Chapter 5: Powerful
Amid the blood aura, the ground beneath Su Xiao's feet began to crack, and the next moment, he vanished from his spot.
"Yata no Kagami."
Kizaru made a sword-holding gesture with one hand while pulling outward with the other, forming a long sword composed of golden-yellow photons. This blade was at least one and a half meters long, but for Kizaru's build, the length was just right.
Boom!
Sparks flew as Su Xiao's blade clashed against the Yata no Kagami. Waves of air pressure spread outward, sending grass clippings flying.
Crack, crack, crack...
The edges of Dragon-Slaying Flash and Yata no Kagami ground against each other, producing a grating sound. Kizaru, leveraging his height advantage, pressed down with both hands on his sword.
With a whoosh, Banishment stabbed toward Kizaru's temple. As a Marine Admiral, Kizaru's Kenbunshoku Haki was naturally formidable, so he clearly sensed that this rapier-like flying weapon could harm him—no, it could pierce through his skull.
Light burst from Kizaru's temple as photons scattered outward. Banishment pierced into Kizaru's head, passing straight through.
From a side view, a hole the thickness of an egg appeared in Kizaru's head. He hadn't used elementalization to tank Banishment head-on; after being coated with Cyan Steel Shadow energy, Banishment could harm elementalized enemies. Kizaru's counter was clever: he first elementalized, then repelled the photons at his temple, actively creating a hole in his head to let Banishment pass through.
Just as Kizaru dodged Banishment, Su Xiao channeled Cyan Steel Shadow energy into Dragon-Slaying Flash, enveloping the blade.
With a sizzling crack, Dragon-Slaying Flash severed the Yata no Kagami. In essence, the Yata no Kagami was an energy weapon, composed of light elements.
If it were pure light elements, Su Xiao couldn't have cut the sword, but these light elements were influenced by Devil Fruit abilities, allowing Cyan Steel Shadow energy to devour and annihilate them.
His sword suddenly severed, Kizaru, who had just dodged Banishment, leaped backward while continuing to elementalize.
Su Xiao swung his blade forward. At that moment, the surrounding space seemed to freeze—no, it was slowed down. Su Xiao's technique hadn't yet reached the level of sealing space.
Clang.
A blade aura shot out. The moment it left the edge, it halted mid-flight, appearing translucent, suspended in the air.
Su Xiao shifted his footing, appearing beside Kizaru. Kizaru, already over 70% elementalized, rolled his eyes to look at Su Xiao, who held his longsword. Kizaru felt the air around him grow viscous, like amber.
Crack!
Cracks appeared on the suspended blade aura. Time was running out. If Su Xiao could unleash five such blade auras, he could seal the space within a dozen meters around him, but he could only manage one, which at most slowed the enemy's speed.
Reaching Kizaru's side, Su Xiao slashed at the back of his neck while Banishment stabbed from the other side.
The blade aura in the air shattered, and Kizaru's speed returned to normal. He now faced a choice: first, elementalize his neck and disperse the light elements there to avoid Su Xiao's slash, or second, dodge the Banishment stabbing from the other side.
Kizaru instantly judged which threat was greater. Light particles scattered from his neck as the longsword cut through empty air.
Having missed, Su Xiao's eyes flashed blue again.
With a click, the high-speed Banishment split into dozens of shards, stabbing toward Kizaru.
Kizaru elementalized, and nearly all the shards missed, but one fragment pierced into his calf. Though his calf was elementalized, Cyan Steel Shadow energy was no decoration.
A stinging pain shot through Kizaru's calf as drops of blood splattered—he had been caught in his physical form.
Under Su Xiao's control, the shard lodged in Kizaru's calf split again, turning into fine crystals like translucent dust particles.
Kizaru looked at his calf. Amid the blinding light elements, he saw sharp, tiny fragments. If he de-elementalized, these fragments would burrow into his calf, merge into his bloodstream, and spread throughout his body. More critically, he couldn't stop his heartbeat; if his heart kept pumping blood, these fragments would eventually reach it.
