Three days prior.
In a certain underground cavern.
The dim candlelight reflected in Kari's unfocused eyes as Griffin thrust a longsword, bought from the black market, into the ground before him.
The straight-bladed sword had a flame-like pattern, exuding a ferocious aura.
"It took me quite a bit of effort to find this sword. Give it a try."
"This is a Famous Sword."
...
Swordsmen are an indispensable part of the powerful figures on the seas, and the importance of a Famous Sword to a swordsman goes without saying.
The strongest Famous Swords are called the Supreme Grade Sharp Blades of Twelve Craftsmen, representing that the weapon and its master have reached an extremely high realm, and they do not exist in isolation.
The most representative of the Supreme Grade Swords is the Murakumo Splitter wielded by Whitebeard.
Next are the Black Blade - Night of Hawkeye Mihawk, a strong contender for the title of the world's greatest swordsman, and the Gryphon of Red-Haired Shanks.
Whitebeard is a Devil Fruit User and is generally not considered to be in the running for the world's greatest swordsman. After all, he already holds the title of 'World's Strongest Man,' so adding more titles would be meaningless.
Below the Supreme Grade Swords are the Great Grade Sharp Blades of Twenty-One Craftsmen. The difference between swords of this level and the Supreme Grade Swords is not in the weapon itself, but in the lack of a swordsman who can use it correctly.
In the third tier are the Good Grade Sharp Blades of Fifty Craftsmen.
One point needs to be made clear.
'Craftsmen' is the unit of quantity for Famous Swords. In other words, the swords that can be called Famous Swords are the top 83 treasured blades on the seas.
Once a stronger sword appears, it will push out one of the Famous Sword positions; a situation where the Four Heavenly Kings actually consist of five people will not occur.
...
The sword Griffin had acquired was named 'Spring Rain,' ranked fourteenth among the Good Grade Sharp Blades of Fifty Craftsmen.
It sounded like a gentle name, but it was an All-Tempered Blade.
This type of blade is forged in a special way, possessing greater hardness than normally forged swords. The body of the blade has a gorgeous, flame-like tiger stripe pattern.
This forging technique is extremely difficult with an astonishing failure rate, so the surviving good blades are extremely rare.
...
Kari reached out, grasped the hilt, and tried to infuse it with Chakra.
After a moment, the patterns on the blade's body came to life, like fiery snakes coiling around it.
"The Chakra conductivity is quite excellent. It might even be on par with the Kusanagi sword from the ninja world in your memory."
Griffin studied Kari for a good while and chuckled lightly.
"I always have a strange feeling when I talk to you. Do you really... not have an independent consciousness?"
Kari sheathed Spring Rain, his tone neither fast nor slow. "You can understand me as a replica of you. Due to ethical and other considerations, I do not possess self-awareness."
"My entire being exists for you. Your words are the highest command."
...
"There's a more romantic way to put it..." Griffin met Kari's eyes and said slowly, "You are, in this world, the other me."
...
"I cannot understand."
Griffin shook his head and smiled faintly. "Alright, let's proceed as planned. This is a grand play directed by me!"
...
Out of nowhere, Griffin suddenly spoke, "Kari, what is the probability that you could kill me?"
After a brief pause, Kari spoke.
"On the premise that you do not use your destruction authority."
"Based on the current situation."
"47 times."
"That is the number of times I could inflict a fatal wound upon you."
...
Not a probability, but a number of times...
Compared to Griffin, who worked as a clerk in the Crime Investigation Bureau, Kari had an extra month of training.
He possessed a learning ability completely identical to Griffin's, and lacked Griffin's human laziness. The gap created in this one month was enormous.
Moreover, in this month, he had been learning...
Hearing this answer, Griffin was not the least bit surprised and nodded.
"Is that so? That's great, then."
Turning to leave, Griffin suddenly stopped and looked back.
A pair of scarlet Sharingan bloomed with light in the dark room, their grim Eye Power carrying an endless malice.
...
"Only then are you worthy of being devoured by me!"
"He really came..."
In a hotel on the Sabaody Archipelago, a Marine intelligence officer watched the images transmitted from a Den Den Mushi placed in the auction house in advance.
On the screen, two figures faced each other amidst an icy mist.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku! Target spotted! Do we act immediately?!"
...
"How did he break through the encirclement..." Sengoku's voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi. He pondered for a moment.
"No! Ensure Saint Shalria is evacuated safely first. Plan 7!"
"Understood!"
...
This time, blatantly using Shalria as bait, Sengoku had already been under considerable political pressure.
If not for his repeated assurances of Saint Shalria's safety and his track record of successfully completing numerous missions, the Five Elders would never have agreed to such a crazy proposal.
Most importantly, Kari's crimes were too frequent, and the Five Elders also wanted to get rid of this annoying pest as soon as possible.
...
...
"Protect Saint Shalria!!"
"A World Noble is under attack! Repeat! A World Noble is under attack! Activate the highest state of emergency!!"
"It's Kari!! Quick, call a Marine Admiral!!"
...
"Bastard... You actually dared to show up!!!"
Lucci entered his Hybrid Form and pounced toward Kari like a bolt of lightning, his sharp claws glinting with a cold light.
In an instant.
Most people didn't even see what happened.
Time seemed to stand still. Kari flickered to another frame as if a video had skipped, and on the straight blade with its dancing flames, blood sizzled.
Thud—
The next moment, a pillar of blood erupted from Lucci's chest, and he collapsed to the ground.
No unnecessary flourishes, not a single wasted motion, not even a backward glance at his enemy.
A complete, overwhelming, instant kill!!
...
Lucci's wide eyes hadn't yet registered what had happened. He had only seen a flash of a blade that flooded his vision.
Then he was on the ground, feeling the cold touch of the floor.
The massive blood loss in a short time was about to send him into unconsciousness. In his last moments of awareness...
"Griffin! Protect—"
Kari's figure drifted toward Shalria like a ghost. Some guards tried to shoot at him, but the bullets passed through his body, accidentally injuring a few people attending the auction instead.
Fire Release - Wildfire.
Just as Earth Release has its techniques and Water Release has its techniques, Fire Release also has its own movement Ninjutsu.
The secret of Wildfire lies in being as elusive as fire, and at the same time...
As fierce as fire!
As he closed in on Shalria, Kari's figure suddenly accelerated, so fast that only a line of fire could be seen.
Shalria could do nothing, once again frozen stiff.
...
Clang—!!!
The explosive sound of metal on metal pulled Shalria's thoughts back.
Drip... drip...
The sound of dripping blood was incredibly clear.
Griffin's five fingers were like claws, gripping the blade's edge tightly as blood flowed from between them.
"Pardon the intrusion."
Shalria saw a palm approaching from a distance until it covered her entire field of vision.
Smack!!
She was sent flying by a slap, crashing through the venue's window frame and tracing a less-than-graceful arc through the air.
Arriving before the pain of the slap was the sense of satisfaction from making physical contact with Lord Griffin.
Thump—
Shalria fell into a coma with a satisfied smile.
...
...
"Marine!! How dare you—"
Swoosh—
Before a man in a black suit could finish speaking, a pillar of fire engulfed him.
...
"To think you could see my movements. You..."
Kari lowered the hand that had released the flames, his brow furrowed slightly as he looked at Griffin's eyes.
In the scarlet pupils, three pure black comma-shaped jewels slowly spun.
"Those eyes... could they be the legendary..."
"Sharingan!!"
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