Near Paldeia Island.
Black clouds rolled, engulfing the sky in darkness. Amidst the swirling clouds, lightning and thunder appeared from time to time, accompanied by heavy rain lashing the sea's surface. In the violently churning ocean, several giant tornadoes, connecting sky and earth, emitted mesmerizing whistling sounds, like the roar of enraged sea monsters. The strong currents in the sky continuously struck the sea surface, creating terrifying, unending waves.
In the midst of the raging tornadoes and the eye of the storm, five ships struggled, engaged in a fierce battle against the natural disaster. Among them, four ships flew black skull flags—the symbol of Pirates—while the other was a mighty Marine warship, proudly flying the gallant white gull flag.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In the storm, the four pirate ships simultaneously attacked the warship from four different directions with indiscriminate cannon fire.
Seeing this, Shuzo immediately became anxious, his eyes widening. "Zephyr Sensei, we're surrounded!" he shouted, his voice barely audible above the roar of the wind and waves.
Zephyr remained calm. "What are you panicking about! Stay calm, fire back from the left and right sides, leave the ship in front to this old man, and you guard the back of the warship..." His command was clear and firm, cutting through the chaos. After speaking, Zephyr leaped, stepping on air with his Geppo, and quickly dashed towards the large sailing ship in front, his silhouette vanishing amidst the storm. Shuzo gritted his teeth, summoning courage, quickly ran to the back of the warship, and began intercepting cannonballs fired by the pirate ships with his Rokushiki techniques.
Originally, they had four warships here to carry out this interception mission, but the sudden sea storm separated them from the other three warships. Unfortunately, these four pirate ships found their warship on its way to Paldeia Island and launched a relentless attack.
On deck, all the Marine Academy Students also took up their weapons, standing on both sides of the warship, and looked at the two pirate ships directly charging towards the warship with serious expressions. On both pirate ships, dozens of pirates, all with ferocious smiles and fiery eyes, swung the swords in their hands, looking utterly savage. It was clear they felt victory was already within their grasp, ready to pounce.
Having completed his Vampire transformation, Sephiroth stood on the right side of the ship, his chest gently rising and falling with the rhythm of his calm breathing. His right hand clutched his sword hilt tightly, and his gaze was fixed on the continuously approaching two-masted sailing boat, radiating a chilling aura. The Haki within Sephiroth's body continuously gathered in his right hand, condensing and solidifying, and his aura also began to escalate, as sharp as a honed blade.
As the two-masted sailing boat pivoted, tilting its side, narrowing the distance between the two ships to less than five meters, preparing for boarding combat... he finally moved!
Rumble!!!
Accompanied by a flash of lightning streaking across the gloomy sky, Sephiroth's majestic aura, condensed to its peak, exploded with full force!
Whoosh!
Before the astonished expressions of all the Marine Academy Students, as Sephiroth drew his sword with extreme speed, as if breaking through the limits of time, a crimson sword energy slash over ten meters long shot directly out from his blade, cleaving the opponent's two-masted sailing boat in half right at the waist, splitting it into two! The broken hull of the two-masted sailing boat quickly sank with the waves, forcing the pirates on board to frantically grab life-saving equipment and jump into the sea to escape, most of them drowning in the whirlpool.
"Hah!"
Sephiroth let out a long breath, his breathing trembling slightly. He suppressed the weakness caused by his depleted Haki exhaustion, no longer looking at the destroyed pirate ship, but shouted at the Marine Academy Students who were still dazed, stunned by what they had just witnessed: "Don't just stand there, hurry up and support the other side of the warship for boarding combat!"
Hearing that, the Marine Academy Students finally awoke from their shock and turned to rush to the left side, bringing new combat spirit. On the other side, more than ten Marine Academy Students led by Kaji and Gion, though fewer in number, were all Marine elites and could not be compared to ordinary pirates. As soon as the battle began, the pirates suffered a crushing blow.
Since Sephiroth's side ended the battle without engaging in boarding combat, after more than ten Marine Academy Students quickly joined the battle on the right side of the warship, the pirates began to steadily retreat, being pushed back onto their own pirate ship by the Marine Academy Students.
Seeing this, Sephiroth did not go to help on the right side of the warship, but instead rushed towards the back of the warship, towards Shuzo's position.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The continuous sound of cannon fire rang out. The three-masted sailing boat following the warship had no intention of closing in and continued to attack the warship with its broadsides, forcing Shuzo to constantly defend himself, using his Rokushiki to intercept the cannonballs one by one.
"This won't work. The other side has full initiative..." Sephiroth frowned, a hint of frustration in his voice.
"We can only wait for Zephyr Sensei and you to deal with those two pirate groups before we can counterattack," Shuzo sighed helplessly. He leaped into the air, waved his hands, and parried two incoming cannonballs with immense force.
"Forget it, I'll go meet them..." After speaking, Sephiroth flapped the black wings on his back, which emerged from his vampire transformation, flew into the sky, and rushed towards the three-masted sailing boat, as fast as lightning.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
When Sephiroth approached a certain distance, the pirates on the three-masted sailing boat immediately raised their weapons, pulled the triggers, and fired at him, creating a hail of bullets. Under the heavy rain of bullets, Sephiroth, flying in the air, couldn't avoid all the bullets. Although he used Geppo to step on air and rapidly change direction, some bullets still hit his body, but with his vampire ability, the wounds were minor. Fortunately, his flying speed was also not slow, and in just a few seconds, he reached the sky above the three-masted sailing boat.
Screech, screech, screech...!
Sephiroth's body quickly split into a swarm of black bats in the air, diving sharply towards the three-masted sailing boat. At the same time, black mist rapidly spread across the deck, obscuring the pirates' vision.
