Bursts of exclamations came from the sinking Moby Dick. Kozuki Oden suddenly turned around and looked towards the harbor.
Seeing the pirate ship entrusted to him by his elder brother being cut into pieces by Yoshikazu Tsugakuin one by one, Kozuki Oden couldn't help but feel bloodshot.
"You don't have time to look elsewhere right now!"
In a battle between the strongest, a moment of distraction is enough to completely determine the outcome. Moreover, the enemy Kozuki Oden faced at this time was the strongest man in the world, Yoriichi Tsugikoku.
A cold voice sounded in Kozuki Oden's ears. When Oden hurriedly turned around, he found that Tsugikuni Yoshiichi, who was just a few meters away, had come to his side, and the long sword with a pitch-black blade in the other's hand was flying towards his neck.
“I can’t dodge!!”
In the moment of crisis, Oden's mind suddenly went blank after this thought flashed through his mind, and he stood there in a daze. His brain seemed to have stopped working, and he no longer thought about how to dodge and escape, as if he had accepted his fate.
His pupils suddenly shrank, and as he saw Tsugikuni Yoshiichi's blade getting closer and closer, Kozuki Oden actually closed his eyes silently.
"clang--"
However, the pain did not come from the neck. On the contrary, a crisp golden sound exploded in Oden's ears. He opened his eyes suddenly and found that Tsugikuni Yoshiichi, who was originally swinging the sword, had at some point taken a backhand blocking posture, with the blade tightly pressed against his body.
"Oden, what are you doing?!"
"Cheer up!"
"Think about Whitebeard and his instructions to you!"
Rayleigh's roar rang in Oden's ears, bringing him back to reality, and Rayleigh's words also made Oden come back to his senses.
There had never been a moment when Oden felt so close to death. Even though Tsugakuni Yoshiichi's blade had not yet completely fallen, his body had already given up resistance in the face of such a powerful enemy.
It's really happening too fast.
Shaking his head slightly, Oden tried hard to control himself from looking in the direction of the Moby Dick, forcing himself to focus on the battle in front of him.
In the moment when Oden was distracted, Rayleigh had already rushed towards Yoriichi Tsugikuni with his sword in hand.
"Ben Beckman."
The attack failed, and Ji Guoyuan glanced at Rayleigh who was flying towards him, but his eyes were looking at Beckman who was more than ten meters away.
His attack just now was interrupted by Beckman. The opponent seemed to have anticipated his action long ago. He had already fired the bullet before Yoshikazu Tsugakuni flashed to the side of Oden and slashed with his sword. This "just happened" to force Yoshikazu Tsugakuni to give up attacking Oden and instead put away his sword to defend himself.
The opponent's armament Haki is very strong. Although Tsugakuni Yoriichi is so powerful that he might not suffer much damage even if hit by the opponent's bullet, Tsugakuni Yoriichi has always been wary and cautious about things like bullets.
He is indeed very strong, but he must take the existence of seastone weapons into consideration when fighting.
He didn't know Beckman well enough to know if he possessed such a weapon. Normally, if Beckman was a powerful and formidable gunsmith, then it would be natural for him, as Red Hair's deputy, to be equipped with seastone bullets.
Through the touch during blocking, Yoshiichi Tsuchikuni was able to determine that the bullet he shot away was not made of seastone, but this was probably just a means for the opponent to confuse Yoshiichi Tsuchikuni. If he ignored the opponent just because he was using a firearm, the one who would suffer in the end would probably be Yoshiichi Tsuchikuni himself.
Compared to Oden and Rayleigh who fought with shining long swords, and Luffy who swung his fists with the power of the devil fruit, the person who posed the greatest threat to Yoriichi Tsugakuni on the battlefield now was not Rayleigh and Oden who were the main attackers, but Beckman who provided support with guns.
Noticing Tsugakuni Yoshiichi's gaze, Beckman curled the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a faint smile, and then he gradually faded from Tsugakuni Yoshiichi's sight. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from the spot, as if he had become invisible.
"Hey, Tsugikoku Yoriichi, your opponent is me!"
Without giving Tsugakuya Yoshiichi too much chance to observe the battlefield, Rayleigh had already rushed in front of Tsugakuya Yoshiichi, and with a downward swing, the long sword slashed from bottom to top, slashing towards Tsugakuya Yoshiichi's chest.
At the same time, Oden, who had come to his senses, hurriedly drew his sword to cooperate with Rayleigh's attack. They were both once members of Roger's pirate group. Although there were not many enemies worthy of their simultaneous attack, they were very familiar with each other's fighting styles and had long developed a tacit understanding.
