Life Return: Pseudo Elementalization

"Shigan 'Q'!"

Form a circle with your index finger and thumb, then strike the staff at high speed from within the circle. Even though the staff has no sharp point at the end, it easily pierces through a rock wall several centimeters thick, creating a smooth, round hole! However:

Swish, swish, swish—

Without exception, the staffs all missed their mark, leaving only a row of terrifying holes in the walls and the ground!

Exhausted, Roman dared not create paper indiscriminately and could only fight using his 'body'. Even so, there was not a trace of fear on his face. Because under his full-force Kami-e, he had transformed from a three-dimensional being into a two-dimensional one. Coupled with his twin swords circling around him, he dodged or blocked the opponent's attacks and remained unscathed since the start of the battle.

The two tumbled and rolled as they fought their way into a room in the Justice Tower. As they dodged and weaved, no matter how terrifying the power of the opponent's staff was, it couldn't harm Roman in the slightest.

"As expected, you should be considered the fourth strongest member of CP9."

The first one is undoubtedly Rob Lucci, while Kaku (long nose) has a slightly higher Doriki level, but he has only just eaten the Giraffe-Giraffe Fruit, so his strength should not be as strong as Jabura's.

Fourth, without a doubt, is the Lion Kanshō, Kujiri, who has mastered the "Life Return" technique. Just the fact that he's now transformed his full head of white hair into a dozen arms to attack in unison, coupled with his mastery of the "Six Powers," makes him incredibly difficult to deal with. No wonder he was such a formidable opponent in the original story, requiring Chopper to consume three Rumble Ball to transform into a monster and finally defeat him.

But this is not a problem for the very agile Roman.

"It's already rare for an ordinary person to be able to use their mind in two ways. Even if you can master 'Life Return,' you can only control your hair and arms to fire 'Shigan' in straight lines at most."

While such a straight-line attack might be difficult for others to dodge, it's completely ineffective against Roman, who possesses the skill of 'Kami-e' —or rather, 'paper doll'.

A true powerhouse would be someone who could control their hair to form six arms like Onigumo in the Headquarters Vice Admiral, and wield a sword with agility while simultaneously channeling Haki.

"Hmph, he's just a guy who relies on Devil Fruit to hide and run away!"

Roman chuckled at the Lion Kanshō's defiant words.

"Since you insist on a head-on confrontation, then be careful—"

The dodging figure paused, Roman directly clasped the longswords in his hands together, transforming them into an Eight-sided Han Sword.

The sword flashed, and a murderous aura surged! At the same time, an invincible aura enveloped the longsword, making it no less sharp than an ordinary Great Grade Swords.

Armament Haki Hardening!

In an instant, sword energy crisscrossed, and golden light flashed continuously. Roman's longsword moved in all directions, drawing out waves of sword energy!

At the same time, his feet moved with exquisite footwork, sometimes heavy and sometimes light. Sometimes his steps felt like a thousand pounds, each step leaving a mark; other times they were as light as a feather, flying without any effort. When he landed, he would swing his sword to attack, and when he rode the wind, he would dash and dodge!

Roman swiftly circled the Lion Kanshō about the room like a butterfly flitting among flowers. However, unlike a butterfly that is merely beautiful, the white hair falling amidst the golden sword energy undoubtedly indicated the direction in which the scales of victory were tipping.

"A swordsman?!"

Faced with the Lion Kanshō expression, Roman simply 'flew' backward lightly, dodging the lion's counterattack with its staff.

"Not really—after all, I'm not someone who simply uses swords."

In this world, after swordsmen and knivesmen can Iron Cutting, the next level is to unleash sword energy. Although Roman can also do this using Armament Haki, he has never considered himself a swordsman.

After all, he wasn't someone who was 'extreme in heart and extreme in sword'. For Roman, whatever kind of power it was, as long as it brought victory, that was enough.

Combined with 'Kami-e', it unleashed Devil Fruit greater than the sum of its parts, coupled with the swordsman's strength... and the opponent's apparent familiarity with the Six Powers, even the Life Return...

In an instant, the Lion Kanshō's face darkened.