"Ah!" "Ah!" ...
Plop! Plop!
Sephiroth's figure was like a ghost. Behind the black mist, he quickly extinguished the lives of the pirates one by one. They had no power to resist and could only wait for death to come in the confusing darkness.
Suddenly! A sudden strong gust of wind blew across the sea, causing the black mist to disappear instantly, revealing Sephiroth's figure. Amidst the crowd, a black-haired man quickly rushed towards him. The opponent immediately swung his right fist, aiming for his temple.
Sephiroth didn't think much and swung his sword in retaliation, slashing at the approaching man. Unexpectedly, his opponent didn't dodge, turning his fist into a claw, coating his palm with pitch-black Busoshoku Haki, and firmly gripping Sephiroth's Autumn Leaf Blade.
Instantly, Sephiroth exerted force with his arm, wanting to pull his sword out, but... before his shocked eyes, the front end of the Autumn Leaf Sword held by the black-haired man immediately corroded to rust! The remaining tip of the blazing red blade fell to the deck with a sad clink.
That was... the Sabi Sabi no Mi user!
In the moment Sephiroth was briefly distracted, due to his carelessness, he took a heavy blow to the chest from his opponent, and his entire body was sent flying out, slamming into the cabin wall of the three-masted sailing boat with a loud "boom" sound, creating a large crack in the hull.
"Damn it! I capsized in a ditch!" Sephiroth looked at the Autumn Leaf Blade, a quarter shorter in his hand, and couldn't help but feel immense heartache. My one and a half million Berries!
"A swordsman without a sword is like a tiger without teeth... My Sabi Sabi no Mi is the bane of all swordsmen!" Bloody Hand Mor, a two-meter tall, burly black-haired man, walked into the cabin with a playful smile on his face, feeling completely in control.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. A bullet wrapped in Haki shot directly into Bloody Hand Mor's chest, creating a gaping bloody hole, and his body immediately fell to the deck, his breath silenced.
"Times have changed!... Now, popular swordsmen carry pistols as secondary weapons..." Sephiroth's face was dark. After quietly sheathing his broken sword, he placed the pistol in his left hand back into the holster on his outer thigh. Without his sword, he still had long, sharp claws on his hands, ready to tear! After adding Shigan, he was still very fast at harvesting pirates.
After dispatching the pirates on deck, he turned and rushed into the cabin. In just a flash, he had killed all the pirates on the entire three-masted sailing boat, leaving none alive.
When the other Marine Academy Students boarded this three-masted sailing boat, they only saw Sephiroth, covered in pirate blood, his white Marine uniform entirely stained red, walking out of the cabin indifferently, like a grim reaper. Every step he took, bloody footprints appeared on the deck, leaving a trail of horror.
Gulp!
Seeing the silver-haired youth who was like a Shura before them, many Marine Academy Students swallowed hard and felt a chill in their hearts. The murderous aura emanating from Sephiroth sent shivers down their spines.
"Sephiroth, are you alright? Why is there so much blood on your body..." Gion asked carefully, genuine concern in her eyes.
Sephiroth flicked the congealed blood from his hand and explained casually, "It's nothing... Since my sword was broken by a Devil Fruit user and I couldn't find a suitable weapon, I could only use my hands..." His tone was flat, as if it were commonplace.
After the battle ended, everyone began to clear the battlefield, capturing the remaining pirates and counting the bountied criminals. Fortunately, the Marine soldiers who participated in this battle were not weak. Although some were injured, none were killed—a great fortune amidst the storm and fierce fighting. As for the pirate side, the casualties were tragic, with one hundred and one dead and one hundred and seventy-two injured, while the number of people lost to the sea disaster could not be counted.
On the deck of the warship, the Marine Academy Students stood in a square formation, standing tall, exhaustion etched on their faces but an unwavering spirit remaining.
Zephyr stood in front of everyone. When he heard the data reported by Shuzo, the corner of his eye twitched slightly. He, as the teacher, didn't kill anyone, but injured eighty-one people... Sephiroth, as a student, was quite ruthless, leaving no survivors, killing eighty-four people! This style couldn't help but remind Zephyr of one of his students, Sakazuki... That person was also like this. Every pirate he met, he would kill one if there was one, kill two if there were two. Unless there was an order from above, he would never let anyone live!
Although Zephyr didn't like Sephiroth's bloodthirsty behavior, he had to admit that in this battle, the other party played a crucial role, single-handedly dealing with two pirate groups, greatly reducing the pressure on their side. So, he could only force a smile, walk into the ranks of the Marine Academy Students, stand in front of Sephiroth, pat his shoulder, and say with a wry smile:
"Ahem! Sephiroth... Next time, could you leave some survivors? Wiping them all out is really a bit..." Zephyr sighed. "However, overall, you performed exceptionally well in this battle. I will report to Fleet Admiral Kong when I return and ask him to give you a proper reward."
Seeing Zephyr's awkward, broadly smiling face, Sephiroth pouted and said unhappily, "What's the use of a reward? Can I get something practical? For example, reward me with a Saijo O Wazamono Grade Sword or something. Of course, I wouldn't mind an O Wazamono Grade Sword either."
"Hey! You brat, if you take one step, you'll advance a mile, huh?" As he spoke, Zephyr immediately put on a stern face and slapped the back of Sephiroth's head, making Sephiroth wince in pain.
"Old man, if you don't want to compromise, then fine, but why did you hit me!" Sephiroth grumbled with a dissatisfied expression, rubbing his head.
"I will report your desire for a good sword, but I can't guarantee the quality of the sword Fleet Admiral Kong will give you." Zephyr walked some distance away with his hands behind his back, and his voice sounded casual, ending the conversation.
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