Barn slowly slid the First-Generation Onikiri into its sheath and uttered those three words. Behind him, Ryuma lay on the ground with only one arm remaining...
"Barn... how did you..."
Brook, who had watched the entire battle from the sidelines, stared in surprise at Barn as he slowly sheathed his sword.
Hearing Brook's voice, Barn slowly turned and smiled at him.
"Did you forget, Brook? You taught me fifty years ago. I just couldn't perform that move back then."
At that moment, Ryuma spoke weakly from where he lay on the ground.
"I lost..."
"To think I would fall to that move... yohoho... in the end, this swordsmanship really was only an imitation..."
"What a fierce battle... I let this warrior's body taste the pain of defeat... I can hardly bear the guilt..."
Barn slowly walked over and spoke to Ryuma, who lay on the ground.
"If you felt dishonored... then that's enough. Someone once said that a swordsman's body and spirit should be one... I only defeated your body. I really wish I could cross swords with the real you..."
"Yohohoho... Barn, take this body back to his homeland. It's time for me to return to where I first belonged."
Ryuma struggled to utter those final words. His withered mouth opened, exposing his teeth, and a mass of black substance escaped from it and returned to Brook's feet. Ryuma, left behind, became a lifeless corpse. His hand finally released its tight grip on the legendary Great Grade Sword, Black Blade Shusui. Shusui, the national treasure of Wano Country that had accompanied Ryuma as he slew countless enemies, fell to the floor.
With his shadow restored, Brook immediately cried out in excitement. Though his wounds remained, he danced about like a child!
"Yohohoho! My shadow! Look, Barn! It's moving exactly