The moment Kizaru turned to flee, a massive black moon shot from Ray's direction toward Kizaru at incredible speed.
"Meido Zangetsuha!"
Instantly, all the Kizaru clones were swallowed into the Meido and the barrage of lasers naturally achieved nothing, vanishing into the void.
Kizaru, flying into the distance, was slowed by the immense gravitational pull of the black sphere.
This deceleration plunged Kizaru into grave danger.
Ray's movement speed surpassed his hindered flight, darting to his front in one swift motion.
At this moment, cold sweat dripped from Kizaru's forehead.
The Ray before him now had red-black lightning coiled around his greatsword, clearly about to deliver a fatal slash.
At the critical moment, Kizaru crossed his arms in front of his chest, coating his entire body with advanced Armament Haki armor.
Defense was his only option since offense was no longer possible.
Having roamed the seas for decades, this was the first time he'd encountered such a crisis.
Before coming to Sabaody Archipelago, Kizaru had been confident that no matter how strong Ray was, he could always escape with his light abilities.
Yet not only could he not shake him off in speed...
He never expected Ray to have such an overpowered spatial skill waiting for him.
Facing the tremendous suction of the Meido Zangetsuha, his extreme speed was severely limited.
While Ray could bypass the suction range to charge right in front of him.
Even though the suction had disappeared now that the attack passed, it was already too late to dodge.
The next instant.
"Wind God Departure."
A close-range slash containing both Conqueror's Haki infusion and the Demonic Power of the Wind Scar struck Kizaru with devastating force.
BOOM!
The moment he was hit, Kizaru felt his haki armor shatter.
His light-body coughed up blood as he was sent flying at extreme speed into the sea three kilometers away.
SPLASH!
The terrifying impact force exploded on the sea surface, creating a massive 300-meter-high wave.
By sheer coincidence, near where Kizaru fell, a large Marine warship happened to be passing by.
After defeating Kizaru, Ray turned and flew back toward Sabaody Archipelago.
...
Actually, during the earlier battle, Ray could have continued fighting and had a chance to kill Kizaru completely.
But he chose to stop.
First: Because after Kizaru arrived on the island, he hadn't shown genuine killing intent toward anyone.
Even when he used Yasakani no Magatama against Zoro, it was because he sensed Ray's presence nearby and just wanted to force him out for a talk.
Second: Because if Ray had truly unleashed killing intent earlier, Kizaru would have fought desperately like a cornered beast.
Ray had already foreseen this guy's Awakening technique through Observation Haki—a self-destructive Solar Flare.
Unlike the domain-like environmental skills of Logia awakenings such as Aokiji and Crocodile, Kizaru's awakening technique was aimed at mutual destruction.
If that light power erupted at point-blank range, Ray estimated he would also be severely injured—the kind of injury that would take a long time to recover from.
To ensure he could properly handle subsequent enemies and protect his crew, Ray chose not to show killing intent toward Kizaru earlier, only aiming to severely injure him to force him out of the fight.
Kizaru, being a seasoned veteran, immediately understood Ray's intention.
'Fine... severely injured it is then.'
Let Ray vent his anger—who told Kizaru he didn't know Mikita was Ray's follower earlier?
Since it hadn't reached a point of no return yet, there was no need to fight desperately.
Moreover, Ray specifically sent him flying precisely onto Zephyr's arriving warship.
This was already showing "goodwill" toward the Marines, and as an Admiral, he had to accept this out.
Even though... the injuries were quite severe.
...
2 minutes later.
Fished out of the water by the former Admiral Zephyr, Kizaru coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, lying weakly on the sickbed looking extremely frail.
"It hurts so much... Zephyr-sensei. That Ray guy was too ruthless."
"I'm severely injured now and have lost all combat ability. I guess I can't continue this mission."
After saying this, Kizaru demanded all medical personnel leave the room.
Once only Kizaru and Zephyr remained, the Admiral of Light suddenly sat up, showing no signs of weakness despite the blood still seeping through the bandages on his chest.
"Ahem. Zephyr-sensei... I think we should just capture a few pirate rookies for show. Let's not touch the Straw Hat Pirates."
Zephyr watched Kizaru's slacking attitude and felt his anger rising.
'Is this all the ambition you have as a Marine Admiral?!'
Zephyr's gaze turned sharp and severe, like a strict homeroom teacher.
"Just capturing a few pirates?! How can we explain such meager results to the Celestial Dragons?!"
Hearing this, Kizaru felt his brain couldn't keep up.
'Zephyr-sensei... aren't you the one who hates the Celestial Dragons the most?!'
