On the beach.
The two stood facing each other. Compared to Ivankov's relaxed demeanor, Kong Tai was clearly more solemn.
Kong Tai gazed at Ivankov, whose back was against the sun, casting a halo. Kong Tai's pupils contracted sharply! Faint starlight spun within his eyes.
It was like a black hole, as if pulling the entire starry sky into his eyes, deep, mysterious, and filled with deadly beauty.
An invisible aura radiated outwards.
Sensing Kong Tai's change, Ivankov's expression became slightly more serious, and he slowly dropped his dismissive attitude.
If Kong Tai had been a kitten before, he was now a tiger, his danger level increased tenfold.
He ripped off his black robe, spun his hands upwards, revealing the peculiar attire beneath the robe.
He wore a tight, ultra-low-cut bodysuit, a mesh cape and stockings, a large skull tattooed on his abs, and a deep purple, exceptionally large afro. His finger pointed towards Kong Tai.
"Come on, little Kong Tai."
"Hee haw!"
He laughed heartily, baring his teeth.
On the dock, among the crowd watching, at some unknown time, Lightning had put on glasses and transformed into a man.
His voice was deep as he muttered.
"Is he serious? Lady Ivan, and that brat are completely different from before!"
Looking at Ivankov, who had revealed his full makeup and attire.
Ah Hua suddenly understood, exclaiming in surprise.
"Wow...!"
"So a transvestite is just a pervert!"
From the moment he got on the ship until now, he had been wondering what a transvestite was.
"Shut up."
Yi Fu turned his head and glared fiercely at Ah Hua.
"How can you be so disrespectful to Lord Ivan, you brat?"
He knew most transvestites were perverts, but Ivankov was different.
Ivankov was not only the king of transvestites but also one of their respected revolutionary leaders.
"What? You want a fight!" Ah Hua shouted, emboldened by the crowd.
"Yeah, so what? Can't I talk about perverts?" A Luo chimed in.
"Come on, come on."
Yi Fu rolled up his sleeves, showing off his muscles, and arrogantly pointed at Ah Hua and the others, beckoning them.
"All of you, come at me, I'll fight ten of you."
Lightning and Kōshirō couldn't stand it and spoke at the same time.
"All of you, shut up."
The two sides exchanged glances, then simultaneously turned their heads and snorted through their noses.
"Hmph!"
Silence fell.
Kuina and Zoro stood in the crowd, neither speaking, their eyes fixed on Kong Tai.
Their bodies were tense, their expressions focused.
Kong Tai tucked his hands into his sleeves, his shoulders twitched, and his shirt slowly fell away, revealing a muscular upper body with eight-pack abs.
It was hard to believe this was the body of an eleven-year-old child.
He leaned forward, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.
He looked up at Ivankov, starlight flashing in his eyes.
A transparent space quietly expanded outwards.
De-escalation, "Soru!", activated simultaneously.
"Whoosh!"
He vanished from his spot.
As for why he didn't just teleport directly, it was naturally due to the lack of acceleration and low power.
With his current strength, facing someone far stronger than him, direct teleportation might not even break their defense.
Watching Kong Tai charge towards him at high speed, Ivankov took a step back and winked his left eye at Kong Tai.
"Hell Wink!"
Just as the shockwave was about to collide head-on with Kong Tai, his charging body instantly vanished from his spot.
"Teleportation!"
Kong Tai bypassed the shockwave and instantly appeared before Ivankov.
Without giving Ivankov time to react, his spatial domain expanded, and in an instant, it enveloped Ivankov's entire body.
Amplification.
"Draw Slash!"
Seamlessly executed.
A flash of red light flickered in Ivankov's eyes. He had reacted the moment Kong Tai appeared.
But as he tried to raise his right hand and throw a punch.
A wave of pressure assaulted him, causing him to pause momentarily.
Although he broke free from the pressure in an instant, this brief pause was enough for Kong Tai to swing his sword.
Staring at the sharp blade gleaming coldly before him, Ivankov only had time to hastily cover his chest with a layer of Haki.
Clang——!
A terrifying force erupted from the blade.
It only lasted for an instant before he was pushed back rapidly by the force of the slash.
His feet ploughed two ten-meter-long furrows in the sand.
