"Sean, get back! You're no match for him yet!"
Sengoku grew anxious the moment he saw Sean move. He was certain that in another two or three years, Sean could easily defeat Lucci without even needing to go all out. But right now, it was too soon. If Sean's confidence were to be shattered here, it would be a significant setback. In Sengoku's mind, he would rather just hand over Nezumi than risk that.
However...
"Sengoku, let him go!"
"You idiot, Zephyr! Are you trying to ruin Sean?"
"Relax. Sean is far stronger than you think!" Zephyr replied with absolute confidence, ignoring the furious Sengoku.
By this time, Sean had already stepped in front of Lucci. Nearby, several Marine conscripts were in the process of moving Smoker onto a stretcher.
"No rank? A student who hasn't even graduated from the Marine training camp?" Lucci frowned.
Sean was wearing a standard Marine uniform without any rank insignias, leading Lucci to this conclusion. Strictly speaking, Lucci's judgment was correct; Sean was indeed a student of the Elite Training Camp who had yet to graduate.
"Kid, get lost. This is no place for—"
'Boom...'
Before Lucci could finish his sentence, a heavy pressure descended. Even he felt his body suddenly grow heavy.
'Gravity?'
No, it didn't feel like gravity. 'Could it be Conqueror's Haki?'
That didn't seem right either; the sensation was entirely different from the sheer intensity of Haki. What exactly was this?
"Sean, control it!" Zephyr suddenly roared from the sidelines.
Sean realized that the range of his Reiatsu had expanded too far. Most of the nearby Marines had been crushed flat against the ground.
Scratching his head, Sean felt a bit embarrassed. He had completely forgotten about the ordinary Marines. He quickly reigned it in, restricting the release of his Reiatsu to the immediate combat area.
The people outside the zone suddenly felt the weight lift. As they scrambled back up, they retreated hastily. Only the Marine high command and those at the level of Vice Admiral were able to remain in their original positions. The ordinary Marines were genuinely terrified. After all, Reiatsu was a pressure exerted upon the soul; those with insufficient strength or weak souls experienced a far deeper terror than they would when facing Conqueror's Haki.
"Zephyr, what exactly is that power Sean is using? It didn't seem like Conqueror's Haki," Sengoku asked, still puzzled.
"What else could it be? Do you think there's something else in the world that can produce that effect?" Zephyr replied irritably.
Though still confused, Sengoku nodded and stopped overthinking it. As for the fact that Sean possessed a special energy that didn't belong to any known power system, Zephyr had no intention of telling Sengoku.
On the field, Lucci turned serious. Sean's previous display made it clear that he couldn't judge the boy's strength based on his age. Perhaps he was stronger than the Marines he had fought earlier—maybe even stronger than Lucci himself, specifically the fifteen-year-old version of himself.
But now...
'You're still no match for me!'
"Soru!"
"Shigan "Madara"!"
This was one of the advanced techniques of the Six Powers' Shigan, and it was the first time Lucci had used an advanced move today. This alone showed how seriously he was taking Sean.
"Hekireki!"
"Lightning Wall!"
'Boom!!!'
The moment Hekireki was unleashed, it was as if lightning had been compressed to its absolute limit and then released in a single burst. Electric light exploded across the area. In an instant, a barrier composed of pure lightning materialized in front of Sean.
Lucci's hundreds of Shigan strikes, which had become a blur of afterimages, slammed into the barrier almost simultaneously. However, because of the Lightning Wall, every single strike hit the electricity, sending waves of numbness through Lucci's arm.
Forced to retract his attack, Lucci leaped backward. After delivering hundreds of strikes into the electricity, his fingers were completely numb, nearly devoid of sensation.
"If getting close doesn't work, then this!"
"Rankyaku: Gaicho!"
Unlike a standard Rankyaku, this was another advanced technique of the Six Powers. The compressed air blade transformed into a massive azure bird and charged toward Sean. In terms of both speed and destructive power, this move far surpassed a normal Rankyaku.
Even some of the Vice Admirals watching were impressed. It was no wonder Lucci was called the strongest member of CP9 in eight hundred years. If it were based solely on the mastery of the Six Powers, even these Vice Admirals weren't as proficient as Lucci.
However, facing the incoming azure bird, Sean didn't raise his sword to block or attempt to dodge. Instead, he simply raised his hand and pointed a single finger.
Although his Kidō level was only Lv3, he could cast Hadō spells below number twenty without chanting and still maintain at least eighty percent of their power.
"Hadō #4: Byakurai!"
White lightning erupted from Sean's fingertip, blasting forward.
'Boom...'
The azure bird and the white lightning collided, triggering a massive explosion. The impact was so violent that it left a crater in the ground at the point of collision.
From the moment Lucci began his assault until now, only about three seconds had passed. In those three seconds, the two had exchanged two rounds of incredibly intense offense and defense, leaving most of the spectators stunned.
Sengoku was the most bewildered of all.
"Did Sean eat a Devil Fruit?"
"I don't know; this is my first time seeing it too!" Zephyr shook his head. He genuinely didn't know.
"A lightning-type... could it be the Rumble-Rumble Fruit?"
"Probably not. If it were, Sean could have simply used elemental intangibility to let Lucci's attacks pass through him instead of blocking them."
"True. But even if it's not the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, it's definitely no ordinary Devil Fruit. After all, the lightning Sean used... was white!"
Sengoku searched his memory, trying to figure out which fruit in the Marine's records matched this ability. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to fit. The Marine's Devil Fruit encyclopedia was incomplete; many powerful fruits had long been hidden by the World Government and were never included in the records given to the Marines.
Moreover, as far as Sengoku knew, even the World Government's records were incomplete. There were many powerful fruits that seemed to actively evade the World Government, remaining undiscovered for eight hundred years. Even when they were briefly acquired, they were often lost due to various circumstances. The fruit Luffy had eaten was a perfect example.
Therefore, he simply assumed Sean had eaten an unrecorded Devil Fruit and didn't consider any other possibilities.
The Display of Power
Little did he know, Byakurai was among the most basic of the Hadō—perhaps even one of the simplest.
At the Shin'ō Academy in Bleach, Byakurai was a mandatory technique that every student had to learn during their basic Hadō training.
Sean had chosen this particular spell simply because he felt it would make the explanation easier later on. After all, if he were a lightning-type Devil Fruit user, white lightning would naturally be part of his repertoire, wouldn't it?
As for which specific fruit it was? Even Sengoku didn't know—so why should he pretend to? Since everyone was in the dark, it was better to maintain the mystery.
Otherwise, Sean would have gone straight for a Hadō spell numbered thirty or higher. While he couldn't utilize the high-tier spells yet, he had already completely mastered everything below number forty.
'''
On the field, Sean retracted Hekireki and pressed his right hand firmly against the ground. The posture bore a striking resemblance to Aokiji unleashing his "Ice Age."
Hundreds of meters away, atop the roof of an equipment storage room, someone lifted their eyepatch and gazed over.
"Hadō #11: Tsuzuri Raiden!"
'Sizzle...!'
Countless bolts of golden lightning surged from his palm, using the ground as a conductor to spread rapidly in all directions. In a mere instant, the entire combat zone was engulfed.