The dust slowly dispersed.
A towering figure, suffocatingly imposing,
gradually appeared before Kawakami Bansai and Kijima Matako.
He stood over two meters tall, built like a mountain.
He wore a fitted black suit, with the white Coat of Justice symbolizing a Marine officer draped over his shoulders.
He merely stood there.
Yet the savage, predator-like aura radiating from him descended upon the entire battlefield like tangible pressure.
Many Kiheitai Samurai nearby felt that presence.
Their legs went weak involuntarily, their teeth chattered, and they could barely hold their swords.
He slowly raised his head, revealing a rugged, resolute face.
A deeply oppressive smile spread across his lips.
"Let me introduce myself."
"Major Debes, under Admiral Kizaru of the World Government's Marine Headquarters."
He paused, and his voice suddenly grew lower and more dangerous.
"And I am also a Zoan-type Bear-Bear Fruit user, in Black Bear Form."
As soon as he finished speaking,
a low, frenzied bear roar that no human throat could produce erupted.
Major Debes's body rapidly began undergoing a violent transformation under countless watchful eyes.
His muscles swelled and bulged wildly as though inflated.
His black suit stretched taut, nearly tearing apart.
The exposed skin of his body was swiftly covered in dense, glossy black fur.
His face thrust forward, his mouth and nose turning into a bear's snout, his fangs gleaming coldly.
Yet his eyes retained a human's sharpness and reason.
In an instant, a terrifying monster nearly five meters tall, combining an upright human stance with the features of a black bear, stood in the center of the scene.
The white Coat of Justice hung over his hill-like body.
It made him seem even more imposing and domineering.
"W-What is that?!"
Kijima Matako's pupils shrank as she instinctively stepped back half a pace.
"Devil Fruits really