Just as Kizaru withdrew his leg and muttered about "teaching youngsters a lesson" toward where Kuzan had vanished...
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several fist-sized, crystal-clear balls of ice shot out of the lingering smoke and dust!
"Ooh~" Kizaru raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise passing through the eyes behind his sunglasses, but his reaction speed remained unrivaled.
The instant the ice balls reached him, his body scattered into a skyful of golden particles, refracting away!
The ice balls pierced the afterimage left by the particles and slammed into the ground behind Kizaru, bursting on impact.
Everything they struck froze instantly!
"Ice Bullet... Kuzan, that's quite a 'warm' greeting."
Kizaru re-formed a short distance away, gleaming gold and completely unscathed, though his tone had grown a little more serious.
He knew that although his kick had landed squarely,
with Kuzan's physique and the defenses of the Ice-Ice Fruit, it probably hadn't even inflicted a minor injury.
The real battle was only just beginning.
Meanwhile, Samuel Kronos had watched Kizaru send Kuzan flying with an instantaneous kick,
then effortlessly evade the ice balls' surprise attack-and there was also Enel, watching like a predator!
Even an idiot knew escape was impossible, but sitting around helplessly meant waiting to die!
Besides, he wasn't exactly weak himself!
Having survived from the former "Legendary Era" until now and earned the fearsome name "Curse Doctor," he was no empty reputation!
Samuel stopped hesitating. He flung both arms out to his sides and chanted,
"Mycelial Carpet: Myriad Forms!"
The ground beneath his feet cracked apart, spreading outward with him at its center!
Countless gray, sickly strands of mycelium tinged with an eerie green burst from the earth, growing and spreading wildly!
They didn't merely grow in straight lines, but wove together in midair, coiling and branching,
instantly