"All right—time to collect the goods."
Tenma stretched lazily and strolled onto the display platform as if he were taking a walk in his own backyard.
The famed blade Shidarezura lay there quietly, radiating an alluring chill.
He grasped the hilt, raising an eyebrow. "That light?"
The sword was absurdly light, as if he were holding a feather.
With a draw of the blade, a dark-red streak cut through the air, carrying a blood-chilling aura.
To test it, Tenma casually picked up a Ryō Wazamono–grade sword worth tens of millions. Without infusing any Haki, he swung.
Clang!
A crisp ring—then the Ryō Wazamono split cleanly in two, the cut surface smooth as a mirror.
"Now this is a treasure."
Tenma's eyes lit up. Not only was the blade fast, that extreme lightness hinted at immense potential.
Just as advertised—this was a vicious weapon born purely for offense.
Putting away his spoils, Tenma was about to examine the Devil Fruit when his Observation Haki screamed warnings.
The auction house was already surrounded—dense presences everywhere.
By the time he sauntered out, Marines had sealed the place tight.
The efficiency surprised him.
His Conqueror's Haki should have cut off communications, yet barely ten minutes had passed before the Marines swarmed in like sharks smelling blood.
Stationed under the Marine Headquarters' nose, their response speed was indeed no joke.
A field-grade officer at the front didn't order gunfire immediately upon seeing Tenma alone. Instead, he raised a loudspeaker.
"Violent criminal inside, listen up! You are suspected of severe crimes! Lay down your weapons and surrender immediately, or be eliminated on the spot!"
At the command, countless black muzzles snapped toward Tenma.
Steel clashed violently, metal shrieking.
In just those brief exchanges, Gion "Momousagi" felt her heart sink.
An expert needed only one move to reveal the truth.
This man's Observation Haki was terrifyingly sharp; his Armament Haki hard as iron; and his swordsmanship—refined to an absurd degree—had no business appearing in the first half of the Grand Line.
Even she, an elite of Marine Headquarters, felt an indescribable pressure.
Most alarming of all—he was far too calm.
That ease plainly said: I'm not even serious yet.
And Gion was no ordinary officer—she was a Vice Admiral–level combatant in all but name, a genuine Admiral candidate.
As for the surrounding Marines without Haki, rushing in would only make things worse.
"You—who exactly are you?!"
Gion retreated with the rebound, pink hair whipping in the wind, her named blade Konpira angled downward. Her wine-red eyes brimmed with vigilance.
"If you're not a flag-bearing pirate, why trample the law so openly?!"
She frantically searched her memory of bounties from the first half of the Grand Line—nothing. This face didn't exist.
Tenma shrugged indifferently, lips curling in mockery.
"Who says only pirates break the law?"
He seemed amused.
"Though I'll admit, the rules on this sea are pretty damn rotten. No matter the reason—sail without permission and you're guilty."
The barb made Gion's expression turn icy.
Her aura condensed, pupils contracting like needles.
"Sophistry!"
The ground shattered beneath her feet as she shot forward like an arrow.
Konpira split into a sky-filling rain of blades, each slash carrying lethal intent toward Tenma's vital points.
Instead of retreating, Tenma advanced.
The demon blade Shidarezura in his hand let out a hungry tremor.
Something bizarre happened.
The Armament Haki coating Tenma's body began to flow like water—violently siphoned into the blade.
In an instant, his defense dropped to zero.
But the sword glowed crimson, as if blood might drip from it.
This was an extreme gambler's sword style—
Abandon all defense. Compress every ounce of Haki into the edge, wagering everything for absolute destruction.
"Interesting."
Even as weakness spread from the sudden drain, Tenma's battle intent soared.
If the sword wanted blood, then he'd let it drink its fill.
Riding that violent momentum, he slashed straight into Gion's blade storm.
No fancy techniques—just brute-force suppression.
The moment Shidarezura touched the incoming slashes, attacks capable of cleaving steel crumpled like paper.
Rrrrip—!
The sword rain was torn apart, dissipating into nothing.
Gion's pupils shrank violently.
She couldn't comprehend a force that shattered her Armament Haki so effortlessly.
But it wasn't over.
As Shidarezura roared, Tenma's presence surged—like a beast unleashed.
"Again!"
He swept the blade.
Gion clenched her teeth and reacted at the limit.
"Soru!"
