I Punch the Tailed Beast Ball

From afar, Kuraigana Island looked like nothing more than a dense forest, not much different from the countless uninhabited islands scattered across the sea.

"Then this is where we part ways. Tina, let’s go." Nagasawa smiled as he bid farewell to Zephyr, Ain, and the others before disembarking with Tina and heading onto the island.

Zephyr, Ain, and the rest watched as Nagasawa and Tina disappeared into the distance.

"Admiral Nagasawa is such a good person, yet he was punished just for eliminating pirates. What a shame," Binz said regretfully as he watched Nagasawa’s departing figure.

Although they hadn’t spent much time together, Nagasawa had already left a deep impression on him.

Despite his overwhelming strength, Nagasawa was approachable and never put on the airs of an Admiral. Even when his subordinates complained to him, he merely smiled.

Even to juniors like them, who had no particular connection to him, he was willing to patiently offer guidance. During the time Nagasawa had instructed him, Binz felt he had gained a great deal.

Ain also silently watched Nagasawa leave, saying nothing as she quietly stared at his retreating figure.

"That’s enough watching. We should get going too," Zephyr laughed loudly once Nagasawa and Tina had disappeared into the forest.

He slapped Binz on the head before asking, "What? Want to watch Nagasawa fight Mihawk?"

Binz scratched his head awkwardly and smiled.

"After all, it’s a battle between an Admiral and the World’s Greatest Swordsman. Anyone would be curious, right? Ain, don’t you think so?"

"I’m curious, but hunting pirates is more important," Ain replied calmly as she turned around.

Although she was curious about what the battle between Nagasawa and Mihawk would be like and who would emerge victorious, if she had to choose between watching the battle or continuing to hunt pirates with Zephyr, she would choose the latter.

Ain respected Zephyr immensely and regarded him as a father figure. It wasn’t only because of his constant guidance, but also because he had risked his life to protect her during that incident. If it were for Zephyr, she could give up many things. Without him, she might have died back then.

Looking at his two proud disciples, Zephyr gradually formed an idea.

He wanted Ain and Binz to become Nagasawa’s subordinates.

His family had all been murdered. Long-time disciples like Ain and Binz had already become family in his eyes.

Naturally, he wanted the best for his family.

Following Nagasawa undoubtedly offered a far brighter future than staying with him. Nagasawa was powerful, kind, and generous with his guidance. As a superior, he was hard to surpass.

Following Nagasawa would also allow them to fight pirates more effectively. There were simply too many advantages.

"When Nagasawa returns to Marine Headquarters, I’ll apply to have both of you transferred to his command," Zephyr suddenly said.

Binz froze before hurriedly replying, "Teacher, I was only speaking casually just now. I still want to hunt pirates with you."

He thought Zephyr had become angry because of what he had just said.

"Teacher, I don’t want to go anywhere. I want to stay by your side forever," Ain said with an unusually serious expression on her fair face.

Zephyr burst into laughter before suddenly becoming serious.

"Have you forgotten what I taught you? As Marines, justice must always come first!"

"Following Nagasawa will give you greater opportunities to uphold your justice. This is a good opportunity."

"But I..." Ain’s expression became conflicted, yet she didn’t want to argue against Zephyr’s words.

"Don’t act like we’re saying our final goodbyes. You’re only being transferred to Nagasawa’s command. It’s not as if we’ll never meet again. Besides, I might retire soon myself and return to Headquarters to become an instructor at the academy," Zephyr said.

The death of Whitebeard Jr. had untied one of the knots in his heart. Combined with the fact that he was already seventy-three years old, he truly was considering retiring and returning to Marine Headquarters as an instructor. He wasn’t just saying it to comfort Ain and Binz.

As for why he wanted to teach at Marine Headquarters instead of leaving the Marines entirely, it was because Zephyr couldn’t imagine where else he could go. The Marines had already become his entire life.

.........

Not long after Nagasawa and Tina entered the forest, a troop of baboons carrying all kinds of weapons suddenly rushed out and surrounded them.

The baboons wielded every imaginable weapon, from melee weapons to firearms. Nagasawa even spotted one baboon using a Three Sword Style, holding two swords in its hands while clenching another in its mouth.

"Tina is very confused. What’s with these baboons?" Tina looked at the unusual troop of baboons with a puzzled expression.

