Under the dark purple sky,
ancient castles rose from the ground!
Figures intersected on the rooftops.
"Clang!"
With another fierce clash, both were forced back several steps.
Zoro narrowed his eyes, breathing slightly heavily.
As expected of the legendary Dragon-Slaying Samurai, both his sword intent and sword techniques were terrifyingly powerful.
A skeleton that had slept for hundreds of years, the lingering sword intent, plus the shadow of a musician!
Such a lineup being able to fight Zoro for so long was truly incredible, even if it was purely a sword fighting duel!
"But... you must be close to giving out!" Zoro looked at Ryuma arrogantly; as time passed, the sword intent on Ryuma's body was dissipating.
Soon, he would become an ordinary skeleton possessed by Brook's shadow.
Undoubtedly, as long as he dragged it out, he would win!
Ryuma held his sword in his right hand, purple sword intent coiling around Shusui, and charged at Zoro.
"Prelude: Touch Sword Attack!"
The purple blade light was dazzling, strike after strike, moving at extreme speed.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Zoro, relying on his swordsman's instincts, struggled to parry with his blades!
Shusui, kikoku, and yubashiri sparked.
Suddenly,
"Crack!"
A crack appeared on the blade of the excellent sword yubashiri!
"Crack!"
Shusui danced, sword intent raged, and yubashiri shattered.
Shusui, infused with sword intent, swung fiercely at Zoro.
"Thud... Thud... Thud!"
Zoro retreated five steps, looking incredulously at the hilt of the sword in his hand.
Powerful sword intent swept through his body, making Zoro gasp in pain!
'Is this... sword intent?'
Zoro threw away the yubashiri hilt, sheathed kikoku, and held wado ichimonji.
Looking at Ryuma, who seemed to be struggling,
"Come on! One move to decide the victor!"
Zoro leaped high, gripping the hilt with both hands, raising it high.
Deep blue flames gathered from around Zoro's body onto wado ichimonji, then he swung down heavily!
Ryuma, on the other hand, held his sword with one hand, sword intent condensed at the tip, and thrust upwards!
"One Sword Style: Flying Dragon: Blaze!"
"Humming Three Verses: Arrow Feather Slash!"
Purple sword light collided with the blue flame dragon.
"Boom!"
Ryuma was engulfed by the flame dragon and plummeted straight from the sky!
Zoro landed calmly, sheathing his sword.
"You lost. The famous sword Shusui, once at the waist of the legendary samurai, it must be its long-cherished wish for you to be its master!"
Ryuma, engulfed in flames, sheathed Shusui and casually tossed it out. His remaining body swayed in the flames, turning to ash!
Zoro caught Shusui with one hand, while the other touched the sword mark on his chest, where sword intent still flowed. "I'll take the sword. Thank you for your gift, samurai of Wano Country!"
A black shadow flew out, returning to Brook's side.
"I'm back! My shadow that Moriah stole!" Brook jumped up and down excitedly!
Zoro strapped Shusui to his waist. "Let's go, skeleton, back to the thousand sunny!"
"Huh? Go back? Aren't we going to Luffy-kun's side?" Brook was a little confused.
"Why? Didn't you see him playing?" Zoro walked calmly in one direction!
"But... but, the ship is over there!" Brook pointed in a completely opposite direction to Zoro.
Zoro paused, the swordsman's thoughts clearly visible on his face. "Noisy!"
...At the port,
On the thousand sunny, Nami, Robin, and Franky were leisurely clearing out small fry.
"Watch this, Lion's Roar Cannon!"
Franky pressed a button.
The thousand sunny's lion head suddenly opened, revealing a huge cannon barrel inside.
White light gathered, and then a massive laser beam swept through the zombie horde.
Instantly, a large number of zombies vanished into thin air!
On the lawn, Nami and Robin were drinking coffee and chatting.
"Oh! Days without fighting are truly comfortable!" Nami stretched, looking content.
"I think perhaps we should also seize the time to train! Otherwise, I'm afraid we won't be able to keep up!" Robin propped her chin, lost in thought.
"I'm a navigator! Not a combatant, so it's fine if I can't keep up!" Nami was rather nonchalant.
"Haha!" Robin chuckled. "Our pirate crew is different from other pirate crews; Luffy is taking the elite route!"
