"Since you've dared to provoke the Roger Pirates, don't even dream of getting away unscathed!"
Rayleigh grinned at the Marines as he spoke. Then he raised his longsword, its tip pointing directly at the enemy lines, and shouted:
"Charge! Crush them!"
As his voice echoed out, the pirates behind him roared and charged at the Navy with wild enthusiasm. But Rayleigh and Bullet did not rush in immediately. Instead, they stood to the side, poised, watching the flow of battle unfold.
"This one's mine!"
"Orahhh!!!"
Among them, the fastest to move was Oden. With Roger and Garp battling ferociously in the distance causing tremors across the battlefield, he knew full well there was no room for him to interfere there. Instead, his eyes locked onto a promising target much closer: the young Marine officer gripping a longsword, Bogard.
Even though Garp had confiscated and tossed Oden's weapons onto the battleship earlier, the samurai showed no intention of retrieving them. Spotting Bogard and sensing his strength, Oden charged forward barehanded.
In a blink, he was in front of Bogard. His fist, wrapped in Haki, swung fiercely toward the Marine's face. Bogard reacted quickly, raising his sword to block, but the sheer force of the blow still sent him flying, his body crashing brutally onto the icy ground.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni had observed Oden's every move in silence. When he saw Bogard sent flying, a strange excitement flickered in his eyes. He murmured softly to himself:
"Haki… Ryuo."
"So that's it… that's how Haki flows!"
"I understand now!"
He had captured the moment perfectly. In Yoriichi's Transparent World, he could see it all, see how the Haki wrapped around Oden's fist was flowing, not static!
Until now, he had never seen Haki used like this.
When Garp had fought him, perhaps out of caution or restraint, Garp had kept his Haki condensed and still, locked tightly around his fists. It never moved.
Kuzan was no different. His Haki wasn't particularly strong, and during battle, it too remained static, never flowing.
In Wano, however, Haki was known by another name: Ryuo. But the essence of it was the same, just the terminology differed.
The real difference lay in how it was used. Outside of Wano, most people simply condensed their Haki—either around a weapon or on a part of the body. But this method, while straightforward, couldn't bring out the true potential of Haki.
The samurai of Wano, on the other hand, had mastered a different method, one where the Haki, once condensed, flowed. This allowed them to amplify their power significantly, even to the point of striking without direct contact.
Yes, without even touching the enemy, they could deliver devastating blows.
In truth, ranged slashes, those flying sword strikes were simply the result of flowing Haki.
Yoriichi's own flying slash technique was developed using the principles of the Navy's Rokushiki, specifically the Rankyaku (Tempest Kick).
But in this world, true flying slashes, like Roger's divine move Kamusari, came from Haki itself.
Yoriichi had long known there were two fundamental forms of Armament Haki, but until now, he'd only understood them in theory. He'd never seen the flowing type in action.
He had experimented with it before, but to no avail. And because his progress in expanding the surface area of his Haki was advancing rapidly, he hadn't given the flowing aspect much thought. He'd focused purely on covering more ground, and had let that question slip away.
But earlier when he saw Roger and Garp trading shockwave-like blows from a distance, that idea returned to him:
Can Haki flow like that?
Unfortunately, their fight had been too fast, too intense. He hadn't been able to observe it clearly.
Then, his own full-force slash against Bullet had shaken him. The gap in power made his desire to learn the art of flowing Haki even more urgent.
And now, in this brief exchange between Oden and Bogard, Yoriichi had finally seen it clearly—seen the secret of flowing Haki laid bare.
Others, like Luffy in the future, would need to rely on instinct on feeling their way through it. They had to grasp something intangible, elusive, and then test that "feeling" in battle until they got it right.
But Yoriichi was different.
He could see it.
And he saw it all with perfect clarity.
As Bogard's body slammed into the ice, it bounced once and then he flipped backwards midair, landing steadily on his feet. His military boots scraped harshly across the frozen surface, skidding for dozens of meters before he finally came to a stop.
But Oden didn't spare a second for celebration. In one fluid motion, he struck down two nearby Marines, snatched their blades, and with a mighty push of his legs, he launched himself toward Bogard once more.
Though Bogard's Haki was respectable and his swordsmanship refined, it paled in comparison to Oden's sheer ferocity. Very quickly, Bogard found himself on the defensive, forced to parry blow after blow under Oden's relentless assault.
