Chapter 227: Superhuman Attributes
“This… is this an illusion or…?”
Under Kizaru’s missing sunglasses lens, his surprised expression could be clearly seen.
He felt that he had witnessed too many unbelievable scenes in this young man named Ian.
The Zanpakutō Senbonzakura, without Byakuya Kuchiki’s card, would only be a slightly sharp blade. But with Byakuya Kuchiki’s card, it immediately underwent a miraculous change.
Ian now held only a short tsuba and hilt in his hand. The entire blade had completely disappeared, replaced by countless pink cherry blossom petals dancing around his body.
This was a rather beautiful scene, yet it contained unparalleled killing intent.
This was also Ian’s first time using the initial release of his Zanpakutō. He felt that the cherry blossom petals formed by the blade were all within his perception, as if he could command them with a thought.
And he naturally did so. The petals, which had been floating aimlessly, immediately began to move, swirling like a spiral wind, forming a tornado-like trajectory as they rapidly rushed toward Kizaru.
After these petals reached Kizaru, they did not immediately attack him. Instead, they formed a curtain of petals, surrounding him completely.
“A kid playing tricks!” Kizaru snorted coldly. A high-energy laser shot toward the petal curtain. Upon contact, it exploded, blasting a blank area in the curtain.
But it was useless. The remaining petals quickly filled the gap, as if they had never diminished, giving a sense of endless vitality.
The countless petals slowly revolved around Kizaru. Kizaru also guessed Ian’s intention and said, “Trying to shred me with these petals? Useless. Don’t forget, I’m a Logia!”
“I know that well!” Ian smiled slightly. He was now immersed in the immense power surging through his body.
The initial release of the Zanpakutō not only allowed the blade to transform into petals to attack enemies but, more importantly, brought Ian a massive attribute boost.
A 300% increase in all attributes meant Ian’s speed and power had tripled, and his psychic power had become even stronger. Because he had previously devoured the Black Dragon Wave, this attribute boost even included the psychic power growth from that absorption!
And most importantly, it seemed that because all attributes had increased, the surging psychic power did not place any burden on his body.
The only slight regret was that this boost was indeed temporary, lasting only fifteen minutes!
Though short, it was enough for Ian to act.
The petals formed by Senbonzakura finally moved, rapidly tightening and shredding toward Kizaru. Kizaru initially wanted to escape by turning into light, but after thinking it over, he chose to endure it on the spot.
There was no helping it. Kizaru was, after all, a Marine Admiral. If he fled upon seeing a move from a young punk like Ian, he felt he couldn’t bear the shame. Moreover, as a Logia Devil Fruit user, he didn’t believe these strange petals could harm him.
However, something surprising happened. When a petal brushed past his face, it silently and gently cut a shallow gash on his cheek.
“This… what’s going on!?” Kizaru was stunned. But in that moment of distraction, dozens more petals touched his body!
Kizaru’s Marine coat was torn to shreds. Some petals even cut through his clothes, slicing the skin beneath.
Kizaru finally realized something was wrong. These petals were all coated with Haki!
This was incredibly hard to imagine. The countless cherry blossom petals numbered at least hundreds of thousands. To coat every single petal with Haki would require an immense amount of Haki!
Kizaru had initially thought Ian couldn’t hurt him based on this point. He could elementalize his body, and to harm an elementalized body, Haki was necessary. These petals didn’t seem to have Haki attached.
But he was completely mistaken. These cherry blossom petals were actually the blade of Senbonzakura transformed. The psychic power Ian infused into them was also dispersed during the initial release. The psychic power used was far less than Kizaru imagined. However, because the number of petals was so vast, the psychic power on each petal was relatively weak.
But that was enough. Although the psychic power was weak, the moment it touched Kizaru’s body, it could reach his physical form. And each petal was a sharp blade, capable of easily leaving wounds on Kizaru.
The only slight regret was that the initial release of Senbonzakura couldn’t deal much damage to Kizaru.
In the swirling petal storm, the petals rotated and shredded, leaving countless cuts on Kizaru’s body. His once-imposing Marine coat had long become tattered shreds. Kizaru’s suit didn’t escape this fate either. Sleeves, collar—everything was cut into strips of cloth, flying through the air.
