Gaban jumped up from Laboon's head, gripping the giant axe with both hands for a swing.
The pitch-black axe blade gleamed coldly, with dark red Haki swirling around the axe's spine. As the blade fell, the air emitted a sound of unbearable strain.
Setsuna concentrated his Armament Haki into his right hand, as if putting on a steel gauntlet.
His Armament Haki truly wasn't very strong, but concentrating it on one spot made a world of difference.
Fist and axe blade collided. Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
In the next moment, a terrifying shockwave erupted from the center of the clash, sweeping out in all directions. Even the colossal bodies of Laboon and Titan rose and fell with the waves.
"To the Red Line!" Worried about hurting Laboon, Gaban turned and, using a technique similar to Geppo, ran up the air to reach the Red Line.
'Geppo really is as common as dirt,' Setsuna inwardly complained, but he wasn't overly surprised.
After all, the principle of Geppo was to step rapidly on the ground or air multiple times in a short period to gain propulsion for levitation and movement.
As long as your physical stats were high enough, even if you didn't know the technique, it was fine.
On the cliff face of the Red Line, two figures collided at speeds difficult for the naked eye to follow.
Gaban's giant axe, wrapped in pitch-black Armament Haki, came down heavily.
Setsuna sidestepped. The entire rock wall was cleaved by the axe, creating a fissure dozens of meters deep.
Amidst the flying gravel, Gaban's Observation Haki had already foreseen the scene one second later.
He immediately raised his elbow to block. Sure enough, the next moment, Setsuna's knee strike precisely hit the predicted spot.
"Future Sight?" Setsuna felt troubled at this moment. Gaban wasn't comparable to a monster like Satori, let alone his Sage Mode being temporarily sealed.
Gaban used the momentum to leap back. "Quite knowledgeable, recognizing Future Sight. Your physique is strong, but unfortunately, I can see everyth-"
Before he finished, Setsuna suddenly accelerated, appearing behind Gaban the instant before he landed.
Setsuna followed up with a heavy punch to Gaban's back, smashing him straight into the rock wall.
The reddish-brown rock shattered like tofu, sending up a cloud of dust.
"You actually didn't dodge?" Setsuna was somewhat surprised. Although he had entered the Seventh Gate state, Gaban could use Future Sight. In theory, dodging should have been easy.
"Really troublesome. My body was drained when I left, so I'm a bit slow to react," Gaban got up from the dust, grumpily rubbing his lower back.
Setsuna's mouth slightly twitched, 'Isn't the distance from Elbaf to the Twin Capes enough for you to recover? How thoroughly were you drained?'
But Setsuna quickly realized. Elbaf wasn't too far from the end of the Grand Line. Crossing the Calm Belt and then climbing over the Red Line might indeed not take very long.
"Next, let's see if your speed is faster, or my reaction is quicker," Gaban pushed his Observation Haki to the limit. Images of the future constantly flashed before his eyes.
For the first time, Setsuna's attack was dodged. The punch that missed struck the Red Line. The earth rumbled… a hill-sized mass of rock fell into the sea.
"It seems my reaction is superior…" Gaban smiled slightly, then suddenly noticed electric serpents flickering across Setsuna's body.
"If it's just speed… Lightning Release Chakra Mode!" Setsuna's hair stood on end.
The boost from Lightning Release Chakra Mode was certainly inferior to Sage Mode. But with Sage Mode temporarily sealed, there was no better choice than Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
"What is that?" Gaban was shocked again, knowing this definitely wasn't a Devil Fruit power. "Are you a mutated Mink? Is this your static electricity ability?"
"Mutated? You're the perverted cave explorer!" Setsuna's figure appeared before him like a ghost, his right leg raised high, chopping down like a battleaxe.
Gaban didn't understand Setsuna's meaning, but there was no time to think. His left arm rose just in time to block. But the force of this strike far exceeded expectations.
His feet sank deep into the rock layer. The surface of the Red Line for a thousand meters around instantly cracked. Countless rocks turned to powder in the shockwave.
The entire cliff face trembled violently. Even the sea below churned, raising terrifying waves.
Ace, watching from below, had to elementally fly into the air, his heart shaken. "Is this still human strength?"
Setsuna's assault was relentless. With another burst of speed, even though Gaban could see the future, he was beaten badly. He hadn't fought for too long. In just a few minutes, his body was covered in bruises, and his breathing grew ragged.
But the more injuries he sustained, the more they stimulated his long-sealed combat instincts to awaken. Muscle memory flowed again like a thawing river.
"It seems I need to change tactics," Gaban grinned.
He no longer tried to completely dodge. Instead, he used Armament Haki to absorb part of the attacks while focusing his foresight on counter-attacking opportunities.
Clang!
The giant axe and Setsuna's fist collided, erupting in blinding sparks. Gaban's purlicue was torn, but he showed a triumphant smile.
He had foreseen the instant Setsuna retracted his fist. Seizing this opening of less than 0.01 seconds, he lunged forward, the axe handle thrusting heavily into Setsuna's abdomen.
For the first time, Setsuna was forced back, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of his mouth.
"Hah, how about we end it here? This time, I lost," Gaban offered a truce, but was met with Setsuna's blazing gaze.
"Isn't this just getting started?" Setsuna finally felt a bit of excitement.
Last time, when fighting Golden Lion, Shiki fought with a death wish, attacking without regard for defense, which was why he could seriously injure Setsuna. But Gaban clearly didn't have that resolve. Only now was he finally getting a feel for the fight.
That look made Gaban's scalp tingle. He was all too familiar with such an expression. When he was young, he was exactly the kind of person who wouldn't stop once a fight started.
Every battle, he would cut down all the trees on the mountain, earning him the nickname [Mountain-Eater].
That said, he really didn't want to see his past self right now.
However, Setsuna naturally wouldn't let him off. It was rare to encounter an Observation Haki expert. Today, if he didn't make him teach Observation Haki, he wasn't getting off class!
Setsuna shot out again like an arrow from a bowstring. Gaban had no choice but to fight back.
The two collided frantically upon the Red Line. The rock walls crumbled beneath their feet. Massive boulders fell into the sea below, raising waves dozens of meters high.
Setsuna's offensive was like a violent storm. Gaban pushed defensive counter-attacks to the extreme.
"Armament: Tekkai!"
Pitch-black Armament Haki covered his entire body like armor.
A whip-like kick swept from Setsuna. Gaban didn't dodge or block, taking the hit squarely on his side.
The sound of cracking ribs was clearly audible. Gaban spat blood, but at the same moment, he locked onto Setsuna's position.
His giant axe swung out, precisely targeting an opening Setsuna exposed.
Setsuna was sent flying back by the axe, his back smashing through a large section of rock wall. Gaban knelt on one knee, the wound on his abdomen horrifying to behold.
'Why is Observation Haki so hard to grasp?' Setsuna frowned deeply. In his fight with Golden Lion, he had quickly mastered Conqueror's and Armament Haki. But after fighting Gaban for so long, Observation Haki still showed no reaction.
"It must be because you, the teacher, are bad at teaching! Just like Rayleigh, a mediocre teacher!" Setsuna got up from the rubble, promptly blaming Gaban.
Gaban was sucking in cold air from the pain. Hearing Setsuna's words, he was utterly dumbfounded, 'When did I become a teacher? And what's this about Rayleigh being a mediocre teacher?'