"Cough... pfft..."
Kuro, pinned in the crater, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with shattered teeth.
Extreme humiliation and searing pain instantly filled his eyes, hidden beneath the blood, with crazed red veins.
"Unforgivable... absolutely unforgivable!"
Kuro let out a beastlike growl.
He suddenly swung the Ten-Bladed Cat Claws on his arms. Instead of attacking Lei En, he viciously slashed at the tails of his own suit jacket where they were pinned!
"Riiip!"
The sound of tearing fabric rang out.
Kuro actually used this self-mutilating method to shed his shell and forcibly break free from beneath Lei En's foot!
He scrambled and rolled backward more than ten meters, opening up distance as his chest heaved violently.
"Whoa! This guy's ruthless!"
Usopp, watching from afar, was so frightened his eyes nearly popped out.
Lei En looked at the disheveled, blood-covered Kuro, his expression as calm as ever.
"What? Not pretending to be elegant anymore?"
Lei En raised an eyebrow. "That's all it took to break you? Your mental fortitude is pretty weak."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
Lei En's mockery was like oil poured onto a fire, completely igniting the last thread of reason in Kuro's heart.
He completely fell into a berserk state!
"Brat! You forced me to do this!"
Kuro's body swayed in an incredibly bizarre posture, like a roly-poly toy.
His eyes became unfocused, yet an insanely wild grin spread across his lips.
"Now, I'll show you what true speed is!"
"Shakushi!"
Accompanied by a hoarse roar!
"Whoosh—!"
Kuro's figure instantly vanished from where he stood!
Not an afterimage like before—he had truly, completely vanished from sight!
"H-He disappeared?!" Usopp shouted in terror.
The next second!
"Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!"
Countless sharp slashes instantly appeared within a radius of more than ten meters around Lei En, crisscrossing in every direction!
The slashes followed no pattern and moved at extreme speed, as though dozens of Kuros were attacking at once!
The surrounding ground, walls, and even the large iron gate that had been smashed apart were cut into fragments like fragile tofu beneath those slashes!
"Shakushi" was the ultimate evolved form of "Silent Step"!
An ultimate killing move that unleashed indiscriminate attacks at ultra-high speed, regardless of friend or foe!
Kuro believed that under this web-like storm of blades, no living creature could possibly survive!
He could practically see the bloody sight of Lei En being carved into countless pieces!
However.
Lei En, standing at the center of the slashing storm, did not move an inch.
He even leisurely let out a huge yawn.
"That's it? I thought you had some big move. Turns out you just turned yourself into a high-speed spinning top."
Lei En's incredibly irritating jab clearly reached Kuro's ears as he moved at high speed, nearly making him cough up another mouthful of blood.
"Stop bluffing! Turn into pieces!"
Kuro's furious roar came from all directions, and the slashes became even more frenzied!
"Fine. Since you like playing with speed so much, I'll play with you."
Lei En finally dropped his lazy demeanor.
An instant before the countless slashes were about to strike him, his body suddenly became hazy.
"Crackle—!"
Lei En's entire body instantly broke down into countless leaping blue arcs of electricity!
Logia Devil Fruit—Elementalization!
"Swish, swish, swish!"
Kuro's Ten-Bladed Cat Claws, sharp enough to cut through steel, passed straight through Lei En's Thunderous Body without meeting any resistance.
They caused no damage whatsoever.
"W-What?!"
Kuro, still moving at high speed, felt that bizarre sensation and his heart suddenly sank.
Physical attacks were ineffective?!
This guy... was a Devil Fruit user too?!
Just as he was overcome with shock and prepared to stop and devise a new strategy.
It was already too late.
"Got you, kitty."
A voice like the whisper of a Soul Reaper suddenly sounded directly in front of him!
Kuro abruptly raised his head.
The mass of blue lightning that had remained motionless in its original spot had somehow already condensed back into Lei En's form!
Lei En had actually appeared in the path of his high-speed movement in an instant, moving at true lightning speed beyond Kuro's comprehension!
"T-That's impossible!!!"
Kuro's pupils abruptly contracted, and his mind went blank.
His prized "Shakushi" was like a toddler learning to walk before such godlike speed!
He wanted to brake. He wanted to turn. But the immense inertia generated by his ultra-high-speed movement made it impossible for his body to stop!
He could only watch helplessly as he, like a moth flying into a spiderweb, slammed himself into Lei En's outstretched hand, which was like a steel pincer!
"Crack!"
An incredibly crisp sound rang out.
Lei En precisely seized Kuro's fragile neck in one hand!
Terrifying grip strength erupted instantly!
Kuro, who had been moving at supersonic speed, was like a racing car forcefully brought to a stop by a sudden wall of steel!
The enormous inertia made every bone in his body emit mournful creaks.
"Urgh..."
Suffocation and agonizing pain struck at once. Kuro's feet flailed weakly in midair, and his face turned liver-purple from lack of oxygen.
Everything he had been proud of was completely shattered at that moment.
Lei En held Kuro aloft in one hand as though carrying a powerless chick.
Looking at Kuro's eyes bulging with terror, a deeply contemptuous sneer curved across his lips.
"This is the speed you're so proud of?"
Lei En's voice was cold without the slightest trace of warmth.
"To me, you're so slow you're like an old granny with a cane."
As soon as he finished speaking.
"Cracklecackle—!"
Violent blue electricity erupted from Lei En's arm!
Terrifying high-voltage lightning instantly engulfed Kuro!
"Argh—!"
Kuro let out a shriek that barely sounded human.
His prized, incomparably sharp Ten-Bladed Cat Claws melted instantly beneath the violent current and intense heat like fragile candles, turning into scorching molten iron that dripped onto the ground with hissing sounds.
Lei En looked at Kuro, whose body was convulsing as foam spilled from his mouth, then casually tossed him onto the ground like trash.
He turned to look at Usopp in the distance, who had been completely scared witless, and grinned.
"Hey, Long Nose."
Lei En pointed at Kuro, lying on the ground like a dead dog, then pointed at himself.
"Now, whose speed do you think is faster?"
Before you continue