"You've wavered,"

"Actually, if it weren't for Robin's situation, I wouldn't mind being friends with you."

This is the truth!

Because Roman knew very well that, strictly speaking, these CP9 assassins were all 'good people,' and their lives could be described as 'pure as a mirror, their actions as righteous.' —Unfortunately, they had a superior filled with selfish desires, and:

This time, they stood on the opposite side of the Straw Hat crew.

"How about it? I'll think about it. I just want to exchange some information with you."

Roman spread his hands. "I can even exchange some information that's important to you, because I don't really like using overly bloody and dark methods these days—"

"Enough with the nonsense! Evil creatures only deserve to die in the mouth of lions!"

The white hair began to grow again, and this time it was endless, extending for more than ten meters from the Lion Kanshō! The long white hair spread out like tentacles and waves, filling more than half of the room that could accommodate hundreds of people.

"Life Return: Winter's Lament!"

As the increasingly emaciated Lion Kanshō a sound like that of a Noh play, Roman was suddenly confronted by a dense mass of long, hairy tentacles! They swept in like living creatures, filling the sky and flying everywhere, as if there was nowhere to hide.

Roman immediately retreated, simultaneously slashing out with his longsword, cutting off clumps of hair that fell to the ground! However, the opponent seemed to have eaten a 'hair fruit' and frantically encouraged the growth of hair, enveloping the entire room. It seemed that the opponent was determined to trap Roman by sheer numbers.

"Hmph, I don't believe your stamina is limitless—"

Brush,

?

Just as Roman was about to exit the room through the large hole the two had just created, he was suddenly jolted from behind and bumped into something soft:

On the hair!

"Yo yo yi, Life Return: Chun Yong Sheng!"

That was none other than the hair that Roman had previously severed, which had somehow crept up the large hole in the wall like tentacles, intertwining and forming a large net. —Although Roman could decipher this in a second, however:

"You don't have a single second left!"

Taking advantage of Roman's momentary lapse in concentration, hair from all over the room suddenly swirled around him, dancing like willow catkins in the wind; spiderwebs formed countless strands, creating a tangled mess! In an instant, it wrapped around Roman's hands and feet.

"Life Return: Liu Yongqing!"

First, he bound his opponent with his long hair, then suddenly thrust out the Lion Kanshō staff with terrifying speed, even igniting it! He used the metal staff, still ablaze, to unleash "Shigan Q" and attack Roman's chest.

Pfft!

The staff pierced through his chest, but it was the Lion Kanshō changed his expression drastically.

"Sigh, I didn't want it to be like this either."

Roman looked helplessly at the CP9 assassin who was bound all over but trembling slightly.

Because on his chest, as sheets of white paper fluttered and scattered, a large hole was deliberately created.

"Elementalization?"

Faced with the Lion Kanshō's desperate expression, Roman completely disintegrated into a flurry of white paper amidst a rustling sound. Then:

"To be precise," a voice appeared behind the Lion Kanshō, and at the same time a longsword was pressed against his neck, causing him to instinctively use:

"Tekkai!"

Puff!

However, the flying blood proved that a simple Tekkai could not withstand a longsword hardened by Armament Haki.

Without Armament Haki, the Lion Kanshō, had no chance of winning against Roman, who could ' Elementalization. Although this was only—

"It's just Pseudo Elementalization."

Unlike the Elementalization of Logia that can automatically dodge attacks without requiring the user's reaction, Roman's transformation, which requires splitting his body in advance to avoid attacks, can only be accurately described as 'Pseudo Elementalization'.

Regardless, an opponent who can be 'invincible' in battle at will is incredibly monstrous. The best proof is the missed ultimate move and the Lion Kanshō its neck.

"It truly lives up to its name as 'Life Return'."

Despite being fatally stabbed in the neck by Roman's sword, the wound miraculously began to stop bleeding and scab over very quickly as the muscles in the opponent's neck twitched.

Great ability! So—

"Come on, tell me the training method for 'Life Return'."

"Tell me, and I'll spare your life."

P. S.: In my current setup, only Lucci possesses Two-Color Haki; the others only have Observation Haki. Yeah, that's it~~~~