A slash that cut deep into the bone.
In that instant, Bullet felt pain unlike anything he had ever known. The thick stench of blood flooded his nostrils. He had smelled that scent countless times before, yet never once had it shaken him so deeply.
Because the source of all the blood he had smelled before had been his enemies.
But today, the source of that scent was himself.
"Grah—"
The intense pain sent Bullet into a fury. With a thunderous roar, he clenched his right hand into a fist and viciously hammered it down at Tsugikuni Yoriichi before him.
He intended to kill this red-haired brat who had wounded him on the spot!
Bullet's attack came with overwhelming force, yet Yoriichi remained utterly calm in the face of it, swiftly pulling his blade free from Bullet's hand.
Not only did he show no intention of evading, he stepped forward with his right foot and shattered the ground beneath it. At the same time, he pointed the tip of his blade forward and thrust directly at the center of Bullet's fist.
Sun Breathing—Seventh Form—Solar Flare Thrust.
The fierce thrust, accompanied by crimson flames and thunder, shot forward. Its formidable force even whipped up violent gusts that rapidly spread in all directions.
The Haki-enhanced version of Sun Breathing greatly boosted one's physical abilities. Combined with Yoriichi's increasingly powerful Conqueror's Haki, this technique had undergone a qualitative leap in the world of the Pirate King.
"Buzz!!!"
Bullet's fist collided directly with the tip of Yoriichi's blade. Their Haki clashed, and a deep, muffled boom erupted from the point where fist met steel.
After only an instant of stalemate, a bloody hole appeared in the center of Bullet's fist. The long blade wrapped in Yoriichi's Conqueror's Haki had actually overwhelmed Bullet's Armament Haki,