"Troublesome ability."
Kizaru tried to disperse the elementalization in his calf and then reconverge it. To his surprise, the fragments remained distributed within his elementalized calf.
Was Banishment in its second form unsolvable? Of course not. If Kizaru moved beyond 50 meters from Su Xiao, Su Xiao would lose control over those fragments, and they would automatically fly back to him. No ability was truly unsolvable.
Blood seeped from Kizaru's elementalized calf. The lazy expression on his face was gone.
Kizaru seemed to hesitate for a moment. After confirming something, he leaped high into the air.
"Yasakani no Magatama."
Kizaru fully elementalized, forming a massive cross-shaped star. Beams of light bullets shot out from the cross, like a torrential rain of light, raining down on the ground.
At the edge of the battlefield, Sentomaru, carrying a large axe and looking pale and stout, was quickly retreating. As Kizaru's direct subordinate, he knew how terrifying Yasakani no Magatama was.
Light bullets struck the ground, sending grass and dirt flying, creating huge craters. While others were targeted, Su Xiao bore the brunt of Kizaru's assault—90% of the light bullets came at him, a dense barrage.
A 800-point strength energy shield appeared before Su Xiao. If it were his old shield, it couldn't withstand Kizaru's Yasakani no Magatama, but now it was different.
Ding, ding, ding...
A series of crisp sounds rang out as Su Xiao pressed one hand against the energy shield, keeping it at an angle.
After a full half-minute, the "light rain" from above ceased. Silvers Rayleigh shattered the last incoming light bullet. The Straw Hat Pirates stood behind him—Luffy, Nami, and the others weren't foolish; they knew Rayleigh was their lifeline now. However, Luffy had a through-and-through wound on his abdomen, still smoking. The Straw Hat crew was large, and Rayleigh couldn't protect everyone against Kizaru. As captain, Luffy was doing what a captain should.
The area baptized by Yasakani no Magatama was shrouded in smoke and dust. When it cleared somewhat, a cracked energy layer appeared. Behind it, Su Xiao punched, and the energy layer shattered. The fragments didn't dissipate but floated around him.
The energy layer had withstood nearly half a minute of Kizaru's bombardment. If Su Xiao hadn't shattered it himself, it could have lasted another dozen seconds under the light rain.
"Enough."
Su Xiao muttered. The split Banishment reconverged. The fragments within Kizaru's elementalized calf also flew out, merging with Banishment to restore it to its full form.
Su Xiao hadn't intended to kill Kizaru here. He just needed a strong opponent to test his current strength.
This was the Sabaody Archipelago, right under the World Government's nose. Fighting to the death with Kizaru here was unwise. The battlefield at the summit was a better choice. Moreover, from earlier, Kizaru's subordinate Sentomaru had been repeatedly calling on a Den Den Mushi, clearly requesting reinforcements.
Su Xiao sheathed his longsword. Bubu Wang appeared, and a spatial fluctuation enveloped them. Su Xiao and Bubu Wang vanished.
Su Xiao had achieved his goal. This clash let him test Banishment's power—better than expected—and gauge his own strength. Against one Admiral, he was confident; if he caught a flaw, the Admiral would die by his hand. Against two Admirals, retreating was feasible, but a direct fight would be fatal. If he was willing to use disposable items, he had over a 70% win rate in a 1v1 with a Marine Admiral.
Fighting Kizaru gave Su Xiao an additional bargaining chip, paving the way for a future matter.
Kizaru landed from the air, leaving a bloody footprint. His gaze shifted to Rayleigh, whose eye twitched almost imperceptibly. Su Xiao had come and gone as he pleased.
Kizaru seemed to have become serious. Having been wounded by Su Xiao, if he let the Straw Hat Pirates escape now, he would lose face as a Marine Admiral.