Do You Know Who the Hell I Am?

With a thought from him, the islands floating above began to move.

All but the largest island in the middle flew toward them.

Rumble—!!!

The approaching islands smashed together beneath them, piecing themselves into one enormous island.

Golden Lion fought as he retreated, drawing Kuta down onto the island.

He couldn't make full use of his Devil Fruit powers in midair.

He brought his now-free hands together.

"Lion's Might: Earth Roll!"

The ground churned, and countless lion heads charged toward Kuta.

Golden Lion lashed out with both legs, sending Kuta flying with his blades.

He used the recoil to retreat some distance.

Then his legs danced rapidly. "Lion: Thousand-Cut Valley!"

Countless slashes hurtled toward Kuta.

Kuta looked up and swept his gaze around, a savage aura erupting from his body.

He turned and stared at Golden Lion with wild arrogance, as though eyeing prey, then roared.

"Old man, I told you that won't work!"

Who the Hell Do You Think I Am?

Then he pressed his palms together. The space around him instantly collapsed, before an immense force surged outward in every direction.

"Pseudo: Shinra Tensei!"

The charging lion heads and slashes scattered instantly.

Kuta strode through the dust filling the air, blade in hand, rapidly closing in on Golden Lion.

"Shave, Step-in Slash."

With a whoosh, he appeared above Golden Lion's head and brought his sword down hard.

Clang—!

Sensing that the Haki at the point where their blades collided hadn't crumbled this time, Kuta laughed wildly.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!!!"

"Old man, just be good and help me train!"

"Ha ha ha..."

He kept hammering down blows with his sword, while Golden Lion could only defend.

"What's wrong, old man? Giving out already?"

He roared savagely, "If this is all you've got, then die!"

Veins bulged along his sword arm as he slashed viciously at Golden Lion.

Clang—!

A golden figure shot backward at tremendous speed.

Golden Lion tried to steady himself, but the force transmitted through his arms made stopping impossible.

He decided to go with it, shooting toward his main island even faster.

Watching Golden Lion fly far into the distance, Kuta looked puzzled.

Is the old man trying to run?

That can't be right!

A powerhouse like him would never think of running from a junior like me.

He shook his head, put the thought aside, and activated his ability with his eyes fixed on Golden Lion.

"Teleportation!"

He instantly appeared behind Golden Lion and slashed straight at his back.

Clang—!

A red gleam flashed in Golden Lion's eyes. He raised his blades a moment early and blocked Kuta's strike.

Although he couldn't match Kuta's speed, his Observation Haki was top-class!

He couldn't use Future Sight yet, but the reflexes granted by that top-class Observation Haki, combined with decades of combat experience, were far beyond what ordinary people possessed.

Using the force of the blow, he flew even faster toward the edge of the main island overhead, finally stopping beside the layer of seawater surrounding it.

"Oh..."

"So you're planning to use seawater against me!"

Kuta stood where he was, watching Golden Lion with interest. He pulled the Wine Gourd from his waist and leisurely took a drink.

"Old man, whatever tricks you've got left, hurry up and use them!"

"After that, you're going to... going to help me train my Haki properly."

"Burp!"

He breathed a mouthful of alcohol fumes toward Golden Lion, a faint flush crossing his face.

Looking at the Wine Gourd in his hand, he gave it a shake.

"Not enough to drink!"

"Jihahahaha! Boy, don't get too cocky. You really think you're guaranteed to beat me?"

Golden Lion laughed, then swiftly kicked a slash toward the edge of the main island.

"Slash Wave!"

With a squelch, a chunk was sliced off the layer of seawater at the island's edge as though it were jelly.

Then he spread his fingers. The severed seawater burst like fireworks, breaking into countless tiny droplets that instantly scattered in every direction.

The entire area was enveloped in a thick curtain of seawater droplets.

Then he jolted his hand.

The droplets filling the air instantly broke apart again, becoming a sky full of mist.

The mist shrouded the entire sky. Standing within it felt like being caught in thick fog on a winter morning.

He had prepared this specifically to prevent Kuta from teleporting.

With seawater mist filling the sky, he refused to believe Kuta could teleport away.

He stared at Kuta, his expression arrogant.

"Jihahahaha! Boy, take a good look!"

"This is a gift I prepared especially for a Devil Fruit user like you!"

As he spoke, he clenched his right hand.

As though drawn by some unseen force, the scattered mist rushed toward Kuta at its center.

Kuta looked at Golden Lion as though he were an idiot.

He spent all that time preparing, and this was it?

There was no need for any of this!

Because he hadn't intended to move in the first place.

Since the old man loved putting on a show so much, I might as well show him a special trick of my own!

After all, the old fellow already had one foot in the grave. It wouldn't be right to rob him of his last happy moments, would it?

As the mist rapidly gathered, it condensed into droplets on the surface of his body.

Right on cue, a terrified expression appeared on Kuta's face.

Then the droplets joined into a mass of seawater, instantly engulfing him.

He clutched his throat and held his breath, little bubbles constantly escaping his mouth.

He looked utterly miserable.

"Jihahahaha..."

Watching Kuta trapped in his seawater, Golden Lion couldn't stop laughing.

The frustration of being beaten back by Kuta vanished completely.

He simply watched Kuta in silence, laughing nonstop.

Hmm...?

Kuta kept waiting for Golden Lion's slashes, but no matter how long he waited, they never came.

He couldn't help glancing at Golden Lion.

Uh!

The old man did nothing but keep laughing.

Old man, are you ever going to stop laughing? Hurry up and throw out a slash so I can finish this performance.

At that moment, he really wanted to complain to Golden Lion.

This awkward acting is hard work, you know!

The man hadn't behaved like this against King Luffy!

Why had his brain suddenly started working now that he was facing Kuta?

At that thought, he abandoned the act and began showing off all sorts of swimming moves.

Breaststroke, freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, even a flashy dog paddle and a turtle's lazy swim...

He did them all.

Watching Kuta constantly change swimming styles, Golden Lion could hardly fail to realize that Kuta had just made a fool of him.

All that useless showmanship of his must have made him look like an idiot in this fellow's eyes!

Because the fellow apparently wasn't afraid of seawater at all.

Isn't this ability a little too invincible?

In all his decades of life, he knew of only a handful of Devil Fruit users who weren't quite so afraid of seawater.

He himself, for instance, could easily control seawater, thereby ignoring the curse of the sea.

But immersing himself completely in seawater like Kuta was utterly impossible.

What he didn't know, however, was that Kuta wasn't a Devil Fruit user at all.

Golden Lion stared at Kuta, veins bulging on his forehead.

Too arrogant. Far too arrogant.

This fellow didn't take me, Golden Lion, seriously at all.

With that thought, he rapidly swung both legs at Kuta.

"Die, brat!"

"Lion: Thousand-Cut Valley!"

Several golden slashes rushed toward Kuta, who was still enveloped in seawater.

"Hmm!"

Kuta stopped moving and turned toward the furious Golden Lion, his gaze sharpening.