No bubbles rose from the ruins, and Lin Ye knew the real Orochi was not dead.
Through Observation Haki, he sensed that his blade was lodged in Kurozumi Orochi's back of the head, having pierced through his skull and emerged from his left eye socket.
This guy was reviving.
Or rather, the Yamata no Orochi Fruit's ability was activating.
Lin Ye flashed to the side of the Kurozumi Orochi that Kurozumi Higurashi had transformed into.
A ring of sword light swept past, killing the samurai and ninja guarding her.
The fake Kurozumi Orochi, who had been pointing at Kozuki Oden and shouting abuse, was startled. He slowly turned to look at Lin Ye standing behind him.
Lin Ye smiled, his gleaming white teeth flashing.
"You can't kill him!"
Kozuki Oden's voice rang out as two slashes flew toward Lin Ye.
Lin Ye did not move. He raised a hand, grabbed the Kurozumi Orochi before him, and used him as a shield.
Pfft! Pfft!
The sound of slashes cutting through flesh rang out.
Pfft!
A cloud of white smoke rose from Lin Ye's hand.
The Kurozumi Orochi he held, having been cut, turned into an ugly old woman. Two enormous wounds nearly split her into three pieces.
Lin Ye disdainfully tossed her aside.
Kozuki Oden stood there in a daze, gripping his two blades as he looked at the person Lin Ye had thrown down.
"You have chosen death!"
Lin Ye raised the Black Blade in his right hand and pointed it at Kozuki Oden.
(From now on, they will all be called blades. Although One Piece distinguishes between swords and blades, blades are generally used more often, and calling them swords feels a little strange.)
Powerful Armament Haki wrapped around the blade. The weapon, which had already been close to becoming a Black Blade, completely turned a deep black.
Terrifying killing intent surged from Lin Ye's body.
Kozuki Oden, still stunned from cutting the wrong person, abruptly looked at Lin Ye.
Such terrifying killing intent.
Just how many people had this guy killed to accumulate such murderous intent?
Killing intent rose from Lin Ye's body like black flames.
A dreadful pressure filled the hearts of everyone present.
A pirate nearby struggled to pull out a Den Den Mushi.
Under the intimidation of Lin Ye's terrifying killing intent, even the Den Den Mushi was nearly fainting.
The pirate who took out the Den Den Mushi contacted Onigashima and reported what had happened here.
In the plaza, Lin Ye pointed his Black Blade at Kozuki Oden.
Kozuki Oden watched him warily, crossing the Twenty-One Great Grade Blades Ame no Habakiri and Enma before him in a defensive stance.
Behind Kozuki Oden, on the street at the edge of the plaza, Kin'emon peeked toward the plaza with Kozuki Momonosuke.
"Kin'emon, can Father win?"
"Our lord will definitely win!"
Hearing that, Kin'emon sighed, then nodded with a resolute tone.
Kozuki Momonosuke's face lit up with joy.
In the plaza.
"Just how many people have you killed?"
Kozuki Oden's expression turned grave as he stared at Lin Ye and asked.
"How many? I never counted, but I've personally killed at least several thousand."
Lin Ye's tone was calm.
Several thousand!
Kozuki Oden swallowed.
"Do you know? A year ago, in Loguetown, I personally watched the Pirate King Gol D. Roger be executed."
Lin Ye looked at Kozuki Oden and brought up Roger.
"Roger!"
Hearing that name, Kozuki Oden's gaze grew somewhat distant as he softly repeated it.
"Then... Divine Departure!"
A red glint flashed through Lin Ye's eyes. His figure suddenly appeared before Kozuki Oden, and his blade, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki, sliced through distorted air as it came down at Kozuki Oden head-on.
"Impossible!"
The instant he saw that strike, Kozuki Oden felt as though it were Roger himself who had swung it.
The force, the presence, even the direction—it was all as though Roger had made the attack.
Boom!
The blade wrapped in Two-Color Haki struck Kozuki Oden's crossed blades.
Boom!
Just as before, Kozuki Oden was sent flying by a single strike, hurtling down the street toward the other end.
But while he was flying backward, Kozuki Oden saw Kin'emon and Kozuki Shin'nosuke standing by the roadside.
Terror flashed through his eyes.
Then Kozuki Oden watched helplessly as the Flying Slash that had sent him flying passed through the two of them.
Blood sprayed.
"No!"
The force in Kozuki Oden's two blades, which he had been desperately holding before himself, faltered.
Splurt!
A bloody slash appeared across Kozuki Oden's chest.
Amid a spray of blood, his entire body was sent flying out of the Flower Capital.
Lin Ye sheathed his blade and looked at Kozuki Oden, who had been sent flying, at the small half of the Flower Capital destroyed by that strike, and at the transparent bubbles surging toward him.
As well as the two little bugs he had casually crushed to death.
Kozuki Oden had not died, but he had been severely injured by that strike.
Lin Ye did not pursue him. Instead, he turned toward the ruins where Kurozumi Orochi was.
A dark aura seeped from the ruins.
Kurozumi Orochi was using his Fruit ability to revive.
Lin Ye walked over and watched the ruins shift. Then a strange giant serpent head emerged from the rubble.
One, two, three.
In just a few moments, seven serpent heads emerged, overturning the rubble that had covered them.
One of the heads had one eye shut.
Its other eye had been pierced through by a blade.
The seven serpent heads panted heavily, seemingly not yet recovered from the terror of death.
When Lin Ye raised his blade again, Kurozumi Orochi, who had yet to understand the situation, finally came to his senses. His Beastification form rapidly shrank.
The Fine Grade Blade Yingxue fell to the ground with a soft clink.
"You can't kill me! Kaido and I are allies! If you kill me, Kaido won't let you off!"
Kurozumi Orochi retreated again and again in terror, but stumbled backward over the rubble beneath his feet. After falling, he braced his hands against the ground and desperately tried to get away from Lin Ye.
Hearing this, Lin Ye lowered his raised blade.
Seeing that, Kurozumi Orochi's terrified eyes lit up.
"If you join me, I..."
Kurozumi Orochi's eyes shifted as he tried to promise Lin Ye benefits. Lin Ye stepped forward, reached Yingxue, and moved his foot.
The Fine Grade Blade Yingxue, which had fallen to the ground, was kicked.
Whoosh!
Yingxue shot out, piercing straight through Kurozumi Orochi's chest and pinning him to the stone slab behind him.
Blood flowed from Kurozumi Orochi's mouth. His body struggled futilely as he opened his mouth to say something, but Yingxue had pierced his lung. Every time he opened his mouth, only blood came out.
Lin Ye calmly watched Kurozumi Orochi struggle. Through Observation Haki, he had already sensed an aura outside the Flower Capital, erupting like a volcano.
Kozuki Oden!
He was enraged by the deaths of his son and subordinate.
So he wasn't completely unresponsive after all!
Lin Ye turned around and looked toward that aura approaching like a ferocious beast.
The ground trembled violently. The beast-like aura was chaotic and disorderly, clearly overwhelmed by rage.
Boom!
With an explosive crash, the ground jolted violently. In the distance, a figure leaped high into the air, Two-Color Haki wrapped around the two blades in his hands as he descended upon Lin Ye trailing a long plume of smoke.
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