Hearing that, Kizaru finally stopped fooling around.
He understood it clearly now.
The man in front of him had to be taken down here.
If a man with this much power—and open hostility for the celestial dragons—was allowed to keep moving freely, it would not only damage the World Government's reputation. It would also become a massive problem for the Marines in the war to come.
Whoosh!
Kizaru launched another light-speed kick.
This time, however, Namikaze Kirito did not use Wood Release to block it.
He stepped forward and met it head-on with his own body.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Fists and legs clashed again and again, each impact shaking the air with violent roars.
The trees that had only just grown across the area were torn apart in an instant.
Kizaru possessed the Pika Pika no Mi, allowing him to move at terrifying speed as light itself.
But Namikaze Kirito was not lacking in that regard either.
His body had already been pushed to an unbelievable level. There was no way his speed would be slow.
On top of that, by using Lightning Release chakra to stimulate the cells throughout his body, he could accelerate his movements even further.
The two of them fought from the ground into the air, then crashed back down from above.
Sonic booms rang out one after another without end.
This was the level of the top fighters in the Pirate World.
Their physical strength was far beyond the average shinobi of the Naruto World.
But compared to the highest class of power from that world—such as those who had reached the Six Paths level—the top fighters of the sea seemed slightly lacking in raw scale.
Even so, Devil Fruits possessed countless strange and unreasonable abilities. Some of them were close to touching the rules of the world itself.
So no one could simply declare which world was stronger or weaker.
Kizaru's expression grew more serious the longer they fought.
He was not exactly famous for hand-to-hand combat.
But that was only when compared to monsters on the same level as him.
To ordinary people, his physical ability was already terrifying enough. And with the power of his Devil Fruit added into every strike, his attacks were anything but weak.
Even then, he was being pushed back.
The young man in front of him was exchanging blows with him directly, and in terms of pure close combat, Kizaru could only think of one person who might match him.
Vice Admiral Garp.
That old man.
With that thought flashing through his mind, Kizaru turned into a streak of light and pulled back.
Then he raised both hands.
"Yasakani no Magatama."
Countless bullets of light scattered across the sky.
Namikaze Kirito looked up at the rain of light and smiled.
"Perfect."
He brought his hands together.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu."
Roar!
A gigantic wooden dragon burst out from the ground, rising into the sky with a deep roar.
Namikaze Kirito stood calmly on top of its head as the dragon charged forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless light bullets rained down on the wooden dragon's body.
Wood splinters flew everywhere, but the dragon itself did not stop. The damage was far from enough to destroy it.
The ferocious dragon head rushed straight toward Kizaru.
"Ooh… this is getting pretty troublesome."
Kizaru let out a helpless-sounding sigh, but the wooden dragon had already closed the distance.
He stopped firing Yasakani no Magatama and raised his unharmed arm toward the sky.
"Pillar of Light."
Boom!
Five pillars of light descended from above, surrounding the wooden dragon from every direction.
The next moment, the five pillars began rotating rapidly.
The power of light was not something ordinary.
When the wooden dragon struck the barrier from the inside, its head was scorched black and forced backward.
The five beams of light continued to shrink inward as they spun, clearly intending to crush the wooden dragon completely.
But Namikaze Kirito, standing on the dragon's head, still wore the same calm smile.
"Armament Haki. Hardening."
"Roar!"
The wooden dragon roared again.
Then its entire massive body turned pitch-black.
Rayleigh, who was watching from nearby, narrowed his eyes slightly before letting out a low voice of admiration.
"To cover something that size with Armament Haki…"
For a person to coat their own entire body in Armament Haki was already proof of considerable strength.
But this was different.
That was a giant wooden dragon.
The amount of Haki required to cover such a huge body was beyond normal common sense.
And yet, judging from Namikaze Kirito's expression, he still had strength to spare.
If an ordinary fighter tried something like that, they would collapse from exhaustion before even defeating their opponent.
Kizaru, facing him directly, stared at the black wooden dragon in disbelief.
