On the beach, Kouta hesitated for a moment when Kuina was about to be struck by Kizaru's attack, but he held back.
Seeing Kuina break through just as the sword was about to hit her, the corners of his mouth curled up, and he let out a loud laugh.
"Hahahahaha..."
"Still have the nerve to be distracted."
Kizaru looked at Kouta, turned into golden light, and instantly appeared before him, raising the Ame no Murakumo sword and slashing down without hesitation.
"Maa!"
A red light flashed in Kouta's eyes, and his Zankou appeared before him, striking the Ame no Murakumo sword head-on.
Turning to look at Kizaru, he chuckled, "Old man, you're not playing fair! Sneaking up on me, a young man, you almost succeeded!"
"Yo! Don't joke around."
With that, Kizaru raised his hand and, holding the Ame no Murakumo sword, slashed down with even greater speed, "It's not like nothing happened, is it?"
"Haha! That's true."
Kouta twisted his right hand holding the sword, then upward, clashing with the Ame no Murakumo sword, "I thought I was cut just now!"
"How terrifying!"
As their blades clashed, golden light scattered, and the wind pressure, like a level ten typhoon, mercilessly whipped up sand from the ground, blowing in all directions like a sandstorm.
Clang clang clang!!
During their exchange, Kizaru looked down at Kouta and roared, "Kid, stop talking like me, alright!"
"Oh!"
Kouta casually brushed him off, then looked up, through the golden light of the Ame no Murakumo sword, at Kizaru's even more lecherous face illuminated by the golden light, his lips curling up, and he burst into laughter.
"How terrifying! Pikachu uncle, I didn't expect you to be such a great swordsman!"
"It seems everyone underestimated you!"
Although their exchange was brief, Kizaru could keep up with his swordsmanship speed, which clearly indicated he had trained.
To say this guy's Armament Haki and Observation Haki weren't strong would be unbelievable even to a ghost.
"Yo! You figured that out?"
Kizaru watched Kouta, who was continuously clashing his sword against his, tilted his chin forward, drooped his face, and uttered his famous line.
"How terrifying! Silver Hair Kouta."
"This is a real fight to the death now!"
The smile on Kouta's face vanished, his aura surged, and a flowing, pinkish Armament Haki wrapped around the blade of the Zankou from his arm downward.
Then, he pushed the Ame no Murakumo sword away with one slash, shifted his body, gripped the sword with both hands, pointed the tip at Kizaru, bent his knees slightly, and looked up at Kizaru, nebulae swirling in his eyes.
"One Sword Style: Swallow's Return!"
The Zankou disappeared, leaving only three crimson-black sword lights, crescent-shaped, slashing towards Kizaru's head, chest, and lower body, respectively.
As fast as lightning, giving no time to react.
The moment Kouta parried the sword, Kizaru felt as if he had been targeted by something extremely deadly, making his whole body prickle like needles, and his internal alarm bells rang.
"Danger, extreme danger."
As the sword light approached, he couldn't even react and only managed to deploy his Armament Haki in front of him.
Clang——!
The Ame no Murakumo sword was cut into three pieces, the sword light continuing unabated, and then quickly struck his body.
Clang——!
It instantly shattered his Armament Haki and passed through his body.
Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the three sword lights, like flying swallows, suddenly returned, instantly slicing into his back.
Pfft——!
Blood splattered.
Then the sword light passed through his body and returned to Kouta's hand.
It was only then that he saw the Zankou held in Kouta's hands.
This was the true form of the Swallow's Return, and the reason it was called Swallow's Return was that the slashes could return like a swallow turning, making it impossible to defend against.
Golden particles coalesced on the beach not far from Kouta, forming Kizaru's figure.
He stared at Kouta with a solemn expression, reaching up to touch his back.
Then he looked down at the bloodstains on his palm, his eyes no longer holding any contempt.
"He was actually hit, how terrifying!"
The slash just now was so fast he couldn't even elementalize in time, only managing to deploy Armament Haki. If the Armament Haki hadn't blocked it first, the first blow would have struck him.
The slash on his back was due to his pure carelessness. Although he had elementalized the moment the sword light approached, he was still wounded.
Although the wound was not deep and was equivalent to a scratch to him, being able to truly injure him proved that this guy had reached the top level of the world.
"How terrifying! Silver Hair."
Kouta sheathed his sword and stood firm, took down his sake gourd, took a sip, and chuckled at Kizaru.
"Didn't I tell you to be careful! This is your own carelessness."
With that, he shrugged, "Am I to blame!"
"Hahahahaha..."
Kizaru stared at Kouta, took off the brown sunglasses he had been wearing, and as Kouta said, he had indeed been careless.
Since obtaining the invincible ability of the Glint-Glint Fruit, he had rarely been injured.
He usually dealt with pirates with one kick. Since meeting Kouta, the situation had changed.
This guy was not only fast, but his long-range attacks were impossible to hit due to his instantaneous movement, and his close-range slashes were so fast that he couldn't gain any advantage.
This made him feel completely helpless.
"Alas! This is troublesome."
Kizaru sighed inwardly. In fact, given his talent, his Armament Haki should have been at its peak long ago, but his Glint-Glint Fruit was too invincible, leaving him no chance to use Armament Haki in combat, which is why his Armament Haki was shattered by Kouta's full-power blow.
He looked at Kouta, put away his contempt, and his expression became serious for the first time.
Then, he crossed his arms and reformed the Ame no Murakumo sword.
Kouta looked at Kizaru, hung the sake gourd back to his waist, wrapped his Armament Haki around the Zankou, stomped on the ground, and with a "whoosh," he rapidly charged towards Kizaru.
For the two of them, long-range attacks were useless; only close combat mattered.
Clang——!
The Zankou and the Ame no Murakumo sword collided again, golden light scattering, then quickly separated, and quickly collided again.
The sandstorm reappeared and gradually intensified, blowing the waves from the shore back into the sea.
They fought from the beach to the sea, to the sky, to the island.
It was as if the entire world was filled only with the sound of their clashing blades.
This reverberated for an entire night.
When the sun emerged from the sea, the entire world suddenly turned golden.
Kizaru, transformed into another sun in the sky, continuously fired lasers down into the giant crater in the center of the island.
"Yata no Kagami!"
"Maa! Uncle, didn't I tell you it was useless?"
From the sky behind the sun formed by Kizaru, a strong, bare-chested figure suddenly appeared.
Kouta looked at the sun below, and without hesitation, slashed down with his sword.
Clang——!
Kizaru revealed his form, blocking Kouta's slash with the Ame no Murakumo sword, and then rapidly shot downwards.
"Boom!"
Debris scattered, and the pit collapsed.
Then, as if triggering some mechanism, the entire island began to shake, collapses following one another, causing the central part of the entire island to sink by tens of meters.