She had certainly seen baboons before, but baboons carrying all kinds of weapons and giving off such imposing auras were completely new to her.

Just as Tina was about to deal with the armed baboons, Nagasawa suddenly erupted with an overwhelming aura. His powerful Conqueror’s Haki crashed toward the baboons like a tidal wave.

Thud! Thud!

In an instant, every baboon collapsed unconscious, overwhelmed by Nagasawa’s terrifying aura. Only one enormous baboon barely managed to stay standing, though it stared at Nagasawa in absolute terror, its earlier arrogance completely gone.

"Conqueror’s Haki!" Tina looked at Nagasawa in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to have been hiding this as well. His control was excellent, and none of it affected her.

"What’s so surprising about that? Aren’t there quite a few people awakened to it in the New World?" Nagasawa chuckled.

"Those are pirates. Among the Marines, those who possess this Haki are an extremely rare minority," Tina replied.

As far as she knew, the only Marine capable of using Conqueror’s Haki was Fleet Admiral Sengoku.

What she didn’t say was that not only were its users extremely rare, but someone whose Conqueror’s Haki had reached Nagasawa’s level was rare even among pirates.

Inside the castle, Mihawk, who had been drinking tea while reading the newspaper, suddenly sensed something. He placed his teacup onto the long table and gazed into the distance through the castle window.

The bored Perona was fiddling with one of her dolls. Seeing Mihawk stand up, she assumed he was about to prepare lunch.

"What’s for lunch today?" she asked.

However, Mihawk didn’t answer. He simply kept staring in one direction.

Perona immediately became annoyed.

Crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks, she deliberately floated back and forth in front of him.

"You jerk! Didn’t you hear me talking to you?!" Perona complained as she floated around while stomping angrily in midair.

Without changing his expression, Mihawk gave Perona a hand chop, knocking the ghost-like girl out of the air.

"Ghost girl, don’t get in my way. Someone has come to the island," Mihawk said.

"Who is it? Is someone here to see you?" Perona asked curiously.

"I don’t know," Mihawk answered briefly.

"What kind of answer is that?" Perona felt like she had wasted her time.

Mihawk walked out of the castle. The aura that had erupted earlier was anything but ordinary.

At this moment, Zoro was still outside diligently practicing his swordsmanship. Seeing Mihawk emerge, he merely paused briefly.

Over the past year or so, Mihawk had already taught him many things. Most of what remained now depended on his own training.

Mihawk gave a slight nod. Just as he was about to head over and investigate, he stopped because the person he intended to find had already appeared before him.

"Admiral Fujiwara Nagasawa..." Mihawk frowned slightly. He hadn’t expected the visitor to be the newly appointed Marine Admiral.

"A Marine Admiral?" Zoro stopped training and looked toward Nagasawa.

Zoro had fought a Marine Admiral once before—Aokiji. Although calling it a battle was generous, since it had been a completely one-sided defeat, he at least understood a little about the strength of an Admiral.

Zoro believed he had grown tremendously since then. If he encountered the same situation again, he certainly wouldn’t be so powerless.

"That’s right. I am," Nagasawa admitted openly.

"But I’m not here on Marine business. I’m simply here to pick a fight with you," Nagasawa explained with a smile.

Tina: ...

Picking a fight? Would it kill you to just say you wanted a spar?

"Dracule Mihawk, our visit does not represent the Marines, only ourselves. Please don’t draw any unnecessary conclusions. My superior, Admiral Nagasawa, is also a great swordsman and wishes to have a swordsman’s duel with you," Tina quickly explained.

"A swordsman’s duel..." Mihawk glanced at Ryujin Jakka hanging at Nagasawa’s waist before nodding calmly.

"Very well."

When reading the newspapers previously, Mihawk had paid slightly more attention to Nagasawa than most people, and events had turned out much as he had expected.

However, Nagasawa personally coming to challenge him was something he hadn’t anticipated. Generally speaking, Marines rarely did such things.

Naturally, Mihawk had no desire to fight an Admiral beside his own home. If they did, there probably wouldn’t be anything left afterward.

He immediately led Nagasawa to the opposite side of the island to begin their battle there.

Zoro and Perona quickly followed behind.

Zoro wanted to see just how large the gap between himself and true top-tier powerhouses still was by watching the battle between an Admiral and Mihawk.

