The End

"Vmm!!!"

An unusually muffled sound.

"Gah!!"

Xiluo let out a shrill scream.

Behind him, an invisible shockwave converged into a pillar of air that stretched far into the distance. The hair binding him exploded in an instant, and a huge hole was torn through the front and back of his clothes. Blood gushed out.

"Huff, huff, huff."

Freed from the hair's restraint, Xiluo returned to human form and slid limply to the ground. Louis's legs gave way. He unconsciously stumbled back two steps, his body trembling nonstop. Rokuogan—he had concentrated all his strength into a single explosive shockwave. Louis was spent.

"Huff, huff... What kind of move was that, meow?"

Xiluo struggled to lift his head. His eyes had completely lost focus. "I really... can't get back up after just one hit, meow."

His internal organs had been badly injured. Right now, even breathing was extremely difficult. Even with the support of his Zoan Devil Fruit ability, he couldn't take any more.

"Six Powers... huff..."

Louis gasped for air. "Secret technique: Rokuogan."

"Secret technique?"

Xiluo's head dropped to the ground. He couldn't move anymore. "You..."

"That was close."

Panting heavily, Louis finally recovered some of his strength. He looked at his right arm. The blood still hadn't dried. Although Life Return had forced the muscles and skin around the enormous wound to close, and it was no longer a serious problem, the depth of the wound was still enough to make anyone shudder. Louis spoke. "Xiluo, that was close."

There was no denying it: Xiluo's reaction speed was astonishing. When his last attack once again failed to hit Louis's body, he made an incredibly nimble turn with his left hand and grabbed Louis's right arm.

"What was that?"

Xiluo asked with difficulty. "I thought I could cut your arm off, meow."

"Guess."

Xiluo's claws were unbelievably sharp. Using Finger Pistol and Rankyaku at the same time, he could tear through steel with ease. Louis couldn't use Kami-e to dodge while using Rokuogan, so he could only rely on Tekkai to defend himself. But that wasn't enough. It still wasn't enough. Louis understood that Xiluo's Doriki Value was overwhelmingly higher than his own, and his Tekkai definitely couldn't hold up.

Xiluo had thought the same thing. But he'd noticed something on Louis's arm: something tough that had greatly hindered his attack.

Xiluo didn't know what it was, but Louis did. He had made it himself: a thick callus, or rather, a layer of keratin. Once he could control his skin, he could do something like this, too.

"Well then, Xiluo..."

Louis took a step forward, his hair beginning to flutter.

"I give up."

Xiluo's voice held a hint of amusement.

"Tch."

Louis clicked his tongue and left the arena.

"The winner..."

The Instructor's expression was utterly astonished. "Louis!!"

"He really won?"

"You've got to be kidding! His opponent was Xiluo, a Zoan Devil Fruit user—a monster who's every bit as strong as one!"

"Xiluo's a monster. Does that mean Louis isn't?"

"Exactly. Louis is unbelievably strong, too. His Doriki Value is nowhere near Xiluo's, but his Six Powers techniques are just too powerful! Xiluo couldn't even touch him because of his Kami-e, and then one strike of Rokuogan knocked Xiluo down. His victory was only natural!"

"But how did he get his severed hair moving? If he couldn't restrain Xiluo, there was no way he could land that last hit!"

"Could it be... Life Return?"

It really was Life Return.

What was the essence of Life Return? Pouring consciousness into the body.

Then what was consciousness? Louis had started thinking about this as soon as he learned to control his hair.

According to the theories of his previous life, it was probably something like brain waves. Reading brain waves could indeed make mind reading possible. So Life Return was probably a result of powerful brain waves permeating the body, forcibly connecting parts without nerves and making them controllable.

Take hair, for example. It had no nerves and no sensation of its own. But after using Life Return, Louis's hair could feel things and be controlled. Yet there were still no nerves connecting his hair to his body. It was his brain waves—in other words, his consciousness—that controlled it remotely.

So why couldn't he control hair that had been cut off?

Louis had only discovered this after cutting off the bloodstained hair following his last fight with Stuart. Even after separating from his body, the hair could still sense things. Some trace of his consciousness remained in it. Louis realized that he seemed to have opened the door to a whole new world.

Remote control of something separated from his body was only the simple part. What Louis cared more about was that a trace of his consciousness remained in the severed hair. That was even more interesting.

After defeating Xiluo, Louis's battles in this training camp were over. He had defeated, one after another, the finest trainees of this year. Without a doubt, he was the strongest of the entire class.

The battles that followed were nothing worth mentioning. The only real highlight was Xiluo, whom Louis had soundly beaten, fully displaying the ferocity of a Zoan Devil Fruit user. Despite his serious injuries, he sent his opponent flying with a Rankyaku unleashed with all his strength and won the fight. He immediately passed out afterward and couldn't get back up. That man had a lot of guts.

The final test was over. The yearlong CP9 training had come to an end. Of the nineteen trainees who had taken part, only seven had made it through this final test. They would face one last graduation exam, and only after passing it would they have a chance to join CP9.

Xiluo recovered quickly. The monstrous physique of a Zoan user was on full display; by the next day, he could get out of bed and chat and laugh with Louis.

"You're unbelievably strong, meow."

Xiluo wasn't wrapped in bandages. That was only natural: he didn't have a single external wound. Louis was the one in bandages. Life Return had kept the wound on his arm under control, but he still hadn't reached the point where he could directly heal his injuries.

"I thought I was sure to win, meow."

Xiluo didn't seem too depressed. "But next time, you won't be so lucky, meow. This time, I lost because I didn't know what your move was."

"As long as you're happy."

Xiluo wasn't wrong. If he'd known Louis as well as Louis knew himself, the outcome wouldn't have been so easy to decide. How could an attack as slow as Rokuogan hit someone as unbelievably fast as Xiluo?

"Not joining CP0 really was a good choice, meow."

Xiluo smiled. Louis thought his smile looked more genuine than ever before. "I don't have to worry about the Celestial Dragons, and I got to meet someone like you, Brother Louis. It's wonderful, meow."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. I've always wanted an opponent, meow, but I could never find one. Then I saw you in the files. Wow, a genius, meow! This is the guy I've been looking for, I told myself, meow."

Xiluo beamed.

"Your world is a little too small, then."

Louis shook his head. There were far too many monsters in this world.

"The graduation exam is next, Brother Louis. You'd better be careful, meow. You're not like me. At least my old man is a high-ranking member of the CP series. But you, hehe..."

Xiluo chuckled gleefully. "This is the perfect chance for someone to stab you in the back, meow."

"Is that so?"