Her figure vanished, using the Six Powers' high-speed movement to evade at the last instant.
That agility—unpredictable and swift—was the origin of her codename Momousagi.
She reappeared behind Tenma, Konpira screaming through the air, wrapped in dense Haki.
Against an ordinary swordsman, this would've been fatal.
Tenma didn't even move his heels.
The instant his strike missed, his wrist twisted at an inhuman angle.
Shidarezura traced a bizarre broken line through the air—hilt pressed down, blade snapping up.
CLANG!!
The two named blades collided again.
A terrifying shockwave exploded outward, ripping up layers of stone.
Gale-force winds howled, clothes snapping.
Unnoticed, a bewitching blood-red glow surfaced along Shidarezura's blade.
Agony stabbed through Gion's wrist.
Her Armament Haki scattered as if meeting its natural predator.
An overwhelming force rebounded up her sword.
"Ugh!"
She was blasted backward dozens of meters, carving twin trenches before barely stabilizing.
The calm was gone—only shock remained.
How?!
She had held an absolute speed advantage.
Yet he predicted her landing point without even turning his head.
And that crimson aura—what was it? Something that ignored defense entirely?!
A swordsman of this caliber was rare even in the New World.
Why was he here—unknown—at Sabaody?!
Before she could think further, Tenma struck again.
Whoosh!
He leapt skyward, moving so fast his afterimages burned into the retina.
"Lion—Thousand-Cleave Valley!"
Massive golden slashes rained down like a pride of enraged lions.
The ground tore apart, dust exploding.
Knowing the move's power, Gion didn't dare block—she spammed Soru to evade.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The earth was shredded into a cratered wasteland.
"Worthy of an Admiral candidate," Tenma muttered as he landed. "Your escape speed's impressive."
Shidarezura's power was monstrous—but its stamina and Haki drain were astronomical.
And this was Sabaody, dangerously close to Marine HQ.
The longer this dragged on, the worse it got.
If Garp happened to be nearby buying rice crackers, it'd be real trouble.
This had to end—now.
"Warm-up's over, Vice Admiral."
The flat voice made Gion's heart lurch.
The man crouched slightly—assuming a terrifying sprint posture.
Her instincts screamed.
I'll die.
I cannot take this head-on.
Every hair stood on end as she forced her Haki to the limit, Observation pushed wide open.
Konpira crossed before her chest—absolute defense.
Reality was crueler.
Whoosh!
Tenma vanished.
Not fast—beyond visual limits.
This wasn't pure physical burst.
It was the More-More Fruit's hundredfold speed amplification.
When Gion registered him again, his cold face was inches away.
"How… fast…?!"
Despair screamed through her mind.
Too late to change moves—she shoved her blade forward on instinct.
CLANG—CRACK!
Sparks exploded—then the sound of shattering hope.
With Shidarezura's edge and hundredfold momentum, her defense was meaningless.
The ground beneath collapsed into powder, a massive fan-shaped crater forming.
The crushing force slammed down like Mount Tai.
PFF!
Gion spat blood, flung away like a broken kite.
BOOM!
She smashed into the auction house wall, cracks spiderwebbing instantly.
Debris fell. Dust roared.
Before she could recover, a cold edge rested on her pale neck.
Tenma stepped on her shoulder, gaze devoid of mercy.
"You lost."
Her mind went blank.
Defeated—utterly and swiftly.
That sudden burst of speed and power surpassed humanity.
Humiliation surged. She glared up at him.
"Don't get cocky! Marine HQ reinforcements are coming!"
"Attacking a Vice Admiral is a grave crime—you won't escape Sabaody even with wings!"
It wasn't empty bravado.
This chaos had alerted the garrison. If Vice Admiral Tsuru or Fleet Admiral Sengoku arrived, it'd be minutes at most.
Tenma laughed.
"Can't escape? What if I have a hostage?"
"Hostage? Dream on! I'd rather die!"
Gion pressed her neck toward the blade.
"Gutsy."
The smile vanished. Dark-gold light flashed in Tenma's eyes.
BOOM—!
A terrifying Conqueror's Haki slammed into her without restraint.
Like an ancient emperor's will—absolute, irresistible.
Already gravely injured, Gion's mind rang.
Her body betrayed her will—going limp, unable to move a finger.
"The harbor's sealed," she snarled weakly.
