Akainu was practically going mad.
Elementalization consumed a tremendous amount of stamina.
In the original story, when Smoker fought Bamboo Demon, Bamboo Demon had mentioned this as well.
Moreover, while his body was elementalized, his senses were not as sharp as usual.
Having felt the immense energy and bone-piercing cold contained within the snowflakes, Akainu had no desire to test them further.
He had a feeling that that damned Bounty Hunter was playing a game of cat and mouse with him, toying with him outright.
Even as he fled in disgrace, Akainu was secretly astonished.
When he had first read Smoker's report, he had not taken the so-called Akatsuki leader, Uchiha Mai, seriously at all. Pirates from a place like East Blue were absurdly weak. Even if the other man had defeated Hawk-Eye Mihawk, Sakazuki still did not think Uchiha Mai was particularly powerful. He had always looked down on pirates and disliked the Seven Warlords even more.
In his opinion, the Seven Warlords were pirates too. They might as well all be sent to Impel Down together.
But after today's clash, he finally understood why Hawk-Eye Mihawk had been defeated in a single move.
Uchiha Mai's strength was far too terrifying. Although he did not know what method the other man had used to display an ability similar to Aokiji's, seeing Uchiha Mai unleash two large-scale techniques in succession and still look completely at ease told him that his opponent had not been serious at all.
Though he had tried his hardest to evade, he could not avoid being touched by the snowflakes. After all, he could not remain elementalized forever.
A bone-chilling cold seeped in through his skin. What frightened Akainu even more was that after he elementalized himself again, the frozen portions of his skin failed to