Who's the Prey?

"Now that you know the gap between us, just obediently spar with me!"

He did not even look at the golden slash flying toward him. The Space Domain instantly unfolded.

Boom--!

A tremendous force instantly shook both the seawater and the slash away.

Kuta then teleported directly behind Golden Lion, drew Zankū, and viciously slashed at his back.

Clang--!

Golden Lion was quite helpless against Kuta's teleportation. He could only turn around and raise his sword to block the attack.

His body was then sent shooting rapidly toward the ground.

With a "boom," he crashed into a Giant Mountain below.

The outside of the mountain.

Kuta waited for a while, but Golden Lion did not come out.

Unable to hold himself back, he shouted loudly toward the mountain, "Hey! Old man, don't tell me you've turned into a coward hiding in your shell!"

He could still sense the old man's aura, and it had not weakened much at all!

He was only slightly out of breath.

Could it be that he was truly too old, and could no longer keep fighting after sparring with a young man like him for a while?

Just then, an aura far stronger than Kuta's Conqueror's Haki suddenly rose from inside the giant mountain ahead.

"Huh--!"

Feeling this aura, Kuta's brows drew tightly together.

"How could that old man still be able to unleash Conqueror's Haki?"

Suddenly, the giant mountain split apart down the middle. A huge golden, crescent-shaped slash burst out from within and viciously swept toward Kuta.

Kuta hurriedly unleashed an identical slash.

Clang--!

The two slashes tangled with each other and shot rapidly into the sky, disappearing from sight.

Golden Lion's hair whipped wildly as he slowly rose into the sky through the crack in the mountain.

With his appearance, an even more powerful wave of Conqueror's Haki instantly swept across heaven and earth.

Everyone on the only Giant Island above them, except Indigo, rolled their eyes back and fainted.

Kuta, who bore the brunt of it, felt it even more intensely.

"So this is the pinnacle of the world? It's truly frightening!"

Bracing himself against Golden Lion's Haki, Kuta unleashed his own Conqueror's Haki.

Crack--!

The sound of space shattering rang out from the point where the two waves of Haki collided.

Purple lightning erupted all around them.

Enduring the mental pressure, Kuta looked up at Golden Lion floating in the air, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

It seemed the old man truly intended to fight him to the death. He had actually pulled out the Ship's Rudder.

No wonder he could unleash Conqueror's Haki. It seemed this was a final burst of life!

Golden Lion floated in the air, leisurely smoking.

After pulling out the Ship's Rudder, his mental state suddenly improved greatly.

He casually tore off a piece of his clothing and roughly bandaged the wound on his head so that he would not bleed to death so quickly.

In his current state, all of his previous berserk arrogance had vanished. Instead, he had become extremely gentle.

At least, his aura had become gentle.

"Did he go stupid?"

Kuta stared at Golden Lion, a trace of confusion flashing across his face.

A gentle Golden Lion was something that had never appeared before!

Golden Lion stared at Kuta below as if he were looking at a peerless piece of jade. The admiration in his eyes grew even stronger.

This man only admired the strong.

While being suppressed by Kuta, he had already realized that his time had come to an end today.

Since the end had come, what was there to hesitate about? Of course, he had to fight with all his strength.

Even though he knew that pulling out the Ship's Rudder meant his life had begun counting down.

But he could not let this silver-haired brat look down on him, could he?

Who was he?

He was Golden Lion!

He stared at Kuta and let out his signature laugh, though this time it carried far less viciousness than before.

"Gyahahahaha! Brat, I acknowledge you. I, Golden Lion Shiki, am willing to call you a strong man."

Kuta stared at Golden Lion, unable to make sense of him for a moment. "Did pulling out the Ship's Rudder make this old man go completely insane?"

He placed his right hand on his sword hilt, adopting a stance that allowed him to draw at any moment. Staring at Golden Lion, he shouted, "Old man, have you gone crazy or what? If you're not coming, then I will."

"Gyahahahaha! Come on, brat! Let me show you what the top combat power of the Sea is really like."

He held both swords and casually slashed at Kuta with his right hand.

"Slash Wave!"

A huge crescent-shaped slash, even more intensely golden, shot rapidly toward Kuta.