'When have you ever put in real effort when working for them?!'
'Has the sun risen from the west today? You actually want to go after the Straw Hat crew?! The losses would be too great!'
Thinking this, Kizaru began considering whether to argue with Zephyr again.
After all, the two of them had argued plenty of times before as teacher and student.
The atmosphere in the infirmary grew strange.
After a moment of silence, Zephyr coughed twice and declared firmly.
"At the very least... we need to capture several dozen pirates!"
At these words, Kizaru's mouth twitched, and he immediately lay back down on the sickbed, groaning dramatically.
"Oww! My chest hurts! That guy slash nearly split me in half! Medic, get in here and save me!"
Well, now it was Zephyr's turn to be speechless.
How did he end up teaching such a shameless guy?
Forget it, Kizaru really was severely injured.
'That Ray fellow really went all out with his performance,' Zephyr thought grimly. 'One of the students I care about had nearly been lost.'
...
Before Grove 13.
Luffy, Sanji, Robin, Nami, and Usopp were all fighting at full power, appearing to be giving their all.
The pressure Aokiji exerted on them was truly immense.
The entire battlefield had transformed into an Ice Age under Aokiji's ability.
Extremely cold blizzards continuously fell from the sky.
If not for the three main fighters being able to use Haki to block the cold, they would have definitely turned into ice pops by now.
Of course, a certain skeleton who couldn't use Haki was already frozen solid nearby.
This was exactly why Luffy was desperately holding back Aokiji—the Haki within him burned wildly, determined not to let Aokiji get past to shatter Brook.
They also had to cover Chopper while he moved Brook to the Sunny for treatment.
"GOMU GOMU NO... RHINOCEROS SCHNEIDER!"
A compressed leg technique imbued with Ryuo fiercely assaulted Aokiji's position.
In response to this strike, Aokiji countered with an ice fist wrapped in advanced Armament Haki.
BOOM!
After a brief stalemate, Luffy's powerful kick was actually repelled.
However, Aokiji wasn't having an easy time either—his right hand trembled slightly.
Luffy's power had reached a level that could genuinely threaten him.
Then Aokiji leaped high into the air, exhaling a cold sigh as he decided to use one final technique.
If they were putting on a show, they might as well do it completely.
"Absolute Zero: FROZEN CAPSULE RAIN."
Instantly, dense ice spheres capable of freezing everything descended like a hailstorm from the sky.
The Straw Hat Pirates frantically dodged.
Under Aokiji's awakened ability, even with their haki armor, they would inevitably be frozen temporarily if hit.
And given their current Haki strength levels, it would be difficult for any of them to break free from the surface ice in such a short time.
That brief period would be enough for Aokiji to take out several of them.
But the ice sphere rain was too dense.
Three seconds later, even Luffy had become a muscular ice statue.
Aokiji seized the opportunity.
"Ice Blade."
A longsword forged from dense ice materialized in his hand, swiftly descending toward the frozen Luffy to shatter him.
At the critical moment.
"Tiger Hunt!"
CLANG!
Zoro arrived, his Three Sword Style clashing heavily with Aokiji's icy blade, blocking the execution.
During their brief stalemate, Luffy and Sanji broke free from their ice encasements using bursts of Haki, charging at Aokiji once more.
But unexpectedly, Aokiji transformed into a chilling mist, instantly retreating backward at high speed.
Wherever the cold air passed, everything froze solid.
This included Marianne, Bon Clay, Gem, and Galdino, who were still battling the Pacifistas nearby.
Even the nearly immobilized Pacifistas were frozen solid.
At the same moment, Robin shattered her icy restraints, her gaze fixed on the distant Aokiji as she prepared to use her ability for a brief restraint.
But Aokiji moved even faster, retreating into the distance without giving Robin a chance to grab him.
…
One minute later, Aokiji appeared on Grove 15.
He looked in the direction of Luffy and the others as a faint smile forming on his face.
"Yare yare~ If we kept fighting, I'd really end up severely wounded."
"The Straw Hat Pirates have grown quickly."
"Don't you think so... Ray?"
Aokiji had intended to return directly to the shore, not wanting to linger here, mainly because a glowing Tessaiga blade was currently pressed against his neck.
This was the real reason he mentioned the risk of severe injury if the fight continued.
"Emm... We Marines have no intention of making an enemy of you this time." Aokiji said calmly, his hands in his pockets.
"But you should know... if we report that we couldn't capture you, the Celestial Dragons might take matters into their own hands."
"Ray... are you prepared for it?"
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