Watching Kozuki Oden dive down from the sky, his eyes bloodshot and his expression frenzied, Lin Ye held his swords at his sides with both hands. Vast amounts of Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki coiled around their blades.
The Haki on the blades was so dense that it seemed to form black whirlpools.
Mighty Arms!
The arm holding Lin Ye's sword suddenly swelled by a full size. He then drew the blade back and slashed diagonally upward with the Haki-coated sword.
Boom!
A violent slash crackling with black lightning shot into the sky.
Kozuki Oden's nearly four-meter-tall figure, charging down in a frenzy, was sent flying by the slash. The Flying Slash shot straight into the heavens.
As the slash passed through them, the clouds overhead shuddered violently before exploding and scattering into nothingness.
Lin Ye looked toward Kozuki Oden, who had been blasted backward into the houses of the Flower Capital and vanished from sight.
Now he knows how to get angry.
With Kozuki Momonosuke dead, Kozuki Oden's state had clearly changed.
However, Kozuki Oden's strength was somewhat beyond Lin Ye's expectations.
Not because he was stronger than expected, but because he was weaker.
Before his panel had updated, Lin Ye might have found fighting Kozuki Oden somewhat difficult.
But now, he did not feel much pressure from him at all.
Admittedly, Kozuki Oden was the strongest opponent he had encountered in the past year, considerably stronger than Moria.
But dealing with Kozuki Oden now was not difficult for him.
I must have gotten something wrong somewhere!
Lin Ye planted the sword in his hand into the stone paving beside him, turned, and walked back to Kurozumi Orochi, whose body had been pierced through. He pulled Yingxue from Kurozumi Orochi's chest.
Kurozumi Orochi slid to the ground, his body twitching once as black energy surged from him again and spread outward.
The black energy churned, and within it writhed the shadow of a six-headed serpent.
Then, under Lin Ye's gaze, the shadow abruptly shrank, and the black energy receded once more.
Kurozumi Orochi's body appeared again, the wound piercing his chest already gone.
However, Kurozumi Orochi clearly remembered what had just happened.
The moment he saw Lin Ye standing there with his sword, his face cold and stern, cold sweat covered his entire body.
"Spare me. I'll do anything you want."
Kurozumi Orochi's eyes were filled with terror and pleading.
Before absolute strength, every scheme was utterly useless.
The fear of death left Kurozumi Orochi with no choice but to beg for mercy.
The sensation of dying twice in rapid succession had terrified him beyond measure.
"Ah!"
With a furious roar, a figure smashed through more than a dozen houses. Wielding two Haki-coated swords, he charged toward Lin Ye, stomping across the ground.
Two enormous diagonal wounds crossed Kozuki Oden's chest. His internal organs were faintly visible, and his clothes had been completely soaked crimson with blood.
Yet he seemed utterly unaware of it, charging at Lin Ye with bloodshot eyes.
Lin Ye turned his head to look at the charging Kozuki Oden, reversed Yingxue in his hand, and set it against Kurozumi Orochi's neck.
"Stop!"
The two words left Lin Ye's mouth.
Kozuki Oden, who had been charging forward with bloodshot eyes, abruptly stopped and stared fixedly at Lin Ye.
"Bastard, didn't you hear him tell you to stop? If you dare come any closer, I'll have everyone in Wano Country killed!"
Feeling the sharp blade cut into his neck, Kurozumi Orochi screamed furiously.
Kozuki Oden panted heavily, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Lin Ye.
"Why? Why did you kill him?"
Kozuki Oden's eyes were full of pain.
"Heh!"
Lin Ye examined Kozuki Oden with narrowed eyes.
"You seem to have forgotten that when we first met, I told you that once you intended to act, we became enemies.
Your family, your friends, your brothers, and even your people are all my enemies."
Lin Ye spoke in an indifferent tone.
"But he was still a child!"
Kozuki Oden gritted his teeth, glaring at Lin Ye.
"An enemy!"
Lin Ye's tone remained unchanged.
"An enemy must die. Likewise, I am your enemy now. You can kill me too, if you can manage it."
"Bastard, you can't make a move! Let this lord kill you!"
The pain in his neck threw Kurozumi Orochi into complete panic. He howled.
"You're too noisy!"
Hearing the shrill voice beside him, Lin Ye suddenly drew Shusui. The round, enormous head rolled from Kurozumi Orochi's thin neck.
Kozuki Oden's eyes widened at the sight.
"You truly are an evil man!"
Watching Lin Ye casually decapitate Kurozumi Orochi, Kozuki Oden said hoarsely.
"So you think you're a good man?"
As Lin Ye's words fell, he had already appeared at Kozuki Oden's side.
Yingxue slashed down fiercely.
Kozuki Oden raised Enma to block. The two swords collided, and Kozuki Oden's towering body staggered backward.
Step by step, Lin Ye advanced with leisurely ease. Yingxue rose and fell again and again in his hand, while Kozuki Oden could only raise his swords to block each strike, his body retreating time after time.
Compared to Kozuki Oden's height, Lin Ye was not tall, yet he seemed like an insurmountable mountain.
While Lin Ye continued hacking down with each stroke, he suddenly withdrew and swung a slash behind him.
Kurozumi Orochi, who had somehow revived again, was crawling along the ground in an attempt to escape. The slash split him in two from the crotch down.
But Kozuki Oden's eyes had already begun to lose focus.
The blood draining from his body and his enormous wounds had left him no longer clear-headed.
Boom!
As Lin Ye's sword came down once again, Kozuki Oden, who instinctively raised his swords to block the slash, crashed to his knees. The two swords in his hands were knocked away.
Kozuki Oden lowered his head, blood continuously pouring from his mouth. His eyes were already vacant, and his aura had weakened to the extreme.
Looking at the towering figure kneeling before him, Lin Ye expressionlessly raised his sword.
Bang!
A Haki-coated bullet flew from the barrel, speeding toward Lin Ye's temple.
Bang!
Lin Ye raised a hand and knocked the bullet away.
"Uminokawa!"
A short, round figure rushed out and leaped directly above Lin Ye. His webbed palm gripped a short blade as his body spun fiercely, sending out slash after slash.
Boom!
Lin Ye raised his hand. Yingxue, coated in Conqueror's Haki, directly shattered the incoming spinning slashes and was about to cut into the round figure in midair.
Clang!
Two figures appeared from the left and right, crossing their twin swords to block Lin Ye's strike. Then all three figures spat blood as they were sent flying.
Lin Ye did not care that he had failed to kill them with a single strike. He turned to look at the few figures who had emerged.
Kozuki Oden's aura was growing weaker and weaker. Even if Lin Ye did not finish him off, he would die soon enough.
But these people...
Were they Kozuki Oden's retainers?
Lin Ye studied the seven figures stepping forward.
"Kyoshiro, Kikunojo, Matsu, are you all right?"
Kanjuro hurriedly helped the three of them up, panic written across his face.
"We're fine, but Lord Oden!"
Kyoshiro got to his feet and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He looked toward Kozuki Oden, whose life or death was unknown, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Lady Toki was right. Lord Oden really was in danger." Kikunojo said, gripping his sword with both hands and panting heavily.
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