Ants and Rabbits

He lowered his head and stared at Kizaru, then sneered. "Instead of arresting the remaining Pirates on this island, you came to fight me, an innocent civilian? What's the meaning of this?"

He looked at the gigantic ferocious beasts charging toward them after hearing the explosions, pointed at them, and said, "You have to capture these things too. If you leave them in the East Blue, they'll only bring disaster!"

"Pirate, don't forget your identity. We Marines don't need a pirate like you telling us how to do our jobs."

Kizaru stared expressionlessly at Kuta.

Even without Kuta saying anything, he knew how dangerous these ferocious beasts were.

The Pirates were actually the least dangerous things on this island.

Kuta shrugged and tried to negotiate with Kizaru. "I'm saying, Uncle Pikachu, let's pretend we never met. You can't do anything to me anyway, right?"

He paused, then continued, "Besides, your salary doesn't allow you to risk your life fighting me!"

Kizaru nodded beside him, thinking that the kid had a point. His salary really didn't justify risking his life to fight Kuta.

Besides, his mission this time wasn't to arrest Kuta.

He then kicked hard, sending a ferocious beast that had just arrived and tried to ambush him flying.

What the hell? He almost led me astray just now. It's not like I became a Marine for the salary!

He raised his head and glared at Kuta, a trace of anger flashing in his eyes. "Don't go giving people random nicknames! I'm Kizaru, Kizaru—not some Pikachu."

"Got it, Uncle Pikachu."

Kuta kicked a ferocious beast away and said indifferently.

Then he ignored Kizaru, Teleported in front of Doctor Indigo, and patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go."

"Oh! All right."

Doctor Indigo had recognized Kizaru the moment he saw him.

Any pirate who paid even a little attention to the news should know the Navy's three Admirals.

Those three were currently the strongest trio the Navy advertised to the outside world.

They were also the Navy's public face.

At first, he had been quite worried about Kuta. Just because Kuta had defeated Golden Lion didn't mean he could challenge a Marine Admiral.

He knew exactly how much Golden Lion's strength had declined.

But when Kuta used Teleportation, he breathed a sigh of relief.

No wonder he could defeat Golden Lion. He can fly and Teleportation should be only one of his abilities.

It seems I chose the right Captain. He can even fight a Marine Admiral to a standstill.

Kuta looked up at Kizaru, who was fighting the ferocious beasts. It was obvious that the man was slacking off and taking it easy.

He activated his Space Domain and controlled the door panel as it flew into the sky.

In fact, when the ferocious beasts arrived, he and Kizaru had already reached an unspoken agreement to go their separate ways.

Kuta couldn't do anything to Kizaru, and Kizaru couldn't do anything to him either.

On top of that, Kizaru wasn't very determined to capture him, so he simply let Kuta leave.

On the ground, Kizaru kicked a ferocious beast away and looked up at the door panel climbing higher and higher into the sky. He couldn't help sighing.

"The Marines and the World Government are going to have another headache."

But none of that had anything to do with him. He was merely an old Marine drawing a meager salary.

He returned to his usual expression.

One kick for each ferocious beast, one "Kowaii" after another.

Chapter 49: Ants and Rabbits

They left Golden Lion's palace island.

Kuta took Doctor Indigo with him on the door panel and flew rapidly toward Loguetown.

When they were nearly at Loguetown, they encountered the Freedom.

It originally took only a day to travel from Prothius Island to Loguetown. But because the ship was packed with people and the waves had been too high during the first half of the journey, Kuina and the others had taken a day and a half.

They delivered the villagers to Loguetown without entering the town, then changed course and hurried back.

Kuta stepped onto the door panel and landed on the deck.

Kuina, standing at the bow, broke into a radiant smile despite her usually cold expression.

She hurried over to Kuta, grabbed his arm, and looked up at him. She didn't even glance at Doctor Indigo. It was difficult for anything else to attract her attention; her gaze was almost always fixed on Kuta.

"Kuta, you're finally back! I was wondering how long you'd be fighting!"

"Yeah! That old man really had something. Even though he was about to die, he still managed to fight me for a day and two nights through sheer willpower."

Kuta reached out and ruffled Kuina's hair. He liked rubbing her head so much that it had become a habit.

Kuina also enjoyed it immensely. She narrowed her eyes in pleasure and even rubbed her head against his hand like a cat.

Every time, she let Kuta mess up her hair, then had him comb it back into place with his hand.

She enjoyed the entire process.

"Hmm? Who's this?"

Only after a while did she turn her gaze toward Doctor Indigo.

"This is Doctor Indigo. He's our ship's doctor now."

Kuta introduced Doctor Indigo.

"Oh, Doctor Indigo. Nice to meet you."

Kuina's voice was cool—not too cold, but not particularly warm either.

Although she usually wasn't interested in anything besides training and combat, Doctor Indigo had earned Kuta's approval. That made him a companion aboard their ship, and she was friendly toward her companions.

"Hello. You can rest assured and leave your health to me from now on!"

Doctor Indigo spun around twice with a "pfft-pfft," then performed a gentleman's bow.

"Wow! Why are you so weird?"

A-Luo slid down from the Mast.

"Exactly! You look like a performer at an amusement park!"