Kizaru was left with only his underwear intact. This was because Ian had deliberately avoided that area. He didn’t want to see a middle-aged man running naked! That image was too beautiful to behold!
After a round of shredding, the flying petals scattered again, circling Kizaru on the periphery.
Kizaru’s exposed skin was covered in small wounds. His entire body looked bloody.
But Ian knew that such injuries meant little to Kizaru. They just looked gruesome. In reality, all the wounds were superficial. And importantly, he noticed that after Kizaru realized the petals could hurt him, he decisively crossed his arms to shield his face and used Haki for defense.
As soon as the attack stopped, Kizaru immediately spread his arms and fired countless high-energy beams at Ian!
He was angry too. Although Ian’s attack didn’t cause much damage, it humiliated him greatly. A Marine Admiral, reduced to having his clothes shredded!?
The dense beams were unleashed. He no longer cared about anything else and only wanted to kill Ian completely.
However, as he attacked, Ian, holding the blade of Senbonzakura, softly said, “Senbonzakura: Flame Scene!”
Countless cherry blossom petals surrounding Kizaru suddenly ignited with black flames!
This was not a final release, but a brainwave technique Ian had developed himself. Since those petals were the blade of Senbonzakura, Ian directly used the Evil King Flame Slayer Sword, turning the petals into flaming petals!
The countless flying petals suddenly burst into flames. The first effect was that the surrounding air became scorching hot.
Kizaru’s beams pierced through the curtain of flame petals, shooting toward Ian. But Ian stood motionless in place.
Then a strange scene occurred. Those high-energy beams, originally aimed at Ian, all deflected, brushing past his body!
People could see that the air around the flames seemed distorted. But that wasn’t the case. It was because the flames heated the air, changing the density of the propagation medium, which in turn caused the light to distort. When reflected in people’s eyes, it looked like the air was warped.
And Ian was using this principle. He turned countless petals into a massive wall of fire, heating the surrounding air. This caused Kizaru’s beams to deflect when passing through the curtain of flame petals!
This deflection was actually quite difficult to achieve. First, the heated air area had to be large enough and thick enough. Otherwise, if the deflection angle was insufficient, Ian would still be hit. This effect could only be achieved with a layered petal curtain.
Ace could also use a fire wall, but if his fire wall wasn’t thick enough, he couldn’t deflect Kizaru’s beams.
Kizaru was also surprised by Ian’s method. This young man’s combat intelligence was not to be underestimated.
Since the beam attack was ineffective, Kizaru abandoned it. He directly flashed out of the petal curtain, knowing that being surrounded like this was disadvantageous.
The petal curtain couldn’t compare to the iron sand storm. Kizaru’s speed was fast, so he broke out in an instant. After escaping, his figure immediately vanished from its original position and appeared above Ian.
The light kick reappeared, aimed at Ian.
However, Ian’s figure also vanished at the same time!
Ian’s speed attribute had tripled. At the moment of Kizaru’s attack, he used a speed faster than the Marine Six Powers’ Shave to switch positions, appearing above Kizaru instead!
Because of the Glint-Glint Fruit, Kizaru’s speed exceeded the human eye’s reaction time. But similarly, Kizaru’s own reaction speed couldn’t reach the speed of light. After Ian’s speed skyrocketed, even he couldn’t see how Ian had moved!
After Kizaru’s kick missed, he quickly reacted. But Ian had already punched down at him. Kizaru raised his arm to block, only to find an immense force beyond his imagination, instantly knocking his arm back. Then Ian’s fist slammed heavily into his chest.
He had mistakenly underestimated Ian’s current strength, so he was hit. Ian’s arm, hardened with Armament Haki, struck his chest with tremendous force, sending Kizaru crashing down from midair. Kizaru’s entire body turned into a meteor, slamming into the ground with a boom, shaking the earth.
It was like the historical scene where Marco the Phoenix kicked Kizaru down…
This image was faithfully recorded by Pritz, who was holding the Video Den Den Mushi. Watching Kizaru fall and the dust cloud rising from the ground, everyone who saw this scene covered their mouths in shock.
And Ian, spreading his black flame wings in midair, also turned and flew down after knocking Kizaru down. The cherry blossom petals burning with black flames followed behind him like a tail of fire…