The warships descended.
Tengetsu Ares led the others down from the deck. Seeing Kozuki Oden and Ashura Doji facing off, he was mildly surprised.
"What a coincidence… we actually dropped in right in the middle of their fight."
The moment they set foot on land, Chinjao pinched his nose, his face full of disgust as he complained, "Hey, hey what is this place, a garbage dump? Why does it stink this bad!?"
Kaido frowned. "There are still this many people living here? Wano's been closed off for centuries. Don't tell me they can't even manage their own territory properly?"
Staring at the towering, broad-shouldered brutes who looked like giants, Ashura Doji tensed up and barked, "Hey! Who the hell are you people!?"
"This is my turf Ashura Doji's! Anyone who doesn't belong here, get out!"
Meanwhile, Kozuki Oden came charging over, practically bouncing with excitement. He rushed up to Ares and the others, eyes blazing as he shouted, "You're from the outside world, right? Take me with you! Let me go out to sea!"
Ashura Doji was stunned speechless.
He genuinely started to suspect Kozuki Oden had something wrong with his head.
Those guys…
One look and you could tell they weren't good people.
And they'd brought that many massive ships. Ashura Doji was half convinced they'd come to invade Wano.
Tengetsu Ares looked down at Oden, who was a bit shorter than him, and smiled.
"My name is Tengetsu Ares. I've returned to my homeland Wano. I won't be setting sail anytime soon."
"Tengetsu…"
Ashura Doji and Kozuki Oden both stiffened, shock written across their faces.
Oden frowned, thinking hard, then muttered, "The Tengetsu daimyo left Wano more than twenty years ago… don't tell me…"
"Correct," Tengetsu Ares said calmly. "That man was my father."
A flicker of killing intent flashed in Ashura Doji's eyes.
As the bandit boss of Kuri, he despised people with power and status more than anything.
And the Tengetsu clan…
Was one of Wano's great families, one of the ruling powers.
That murderous intent vanished in an instant, but it was still caught by more than a few. Kaido's expression turned savage as he growled, "Hey are you trying to die?"
Tengetsu Ares raised a hand, stopping Kaido. His round, bell-like eyes fixed on Ashura Doji without blinking.
"Ashura Doji. From now on, Kuri belongs to me. If you've got a problem with that…"
"I've got a problem with it!" Ashura Doji exploded, fury erupting. He lifted his blade as a red aura surged around his body.
Whoosh!
He vanished in a flash and appeared right in front of Ares, snarling, "Outsider get out of my territory!"
His blade came down.
Clang!
A metallic crash rang out.
Ashura Doji's face changed violently, disbelief bursting from his throat. "Impossible!! Your body… what the hell is it!?"
His slash could cleave steel with ease.
Yet it struck Ares and…
Did nothing.
Not a scratch.
It was beyond belief.
Ares casually reached out and grabbed the razor edge with his bare hand, smiling.
"Hey Ashura Doji. You might be a monster in Kuri, but there's always someone stronger out there. The sky's bigger than you think."
"In front of me…"
"You're too weak."
His arm swelled. Thick veins stood out, flooding red as blood surged beneath the skin.
Crack crack
With brute, savage force, he crushed the blade into pieces.
Ashura Doji's eyes went wide in horror. He retreated more than a hundred meters, staring at Ares as if looking at a demon.
"H-How… how can anyone be this strong!?"
He'd broken his weapon with bare hands…
A monster.
That scene made Kozuki Oden's eyes flare with dazzling light. Excitement poured off him as he shouted, "Ares! You're a powerhouse from the outside world! Let me see your strength!"
Holding his two swords, Oden looked like he was on fire blood boiling, desperate to cross blades with Ares.
Tengetsu Ares grinned. "Hahahaha If you want to try, come at me. Let me see what Wano samurai are really made of!"
"Hey, hey don't underestimate samurai!" Oden said seriously.
A brilliant orange aura, as gorgeous as falling cherry blossoms, wrapped around him.
And within it
There was Conqueror's Haki.
Kaido, Chinjao, Sladar, and the others all turned their heads, interest sparked.
Oden burst forward, charging Ares with wild excitement.
"Then I'll show you the might of Oden Two-Sword Style!"
"Oden Two-Sword Style: Paradise Totsuka!"
His twin blades flashed, power erupting like lightning.
Oden kept his finishing stance as he appeared behind Ares.
"Ah… so it actually hurts," Ares said with a sharp grin. "But your strength still isn't enough!"
Right now, Oden was only around twenty or twenty-one.
He wasn't at the peak he'd reach after going out to sea.
Still, Conqueror's Haki and Ryuo had indeed dealt some damage to Ares' muscles.
When Oden saw Ares take Paradise Totsuka head-on with nothing but his flesh, his pupils trembled violently.
"How…? The weapons in my hands are Great Grade blades Enma and Ame no Habakiri!"
"And they still… still can't cut his body!? How is that possible!?"
The sheer toughness shattered his confidence.
In Wano, he'd been unmatched invincible wherever he went.
Yet the first outsider he met…
Crushed him like this.
That crushing frustration hit Oden so hard his mind blanked for a heartbeat.
Chinjao clicked his tongue. "Ares' physique really is monstrous. That kid's strike is nothing to scoff at even I wouldn't take it lightly."
"And Ares just tanked it… bare-handed."
"With a body like that… he might already be the strongest monster on the sea."
Kaido laughed. "Wororororo So Wano samurai aren't all that impressive after all!"
"..."
Ares' people erupted into cheers, fired up.
Oden turned to face Ares and made a heartfelt request.
"Ares… use your power. Show me what the outside world's strong truly look like."
"How far behind am I?"
"Fine," Ares said.
He clenched his fist hard. His knuckles popped, veins bulging on his arm like coiling pythons.
Just looking at it made your skin crawl.
At the same time, Oden charged again, unleashing his strongest sword technique.
"Oden Two-Sword Style: Paradise Ten-Fist!"
Oden became a streak of red light across the sky, closing the distance in the blink of an eye.
His two blades crossed into an X.
Ares' eyes flashed like lightning as he roared, "Blood-Red Armament Hasshoken!!"
The instant he threw the punch
Ripples spread outward around his arm, wave after wave.
A tidal, overwhelming force poured out, like a raging tsunami unleashed from his limb.
His fist slammed into Oden's blades.
Boom!
Black-red lightning detonated.
Oden felt an unbeatable, terrifying power surge through the steel and into his body.
"Pfft !"
Blood exploded from his mouth.
He'd come in like lightning
And he flew out even faster.
Rumble!
Rumble!
…
Oden's body became a falling meteor, smashing through mountain after mountain.
Watching that
Ashura Doji went ice-cold from head to toe. His voice trembled out of his control.
"O-One punch…!?"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, you like the story? Wow, who knew. Go ahead, drop a review and throw some power stones maybe I'll be motivated to keep going.
The story's already ahead on Patron. Go there if you want to catch up faster!
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"