"HAHAHAHA!"
"That's it! Come on—fight me! Tear into me with everything you've got!"
Kenpachi Zaraki looked completely insane as he tore away the remains of his upper clothing and roared wildly.
The appearance of Sengoku's giant Buddha form had awakened the battle instinct sleeping deep inside Kenpachi.
"He's a monster…"
Golden light radiated from Sengoku's body. His massive palm was wrapped in powerful Armament Haki as he stared fixedly at Kenpachi.
When fighting a monster, one must be careful not to become a monster as well.
And when you stare into death—
death stares back.
That was the feeling Kenpachi gave him.
Sengoku knew very well that if he slipped up even slightly, that chipped Zanpakutō would split him in two.
"Garp! Borsalino! Sakazuki! That monster is coming straight at us—bring him down together!"
At this point, Sengoku no longer cared about any so-called pride of the strong.
"Stay sharp. I'm coming!"
With a savage roar, Kenpachi vanished and appeared instantly on the warship. His Zanpakutō rose high, and a golden slash came crashing down.
"What a terrifying slash!"
Sengoku's pupils shrank. At the critical moment, his Observation Haki saved him, and he narrowly avoided the attack.
But the deck was not so lucky.
A crack spread rapidly from the point where the blade landed, tearing across the warship.
"Now!" Sengoku shouted as he raised his hand.
At the same time, Kizaru and Akainu appeared on either side of Kenpachi. A barrage of light and a magma-charged fist smashed into him, while from the rear Garp struck with Haki-enhanced force.
A deafening explosion erupted.
Kenpachi's position vanished beneath blinding gold and crimson light, and for a moment no one could tell whether he was dead or alive.
"Did we get him?"
Everyone held their breath, staring at the smoke.
Logically, anyone caught in a focused attack from four Admiral-level fighters should have been blown apart.
But instinct told them—
it couldn't be that simple.
And it wasn't.
When the smoke finally cleared, Kenpachi was still standing.
His body was covered in horrifying wounds, and blood poured from them like spring water.
Drip. Drip.
In that instant, the sea fell silent.
Every drop of blood sounded unnaturally loud.
But though Kenpachi had been badly injured, that did not mean the battle was over.
If anything—
it meant the beast within him was about to awaken completely.
Only blood could stir that hidden savagery.
Nothing else matched it.
"Blood… this is blood! You finally wounded me!"
Kenpachi touched one of his wounds. His hand came away slick with blood. Yet instead of pain, his face showed only pure exhilaration.
At that moment, the whole sea seemed to hold its breath.
And when that suffocating silence reached its limit—
Kenpachi exploded.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
He threw back his head and roared, his laughter wild, bloodthirsty, and utterly unrestrained.
That laughter embodied everything he was.
"A madman… he's a complete madman!" Sengoku's face changed drastically. From Kenpachi, he could feel a savage aura that made his skin crawl.
"Buddha Shockwave!"
Sengoku attacked again, but the impact was blasted apart by a surge of golden Reiatsu.
Kenpachi seemed to have lost all reason, turning into a beast that knew only slaughter. Blood soaked his body, and his eyes gleamed with terrifying light.
A golden sword-pressure slash tore toward Sengoku. Even though the shockwave absorbed most of it, Sengoku was still sent reeling, blood spraying from his mouth.
"Dog Bite!" Akainu attacked coldly, hurling another strike at Kenpachi.
"Magma brat, I've already seen through your tricks!"
Kenpachi laughed wildly and cut downward again. The golden slash split through the magma attack and left a gruesome wound across Akainu's body.
In an instant—
Akainu was injured again.
"This monster won't go down. The more he bleeds, the stronger he becomes!"
Garp's expression turned deeply grave.
As the hero of Marine Headquarters, he should have stepped in harder at that moment.
Instead—
he chose to yield.
"Death, call off your subordinate."
The moment he said it, a bitter expression surfaced on Garp's face. It was not fear of Kenpachi that made him speak—
it was the knowledge that if this fight continued, the Marines would pay an even more terrible price.
Even if they somehow killed Kenpachi, the rest of the Shinigami Pirates would crush them afterward.
That was not an outcome the Marines could accept.
"So you're finally admitting defeat?" Ren Kuro smiled faintly. "Kenpachi, stop."
"Tch. I was finally starting to enjoy this."
Kenpachi lowered his Zanpakutō with obvious irritation.
As a summoned figure, he could not disobey Ren Kuro's direct command.
With a single step, he vanished and returned to Ren Kuro's side.
"Death," Sengoku said after reverting to human form. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his expression complicated. "What conditions will make you release Aokiji?"
He had never imagined that as Fleet Admiral, there would come a day when he would have to bow his head.
"If you'd asked like that from the start, you could've saved yourself the injuries."
Ren Kuro smiled.
"If you want Kuzan back, the condition is simple."
"Twenty Devil Fruits."
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