Naruto: Copy System

~ Support & Read 60 Advanced Chapters on Patreon!

❁❁❁❁

“He’s really dragging this out. Is Kizaru trying to buy time so Zephyr can escape?”

Shin mused aloud. If it were anyone else, Kizaru might have done just that. But against Zephyr, with whom he had a personal history, Kizaru would never let him go. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have killed him in the original story.

Perhaps hearing Shin’s voice, Kizaru stopped trash-talking and acted decisively, launching an attack on Zephyr.

He went for a surprise attack, but it was pointless. Zephyr was already on high alert—a sneak attack was never going to work.

Zephyr took a step to the right, narrowly dodging Kizaru’s laser beam, then quickly countered with a punch aimed straight at Kizaru’s face.

It was more of a smash than a punch, using the full weight of his Smasher arm.

Kizaru tilted his head, dodging the attack. Zephyr’s eyes lit up, and he slammed his entire body into Kizaru.

With his body coated in Armament Haki, he didn’t have to worry about Kizaru phasing through him. Elementalization couldn’t dodge an attack like this.

Kizaru was sent flying by Zephyr’s body slam, crashing a great distance away before landing.

“Not bad. I didn’t expect Zephyr to still be able to counterattack.”

Shin felt somewhat surprised. This could only mean Kizaru had been overconfident. Underestimating Zephyr came at a price. Kizaru was now paying it, having taken a solid hit from Zephyr.

A blow of that magnitude was no trivial matter.

——————

Kizaru’s eyes sharpened. He had been too careless.

“<Light Speed Kick!>”

Kizaru kicked at Zephyr. After Zephyr blocked it, he followed up with another kick.

The relentless assault put Zephyr on the back foot. A serious Kizaru was a formidable opponent.

If Kizaru had competed for the position of Fleet Admiral, the final outcome would have been anyone’s guess.

“<Yasakani Sacred Jewel!>”

This was likely Kizaru’s ultimate move. A wide-range attack that left Zephyr with no room to dodge. It was on par with Akainu’s Meteor Volcano and Aokiji’s Ice Age—basically, an unavoidable attack.

“Zephyr-sensei, stop your pointless struggling.”

Kizaru, watching Zephyr desperately defend, instantly appeared behind him. Two golden beams of light pierced through Zephyr’s body.

They were laser beams. They could even pierce Whitebeard—Zephyr stood no chance of blocking them.

Of course, if Zephyr had coated his entire body in Armament Haki, he might have been able to withstand the attack. But unfortunately, he hadn’t. Full-body Armament Haki consumed too much stamina. Zephyr, already low on stamina, wouldn’t waste it so recklessly.

“The outcome was clear from the start,” Hancock said, watching the outmatched Zephyr.

“Yes, it was. No matter what tricks Zephyr had up his sleeve, he could never kill Kizaru.”

Shin nodded in agreement with Hancock. The current Zephyr could barely muster the strength of an Admiral, and that was only in short bursts. A prolonged battle was out of the question. His stamina was at its peak just now—now, it was steadily declining.

And Shin could also see that the effects of the drug Zephyr had taken were already wearing off.

Once the effects were completely gone, he would be a sitting duck.

“Hina, don’t be sad. This was your teacher’s choice. Even if you tried to save him, he wouldn’t be grateful,” Olvia said to the downcast Hina.

“I know,” Hina replied, her spirits low, but she didn’t make a move.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

The entire island shook. It had already been transformed into a land of ice and fire by Akainu and Aokiji’s battle. Now, it was on the verge of collapsing.

Zephyr’s body rolled on the ground, sent flying by one of Kizaru’s slashes.

——————

At this moment, Kizaru was moving at high speed, leaving afterimages in the air, his movements almost too fast to see.

Faced with such speed, Zephyr seemed to be only able to take a beating, unable to even counterattack.

Clutching his chest, Zephyr knelt on the ground. A large hole had been pierced through his heart.

No blood flowed out—the wound had been cauterized by the high temperature, temporarily stopping the bleeding.

But even with a hole in his heart, Zephyr wasn’t dead. Not because his heart was on the other side, but because people in the world of One Piece had incredibly tenacious life force.

He was still alive, but not for long. His life force was draining away rapidly. Soon, it would be completely gone, and he would be dead.

“Let me send you off one last time, Zephyr-sensei.”

Kizaru delivered the final blow, a massive hole blasted through Zephyr’s body. Zephyr’s tall figure collapsed to the ground.

Looking at Zephyr’s fallen body, Kizaru didn’t desecrate it. No matter how deep their hatred ran, he wouldn’t stoop to that level.

“It’s all over. We should go.” Kizaru glanced at Shin in the distance, then prepared to leave.

Staying here, with Shin watching, made him feel unsafe, as if he were in great danger. So it was better not to linger. He had to leave quickly—not flee, but make a tactical retreat.

“Aokiji, I’ll be reporting your presence here,” Kizaru said, glancing at Aokiji.

As for whether Aokiji would be hunted down later, that had nothing to do with Kizaru. Don’t think their past relationship was that good.

In fact, Kizaru and Aokiji’s relationship was just average. At most, there was no conflict between them. Kizaru couldn’t care less if Aokiji lived or died.

❁❁❁❁

~ 60 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!

p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)