Sea Kings

Seeing his strength grow filled Leiyin with a little more anticipation for the future.

According to the system, once his ninja rank reached Chunin (mid-level), he could draw his Bloodline Limit. When he reached Jōnin (mid-level), he could go to a sacred land to train and activate Sage Mode.

What would his Bloodline Limit be?

Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku? The Hyūga clan's Byakugan? Ranmaru's Red Eye? The Uchiha clan's Sharingan?

And where would he train in Sage Mode?

Mount Myōboku? Shikkotsu Forest? Or Ryūchi Cave?

He had no way of knowing, but just thinking about these things filled Leiyin with excitement.

However, for now, forget about a Bloodline Limit or Sage Mode—even the Rasengan still eluded him.

And so, Leiyin was instantly dragged back from his fantasies into reality.

He should focus on training properly first.

Leiyin walked toward that stretch of shallow sea again, gathered chakra in his feet, and stepped onto the water without hesitation.

The result was—

Success!

The experience he had accumulated from continuously training his chakra control over the past two days, combined with the cell activation caused by eating that Two-Tailed Saber-Toothed Lion, allowed Leiyin to stand proudly atop the surface of the sea!

Leiyin cautiously walked across the water. Apart from the faint ripples spreading beneath his feet, he found that walking on the sea was no different from walking on land.

Secretly delighted, Leiyin happily ran several nautical miles away in one go.

When he returned steadily to land, it meant that he had gained fairly good control over his chakra.

Being able to walk freely on the sea was practically an unattainable dream for the vast majority of Devil Fruit users in this world.

Leiyin could do it, which was enough to prove that he possessed the capital to look down upon the world.

Marineford, Navy Headquarters; Holy Land Mary Geoise; the Grand Line; the New World—

The Three Admirals, the Four Emperors, the Five Elders, the Shichibukai—

This world, here I come.

Set sail!

The ship traveled across the sea for about three days. Then, Leiyin saw the hazy outlines of three islands in the distance.

Anyone traveling by ship, whether navy or pirate, would take a brief rest upon reaching an island in order to replenish the food and fresh water supplies that had gradually run low aboard their vessel.

We should rest on this island for a while. Just as he thought this, a whirlpool nearly eight meters in diameter suddenly appeared in the sea ahead of Leiyin. Then, a Sea Beast emerged from it.

It had a gigantic lizard's head, black-and-white patterns covering its body, a mouth filled with neat, razor-sharp teeth, and a row of fins along its back. It was roughly twelve or thirteen meters long.

Based on Leiyin's memories of the pirate anime, this should be a type of Sea King. However, judging from its size, it was probably a juvenile Sea King.

If it were an adult, who knew how many times larger it would be? It would have rammed Leiyin's ship over long ago.

Weren't Sea Kings supposed to live in the Calm Belt? How had one appeared here?

Most Sea King nests were in the Calm Belt. They could also be found in other seas, but they were relatively uncommon.

As the saying went, The heavens were unpredictable, and people were vulnerable to misfortune. In less than a week, Leiyin had encountered both good and bad luck. First, he had eaten lion meat that activated his cells on an unnamed island. Then, he had encountered a juvenile Sea King on the peaceful surface of the East Blue.

Those odds were good enough to buy a lottery ticket.

While Leiyin was making this chaotic mental complaint, the colossal creature opened its bloody maw and lunged at him.

Seeing it open its mouth, he retreated to the stern in one motion. The massive creature then bit down on the entire front half of the ship.

Leiyin's ship was forcibly snapped in two.

In truth, Sea Kings' combat power was not as formidable as one might imagine. Their huge bodies were simply impossible for ordinary people to deal with. It was like seeing a tiger: ordinary people would be so frightened that they trembled all over, while those with genuine strength would merely laugh it off.

That was why Leiyin had not taken this Sea King seriously when he first encountered it. He had not expected the creature to lunge forward and bite him without warning.

"You damn bastard! How dare you wreck my ship like this!" In his fury, the lightning around Leiyin's body began to crackle.

Lightning Release—Chidoryū!

His entire body was once again covered in lightning, which struck the creature mercilessly. The instant it came into contact with Leiyin's body, the Sea King began convulsing from the electricity. With seawater all around it, it was soon scorched black.

Under the fierce lightning attack, the charred Sea King gradually sank into the sea.

Leiyin was not doing much better. The half of the ship still above the surface slowly sank, and it looked as though he would be dragged into the sea as well.

But—

Leiyin's feet remained firmly planted on the surface of the sea.

His training had not been for nothing.

Without a ship, Leiyin stood on the sea and ran toward the island. If anyone had seen him, they would certainly have called him an unparalleled master. After all, this was the legendary martial art known as light-footedness over water.

After running several nautical miles, he finally reached one of the three islands he had seen from the ship. The moment he landed, Leiyin began asking around for any pirates with bounties on their heads.

Leiyin was now a pirate hunter, and given his current circumstances, he needed a large amount of money to increase his strength.

However, Leiyin's actions were undoubtedly taken for those around him as proof that he was insane.

Who would go around asking about wanted criminals for no reason? People normally went out of their way to avoid them. Wasn't anyone who did this simply out of their mind, with nothing better to do?

In any world, civilians made up the majority of the population. The fierce battles between people using superpowers that appeared in anime only involved a small number of powerful experts in the world. Otherwise, there would not be so many ignorant fools boasting "I'm the boss" or "I'm the great one" after receiving bounties of only a few million, or after gaining a little strength.

In this world, pirates were mostly synonymous with vicious criminals. A pirate crew like Luffy's, if given a precise definition, should be called a group of adventurers.

Therefore, when ordinary people spoke of pirates, they reacted as though they were discussing tigers and dared not even mention them.

Yet Leiyin was making a grand show of searching for pirates. In the eyes of ordinary people, what else could he be but insane?

Especially when he asked a young girl, who gave Leiyin no pleasant response at all. She planted both hands on her slim waist and said, "Where did you come from, you idiot? Don't you know your own limits? You just got here and you're already asking about pirates?"

The girl's voice was clear and pleasant, but the words she spoke were harsh and grating.

Hearing this, Leiyin helplessly shook his head. There was no point arguing with a woman.

Leiyin continued asking around shamelessly. His persistence paid off, and he learned that there really were pirates nearby. Their combined bounties amounted to fifteen million.