Kuta stamped both feet against the ground with force. With a "whoosh," he rapidly charged toward the golden slash and drew his sword to slash at it.

"Shave Slash!"

Boom--!

His blade collided viciously with the golden slash.

He was then pushed backward by the slash, sliding away until he had skidded dozens of meters before stopping.

He exerted force with his arm, redirected the slash, and sent it flying upward.

Kuta looked up at Golden Lion in surprise.

"So strong."

It was completely incomparable to before.

Golden Lion's previous slashes had been strong, but Kuta's were not weak either!

He felt that if he had not blocked it directly with his sword just now, but had instead met it with a Flying Slash—

Then his slash would have been shattered in an instant.

The might of the two was completely different.

Sensing Kuta's surprise at the slash's unprecedented power, Golden Lion laughed boldly.

"Gyahahahaha!"

"Brat, weren't you trying to kill me? Why aren't you coming?"

After such a long time, he had already discovered that this brat was fighting him solely by relying on his beastlike body and unparalleled Observation Haki.

Those factors, however, were of little use against a swordsmanship master like him.

The brat's combat experience was also extremely lacking.

Although Kuta was rapidly growing through their battle, he had only just entered the Sea. Against Golden Lion in his current state, he was still somewhat lacking.

Kuta stared at Golden Lion, returned his sword to its sheath, and quickly drew it again.

"Iai Slash!"

A huge silver-gray slash shot rapidly toward Golden Lion.

Although he knew that Golden Lion's slashes were no longer comparable to before, he still wanted to test the gap between them.

Golden Lion laughed and casually shattered Kuta's slash with a single stroke.

"Your slash is too scattered and lacks cohesion."

He paused, then continued, "It should be more skillful. Don't just rely on brute force. This kind of slash is too crude. When you encounter a strong opponent, it will shatter on contact just like your Haki. You need to control your aura effectively, then compress the slash, and only after that unleash the Flying Slash."

As he spoke, he swung a slash toward Kuta.

"Slash Wave!"

A crescent-shaped golden slash flew from Golden Lion's hand.

Kuta hurriedly used the method Golden Lion had just taught him and unleashed an equally huge crescent-shaped silver-gray slash.

This time, Kuta's slash actually held out against Golden Lion's for a while before finally being severed by it.

Looking at Zankū in his hand, Kuta now understood Golden Lion's condition.

From the moment he pulled out the Ship's Rudder, this man had known that his death was inevitable.

Then, for some reason, the old man's thought process had taken a fantastical turn.

He wanted to leave as much of what he had behind in this world as possible.

It was also possible that he had taken a liking to Kuta's potential and his identity as a pirate, and wanted to cultivate another powerful pirate for this world before his death.

So the old man had taught Kuta his strongest slash.

At the height of his power, the might of this old man's "Slash Wave" had been enough to cut open more than a hundred kilometers of sea.

How powerful was that?

In the past, Kuta certainly could not have cut open such a long distance.

And these slashes of top Swordmasters could not be learned at Isshin Dojo. Only by constantly fighting top experts could one gradually discover one's own slashes.

Just as the old man had said, Kuta's slashes were actually just brute-force swings made with his monstrous body.

They were scattered and lacked technique.

They were naturally powerful against weaklings, but when facing a true strong opponent, his slashes were completely useless.

Slashes like his could not even break through the opponent's Armament Haki defense.

Since he understood the old man's intentions, Kuta said nothing.

He instantly appeared beside the old man and drew his sword to slash.

Golden Lion laughed loudly. "Brat, your speed is very fast, but your reactions are too slow."

A red light flashed in his eyes, and with a single stroke, he struck Kuta down despite moving second.

He then slightly turned his blade and delivered an incomparably tricky slash onto the back of Kuta's sword.

This caused Kuta to freeze for an instant.

A battle between strong opponents could actually end in this single instant.

However, Golden Lion did not take the opportunity to attack again. Instead, he stared at Kuta and said loudly, "Brat, Observation Haki isn't better the farther you spread it. You must learn to control it down to the finest detail. Once you can master every inch of your Observation Haki and make your blade move as your heart dictates, only then can you truly be called a strong man."

Kuta stood some distance away and stared at Golden Lion.

He said fiercely, "Old man, have you become addicted to being a Teacher?"