The vast ship's deck fell deathly silent.
Bloodthirsty fighting spirit slowly surfaced on Bai Yu's face as he spoke.
"Vice Admiral Onigumo, if this were anything else, I might be joking."
"But when it comes to fighting to the death, I've always been serious!"
He was insane!
The expressions of the Marine soldiers present changed at once.
In their eyes, however strong Bai Yu might be,
he was only a somewhat outstanding rookie.
Challenging a veteran Marine Vice Admiral like Onigumo-what was that if not asking for a beating?
"Hahaha! What an arrogant brat, daring to challenge this Vice Admiral!"
Rather than growing angry, Onigumo laughed.
Over these past few days in this weakest of seas, he had not encountered a single pirate worth dealing with personally.
If he could use the brat before him to entertain himself on this boring sea,
that would be quite nice, too.
"Brat, for Mr. Garp's sake, I wasn't going to make things difficult for you. But since you've delivered yourself to my doorstep, I'll use you to pass some time!"
Onigumo abruptly drew a deep breath of stale air, and an immense, ferocious aura spread out like a tide.
The waist-length hair behind him whipped about and coiled rapidly, as though it had been given life.
In the blink of an eye, it formed six pitch-black arms gripping six swords.
At the same time, Onigumo slowly drew the swords at his waist with both hands, displaying the Eight-Sword Style whose fame resounded across the seas.
The sea breeze that had been flowing seemed to stop at that moment.
Even the ripples on the sea grew still.
The Marine soldiers present instinctively backed away.
As his accompanying personal guards, they knew that Vice Admiral Onigumo was determined to teach this rookie, who knew neither the height of heaven nor the depth of earth, a proper lesson.
For a moment, the atmosphere of their confrontation gripped everyone's hearts like an invisible hand.
Every gaze landed on Bai Yu, eager to learn how he would counter Onigumo's Eight-Sword Style.
Bai Yu exhaled a deep breath of stale air, the bloodthirsty fighting spirit hidden deep in his eyes gradually turning feverish.
Regardless of whether this battle could yield the result he suspected,
the belligerence that ran deep into his marrow was no sham.
"System, use Arakuri Heron for me!"
Bzzz!
His mind shuddered, and the Eight-Sword Style that had originally belonged solely to Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, instantly poured into Bai Yu's body.
With the system's heaven-defying power, Bai Yu instantly integrated Eight-Sword Style into his base template.
In an instant, all those so-called techniques felt as though they had been engraved into his soul.
As the savage, bloodthirsty grin on Bai Yu's face stretched to its widest,
an overwhelming surge of spiritual pressure erupted.
Bang!
The two auras collided instantly.
As the enormous warship, dozens of meters long, rocked violently,
Onigumo's eyes abruptly widened, and his already taut muscles unleashed tremendous strength.
"Brat, I'll show you that this world's one and only Eight-Sword Style isn't something a greenhorn like you can challenge whenever he pleases."
"This Vice Admiral cannot be measured by the standards of the Weakest Sea."
Boom!
With a single step, Onigumo vanished into thin air like a phantom.
The deck beneath his foot shattered with a crack.
When he appeared again, he was already right in front of Bai Yu.
The two swords in his hands, together with the six swords wielded through Life Return,
became a sky full of starlight, thrusting straight at Bai Yu.
In an instant, cold gleams filled the air like snow, sealing off every route of retreat.
Speed, precision, and ruthlessness were all displayed to the fullest.
Watching the assault rapidly swell in his pupils, Bai Yu's bloodthirsty frenzy erupted fully within his veins.
Bang!
The wooden sword in his hand cleaved head-on into the oncoming flurry of cold light.
The golden slash unleashed by his overwhelming spiritual pressure smashed through the entire assault with its crushing weight and power.
At the same time, Bai Yu flicked his left hand, and seven cold gleams appeared out of thin air like arrows loosed from a bow, pursuing Onigumo.
Their speed was like racing thunder.
At such close range, they reached him in an instant.
Onigumo's expression shifted slightly. The eight swords he wielded had only just collided with the cleaving blade aura before they vibrated once again.
The six arms formed through Life Return instantly arranged themselves into a defense with inhuman movements, buying the two swords in his hands a moment's breathing room.
Clang!
All eight swords moved together, forming a blade net so tight that not even the wind could pass through.
As the chilling gleams swirled and sparks flew,
the seven cold gleams pursuing Onigumo were instantly knocked away, finally embedding themselves at an angle in the deck.
"Seven swords? Those are seven swords?"
The pupils of the Marines present, and even Zoro and the others, abruptly contracted.
They had originally thought Bai Yu would launch some sort of concealed weapon in a surprise attack.
They had never imagined that those seven cold gleams would turn out to be seven strangely shaped blades.
"Brat, don't tell this Vice Admiral you're a Seven-Sword Style user? Could you know Life Return too, or can you grow a few extra arms?"
Onigumo paused, then sneered.
As a veteran, he really wanted to see just what this brat hailed as a genius could pull off before him.
"Sorry for the misunderstanding. I use Eight-Sword Style."
Bai Yu flashed a savage grin, not forgetting to take a swig of liquor.
The next moment, like a ferocious beast freed of its reins, Bai Yu charged forward with crushing force for the first time.
There was not the slightest flourish, only a plain, unadorned heavy cleave shrouded in boundless golden light.
Onigumo's expression darkened, and he hurriedly raised his eight swords to block.
Bang!
The dull collision exploded like thunder.
As the fierce winds it raised swept rapidly outward,
Onigumo felt the webbing of his hands jolt and instinctively retreated two steps, a trace of shock appearing on his face.
Because of Bai Yu's reputation as a genius, Onigumo had always thought that accepting his challenge was already giving him considerable credit.
But in this overpowering collision, Onigumo instantly realized that he had still underestimated Bai Yu's strength.
Yet before he could react,
the wooden sword in Bai Yu's hand had already been replaced by two oddly shaped pointed blades, which stabbed straight at Onigumo with cold gleams.
The point-blank distance once again set Onigumo's nerves on edge.
The two swords in his hands whirled, instantly colliding with the incoming blades.
Clang!
Sparks burst forth, dazzling as fireworks.
Feeling the tremendous force transmitted through his two swords, Onigumo forcibly steadied his footing.
At the same time, the third hand formed behind him through Life Return was already thrusting a sword straight at Bai Yu from a treacherous angle.
If this strike landed, Onigumo believed he could instantly turn the tables and seize control of the battle's rhythm from Bai Yu.