Wounding Kizaru

The ones who intercepted them were Kizaru and Aokiji. As for Akainu, he had just executed the deserters who had tried to flee and was still on his way back.

The future Marine hero Koby had planned to leave the battlefield as a deserter alongside his companion Helmeppo, but Akainu's iron-blooded methods frightened them into turning back during their escape.

Sal and the other man were quickly blocked by the two Admirals, allowing Marco and Diamond Jozu to free up their hands and lead the pirates in an assault on the Marine harbor's defenses.

Aokiji first attacked Rayleigh with ice spears. After every one of them was blocked by Rayleigh's airtight swordsmanship, he immediately created a massive ice bird and sent it crashing toward his opponent.

"Pheasant Beak!"

Everything in the ice bird's path turned into ice. Faced with the attack, Rayleigh's gaze turned completely serious. At this point, he could no longer afford to hold back.

The sword in Rayleigh's hand turned dark red as he charged straight at Aokiji. The Pheasant Beak blocking his path was easily cleaved in half, and Rayleigh's blade was already before Aokiji.

Aokiji's pupils contracted slightly. As he released ice from his palm, his body transformed into elements ahead of time to receive the opponent's thunderous strike.

"Boom..."

Rayleigh's superb swordsmanship pushed the power of his Conqueror's Coating-infused blade to its limit, crushing through the ice in its path and shattering Aokiji head-on into several chunks of ice that flew into the distance.

When Aokiji reformed from his elemental state, only his clothes had become slightly wrinkled.

Rayleigh's expression grew much graver as he carefully examined his opponent for weaknesses.

His full-power strike just now had actually been completely ineffective. His opponent had used Observation Haki to foresee the future and transformed into elements in advance. The damage caused by Conqueror's Coating had been reduced to a negligible level.

Back when Aokiji had followed Garp in pursuing them, Rayleigh had already given this outstanding young Logia user a high evaluation. He had never expected that, twenty-two years later, fighting him again would leave him with the feeling that he had nowhere to begin.

"Has Garp's student become this strong now?"

"That is what I should be saying. Dark King Rayleigh, you're already seventy-six, yet you're still so powerful that even a junior like me feels ashamed of himself."

Rayleigh sighed inwardly as his sword returned from dark red to black. Against an Admiral of the new generation, he simply lacked the strength to end the battle quickly. He could only rely on his wealth of experience in a prolonged fight to find a weakness. He was too old now; even using Conqueror's Coating felt taxing.

The two clashed again, ice and slashes making it impossible for anyone nearby to approach. This was even more terrifying than Diamond Jozu holding back Aokiji.

Meanwhile, Kizaru's battle against Sal was not going well. Although he could seize the initiative using the Glint-Glint Fruit's powers—

Sal easily dodged his light-beam attacks, and even Yasakani no Magatama's wide-range assault was deflected with Conqueror's Coating, nearly striking Kizaru himself.

Left with no choice, Kizaru could only choose close combat. But Sal gave him no opportunity to fight at close range. Wielding Ace imbued with Conqueror's Haki, Sal forced Kizaru back with sheer violence. The terrifying leaking Haki even struck quite a few unlucky people, after which Sal continued rushing toward the execution platform as though he were determined to save Ace.

Kizaru was not a strength-focused fighter. Faced with Peak Conqueror's Coating, he could only avoid its edge, using force-dispersing techniques to keep himself from being injured, though the fight left him feeling thoroughly stifled.

Sal crossed over the artillery platforms and entered the inner bay. Kizaru secretly made up his mind that this could not continue. His opponent was already about to reach the execution platform.

"That's far too terrifying. Could you stop ignoring me?"

Kizaru first fired several lasers to disrupt Sal's footing, then used Yasakani no Magatama to instantly fly to his opponent's side and launched a Light-Speed Kick, intending to stop him.

Sal suddenly turned to look at Kizaru. The smug look in his eyes was like that of someone whose scheme had succeeded, giving Kizaru an instant sense of foreboding.

What happened next proved his suspicion. A chain that had appeared from nowhere wrapped directly around Kizaru's waist, swiftly winding around the rest of his body. While bound, even the speed of his elemental transformation was affected.

Kizaru struggled with all his might in stunned confusion. The Chain of Heaven was pulled taut, letting out a metallic wail before snapping apart. Though it had lasted less than 0.3 seconds, that was enough time for his opponent to deliver a fatal blow.

Sal's Conqueror's Haki flashed as his pupils turned dark red. Holding Ace in one hand, he swung it out, dark red lightning flickering across the blade.

"Haha, goodbye, Kizaru!"

"Divine Departure!"

Sengoku, who had been watching the battle closely, immediately realized something was wrong, but he did not even have time to warn him.

Ace enlarged in Kizaru's eyes. Sal's seemingly ordinary horizontal slash filled him with a sense of danger. The dark red slash directly sent Kizaru flying hundreds of meters, knocking down several buildings before embedding him in the even harder wall of an artillery platform.

When Kizaru reappeared before everyone, he looked more miserable than he had at any point since the war began. A long sword wound stretched across his chest, its bleeding stopped with Life Return, while blood still lingered at the corner of his mouth.

"I was careless. So he had been waiting for an opportunity I created."

If he had not insisted on intercepting Sal, then even if he had been unexpectedly bound by that chain again, he was confident he would not have suffered injuries that affected his strength like this.

That was right. He had suffered moderate injuries, neither light nor severe, and the wound still throbbed faintly.

"How is that possible?"

"Admiral Kizaru was actually injured?"

The surrounding Marines broke into discussion. As their morale fell, the Whitebeard Pirates, who had been suppressed all this time, pushed back in a wave.

The result of Sal's battle with Kizaru was not something the Marines could accept. In their hearts, an Admiral was like a pillar holding up the sky, yet one had actually been severely injured by someone.

Of course, Kizaru's injuries were not as serious as they imagined. It was merely that a great deal of blood had stained his clothes, and his unhealed wound made others imagine the worst.

The scene of Kizaru being injured was also broadcast by the live Den Den Mushi, causing no small shock across the world.

[S- and SS-rank individuals generated ordinary emotions toward the host: minor and moderate surprise (hostility). Experience increased by 67398.]

[A- and B-rank individuals generated ordinary emotions toward the host: minor and moderate surprise (hostility). Experience increased by 243797.]

[C- and D-rank individuals generated ordinary emotions toward the host: minor and moderate surprise (hostility). Experience increased by 493231.]

[Level increased: Level 72 (379742/500000) +20.]

Every move on the battlefield could influence the viewers' emotions.

[Physique: Peak (Admiral) enhancement active.]

The increase of one level had elevated his physique to a true Admiral level. Agility, the last of his three major attributes, should be close as well. If all three attributes reached Admiral level, then based on physical ability alone, he would be no weakling among the Admirals.

Even the current Three Admirals were not at Admiral level in every aspect. From his observations of Kizaru, his physique had probably not yet reached Admiral level.