Chapter 227: Railgun · Scatter Shot!
When Ian charged down alongside Kizaru, the battle on the ground between Fujitora and Zephyr had grown even more intense.
Zephyr’s fighting style was one of sheer ferocity. When he swung his mechanical arm, his movements were wide and sweeping—striking a building would reduce it to rubble, smashing the ground would shatter it into a massive crater. Similarly, Fujitora’s Gravity Fruit had an equally vast range. When he wielded his gravity blade, wherever the edge pointed, an unbearable gravitational force was imposed on anything in its path.
The two of them fought, tearing through a large area of the port with devastating force. No one dared approach their battlefield—anything within a three-hundred-meter radius would be sucked into the chaos.
Having such a pair of fierce combatants on the ground alone made onlookers feel as if the end of the world had come. But when Ian and Kizaru shifted their battle from the sky to the ground, that apocalyptic scene doubled in intensity!
The moment Ian landed, Kizaru climbed out of the crater on the ground, gripped his Ama no Murakumo sword, and clashed with Ian.
Ian recalled the swirling cherry blossom petals, reforming them into the blade of Senbonzakura. With his speed and strength now greatly enhanced, he could fight Kizaru head-on, much like Rayleigh had.
Perhaps relying solely on strength and speed, Ian couldn’t do much to Kizaru, but the problem was that Ian knew how to use Haki. If Kizaru let his guard down even slightly, Ian could land a cut. So during the fight, Kizaru used every trick he had to attack Ian.
The high-energy-density Ama no Murakumo sword clashed repeatedly with Ian’s blade, which was wreathed in black flames. As they struck at each other, Kizaru’s sword continuously fired high-energy beams, forcing Ian to dodge. The two combatants constantly shifted their stances and positions, causing explosions to erupt all around the battlefield.
Annoyed by Kizaru’s beam attacks, Ian suddenly thrust Senbonzakura straight at him. Just as Kizaru moved to block, a black fire dragon burst forth from Ian’s blade, opening its massive maw to bite down on Kizaru!
Startled, Kizaru quickly used his light sword to brace against the dragon’s jaws, but his body was carried away by the writhing Black Dragon Wave!
As the Black Dragon Wave soared, it twisted and slithered, scorching the ground and trees. Wherever its tail or body swept past buildings, it left massive gaps, with molten lava-like red liquid dripping down.
Only after the Black Dragon Wave’s energy finally dissipated did Kizaru manage to stop. But Ian was right behind him, slashing down with another strike.
When Kizaru blocked the blow with his sword, he was nearly forced to one knee. Enraged and humiliated, he erupted once more—his body flared brilliantly, and then he unleashed a massive burst of high-energy beams in all directions!
It was an indiscriminate attack. Seeing no way to dodge, Ian gritted his teeth and extended his left hand, pressing his fingertips against Kizaru’s collarbone.
“Bakudo #4: White Lightning!”
A dazzling white lightning bolt shot from Ian’s fingertips. At the same time, one of Kizaru’s beams pierced Ian’s right side. Ian’s White Lightning also punched through Kizaru’s collarbone!
This technique, naturally a skill from the Byakuya Kuchiki card, was used by Ian at this moment, resulting in a trade of wounds with Kizaru.
A bloody hole appeared in Kizaru’s collarbone, while a chunk was missing from Ian’s right side.
However, such injuries meant little to Ian, as he could heal himself using the Orihime Inoue card. Kizaru could not, so in that sense, Kizaru was at a disadvantage.
Ian’s fingertips had been coated in Haki when he pressed them against Kizaru’s shoulder, preventing him from using elementalization to dodge. The collarbone is a critical part of the human body; injuring it affected Kizaru—he found it difficult to raise his left arm now.
Bearing their pain, the two clashed again. Kizaru delivered a light kick aimed at Ian’s waist. Ian retreated to dodge, but unexpectedly, as the kick grazed past him, it sent a sharp gust of wind that sliced into Ian’s body, sending him flying.
Ian performed a backflip midair and landed, gripping Senbonzakura’s sheath in his left hand while placing his right hand on the hilt, assuming a iai stance.
Then, with unprecedented speed, Ian executed an iai slash aimed at Kizaru’s waist.
Fearing the Haki coating on Ian’s blade, Kizaru chose not to elementalize. Instead, he stood his ground and used the Six Powers’ Tekkai to withstand the blow!
But to Kizaru’s surprise, this defensive technique backfired on him!
