His attacks looked flashy, but they were actually completely useless.
Ian was not surprised by this at all.
Teacher Kai's physique was practically inhuman to begin with, and with the defensive boost of the Azure Dragon Fruit, even a round of Luffy's Gear Fourth beating could not break through his defenses.
His physical defense was even greater than Ian's.
Punches and kicks were utterly ineffective. Even the Winged Dragon Fruit's massive increase in strength changed nothing.
Since he could not use Haki at all right now, he could only rely on flames to deal some magical damage. Teacher Kai's defenses were more geared toward physical attacks and differed from Lunarian resistance. As long as one mastered advanced Haki, it was possible to break through his defenses.
But this damage was nothing more than a few superficial wounds.
It could barely even be called an injury.
"What a letdown."
Teacher Kai casually crushed the charred, battered sake gourd in his hand, then finally raised his spiked club. "But since there's no more booze, you two brats should be ready now, right?"
Ian took a deep breath. The most terrifying part was about to begin.
What came next was the main event of these daily lessons.
Yamato turned serious as well, raising her spiked club before her. "Bring it on! Dad! I won't be afraid!"
"Wororororo! Yamato! Then let me see whether you're really not afraid!"
Ian's eyes could not even react before Teacher Kai's massive body appeared in front of Yamato in an instant, his black spiked club tearing through the air.
Clang!
With a tremendous crash, Yamato cried out in pain and flew into the sky.
Ian's scalp went numb just watching.
Every time he saw this scene, it felt absurd.
Was this really something a father should do to his daughter?
"I..."
Yamato landed on the ground with blood pouring from her head, yet she still struggled to stand. "I won't... be afraid!"
Teacher Kai merely glanced at the girl.
Then he looked at Ian. "That girl can't stand anymore. Now it's your turn, brat."
Ian's expression sharpened. He immediately crossed his arms before his chest, his broad wings wrapping around his body from behind as flames blazed across him.
Before even the wind could react, Teacher Kai had appeared directly in front of Ian as if teleporting, his iron club raised high.
Too fast!
There was no chance of dodging!
Bang!
Like a baseball player hitting a perfect home run, Ian was sent flying with a dull impact from Teacher Kai's club.
He truly shot through the air like a baseball.
In fact, he really had turned into a ball.
A golden sphere.
Only, there was a face on its surface, making it look rather horrifying.
It hurts!!
The face on the sphere twisted.
In Ball Form, his defense was enough to rival Charlotte Linlin's Iron Balloon, but even that defense could not withstand Teacher Kai's iron club.
He had indeed not used Haki, but judging by that excited grin as he swung the club, he was absolutely serious.
The next second, the sphere cracked apart, and Ian transformed into a new form.
His body and limbs became thick and powerful, each of his limbs embedded with cracked eggshells like shields, while two larger eggshell fragments on his back became new wings.
He looked just like some kind of transforming warrior.
The Winged Dragon of Ra: Sphere Mode—Beastman Mode!
He had completely sacrificed mobility to raise his defense to its limit.
Ian fell downward and smashed heavily into the ground.
Above him, Teacher Kai, who had been pursuing him closely, dropped like a meteor. "Wororororo! Defense, evasion, resistance—if you want to survive, give it everything you've got, brat!!"
"Until I've had my fill!"
With a thunderous roar, the iron club came crashing down from the sky.
Ian brought his arms together, joining the eggshell shields on his arms into one solid shield, just like WarGreymon.
Boom!!
Thunder boomed through the sky as the earth shattered apart. Rocks blasted in every direction, and the ground was smashed into a gigantic crater, nearly punching through Onigashima's dome.
This hurts like hell!
At the bottom of the crater amid the smoke, Ian grimaced in agony.
His arms had definitely been fractured.
What kind of monstrous strength was that!
Even Moria's Haki-infused attacks had done absolutely nothing to Ball Form.
But aside from its defense, this form had another greatest feature.
His fractured arms were rapidly healing, and the pain was quickly fading.
Before he could even stand up, the smoke was blown away by the monster's roar. "Wororororo! Compared to Yamato, you're much more fun to beat up, brat!!"
The iron club came down again.
So this was supposed to be a lesson, right?
It was not just straightforward child abuse, right?
Once he finished learning, he should just run away.
Sky Island would be nice. The conflicts on the Blue Sea would hardly reach there.
Boom!!
The entire Onigashima trembled.
"Urgh!"
Ian groaned and became a cannonball once more, streaking through a graceful arc before smashing through several small rocky hills and finally landing with difficulty.
This time, it felt like every bone in his body was about to shatter.
Ian lay on his back, sucking in sharp breaths.
There was nothing else like this torment—constantly being injured, only to constantly heal again.
He was starting to understand Kaneki's pain.
"Ian!"
At that moment, a pair of small feet entered his field of vision.
Ian slightly turned his head and saw a bruised, swollen face.
It was Yamato.
She had gotten back up again.
"Hm?"
Teacher Kai, holding his iron club, raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I can still fight!"
Yamato shouted.
Before Ian could say anything.
Yamato was already charging toward Teacher Kai.
She limped forward, dragging her spiked club behind her, and declared loudly, "I'll become stronger than you, Father! Until then, no matter what happens, I will never admit defeat!"
"Wororororo!"
Teacher Kai only laughed. Ian could tell that he was happy.
The monster grinned excitedly and raised his spiked club high. "Then come and try!"
Without hesitation, the iron club swung.
Bang.
Before anyone could even say anything, it was Yamato's turn to become a cannonball.
Ian had just sat up when he saw Yamato crash down not far away.
This time, she truly could not get back up.
Did she think she had defense like his?
Still, Teacher Kai really was ruthless. He showed absolutely no mercy.
Ian swayed as he got to his feet.
Sure enough, it was still too early to face someone at Teacher Kai's level.
Just thinking about becoming his enemy was enough to make him lose the will to fight.
Ian looked up.
Heh, could they make peace?
Scarlet and golden flames erupted from his body at the same time. His body melted away until nothing remained but fire.
"Wororororo! Going all out? Then let's keep going, brat!"
The monster's laughter continued to echo.
A while later.
"It hurts."
Teacher Kai looked down at Ian, who lay motionless on the ground, rubbing the burn on his chest as he laughed loudly. "Wororororo! What an unreasonable move!"
In the blink of an eye, three years passed.
In Wano Country's capital, the city known as the Flower Capital.
"What is that?"
The residents of the Flower Capital saw a monster beyond anything they had witnessed in their lives.
It was a giant as tall as a mountain, with sharp teeth, a massive pair of horns atop his head, scarlet hair, and an enormous spiked club over his shoulder. From the waist up, he looked like a legendary evil spirit.
But his lower half was even more astonishing.
His lower body was red as well, built like that of a horse, and he actually had four legs!
A centaur!
A centaur-shaped evil spirit!
A gigantic evil spirit standing fifty or sixty meters tall!
Simply walking through the Flower Capital's streets made the entire district tremble faintly. The surrounding low homes did not even reach his calves, and wherever he passed, civilians fled in terror.
"Gao! Gao!"
The sensation of being feared made the giant very happy, and he let out strange laughter.
"So noisy, Fuga. Are we there yet, Ian?"
A white-haired little girl on top of the giant's head sat up and rubbed her eyes.
Beside her sat a little boy. He looked toward the huge tree at the end of the street ahead, as well as the castle built atop it, then yawned lazily.
"Looks like we're here. Fuga, head over there."
"Gao!"
The giant began to speed up.
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