Feeling his faintly aching chest, he looked down.
On his chest, a faint blood-red wound was seeping beads of blood.
Although he hadn't had time to mobilize his full Haki due to his hasty reaction, being able to cut through his Haki and wound him at this age was too monstrous!
If he hadn't reacted quickly, and his Haki had been even slightly slower, he would have been utterly humiliated.
He didn't know how much Dragon would have mocked him then.
He raised his head, staring at Kong Tai, who was floating in the air, his pupils contracting slightly, his expression becoming a little serious.
He could even fly.
Kong Tai stood in the air, looking down at Zankon, which was once again wrapped in Haki in his hand, and a satisfied smile bloomed on his face.
Indeed, fighting with strong opponents was the best way to refine Haki.
It didn't increase quantity, but it increased quality.
Every Haki user was forged through countless trials.
Earlier, during the clash with Ivankov, his Haki had collapsed in an instant.
This was the difference in quality of their Haki.
It was like hitting a rock with an egg.
Ivankov looked at Kong Tai with some surprise and said, "Little Kong Tai, you are truly formidable! But you must be careful next."
"I will show you the essence of Newkama Kenpo from the heart of Kamabakka Kingdom!"
Saying that, he leaped into the air from his spot, performed a 360-degree aerial spin, landed lightly, and drew a character with his hands in front of him.
As for what character it was, no one recognized it.
He relaxed his left hand and brought it to his waist, while his right hand opened into a palm, pointing at Kong Tai.
"Hee haw!"
Kong Tai stared at Ivankov's exaggerated performance, dumbfounded.
This was Newkama Kenpo? So chuunibyou.
Ivankov retracted his right hand, raised his hands slightly to his shoulders, relaxed his body, and smiled, calling out, "Alright, alright, come on over!"
"Hee haw!"
Are you Bruce Lee? Hee haw, why not hey haw?
Kong Tai pouted, gripped his sword with both hands, lifted it, and raised it above his head. He stomped his foot on the ground.
Whoosh——!
His body shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, heading towards Ivankov.
Upon closing the distance, he swung his sword down fiercely at Ivankov.
"Soru: Mae Torigge!"
Ivankov was prepared this time. The pressure from the spatial domain only affected his speed slightly.
He continued to use his hand as a knife edge at high speed to meet Kong Tai.
"Newkama Kenpo: Dream Shower Punch!"
Clang, clang, clang...!
The blade and the hand knife, covered in black Haki, clashed wildly. Only afterimages could be seen, and the cold, dark glint of the sword flashing by.
In a flash.
Clang——!
The two collided once again, locked in a struggle.
During the brief stalemate, Ivankov suddenly winked at Kong Tai below.
"Hell Wink!"
Kong Tai exerted all his strength, swinging his sword to send Ivankov flying back, and using the recoil to leap backward.
Bang——!
The spot where he had been standing was blown into a large pit by the shockwave.
"Little Ivan, that's not honorable, attacking by surprise."
He exaggeratedly feigned a look of lingering fear, wiping imaginary sweat from his brow with his left hand.
"No, I didn't!" Ivankov shouted loudly.
Then he stared at Kong Tai, blinking rapidly.
"Hell Wink, Hell Wink, Hell Wink!"
Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh...!
Waves of shockwaves flew towards Kong Tai.
Kong Tai paid little attention to the shockwaves in front of him.
He expanded his domain, stretching space, causing the shockwaves to enter his domain and their speed to drastically decrease.
He stood calmly in place, swinging his sword rapidly, deflecting the incoming shockwaves, much like deflecting bubbles.
Seeing that this move was ineffective against Kong Tai.
Ivankov stomped his feet on the ground and began to run around Kong Tai.
He ran faster and faster, his high-speed movement generating countless facial afterimages.
"Face Image!"
From a distance, it looked like countless large faces were surrounding Kong Tai.
Seeing the afterimages all around, Kong Tai adopted a defensive stance.
A red light flashed in his eyes, and he swiftly swung his sword at one of the afterimages.
Found it.
A silver-gray slash passed through the afterimage, leaving a deep cut in the sand behind it.
"Little Kong Tai, it's useless."
"Every one of these afterimages could be real, or every one could be fake."
All the afterimages shouted in unison.
"Are you ready to face the storm?"