Elsewhere, the Roger Pirates surged into the fray. Scopper Gaban locked eyes with Kuzan, brandishing twin axes as he charged straight at the Marine admiral.
Meanwhile, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, Oden's loyal retainers raced to his side, flanking him protectively. Not that he needed it; Oden was dominating the field with overwhelming force.
By now, Elio and the others had also recovered and rejoined their comrades in clashing against the Navy forces.
Only one figure stood oddly untouched by the chaos, Yoriichi Tsugikuni. Not a single Roger Pirate approached him, perhaps because… he looked like a child?
Just as Yoriichi prepared to lend a hand to a nearby Marine struggling in battle, a shrill cry pierced the air. Without hesitation, Buggy lunged at him, short blade gleaming as he aimed a vicious stab at Yoriichi's chest.
Right behind him came Shanks.
These two apprentice pirates roughly Yoriichi's age had inexplicably chosen him as their target.
Compared to Buggy's reckless aggression, Shanks's attack was far more measured. He swung his sword toward Yoriichi's back—not to kill, but to disable, aiming only to take him out of the fight.
Yoriichi saw them both coming.
These two, destined to become Emperors of the Sea, were at this point no stronger than children with sticks. To Yoriichi, their movements were painfully slow—like turtles crawling in molasses. Their juvenile attacks might've troubled a young Blackbeard… but against him? Laughable.
He raised his long blade ever so slightly. A glint of frost shimmered in his eyes.
Since Shanks had shown mercy, Yoriichi decided to "help him bet his left arm on the new era" a little early. As for Buggy, who had meant to kill?
No mercy needed.
Flames erupted from Dawnbringer, Yoriichi's obsidian blade. The jet-black sword flared crimson in an instant, blazing like a dying sun. His expression turned solemn as he cloaked the weapon in Haki, then brought it down—aimed straight for Buggy's skull.
In the same breath, Yoriichi twisted his body, ready to turn and strike Shanks as soon as Buggy's head hit the ice.
"Oi, oi!"
"Such bloodlust in one so young!"
"Buggy, Shanks, you've picked the wrong opponent!"
Just as Yoriichi's blade was about to cleave Buggy's head from his shoulders, a flash of steel cut across the battlefield. Silvers Rayleigh, who had been standing by as a spectator, suddenly burst into action. He intercepted the strike mid-swing, his own blade catching Yoriichi's with barely a hair's breadth to spare, 0.01 centimeters from Buggy's neck.
Yoriichi's expression darkened, and he retracted his blade without hesitation. Spinning on his heel, he lashed out at the approaching Shanks whose strike was nearly upon him. If he didn't counter now, he would take a hit.
His counterattack was blindingly fast.
Rayleigh's eyes narrowed, he hadn't expected Yoriichi to bypass him, the obvious threat, and instead focus on Shanks.
Alarmed, Rayleigh reached for Yoriichi's collar, hoping to restrain him before the blow landed.
But Yoriichi moved first.
With a single leap, he soared above both Shanks and Rayleigh, flipping mid-air. Using that momentum, he swung his blazing crimson blade down at Rayleigh's exposed back.
Breath of the Sun, Fifth Form:Fire Wheel!
This time, Yoriichi's Haki didn't simply coat the blade—it flowed, coiling around it like a living stream. No longer just raw force, it had begun to move with intent.
The technique he had witnessed mere moments ago from Oden… he now executed flawlessly himself.
"A feint, the real target is me!"
"What calculation!"
"What dazzling swordplay!"
"But… still too young."
Rayleigh smiled faintly, exhaling through his nose. He turned his head just slightly, then spun around and reached up with his left hand. With only his thumb and index finger, he caught the edge of Yoriichi's blade.
Clang!
The metal rang like a bell.
Yoriichi's Haki-infused strike dispersed instantly, the deadly momentum vanishing as Rayleigh brought the attack to a dead stop.
With a flick of his wrist, Rayleigh hurled both the blade and Yoriichi across the ice.
Yoriichi hit the frozen ground hard, tumbling several times before sliding to a halt.
"Hmph… still not enough. The flowing Haki's too weak."
He slowly got back to his feet, gripping his blade, brow furrowed. He muttered to himself—but across the field, Rayleigh was looking at his own fingers, where two faint cuts had opened along his skin.
His gaze returned to Yoriichi, now not with wariness, but admiration.
*********
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