"You have no ship, no route. This sea is inescapable."
"Who said I'm leaving by sea?"
Tenma laughed, glancing at the assembling Marines.
"The sky's far wider than the ocean."
He bent down, palms pressing to the ground.
RUMBLE—!
The entire Island No. 1 shook like a magnitude-twelve quake.
Marines with rifles staggered as solid earth turned fluid, rolling in waves.
"Up!"
At his command, soil surged skyward like living serpents.
This wasn't nature—it was absolute control over matter.
Towering earth-waves swallowed mortar emplacements, trapping soldiers in towering soil-prisons.
A Marine major kicked off with Geppo, staring in terror.
"This… this power…"
"Golden Lion Shiki?!!"
Different technique—same nightmare.
The power to lift the earth and command all things.
Gion's pupils shrank as the name surfaced—
Before she could speak, weight vanished.
The auction house ruins beneath her—and hundreds of meters of ground—broke free of gravity, rising into the sky!
"Damn it—don't let him escape!"
The major charged.
Tenma waved casually.
A floating boulder swatted him down like a fly.
Amid the furious shouts, Tenma ascended with Gion into the clouds—vanishing.
Miles above, an unmanned pirate ship floated quietly.
Tenma's prepared escape.
He landed steadily, tossed Gion aside.
"Well? Vice Admiral."
He crushed her Den Den Mushi and leaned on the rail, cold wind whipping past.
"Still worried about harbor blockades?"
Gion stared at the rolling sea of clouds—speechless.
The Float-Float Fruit.
This man had inherited Golden Lion's power.
"So that's it…"
She forced herself calm.
"Years ago, the Impel Down incident—the mysterious jailer who killed Golden Lion… that was you."
"Oh? You figured it out?"
Tenma raised a brow. Her linking it despite his drastic changes impressed him.
She ignored the tease.
"You killed Golden Lion, took his fruit. Then killed Byrnndi World. What do you want?"
"No one can eat two Devil Fruits. A man of your level wouldn't kill for fun."
"Marine intel isn't totally useless."
Tenma sat cross-legged before her.
"But you're my prisoner now—don't you think this interrogation tone's off?"
"Whether Sengoku or Tsuru guessed this far, fair play," he sighed.
"Shame they're just watchdogs for the World Government."
"Watchdogs?!"
Gion bristled, fury blazing.
"The Marines and the World Government maintain order!"
"Without us, the world would've been destroyed by lawless brutes like you!"
"The justice we bear isn't yours to insult!"
Tenma regarded her with pity.
"Justice? Order?"
"Tell me—whose peace is it? The nobles'? Or the common people's?"
The light words pierced like a thorn.
Captor and hostage—debating belief atop a skyship.
"Everyone's… peace!"
She protested, then faltered.
She knew the darkness too well.
"Everyone?" Tenma sneered.
"Then let's talk recent history."
"Baterilla Island. To hunt a 'possible sinful bloodline,' the World Government ordered every pregnant woman and infant executed."
"A year of slaughter—blood stained the shores."
"And Ohara."
Her body trembled.
"A millennia-old archaeological sanctuary erased by a Buster Call—for scholars studying history."
"Civilians. Children. All burned alive."
He leaned in, eyes locked.
"This is your justice? Your peace?"
Her mouth opened—nothing came.
Ohara was the Marines' eternal wound.
Even Kuzan had grown disillusioned from it.
"That was… because the scholars tried to revive ancient weapons…"
Her voice was hollow—even to herself.
"Spare me the bedtime stories."
Tenma scoffed.
"When has the World Government needed reasons to kill?"
"If scholars wanted destruction, would they wait to die for books? Protect them unto death?"
"Even if scholars were guilty—what about civilians? Refugees?"
"A Marine Vice Admiral ordered the evacuation ship sunk."
Each word struck like a hammer.
She couldn't refute it.
Seeing her silence, Tenma pressed on.
"I'll admit—the Marines catch pirates, protect villages."
His tone softened—strategic retreat.
Then the killing blow:
"But the World Government you serve is a rotting corpse."
"Heavenly Tribute bankrupts nations—drives desperate civilians to piracy."
"You hunt pirates, yet the source creating them is the Celestial Dragons you protect."
"Shouting justice while guarding traffickers who treat lives as dirt."
"Vice Admiral Gion…"
"Doesn't that disgust you?"