Tina noticed Zoro’s presence. Her first instinct was to arrest him on the spot, but she quickly dismissed the thought.

She had already stated that they represented themselves rather than the Marines. Arresting someone who apparently had some relationship with Mihawk at this moment would be inappropriate.

Tina was a rational person, so she did nothing.

Standing three meters apart, Nagasawa and Mihawk stared at one another.

After nearly a full minute of silence, Mihawk slowly drew Yoru, the World’s Strongest Black Blade, from his back and pointed it toward Nagasawa.

Nagasawa also slowly drew Ryujin Jakka.

"In this world, you’re the second person who’s made me draw Ryujin Jakka, and the first person who has truly interested me in a contest of swordsmanship. The first was simply a group of pirates whose sins were so great that I couldn’t resist killing them all." Nagasawa tightly gripped the hilt with his right hand as immense Spiritual Pressure erupted from his body, his aura steadily rising.

He was using only the Captain-Commander template. Even though his synchronization rate was only eighty percent, the power granted by the template was already extraordinarily overwhelming.

Mihawk said nothing.

With eyes as sharp as an eagle’s, he carefully observed Nagasawa.

Powerful.

Exceptionally powerful.

This was an extraordinarily formidable swordsman.

That was Mihawk’ conclusion.

He slowly exhaled and gripped the World’s Strongest Black Blade even more firmly.

Mihawk longed to battle powerful swordsmen, because only such battles offered hope of reaching an even greater peak.

That was why, during the Summit War, he had stopped after merely exchanging sword slashes.

There was no meaning in ganging up on Whitebeard with others. What he desired was to challenge Whitebeard alone while Whitebeard was in peak condition.

Although strange circumstances had ultimately prevented that wish from being fulfilled, it seemed that he had now encountered another worthy opponent.

Mihawk focused his gaze and raised his great blade. Powerful Armament Haki coated its edge.

Then he swung Yoru down with tremendous force.

A blue-green slash over thirty meters long shot toward Nagasawa. The ground touched by the slash immediately split apart, carving out a long trench.

The massive blue-green sword energy looked capable of splitting the world in two, destroying everything in its path.

Watching Mihawk’ slash, Zoro gripped his swords tightly, his eyes filled with unwillingness.

The gap was simply too great.

The moment Mihawk attacked, Zoro realized that the distance between them remained enormous.

After the Summit War, Luffy had witnessed the battles of the world’s strongest fighters. Using a special method, he informed his companions of one message: train hard, then reunite at the Sabaody Archipelago two years later.

Zoro had trained relentlessly.

He never wanted to experience that helpless feeling again when unable to protect what mattered. He wanted to stand beside Luffy and fight alongside him.

Seeing Mihawk unleash such a terrifying slash, Tina also felt a trace of concern.

Although Nagasawa constantly claimed how powerful his swordsmanship was and insisted that once he drew his blade, even Mihawk could only lose, she had never witnessed it herself. She still couldn’t help worrying a little.

"Reduce All Creation to Ashes, Ryujin Jakka!"

Nagasawa released his Zanpakuto’s Shikai. Flames burst forth from Ryujin Jakka as his Spiritual Pressure surged once more and his aura climbed even higher.

Then he swiftly swung his sword.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

An equally enormous flaming slash shot forward.

Crimson flames blazed fiercely, causing the surrounding temperature to rise.

The gigantic flaming slash looked as though it would burn the entire world to ashes, its crimson light illuminating everyone’s faces in red.

Tina suddenly felt a wave of heat spread through her body, reminding her of Whitebeard’s slash during the Summit War.

She quickly shook her head and focused on the battle once more. Although both attacks were flaming slashes, they were fundamentally different.

The crimson and blue-green slashes collided, as though two worlds—one red and one blue-green—were struggling against one another, desperately trying to seize each other’s territory.

In the end, the crimson slash suppressed the blue-green one, though it failed to completely burn it away. A tremendous explosion erupted as both slashes vanished.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!

The ground battered by the aftershock shattered continuously. Burn marks covered everything, leaving behind a scene resembling the end of the world.

In this first probing exchange of sword slashes, Nagasawa held a slight advantage.

"So strong!" Zoro couldn’t help exclaiming.

Neither of the two combatants’ sword slashes was something he could withstand in his current state.