Kitetsu Changes Again

On Gudora Island, deafening crashes echoed across the entire island as powerful gusts of wind blew the trees in every direction.

Elsewhere, Nami flew through the sky, sending down one Sea Cloud after another. Ain could only keep swinging her arms, batting the clouds away and making them disappear.

But Nami was flying in the sky, attacking with all her might, while Ain could only focus on defense.

As the battle wore on, Ain's disadvantage gradually became apparent.

Elsewhere, the battle between Lu Zhuo and Zephyr continued.

Zephyr, the teacher of the Marine Headquarters Admirals Kizaru, Akainu, and Aokiji, possessed strength that was truly astonishing.

He was nearly seventy, and could barely bring out half the strength he'd had in his prime. And with Lu Zhuo disrupting him verbally, he couldn't even bring out half of the strength he had left.

What was more, his Seastone mechanical arm had no effect on Lu Zhuo at all. Lu Zhuo was devoted to the way of the sword. Although he coveted many Devil Fruits, he couldn't get his hands on them in the first place. And if he ate a Devil Fruit, he might lose his sword heart—and his chance to advance to Great Swordsman.

Lu Zhuo would never do such a thing.

Moreover, Zephyr's massive mechanical arm made him extremely ungainly.

Under all these pressures, Zephyr could bring out no more than two-tenths of his strength at his peak!

Even so, Lu Zhuo still couldn't take him down easily. He remained locked in a hard-fought battle!

"Damn pirate, you can't compare to my battle experience!" Zephyr roared. His left arm was suddenly covered in Armament Haki, and he grabbed the Kitetsu in Lu Zhuo's hand. At the same time, his mechanical right arm swung a fierce punch at Lu Zhuo.

Lu Zhuo cursed inwardly, but wasn't worried. He released the Kitetsu and leaped backward, dodging the attack.

Although Zephyr had covered his left hand in Armament Haki, when he forcibly caught the Kitetsu, it still cut a gash in his hand, deep enough to expose the bone!

His mechanical arm clamped around the Kitetsu's hilt, and he pulled hard with both hands.

The Kitetsu bent until it formed a semicircle. But he couldn't damage it any further.

Lu Zhuo sneered, stepped forward, and immediately closed the distance. His right hand was covered in an invisible layer of Armament Haki as he struck toward Zephyr's chest.

Although Lu Zhuo's Kitetsu had already come infinitely close to being a Supreme Grade Sword, in essence, it was a divine weapon that surpassed even Supreme Grade Swords. Forget Zephyr—even Whitebeard and Garp couldn't have broken it by pulling against each other while holding it!

Looking at Lu Zhuo's fist, Zephyr sneered and didn't bother to dodge. A layer of pitch-black Armament Haki appeared over his chest.

When Haki at the second stage met Haki at the first stage, the former completely countered the latter. Even if Lu Zhuo landed his punch on Zephyr's chest, it wouldn't cause any harm.

But the next moment, Lu Zhuo suddenly sneered. His fist transformed into an open palm, which gently pressed against the Kitetsu's blade.

A chill immediately traveled from the Kitetsu in Zephyr's hand. A killing intent and resentment that filled him with terror instantly flooded his mind.

Zephyr cried out and released the Kitetsu, retreating dozens of meters in an instant.

Lu Zhuo took the Kitetsu back and sighed. "I'm the only one who can be your master. No one else is worthy of wielding you!"

As if sensing Lu Zhuo's will, the Kitetsu's blade gave a low hum.

Deep beneath Gudora Island, dozens of meters underground, a black Nidai Kitetsu trembled and struggled to burrow upward, as if a giant magnet outside were pulling it toward itself.

Elsewhere, Lu Zhuo looked at Zephyr, who was dozens of meters away, clutching his head and roaring in pain. He said coldly, "Goodbye. I'll send you on your way with my strongest move for now!"

He gently slid the Kitetsu into its sheath, then gripped the hilt with both hands. A sharp sword aura gathered around him, even undergoing a slight qualitative change and forming something like half a sword domain.

The Great Way was simplicity itself, yet infinitely complex.

The basics were the most fundamental swordsmanship, and thus brought one closer to the true essence of the sword!

Super—Divine Speed Draw Sword Strike!

It was as if time and space had frozen before this single strike. Lu Zhuo slowly drew his sword from its sheath, sending up tiny sparks.

The rest of the world was utterly quiet: Zephyr clutching his head and roaring, Luo watching tensely from afar, and Bepo shouting that they should run.

Everything seemed to have stopped.

No! It was because Lu Zhuo's sword... was too fast!

One strike shook the heavens and earth!

Only when the sword left its sheath did time in the world seem to return to normal. Yet Zephyr, in the distance, suddenly froze.

His eyes fixed on Lu Zhuo. Zephyr spoke. "Your... sword... was so fast!"

The next moment, four beams of sword light burst from his left arm, mechanical right arm, left leg, and right leg, instantly shredding all four limbs.

Another silent beam of sword light passed across his throat. Three more intersected in a triangle over his chest, converging at his heart.

One sword transformed into eight!

The light faded from Zephyr's eyes. His consciousness teetered on the brink of collapse.

"The Navy... The corrupt Navy probably won't be able to defeat this pirate..." The thought left its final trace in his mind, and his consciousness finally vanished completely.

After unleashing that strike, Lu Zhuo's face was pale. He slowly closed his eyes.

The next moment, he lightly swung the sword in his hand toward the ground ahead.

Silently, sixteen sword marks appeared on the earth.

At last, he had made further progress. Lu Zhuo opened his eyes and smiled faintly. Battle was the best way to improve one's swordsmanship. When facing a powerful opponent, unleashing one's strongest strike always revealed one's shortcomings—and in turn, pointed the way to an even stronger sword.

Suddenly, a black, T-shaped, floral-patterned Nidai Kitetsu flew in from the sky, while the Kitetsu in Lu Zhuo's hand also flew from his grasp!

The Nidai Kitetsu, drawn by the one in Lu Zhuo's hand, had finally burrowed its way up from deep underground!

Lu Zhuo was naturally overjoyed at the sight.

The two Kitetsu entwined and drew toward each other, slowly merging.

This step seemed no different from the previous times they had merged. Yet the clouds in the sky gradually began to change.

Lu Zhuo frowned and stared at the sky, which had suddenly darkened. He murmured, "This... can't be right. Nami can't be this powerful. Could it be a natural phenomenon?"

The sky had been clear, but suddenly clouds rolled in and darkened it. It even looked as if a storm might soon form.

Lu Zhuo couldn't believe this was normal.

The weather in the Grand Line might change frequently, but why had it stayed calm until the Kitetsu began to merge—and only changed once the fusion started?

Looking up at the sky, Lu Zhuo grew more and more solemn. A faint unease welled up in his heart.

At the same time, elsewhere, Ain's face suddenly filled with disbelief.

Trembling, she took a white card from her clothes and watched it burn in midair, turning to ash. Her spirit left her in an instant.

Nami's Sea Cloud instantly wrapped around her from head to toe, and she lost the ability to fight.

Nami drifted down to the ground and returned to human form. But she stared solemnly at the sky and murmured, "What's going on with this weather? I didn't gather any storm clouds!"

Elsewhere, Luo sat cross-legged, looking up at the sky with a puzzled expression.

"Whoa, Captain, a storm's coming! Hurry and find somewhere to hide!" Bepo stared at the sky and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Luo remained silent, still sitting quietly where he was.

At that moment, the two Kitetsu before Lu Zhuo finally fused completely.