Aokiji raised his hand, the air around them instantly dropping in temperature. "I'll give you a chance to surrender her. Otherwise, the entire crew freezes."
Kenji finally turned, facing the Admiral. This was not a fight to win, but a fight to copy.
"You won't be freezing anyone today, Kuzan," Kenji stated, and then he closed his eyes, focusing with fierce intensity on the ultimate Logia power before him.
• Target: Hie Hie no Mi (Ice-Ice Fruit) power and Aokiji's application techniques.
• Copying...
• Apex Enhancement Active...
• Resulting Ability: [Apex: Absolute Thermal Manipulation] Acquired. (Full mastery over all forms of thermal energy and temperature, from Absolute Zero to Solar Flare heat. Nullifies any form of cold or heat instantly).
Kenji opened his eyes. He didn't feel cold. He didn't feel the heat of the sun. He felt the serene balance of thermal energy.
Aokiji, sensing the subtle shift in the air, attacked. "Ice Age!"
A massive wave of razor-sharp ice spears shot out from the Admiral, aimed to shatter the ship and everyone on it.
Kenji didn't move. He lifted his hand, palm flat toward the approaching attack, and unleashed his own enhanced power.
[Apex: Thermal Negation Field]
The moment the ice spears entered the 10-meter radius around Kenji, they didn't melt; they simply ceased to exist. They didn't even turn into water. They became nothing. The ice was atomized, its energy signature returning to a perfectly neutral state.
Aokiji stopped, his eyes widening in alarm—a rare sight for the usually lethargic Admiral. "You nullified a Logia attack... but you didn't fight it. You made it not exist."
"I took your power, enhanced it to mastery over all heat and cold, and now I simply reject your attack's thermal state," Kenji explained calmly. "You deal in absolute cold. I deal in absolute balance."
He then focused the opposite end of his copied power: Ultimate Heat. He channeled just enough solar flare-level heat to form a single, bright plasma sphere the size of a marble above his palm. The heat was immense, capable of vaporizing an island.
"I can turn the ocean around us into steam instantly, Kuzan," Kenji warned, his voice devoid of threat, but thick with undeniable capability. "If you take another step toward this ship, I will use your own power against you, forcing you into a thermal state that even your Logia body cannot return from."
Aokiji looked from the plasma sphere to the destroyed ice, then back to the ship. He saw the potential for complete annihilation in Kenji's eyes. He made a decision.
"I understand," Aokiji said, lowering his hand and letting the ice dissipate from the water. "The threat is confirmed. You are truly an anomaly, 'Apex' Tanaka. You've earned the Navy's full attention."
He stepped off the Merry, the water freezing instantly beneath his feet, forming a temporary bridge back to his ship. He paused.
"Tell the woman," he said, looking at Kenji. "Tell the Demon Child that I won't be after her today. But the world is still a very large place."
Aokiji then departed as quickly as he arrived, leaving the Straw Hats to emerge from the cabin, utterly baffled by the silent, intense cold and the strange departure of a Marine Admiral.
Kenji looked down at his hand, the residual warmth of the plasma sphere fading. He now possessed Absolute Thermal Manipulation. The Straw Hats were safer than ever