Without any communication, they formed a joint attack on Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
The attack was fierce. Tsugikuni Yoshiichi's gaze quickly swept across Rayleigh and Oden, and glanced at Luffy who was standing outside the battle and wanted to join in but was hesitant. Then his gaze returned to Rayleigh and the others.
While observing the battle situation, Tsugakuni Yoshiichi's body movements did not stop for a moment. As he retreated lightly, the long sword in his hand either slashed or blocked, easily resolving the attacks of Rayleigh and Oden.
However, when they saw Ji Guoyuan retreating, they naturally stepped forward and attacked him repeatedly, forcing Ji Guoyuan to retreat repeatedly, and they actually gained the upper hand in the situation.
Seeing this outside the field, Luffy's throbbing heart gradually calmed down at this moment.
The sense of oppression that Tsugikuni Yoriichi brought to him when he first appeared was too strong. That domineering slash made even a big heart like Luffy feel the threat of death.
However, as Rayleigh, Kozuki Oden and Beckman attacked one after another, the situation seemed to be under their control. This battle situation also made Luffy have some different ideas.
Although Rayleigh repeatedly reminded him to leave, was Luffy such a man who would listen so easily?!
Of course, the more important thing is that Luffy of this generation did not encounter the "group annihilation setback" in the Sabaody Archipelago. The emotional connection between him and Rayleigh is actually not deep. Luffy only thinks that the other party is the vice-captain of Roger's pirate group, a guide who has mastered the historical text of the signpost and can lead him to Raftel.
There is not a deep relationship between the two. For Luffy, Beckman is far more trustworthy than Rayleigh, but Beckman did not remind himself to leave.
Judging from the current battle scene, there is really no need for him to leave. He is fully capable of joining this battle at the top of the world and exerting his strength.
Even Luffy wants to defeat Yoriichi Tsugakuni and avenge his dead companions!
Yoriichi had no idea what Luffy was planning. While resisting the combined attack of Rayleigh and Oden, Yoriichi Tsugakuni even had the energy to observe the other people on the battlefield. Seeing that Luffy had no intention of leaving, but instead stood at the edge of the battlefield with a covetous look on his face, Yoriichi Tsugakuni couldn't help but smile.
Although he didn't know what the kid was going to do, it was a good thing for Yoshikazu Tsugakuni that he didn't leave. Otherwise, it would have been a lot of effort to chase them.
To outsiders, Rayleigh and Oden had superb skills and coordinated well with each other. Under their combined attack, Yoshikazu Tsugakuni could only defend himself and was beaten back step by step.
But in fact, the more Rayleigh and Oden attacked, the more frightened they became, because every sword attack by Tsugakuni Yoshiichi, whether it was to block or counterattack to force them to retreat, was very accurate, and there was no disorder in his own moves or steps, and he was in a state of complete ease.
This kind of ease and calmness cannot be acted out.
This only proves one thing, that is, Tsugikuni Yoshiichi's swordsmanship is stronger than both of them, and not just a little bit stronger.
Oden and Rayleigh both knew that Tsugakuni Yoshiichi had the ability and means to fight back, but the other party hadn't changed his tactics yet. Perhaps he was testing their limits?!
"Is that all it is?!"
Tsugakuinichi's retreating steps stopped. In just a few seconds, Tsugakuinichi had retreated a hundred meters after fighting continuously. However, as soon as he finished speaking, Tsugakuinichi's moves suddenly changed. He first used his sword to push Rayleigh back, and then slashed Oden with a horizontal blow.
The power of his domineering aura and the fierce strength were completely beyond the comprehension of Oden and Rayleigh.
Both of them are powerful men at the top, but when Tsugakuin Yoshiichi used all his strength, they had no choice but to retreat.
"At this level, there's no way I can enjoy it!"
"It's been a long time since I fought against a strong person."
Ji Guoyuan's tone was full of disappointment.
In an instant, the domineering aura surging from Tsugakuin Yoshiichi's body suddenly doubled in strength. With just two slashes, he forced Rayleigh and Oden to retreat. The offense and defense changed, and Tsugakuin Yoshiichi rushed forward and swung his sword repeatedly. The sword light condensed into substance in front of him, directly covering Rayleigh and Oden.
However, under the attack of Tsugakuni Yoshiichi, Rayleigh and Kozuki Oden could not keep up with the speed of Tsugakuni Yoshiichi's sword. In a two-on-one situation, they had no way to intercept all the incoming sword shadows, and could only barely block those attacks aimed at the vital points.
At the moment of switching from offense to defense, several blood marks appeared on the bodies and arms of Rayleigh and Oden. These were knife wounds left by the attacks that they were unable to avoid. Some were deep, some were shallow, and the blood made them look a little embarrassed.
But fortunately, these knife wounds are just superficial injuries, right?
