Encountering Kizaru

"What?!"

The Marines who had been chatting and laughing just moments ago all jumped up in shock. At last, the major event they had been waiting for was about to happen!

Rune still did not know about this news. He was still sailing the Thousand Sunny across the sea, drawing closer to Wano Country. Looking at Luffy, Rune had the urge to toss him over to Kaido.

If Teacher Kaido trained him, could Luffy awaken the Nika Fruit ahead of time?

Rune did not know. At this point, he still had no idea what Pops had gone to Wano Country to do.

Wano Country.

When the Whitebeard Pirates' fleet came sailing in with overwhelming force, the entire sea seemed to take on an air of grim slaughter. Whitebeard had been in a terrible mood these past few days because Ace, whom he had been grooming as his successor, had once again ignored his advice and gone off alone to kill Kaido.

Then, since Kaido had not gone out with the All-Stars and Flying Six this time, Ace had not even seen Kaido before being captured alive by the three All-Stars working together.

The course of history had changed, but a person's character would not change so easily.

Ace was still that arrogant, conceited bastard who looked down on everyone.

And this time, he had paid the price for that arrogance.

Sometimes, Whitebeard wondered whether choosing to groom Ace had been the right decision.

Could he truly bear that historical mission?

"Pops, we're almost there."

Marco stood beside Whitebeard, equally helpless when it came to his younger brother Ace. But they were family on the same ship. Ace was still alive, so there was no way they could simply abandon him.

"When the time comes, none of you will make a move."

Holding Murakumogiri, Whitebeard fixed his gaze on the direction of Wano Country. The moment he finished speaking, powerful Conqueror's Haki swept across the entire sea.

And from the other side came an equally powerful response of Conqueror's Haki!

The Beast Pirates' flag rose high. On the shore of Wano Country stood a towering man.

"Kaido..."

"Newgate..."

When the two met, there was no need for excessive words. Haki like black lightning coiled around Murakumogiri, while the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit covered its blade. Whitebeard leaped into the air and came crashing down from above.

His overwhelming Haki bore down on Kaido. This strike, carrying the force to destroy heaven and earth, slashed fiercely toward him.

"Thunder Bagua—"

Kaido's towering body instantly expanded, transforming into his dragon-man form. He swung his spiked club upward, black lightning-like Haki likewise coiling around it as he met Whitebeard's crushing attack.

Their Conqueror's Haki collided, and both weapons stopped in midair. The dark clouds overhead were actually torn apart by the impact.

"The sky... split apart..."

Whether they were members of the Whitebeard Pirates or the Beast Pirates, everyone was stunned by the result of that clash. When the shockwaves faded, Whitebeard and Kaido stared at each other and swung their weapons again.

The repeated clashes of Conqueror's Haki sent shockwaves through the area. Even Marco and the others felt immense pressure, let alone the ordinary crewmen.

Some newcomers collapsed under the pressure. Watching Whitebeard and Kaido fight, Marco and Jozu were deeply grateful to Rune.

If Rune had not brought Kuma and healed Whitebeard's injuries and illness,

then the situation would never have been this optimistic. Whitebeard, unable to use Haki freely, was still powerful, but he could never have fought a prolonged battle against a monster like Kaido.

All he could rely on was the world-destroying power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to intimidate his enemies.

But now...

The earth-shaking clashes of Conqueror's Haki announced to the world—

Whitebeard was still the strongest man in the world!

Rune still did not know that Whitebeard had already begun fighting Kaido. He continued sailing the Thousand Sunny onward. However, Rune's group had also encountered an uninvited guest.

Golden flashes rained down from the sky. Standing at the highest point of the Thousand Sunny, Rune swallowed every attack with darkness. Yet all the pain from those attacks was borne by Rune himself.

The Dark-Dark Fruit's trait of making him suffer double the pain was truly unbearable at a time like this!

Rune had not expected to run into a Marine Admiral on the way to Wano Country!

Kizaru had been pursuing them all the way. Rune could only find an island and dock for now. Otherwise, if they kept fighting, the entire Thousand Sunny was at risk of being destroyed.

Running into Kizaru at a time like this was really awful. Whitebeard was still over at Wano Country and probably had no time to come save him. If he wanted to survive, Rune could only rely on himself.

But Rune right now...

did not have the qualifications to face an Admiral head-on.

After the Thousand Sunny docked, Rune had Kuma take Luffy, Tashigi, and Bonney away first. He planned to stall Kizaru on the island for a while by himself.

Then he would wait for Kuma to use his Fruit ability to come back and save him.

When facing an Admiral now, this was the only way.

"Kizaru! A Marine Admiral is nothing special!"

Rune turned into a cloud of black mist and plunged directly into the forest on the island. Seeing Kuma teleport even the Thousand Sunny away, Rune finally let out a sigh of relief.

However, when he saw a second sun light up in the sky, Rune was dumbfounded.

Fuck!

Do you have to take this so seriously? I'm just a little pirate with a bounty under five hundred million!

Kizaru, why didn't you work this hard when you fought Luffy?

With such a huge attack, he's going to blast the entire island to pieces, isn't he?

Rune felt that he had miscalculated. Perhaps he should have let Luffy come out and block it. With Luffy here, Kizaru definitely would not have struck so heavily.

But now...

Rune raised his right hand, darkness gathering in his palm. At this moment, he could only rely on the power of Black Star and see whether he could block this attack!

If he blocked it, he would live long enough for Kuma to come save him.

If he could not block it...

then he could only die here.

Darkness gathered as Rune held Black Star up with all his strength. Yet under Rune's gaze, that golden sun in the sky... seemed a little smaller than before?

The enormous golden sphere descended, and Rune used the power of darkness to forcibly withstand Kizaru's attack. But for some reason, although Kizaru's attack looked incredibly imposing, its power...

why was it not as strong as when he had pursued Rune at sea?

He could withstand it!

Rune gritted his teeth and forced Black Star several inches higher. Before he could hold out for long, however, a tall figure appeared beside him.

Paw pads enveloped the two of them, and they vanished from the island in an instant.

The golden sphere fell and sank the entire island. Meanwhile, Kizaru, who had changed from light back into human form in the sky, wore a somewhat lecherous smile as he watched the island sink.

"Interesting... so that's how it is... interesting..."

Kizaru stroked his stubbled chin and looked toward Wano Country. Encountering Rune had merely been a coincidence, while pursuing Rune was naturally because Rune had "killed" Kuma.

But just now, Kizaru had seen Kuma.