Above the East Sea,
Countless fragments of shattered islands hung suspended in the air. Trees and unknown beasts kept falling from the sky, howling as they tore through the air.
A tall, blond man stood before them, using a sword in place of a leg, a cigar dangling from his lips and a smile on his face.
By now, Shiki was covered in blood and barely breathing.
"So you're the villain known as the Azure Emperor?"
"The World Government put a bounty of a hundred billion on you. You're certainly stronger than this old man."
Shiki exhaled smoke and coughed up blood as he spoke.
Given Shiki's pride, the fact that he acknowledged his opponent showed just how powerful the man was.
"You're no pushover yourself, Shiki..."
"You just paid the price for losing your legs and your Haki."
Sarutobi Hiruzen was floating not far away.
He had fought Shiki, and the outcome had gone his way. In less than an hour, Shiki—nowhere near his former strength—had fallen to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Otherwise, I'd have had to work a little harder."
Sarutobi Hiruzen thought to himself. Shiki's Float-Float Fruit was every bit as powerful as the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. Had Shiki been in his prime, Sarutobi Hiruzen would have had to struggle for quite some time to defeat him.
But Shiki had lost both legs escaping from prison, and later a ship's rudder had been lodged in his head. It had affected his mind, and he had little Haki left.
By any reasonable measure, he was now weaker than an Admiral candidate.
"Heh..."
Shiki chuckled but said nothing. He understood what Sarutobi Hiruzen meant: needing to work harder didn't mean he couldn't have beaten him.
Shiki had never seen Sarutobi Hiruzen use the power of the More-More Fruit. He believed that in