Rayleigh and Oden had just had similar thoughts in their minds, but reality slapped them in the face.
I don't know when it started, but the wounds on their bodies that were cut by Jiguo Yuanyi felt a burning pain.
The pain was not strong or obvious at first, but as more and more wounds appeared on the body, the pain became more and more severe and could not be ignored.
The three of them had only exchanged a hundred moves when the burning pain was already able to affect the accuracy of Rayleigh and Oden's swords. The problem with accuracy also resulted in them being able to block fewer attacks and suffering more wounds.
As one's strength weakened, the other's strength decreased, and it became increasingly difficult for Oden and Rayleigh to defend themselves.
This change came suddenly. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates were watching Rayleigh and Kozuki Oden making rapid progress just a moment ago, but in just a blink of an eye, the two of them were trapped in the sword light of Tsugikuni Yoshiichi and struggled to escape.
Luffy could even clearly sense that the aura of Rayleigh and Oden was rapidly fading.
Even if Rayleigh and Kozuki Oden joined forces, they were no match for Tsugakuni Yoriichi! !
"Rubber White Pistol!"
Seeing that the outcome of the battle was about to be decided, Luffy finally couldn't hold back any longer. He seized the opportunity and jumped into the air. With a roar, his fists fell towards Tsugikuni Yoriichi like raindrops.
Rayleigh and Oden also took the opportunity to escape, quickly putting more than ten meters between themselves and Yoshikazu Tsugakuni.
Rayleigh and Oden, who thought they had escaped to a safe area, looked down at the wounds on their bodies at the same time. They found that the skin on both sides of the wounds where they were slashed by Yoshikazu Tsugakuni was a little black, as if they had been burned.
"Devil Fruit power?"
"Tsugikoku Yoriichi can use a golden flame"
Oden looked at the wound, his domineering aura wrapped around the wound, but it did not reduce the pain in the wound at all.
"It's not the power of a devil fruit?!"
“What on earth is this.”
Rayleigh discovered this when he checked the wound. Fine beads of sweat covered his cheeks. He didn't know whether it was because of the fatigue from the battle or the shock from the strange injury.
“Dongdongdongdong——”
Luffy's fist slammed into the ground, cracking it and causing the entire island to shake violently.
However, when Luffy stopped attacking and looked at the ground intently, Tsugikuni Yoriichi was no longer on the battlefield.
"laugh--"
The thick smoke and dust scattered everywhere. At that moment, when Luffy, Rayleigh and others were looking around for Tsugakuin Yoshiichi, a light sound suddenly came from behind Sanji, Brook and others.
The location where the sound came from was closest to Sanji, even right behind him. Sanji, who noticed the movement, turned around suddenly, only to find that Yoriichi Tsugakuni, who had disappeared on the battlefield, had appeared behind him at some point, and the other party stabbed forward with a knife, and the tip of the knife appeared clearly behind Sanji, less than an inch away from his vest.
“!!!!”
When Sanji saw this scene, his pupils suddenly shrank. He thought the other party was going to attack him, but unexpectedly, the tip of the other party's knife stopped there.
Just as Sanji was puzzled, the space behind him suddenly twisted, and Beckman's figure suddenly faded away slowly, and Tsugikuni Yoshiichi's blade had already pierced through his vest, from the back to the chest, revealing a black blade.
The target of Tsugikuni Yoriichi's attack was not Sanji at all, but Ben Beckman, who had disappeared from everyone's sight in some way before.
"How is that possible?"
"you"
"Why?"
His heart was pierced, and the light in Beckman's eyes was rapidly fading. When he was dying, only this question remained in his mind.
"Be it a devil fruit or a special ability."
"In front of my transparent world, Beckman, you have no way to hide!"
Yuichiro Tsugakuin knew what questions Beckman had in his mind. Facing a dying man, Yuichiro Tsugakuin didn't mind giving him a definite answer.
However, Beckman probably couldn't hear it.
The breath was extinguished, and Yoriichi Tsugakuni pulled out his sword, and Beckman's body fell straight forward. Sanji subconsciously reached out to support him, and was about to be on guard against Yoriichi Tsugakuni attacking him and other companions, but he found that Yoriichi Tsugakuni, who was in front of him just now, had already come to his side.
"don’t worry"
"Not everyone is worthy of my sword!"
Ji Guoyuan disappeared in a flash, leaving Sanji and the others standing there in a daze, speechless for a long time.
"The strength is not even in the same dimension!"
Brook slumped to the ground. Under the terrifying domineering aura of Yoshikazu Tsugakuni, Brook felt his mind was in a mess and his bones were about to fall apart.
Just the domineering aura that permeated the other party had already affected the effect of his Yomiuri Fruit.
(End of this chapter)
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