The next instant, the hardened wooden dragon slammed into the rotating pillars of light again.
Crack!
A sound like shattering glass echoed through the air.
The five light pillars broke apart instantly, scattering into countless fragments of fading light.
But the wooden dragon's momentum did not slow at all.
It charged straight into Kizaru.
Kizaru's body turned into light as he tried to move away.
But at some point, blackened branches covered in Armament Haki had already wrapped around his legs.
Boom!
The wooden dragon slammed directly into Kizaru's body and carried him toward the giant tree in the distance.
The earth shook violently.
The island beneath their feet split open.
That single blow tore through the ground itself.
Only then did Namikaze Kirito descend from the wooden dragon and land in front of Rayleigh.
His gaze shifted toward Sentomaru.
"Marine. Shouldn't you be checking on your Admiral?"
"You…!"
Sentomaru gritted his teeth, clearly wanting to snap back.
But when he looked at the huge crack running through the island beneath his feet, and remembered that Kizaru's condition was still unknown, he swallowed his anger.
"Damn it! PX-1, we're going to find Admiral Kizaru!"
He immediately left the battlefield with the Pacifista.
Far away, on top of a tree, another figure stood silently with a book in his hand.
The Pacifista's model.
Bartholomew Kuma.
He looked toward the Straw Hat crew, then toward Namikaze Kirito.
"The Straw Hats are safe for now."
His expression did not change, but his gaze grew deeper.
"Who exactly are you… to possess such power?"
After a brief pause, he added quietly,
"I should find a chance to inform Dragon."
With that, his large body disappeared from the tree branch.
Rayleigh laughed openly as he looked at Namikaze Kirito.
"You really are something, young man. To think you actually drove back one of the Marines' highest forces. I owe you one. If you hadn't been here, things would've gotten ugly."
Namikaze Kirito glanced toward Luffy.
"Even if I hadn't stepped in, you were planning to help them, weren't you?"
Rayleigh followed his gaze and smiled.
"Well… I saw it in him."
His eyes softened slightly.
"The future Roger was waiting for. I couldn't let that boy's journey end here."
Then he shook his head with a bitter laugh.
"But even if I had stepped in, stopping Kizaru wouldn't have been easy."
Rayleigh had already been retired for many years.
His strength was still there, but he was not like Whitebeard, who still stood at the front of the sea and fought as an Emperor.
These days, Rayleigh spent his time drinking, gambling, and coating ships.
No matter how powerful he once was, age and idleness had still taken something from him.
Namikaze Kirito looked at him calmly.
"Have you seen the news?"
Rayleigh's smile faded.
"Ace is going to be executed."
The air around them seemed to freeze.
"You're the former first mate of the Pirate King, aren't you? Are you really not going to save your captain's son?"
Rayleigh's eyes widened.
"Roger's…"
"What did you just say?!"
Before Rayleigh could finish, Luffy suddenly shot up from the ground.
His eyes were wide, his face filled with panic.
"Execution?! Hey! Are you talking about Ace?!"
Ace was his brother.
After hearing the word "execution," there was no way Luffy could stay calm.
Namikaze Kirito turned his eyes toward him.
"That's right. Fire Fist Ace will soon be publicly executed by the Marines."
"I'm going to save Ace!"
The moment Luffy heard that, he lost control of his emotions and shouted without hesitation.
"Luffy! Calm down!"
Nami rushed forward and grabbed him.
She did not even know whether this news was true yet.
They had been running for their lives and had not had time to read the newspaper.
And even if Ace really was going to be executed, they did not know where he was being held right now.
How were they supposed to save him like this?
Namikaze Kirito did not look at Luffy.
His gaze remained on Rayleigh.
In the original course of events, Rayleigh had only learned that Ace was Roger's son during the broadcast of the Summit War.
But now that the truth had been placed directly in front of him…
Namikaze Kirito wanted to see it for himself.
Would the retired old man stay silent?
Or would the right hand of the Pirate King bare his fangs at the sea once more?
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