A shimmering tear-like light gathered on Senbonzakura’s blade. Though Kizaru’s powerful Tekkai blocked the cut, the intense electrical current carried by the blade surged through his entire body.
“One-Sword Style Iai: Lightning Cutter!”
Ian had switched tactics. His endless array of attack methods left Kizaru struggling to cope. Devil Fruit users typically possess only one ability; no matter how many techniques they derive, they are all based on that single fruit. They couldn’t match Ian’s versatility.
To counter Ian’s attacks, Kizaru had rarely used the Marine Six Powers techniques—Rankyaku and Tekkai.
For Kizaru, this was almost unthinkable. As a Marine Admiral, he hadn’t used these basic physical combat moves in a long time. But ironically, using Tekkai this time seemed worse than simply elementalizing and dodging.
Kizaru was electrocuted so badly that his hair stood on end. His originally short, slightly wavy hair, after being zapped, looked like it had undergone an ionic perm, turning into an afro.
The sight was rather comical, but Ian couldn’t laugh. Though his attacks had landed several times, they weren’t fatal to Kizaru. Kizaru’s stamina hadn’t diminished much either, so realistically, the fight between them still had a long way to go.
This wasn’t good news for Ian. As time passed, the stat boosts from Senbonzakura’s Shikai would soon wear off. Once it ended, the skill would enter a 24-hour cooldown, and Ian wouldn’t be able to use it again.
With the stat boosts, Ian could fight Kizaru on equal footing. But once they dropped, the situation would become uncertain.
He had to think of something…
While dodging Kizaru’s lasers, Ian’s mind raced. Suddenly, an idea struck him. He pressed his left hand firmly against the ground.
Massive currents of electricity surged from his entire body, crackling and lashing across the ground.
The earth began to tremble slightly. Countless grains of sand—all black—began floating eerily in the air.
The Iron Sand Sword reappeared!
With his immense Psychic Power still supporting him, Ian gathered far more iron sand than ever before. Within a kilometer radius, black iron sand floated into the air.
Under Ian’s control, the sand began spinning rapidly, forming an iron sand storm far larger than the one at G-5 Branch Base.
Amidst the countless grains of sand, Ian quietly sensed each one. Suddenly, as if perceiving something, a faint smile spread across his face.
It… actually worked!?
The massive iron sand storm reminded Kizaru of being surrounded by the petal storm earlier. Fearing a repeat of that situation, he frantically fired laser beams in all directions, destroying the iron sand.
Once gaps appeared in the storm, Kizaru transformed into light and shot out, escaping its range.
But Ian directed the iron sand toward Kizaru’s new location.
Wherever Kizaru appeared, Ian chased him with the storm. After several attempts, Kizaru realized this couldn’t go on. The iron sand was controlled by Ian; unless he attacked Ian, the sand wouldn’t disperse.
So this time, Kizaru appeared directly behind Ian, swinging his Ama no Murakumo sword down at him.
However, to Kizaru’s surprise, Ian had already sheathed Senbonzakura. He recalled part of the iron sand storm, condensing it into a massive shield on his left arm, blocking Kizaru’s strike.
The iron sand shield was composed of many layers stacked together. With the sand’s cushioning effect, Kizaru’s slash was completely stopped.
Just as Kizaru wondered why Ian wasn’t using his sword to block like before, Ian’s free right hand, hidden behind the massive shield, was already aimed at Kizaru’s abdomen.
Due to the line of sight, Kizaru didn’t notice Ian’s movement. By the time he saw the lightning flashing on Ian’s right hand, it was too late. Ian struck!
“Railgun · Scatter Shot!”
*Boom!* A tremendous sonic boom accompanied by intense wind pressure—Ian fired a railgun at point-blank range!
This railgun was completely different from the one he had used on Kizaru earlier. Ian fired six projectiles simultaneously.
In the critical moment, Kizaru reacted quickly, instantly elementalizing his body and diluting his elemental form. This way, even if hit by Haki-coated projectiles, the damage would be reduced.
But when Ian’s six scatter-shot railgun rounds struck Kizaru, a shocking scene unfolded.
The six railgun rounds pierced through Kizaru’s body simultaneously, leaving six holes where they hit.
It was real damage—not the usual effect of piercing an elementalized body!
The searing pain from the wounds reminded Kizaru that he was truly gravely injured. He couldn’t even use elementalization to restore the damaged areas.
“Th-this… what’s going on!?” Kizaru stared at Ian in astonishment.
“Heh heh!” Ian laughed, pleased with his successful strike. “The taste of Seastone bullets isn’t so pleasant, is it?”