"Hee haw!"
Ivankov warned, blinking rapidly. All the facial afterimages simultaneously unleashed their "death winks."
"Galaxy Wink!"
Countless shockwaves, ten times stronger than the death winks, shot towards Kong Tai like missiles, leaving him nowhere to escape.
Sensing the fluctuations around him, Kong Tai quickly sheathed his sword and clasped his hands together.
He wouldn't run; this was exactly what he wanted.
Kong Tai slowly closed his eyes, his chuunibyou spirit igniting.
"How many bags of rice do you need to carry, how many bags of rice do you need to carry two bags, how many bags of rice do you need me to give more, how many bags of rice do you need me to wash..."
Just as the shockwaves were about to reach him, he suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils dilating. The space around his body instantly collapsed inwards.
Then he forcefully pushed his hands outwards to the sides, and an immensely powerful force shot outwards at an even faster speed.
"Pseudo Shinra Tensei!"
In essence, this was the instantaneous extreme compression of space within his spatial domain, followed by its eruption.
This was something he had created by imitating Shinra Tensei.
The two forces clashed for only an instant before a tremendous explosion erupted with a bang!
Sand and dust, along with an even more powerful shockwave, surged outwards, instantly dispersing all the afterimages and sending the real Ivankov flying.
Bang——!
Ivankov's back slammed hard into the mountain wall behind the beach.
Due to his immense size, it was as if the entire mountain had shaken.
The crowd on the dock had already rushed towards the village the moment the explosion occurred.
Watching the shockwave storm rapidly approaching behind them, Ah Hua and the other kids wished they had more legs.
"Run!"
"The storm is coming."
They had just hidden when the storm hit, instantly sweeping the entire street clean.
Hiding behind a house, the onlookers listened to the howling wind and stared in disbelief.
"Is this something a human can do?"
"It's too exaggerated!"
Kuina looked outside, a hint of worry in her eyes.
Kōshirō, seeing her state, pushed up his glasses and said, "Don't worry, Kuina, Kong Tai will be fine."
"I'm not worried, I always believe in Kong Tai."
Kuina paused, then cautiously glanced at Kōshirō.
"I'm just wondering how many Berry we'll have to pay this time."
At that moment, a fish, blown into the sky and stuck on the eaves of a house, fell.
Splat——!
It landed on Kōshirō's head.
Kōshirō expressionlessly removed the fish from his head and threw it aside forcefully.
Staring at the sand-filled street, and the fish, fruits, and rubble rolling around in the sand.
The hand that pushed up his glasses trembled.
"Father, are you alright?"
Kuina looked up at Kōshirō.
"I'm fine, it's just a little Berry!"
Kōshirō replied indifferently.
He gritted his teeth, vowing that when Kong Tai returned, he would make him earn double to compensate.
"Alright, let's go out!"
Kōshirō took a step forward and walked outside.
The street outside was in ruins, with tiles, fruits, fish, ...
Everywhere.
Stepping over the debris, they walked towards the dock.
Upon reaching the dock, they saw that of the ten or so small fishing boats that had been moored in the harbor, all but a few larger ones had been overturned on the sand to the right.
And below Kong Tai's position, seawater was slowly seeping into the bottom of a large circular pit.
It was believed that soon a small pond would form there.
Zoro's eyes widened, staring intently at Kong Tai, who was hovering undamaged above the giant pit.
He trembled with excitement.
Only by witnessing peak power could one strive harder to catch up. He firmly believed he would catch up.
Sensing Zoro's fighting spirit, Kuina's left hand, which was gripping her sword, tightened.
She calmly stared at Kong Tai, her mind in turmoil.
Is this Kong Tai's peak power?
It's so despairing.
It turns out Kong Tai was never serious when he sparred with her before.
Simoji Village was too small; it was so small that even she could be almost invincible.
If Zoro hadn't arrived, she wouldn't have improved so much in a year.
She could feel that it wouldn't be long before Zoro surpassed her in stamina.
Such is her innate talent, no matter how unwilling she was, there was nothing she could do.
All she could do was train even harder.
Otherwise, she would soon be surpassed by Zoro. kanδん
Staring at the distant beach.
She became even more determined in her heart.
She would definitely become the strongest female swordswoman.