers struck the wall, kicking up a massive cloud of yellow dust. Behind the earthen barrier, Zephyr's face was grim—he could already feel it crumbling.
He couldn't help but be impressed by Kaito's power. This wasn't just any wall of earth.
Manipulating earth elements was an innate ability granted by the Mythical Zoan Bull Demon Fruit—and the earth Zephyr controlled was reinforced, its hardness far surpassing that of steel.
Yet even that wasn't enough to withstand Kaito's assault. That alone said everything about Kaito's power.
The lasers from above kept hammering down on the wall until it finally gave out, shattering into clouds of yellow soil.
As the wall collapsed, a stream of yellow earth flowed along Zephyr's arms, coating his entire body before hardening into a suit of earth armor.
He tore his arms from the ground and crossed them over his head, bracing himself for the continued bombardment. The next wave of lasers struck both Zephyr and the ground around him, engulfing everything in thick smoke.
After a long moment, the smoke finally cleared—revealing Zephyr still standing in a defensive stance.
His earthen armor had broken into large fragments that were now sliding off his body, and glowing points of light still lingered across his skin.
Kaito landed beside him, staring at those glowing marks. His mouth twitched involuntarily.
Why did this feel so familiar?
Had he just done what Borsalino usually did?
Swear to the heavens—he hadn't meant to kill Zephyr or anything!
He started to worry about his teacher's condition.
Luckily, Zephyr didn't leave him in suspense for long. He slowly lowered his arms... then suddenly dropped to all fours.
His body began to swell again, and within seconds, he transformed into a massive black bull. Thick bone armor lined his back.
Zephyr had entered the full beast form of the Bull Demon Fruit.
He clearly understood the power gap between himself and Kaito, and he wasn't going to drag this fight out any longer. He was preparing to unleash his strongest move to end it all.
The patterned bull horns on his head turned pitch black—he'd infused them completely with Armament Haki.
In this moment, Black Arm Zephyr had fully evolved into Black Bull Zephyr.
(T/N: Bull Demon King also translated as the Ox King, so the name I gave earlier (Ox Demon King) is practically the same as the name as Bull Demon King)
Steam burst from his nostrils again as he locked his massive, bull-like eyes onto Kaito. One hoof scraped at the ground, and then his whole body surged forward like a streak of black lightning.
Kaito understood immediately. His right hand lit up with a dark violet glow—Destruction Armament—and he hurled a punch toward the charging Zephyr with all his might.
BOOM!
The explosion echoed throughout Marineford.
...
In the Marine HQ office, Sengoku was enjoying a hot cup of tea when the blast hit. Startled, his hand trembled, and scalding tea splashed all over his pants.
He looked down in a daze at the wet stain, momentarily frozen.
A few seconds later, he snapped out of it, bolted from the building, and looked in the direction of the sound.
What met his eyes...
...was a colossal mushroom cloud.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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