The earth groaned with a deep, heavy rumble, and billowing smoke was pushed out by the waves of air.

Everyone stared in stunned silence at the collapsed school building, their mouths twitching.

This kick... just looking at it makes my heart ache.

Wait a minute!

Darren hit Kwanza!

His attack... actually worked?!

Could it be Darren…

Those who were unaware suddenly reacted, their eyes shifting to Darren in unison, pupils contracting.

The rear admiral was still in his fighting stance, a heavy pair of black boots gleaming with an oppressive aura. A faint, invisible wave of power swirled around them like a spiral hurricane.

"Armed Color: Overwhelming!!"

"Darren has mastered Armament Haki!"

"This kind of talent... it's simply monstrous!!"

"Unbelievable..."

"…"

The sailors looked unbelievably shocked, as if they couldn't believe their own eyes.

Just then—

"Darren, you little punk!! A deserted military fortress is bad enough!! But a teaching building? Couldn't you have kicked it to the other side?!"

Ze Fa gritted his teeth and roared angrily, his heart almost breaking with pain, his face contorted in agony.

Luckily, the training camp's teaching work hadn't officially begun, so the teaching building didn't have any administrative staff stationed there yet. Otherwise, it would have been a major disaster!

Even so, rebuilding a skyscraper is a huge expense!

Another time, another chance for the "Warring States" era to slap itself in the face.

"How much does this cost?!"

A number of naval officers: ...

Master Ze Fa, is this a time to be concerned about this?

"I'm sorry, Teacher Zefa. For all the losses incurred during the duel, I will compensate you at twice the original price."

The boots dangling in mid-air slowly retracted, and Darren chuckled and said something.

Ze Fa was taken aback.

"Well then, good. Continue."

Everyone: ...

Their mouths twitched, and they quickly thought of another question.

But, is the battle over?

"Praise that monster...it was ended?"

They widened their eyes and looked towards the ruins of the teaching building.

Rolling thick smoke billowed, and between the cracks of the collapsing building walls, a glimmer of crystalline white slowly emerged.

Inch by inch, ice crystals crept from the depths of the ruins, blossoming into brilliant frost along the way. Finally, they converged before the ruins, forming a humanoid shape.

"Cough, cough, cough…"

Ku Zan's mouth bled a shockingly bright red, half his face visibly swollen.

But his eyes, when they met Darren's, shone with a brilliance unlike any other.

"Awesome... Armed Color Haki... You truly are worthy of being my opponent!!"

It's really something... Darren watched Kwanza fighting with such zeal, and couldn't help but mutter a silent sigh.

If any one person in the arena were to change, they wouldn't be able to "face" their own strike.

Even after undergoing his own "special training," becoming tough-skinned and skilled in martial arts combat, even Jia Ji would likely be severely injured and rendered unconscious under the force of that kick infused with Armament Haki.

He acted as if nothing had happened.

'Monster-level physical fitness?'

Darren's mind suddenly flashed with the terrifying scene of Sakaski enduring several blasts from Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit during their previous battle.

'No, it's not just that.'

He glanced at the dilapidated teaching building, and quickly understood.

Normally, your own attacks have three segments of damage.

The first segment is purely physical power and explosiveness.

The second damage is the secondary explosion of armament color domineering.

And the third instance of damage was Ka-Zar's impact with the teaching building, which then buried him.

It's very obvious that the damage in the third paragraph was directly negated by Kuzan's elemental immunity.

No wonder that in the later stages, battles between Great Admirals and Emperor-level powerhouses are measured in units of time like days.

Each of them trained their bodies to superhuman levels. Even the most brutal and savage hand-to-hand combat would be impossible to decide a winner in a short amount of time.

"Shall we continue, Kuzan?"

Of course!!

"However, since you've already mastered Armament Haki, then I can only use that one move."

After speaking, he took a deep breath, stepped forward with his right foot half a step, raised his right hand, and his eyes suddenly turned cold.

A long, icy breath slowly escaped his mouth, condensing into white frost in the air.

Splish splash...

Countless ice crystals rapidly wrapped and grew on Ku Zan's arm, the temperature in the schoolyard air began to drop quickly.

Hot and cold air currents intertwined, forming a raging storm that swept in with bone-chilling intensity, sending shivers down the spines of all who watched.

The ice crystals expanded rapidly, and Kouzan roared in surprise.

The dazzling ice and snow suddenly stretched out from his hand, transforming into a pair of massive ice crystal wings.

On the vast schoolyard, a shrill cry seemed to ring out.

A giant ice bird erupted from Kusanagi's arm, spreading its enormous wings and charging towards the Navy Rear Admiral a hundred meters away with an unstoppable momentum!

The extreme cold caused the earth to freeze wherever the ice birds flew, transforming everything into a blanket of pristine white snow.

"Ice cubes "slaughter the mouth"!!"

In an instant, Darren felt a wave of intense oppression wash over him.

A gigantic ice bird, ten meters tall, came crashing down like a landslide, as if an immense glacier had collapsed.

Just as he was about to make a move, he felt a numbness and stiffness in his right leg.

Looking down, he saw that a thin layer of ice had formed on the boots at some point.

Was that kick just now?

"As expected of Kyouzan!! Even though he suffered a big loss just now, he also froze Darren's leg!!"

At least this way, he can't dodge this move!

"This reaction... it's terrifying!"

"...."

All the sailors gasped in amazement, their eyes fixed on Darren.

At this moment, facing the colossal and majestic Ice Bird, the figure of the Naval Rear Admiral seemed incredibly tiny, as if随时 could be buried by the snow and ice!

However, at that very moment,

Everyone saw a sudden smirk appear on the rear admiral's lips.

A coin appeared in his hand.

It was a very ordinary coin, brimming with the feel of metal.

Wow!

With a flick of Darren's thumb, the coin flipped and rose into the air.

Time seemed to slow down at this moment.

Flippin g the fallen coin, it kept reflecting the cry of the ice bird, the astonishment of the crowd, Ku Zan's excitement... and Rear Admiral's arrogant smile.

Glimmering wisps of blue electricity danced at his fingertips.

One coin flip!!!

"Magnetic Overload · Electromagnetic Cannon!"

Faraway, Zefa's pupils suddenly contracted.

The world before my eyes seemed to fall silent for a moment.

Then—

BOOM!!

A towering column of crimson-orange light, entwined with flickering electric arcs, suddenly shot through the ground of the schoolyard.

The blazing, dazzling light engulfed the entire world, plunging it into a brief darkness at this moment.

In the midst of everyone's horrified gazes,

The surging beam of magnetic energy met virtually no resistance, pulverizing and melting the massive ice bird with devastating force. It hurtled towards Kouzan at an unimaginable speed.

"No good!!"

"Well done!!"

"Run for your lives!!"

Exclamations of surprise rang out.

Ku Zan stood rooted to the spot, his eyes fixed on the incoming electromagnetic cannon, a weapon of utter destruction. All that remained in his pupils was the flare of light.

BOOM!!!

The beam engulfed his form, and a tempestuous storm erupted. Fearsome light and heat coalesced into raging waves of fire, spreading relentlessly.

Ku Zan's eyes widened in surprise.

In the midst of all the radiance, a tall and imposing figure appeared before him at some unknown point in time.

The violet short hair danced incessantly, the snow-white cloak fluttering wildly, upon which the words “Justice” were inscribed in a grand and sacred manner.

Like a dragon dancing.

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Asking for everything, gratitude is not enough.