Ahua pushed up his glasses as he walked out of the kitchen. No one knew what he was always doing in there. Whenever he had nothing else to do, he simply stayed in the kitchen.

"You two, hurry up and secure the sails!"

At that moment, A-Tao's head poked out from the doorway of the cabin, and she shouted.

After picking up Kuta, they had to turn around and head back toward Loguetown.

A-Luo and Ahua hurried to help adjust the sails.

Once they had corrected their course, the three of them surrounded Doctor Indigo, bombarding him with all kinds of bizarre questions.

Doctor Indigo also quickly hit it off with the three of them.

Every now and then, he would fire a magic bullet, making the three of them shriek and yell.

Anyone who didn't know better would really think Doctor Indigo was a magician!

At the bow, Kuta lay back down in his dedicated recliner.

He glanced at Ahua. This guy has no sense at all! Can't he see that the boss is back?

He didn't even bring me a glass of juice. I'll have to give him some extra attention from now on.

Looking at Kuina beside him, he sat up and pulled her down beside him. Then he began telling her about his battle with Golden Lion.

He told her everything he had learned about swordsmanship, as well as the techniques for using Haki.

Kuina had actually reached the Swordmaster Realm more than a year ago. With these techniques, and a few more major battles to temper her Armament Haki, she should be able to advance to Great Swordsman very soon.

The difference between a Swordmaster and a Great Swordsman was actually quite significant beyond the power of their Slashes.

A Great Swordsman could infuse Slashes with Haki. Their close-range attacks were powerful, while their long-range attacks were no weaker.

By contrast, a Swordmaster's Slashes were actually quite weak. They were far less damaging than simply closing in and cutting an enemy directly with a blade.

That was why Swordmasters rarely used Slashes, instead relying on close combat with their swords.

Therefore, to advance to Great Swordsman, one had to comprehend Cutting Steel—in other words, the Breath of All Things. Taking it a step further actually led to Observation Haki.

They also had to cultivate Armament Haki to an advanced level of application.

Here, it was worth explaining the differences in Armament Haki.

Because Armament Haki could flow, it had different application techniques. They could be divided into "Hardening," "Coating," "Emission," and "Internal Destruction."

The techniques for using Armament Haki had different levels, but that did not represent the strength of one's Armament Haki, much less one's overall strength. Because of its flowing nature, it was called Ryuo in Wano Country.

Hardening was easy to understand. It meant covering the body with Armament Haki, making it harder than steel and increasing one's defense and attack power.

It could be used on objects as well as on one's own body.

This was also the most common and basic method of using Armament Haki in the New World.

Coating meant wrapping one's body in Armament Haki, which was like gas. It increased one's defense and attack power, could be applied to weapons, and could also coat objects thrown through the air for a certain period of time, such as arrows and Bullets. It could be used together with Hardening.

Emission was an advanced application. It involved gathering Armament Haki in one's hands or on a weapon and releasing it, turning it directly into tangible offensive or defensive power. It could produce powerful shockwaves that blasted enemies away, form a defensive barrier, and even defend against invisible attacks.

As for the highest level, Internal Destruction, very few people in the entire world could use it.

It allowed one to emit Armament Haki and send it through an object's surface, directly destroying the inside.

Moreover, Hardening, Coating, and Emission could all be used simultaneously.

Kuta had only just reached the level of emitting Armament Haki.

Although his Haki had been greatly strengthened by his battle with Golden Lion, it still hadn't reached the highest level, so he had to work even harder.

He was constantly using Haki to temper Zankū. He believed that once Zankū became a Black Blade, his Haki would reach its peak.

A Great Swordsman's Slash was an advanced application of Armament Haki combined with the unparalleled Slash of a Great Swordsman, creating the strongest attack with an extremely long range.

Such Slashes were not only fast and powerful, but could also damage Logia users.

That was why so many people feared Great Swordsmen.

Although it seemed as if everyone in the New World could use weapons—or even their bodies—to produce Slashes, that didn't mean there were many Swordmasters.

In reality, the opposite was true.

The Slashes produced by those people were completely different from a true Swordmaster's Flying Slash.

A Swordmaster's Slashes were forged through years of training, one stroke at a time.

They were not only refined, but also carried each Swordmaster's unique understanding of the sword.

Every Swordmaster's Slash was the product of their own unique training.

We could learn how to refine Slashes from other Swordmasters, but we could never learn their actual Slashes.

That was why every Swordmaster's Slashes, including those of Great Swordsmen, were different.

Therefore, to advance to Great Swordsman, one first had to train from a young age and advance step by step until there was no room left to improve.

At that point, as long as one's talent wasn't too poor, one could basically awaken Armament Haki. Then, once one comprehended the Breath of All Things, becoming a Swordmaster was guaranteed.

To advance further and become a Great Swordsman, however, one truly needed talent.

Advanced applications of Armament Haki were practically the exclusive domain of monsters and geniuses.

Monsters were born with extraordinary talent. Once they awakened Armament Haki, as long as they weren't useless, they could easily reach the level of Armament Haki Emission naturally through combat and daily training.

Take King Luffy and Zoro, for example.

They had only awakened it recently, yet their Armament Haki was already nearly maxed out.