The so-called elite route meant that everyone was a combatant; the doctor, musician, and navigator were all... part-timers!
"Ah?"
Nami and Robin chatted idly.
Suddenly,
"Whoosh!"
A figure appeared out of nowhere, standing on the lawn!
It was a burly man, wearing a spotted hat with ear flaps, a black jacket with crosshairs, and paws on his hands, holding a Bible.
His sudden appearance immediately drew the attention of the three!
Seeing the man's appearance, Robin's pupils constricted, and she blurted out, "One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, 'Tyrant' Bartholomew Kuma, a man once famous as a pirate for his cruelty! What... are you doing here?"
"Little cat burglar? Straw Hat's crewmate? I heard he also has a brother, is that true?" A gentle, intellectual, deep, and steady voice came, but his massive body gave off an extremely powerful oppressive feeling.
Nami's eyes widened. 'Such strong pressure!'
"Yes, yes! He... his name is Ace. What... what do you want?"
"I see, it's true!" Kuma came to the bow of the ship, looking into the distance!
In the jungle deep within the ancient castle,
a massive figure was sprawled there. Inside him, Gekko Moriah, covered in blood and with broken ribs, lay weakly.
"Gum-Gum Rocket!"
Luffy stretched his arms back, then slammed into Oars!
"Boom!"
The air exploded like thunder, and a huge Mach ring appeared.
Oars was instantly sent flying, crashing through a hundred meters of ancient castle behind him, turning it to rubble!
"Hmm?"
Luffy suddenly felt a sense of being watched, but it wasn't malicious.
A red glow appeared in Luffy's eyes as his Observation Haki was pushed to the limit. Finally, he saw that figure on the thousand sunny.
'So it's Kuma!' Luffy breathed a sigh of relief.
Their Observation Haki intertwined, and Luffy nodded with a smile.
If it were anyone else, Luffy would have kicked them away, but if it was Kuma, then... that was another matter!
Poor Moriah, completely demoralized, could only cling to life inside Oars, looking bewildered. 'What is this monster smiling about?'
That's right, he was a monster! What else could a person who could whip Oars with pure physical strength be but a monster!
...On the other side,
Kuma had always been confused by Luffy's benevolent attitude!
By all accounts, he should be an enemy, right?
However, Kuma didn't dwell on it. As long as Luffy was safe, that was good!
Kuma was also stunned by the billion berry bounty, once thinking that the Gorosei had discovered the secret about Luffy and wanted to set him up for failure!
But now, he realized he was wrong, terribly wrong!
He had once thought of silently protecting Luffy, but in just one year, he had transformed into a being no less, and even superior to him!
Watching this scene, Kuma felt a little old, with glistening tears in his eyes.
'nika! The world has finally waited for you!'
The three watched the suddenly silent Kuma warily.
Suddenly,
"What do you want to do to our ship?"
Zoro and Sanji descended simultaneously from the sky, attacking Kuma!
"Whoosh!"
Kuma instantly vanished from his spot, then reappeared on an ancient castle not far away.
"What's going on? Such speed!" Zoro's eyes widened.
"Observation Haki can't track him at all. Teleportation? A Devil Fruit ability?" Sanji frowned.
At the same time, Chopper, Usopp, and Brook also returned!
"Zoro, Sanji, you're finally back!" Nami looked surprised, then confused. "Where's Luffy?"
"Still playing?" Sanji looked at Kuma's figure with a serious expression.
"He probably wants to leave this guy to us!" Zoro pointed his sword at Kuma, his eyes full of fighting spirit!
"Buruburu!"
Kuma picked up the den den mushi in his hand.
"How is it? Is Gekko Moriah still alive? The World Government cannot afford to lose another Shichibukai!"
"Hmm, he's still alive for now. But he's already defeated!" Kuma's gaze drifted into the distance.
"Save him, and the World Government has issued a special order: eliminate everyone on this island, including the Straw Hat!"
"A piece of cake!"
Kuma hung up the den den mushi and looked at the people on the thousand sunny.
At this moment, the straw hat were holding their breath. A Seven Warlords of the Sea, this was the third one they had encountered!
But this time, they had to face him alone... Deep within the island,
Luffy looked at Oars and Moriah.
"It seems I don't need you as a punching bag anymore!"
Powerful red steam erupted from Luffy's body.
"Gear Second!"
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