Kuzan: Do I Really Look Like a Dog?

"Was it this power that affected my elementalization?"

Kuzan climbed out of the ice wall, looking at the markings slowly fading from his right hand. He realized this was why he had taken Brando's punch head-on and had been unable to evade through elementalization.

Kuzan's face was now covered in fist marks, and blood was running from his nose.

But Brando was in even worse shape. He felt like some of the bones in his face had been shattered. If he had not kept training and received Shukaku's aid this time, that punch might have killed him.

Blood still trickled from the corner of his mouth. Shukaku Chakra flooded into him, activating his Uzumaki Bloodline as his injuries rapidly healed, but it hurt like hell.

"You really are strong."

Kuzan did not continue attacking. Instead, he acknowledged Brando.

He had already figured out nearly all of Brando's abilities, while waiting for the strange markings on his arm to fade. He definitely would not fall for the same trick again. In their current states, if they continued fighting, he would undoubtedly win.

"What a pity. You don't count as a true powerhouse to me."

"You're weak, running from reality. You don't even have Conqueror's Haki. No wonder you willingly became the Celestial Dragons' lapdog."

Brando's speech was still somewhat slurred.

Even with Shukaku's power, fighting a musclehead like this was difficult. His stats still were not high enough. Maybe it would be better if he could stack another buff.

For example, another layer of Two-Color Haki, or Sage Mode. Once those stats stacked and multiplied, he would become a monstrous powerhouse.

"I hadn't intended to kill you, but if I keep letting you run free, many people will die."

"So you should stay here."

Kuzan had considered what would happen if he spared Brando and let him keep targeting the Celestial Dragons.

No matter how he thought about it, people would die. A great many people.

That did not align with his justice. Although he wanted to fix this fucked-up world, Brando's method might work, but it was not what he wanted.

"Tch, you think you've already won?"

"Don't be so full of yourself. If you had this kind of confidence when facing the Celestial Dragons, you wouldn't be their dog."

Brando viewed the Marines as the Celestial Dragons' hunting dogs across the seas, helping them watch over these nations while tearing apart disobedient livestock.

The Marines' so-called justice had to be carried out under the Celestial Dragons' orders. It could never be upheld to the end.

"Enough!"

"Dogs, dogs, dogs! The Marines aren't dogs!"

Kuzan lost his temper.

He believed the Marines possessed a soul of their own. They were not the Celestial Dragons' dogs.

"Hahaha!"

Brando could not hold back his laughter.

Self-deception. He had even fooled himself.

"Oh, right. Tell the Five Elders for me: my nickname isn't Red Eye. From now on, call me the Celestial Dragon Hunter."

Just as Kuzan was about to wipe that smile off Brando's face with his fist, Brando suddenly spoke.

"You won't get that chance."

Kuzan decided to smash Brando's mouth to pieces.

Celestial Dragon Hunter? No one had ever managed such a thing.

Bang!

But the moment Kuzan finished speaking, Brando's entire body turned into a cloud of white smoke and vanished from where he stood.

"?"

Kuzan froze.

His brows furrowed deeply as he hurriedly used Observation Haki to scan the area. He discovered that aside from the two clones, Brando's presence had completely disappeared. The two clones also turned into smoke and vanished.

"There's... no trace of him at all!"

"How is that possible?"

Kuzan could not understand it.

He was certain that had been Brando's real body, not a clone created by a Devil Fruit ability.

Furthermore, his Observation Haki had been locked firmly onto the guy the entire time. He had never let down his guard. He was certain Brando had vanished into thin air.

"Was it the presence that suddenly left the battlefield earlier?"

Kuzan recalled that one of Brando's clones had escaped earlier. But he had assumed it was a trick meant to make him think the real body had fled, so he had ignored it.

Later, he had indeed confirmed that the Brando he had locked onto was the real one.

"So I was played after all. This bastard really is slippery."

Kuzan sighed.

Would everything he tried to do really end in failure?

He had been called a dog for half the fight, only landed two punches on the other guy, and still let him escape.

After standing there in a daze for a while, Kuzan took out a Den Den Mushi and contacted the Five Elders.

"Is that Kuzan?"

Once the Den Den Mushi connected, an imposing voice came from the other end.

"It's me... The mission failed."

Kuzan's answer came with difficulty.

"What happened? A criminal with a bounty of five hundred million Beli shouldn't be enough to make a Marine Admiral fail."

The Five Elders did not sound pleased, as though they believed Kuzan had held back.

"Red Eye's Devil Fruit ability is unusual. He can use several abilities: fire, clones, transformation, magnetism, and sand manipulation."

"But he still wasn't my opponent. Yet just as I was about to defeat him, he suddenly disappeared. It may have been some kind of spatial movement ability."

Kuzan answered bluntly.

Because he believed he had not held back. Maybe he had at the beginning, but not afterward.

"Sand manipulation?"

"Could his ability be like Charlotte Linlin's, allowing him to use multiple abilities? Or can he steal other people's abilities?"

The Five Elders were shocked as well.

They racked their brains but could not think of any Devil Fruit with such powers.

They could only guess that some Devil Fruit development had taken a new direction.

"There won't be a next time."

The Five Elders did not want to waste any more words. They were unhappy that Brando, that eyesore, had not been dealt with.

But it was not easy to directly berate a Marine Admiral. After leaving behind that warning, they hung up the Den Den Mushi.

Kuzan stared at the disconnected Den Den Mushi, his expression dark.

"Do I really look like a dog?"

Kuzan felt that the things he did for the Celestial Dragons were completely meaningless.

Looking at the ice slowly melting in the desert around him, Kuzan felt as though his justice was being steadily worn away and melted.

"Next time I catch a Celestial Dragon, I'll livestream their training!!"

Brando lay atop Banlei's head, fuming.

The Shadow Clone that had escaped found Banlei and had Banlei use Reverse Summoning to transfer Brando away.

Luckily, they had practiced in Little Garden beforehand. Otherwise, Banlei would not have been able to use it so smoothly on such short notice.

"Hmph, Brando, you useless brat. I lent you my chakra, and you still couldn't beat him."

In the mental space, Shukaku seized the chance to mock Brando.

"What do you mean I couldn't beat him? I was only making a tactical retreat!"

Brando refused to accept that, speaking with absolute conviction.

He felt Shukaku's power was just too weak. If Kurama had lent him its power instead, he definitely would have won!

Shukaku's stats were not as strong as Kurama's, and the skin it gave him was not cool enough either. Kurama Mode was like a premium V12 skin, while Shukaku's was like some cheap six-yuan giveaway, covered in tattoos and looking utterly pathetic.

"Tch..."

Shukaku shook its head. It felt that of everything about Brando, his mouth was the hardest.

"You have gained the recognition of the Will of the Overlord..."