Boom!
Kizaru shot through the air like a cannonball before crashing violently into the forest.
Several massive trees snapped apart from the impact, and debris exploded everywhere as his body slammed into the ground.
When Kizaru slowly stood back up, his expression had completely changed.
The usual lazy attitude on his face was gone.
In its place was genuine shock.
What just happened?
He had not sensed anything at all.
One moment Ryūjin was standing far away, and the next moment he was already in front of him, sending him flying with a kick.
"Admiral Kizaru got kicked away in one move by Ryūjin!"
Nami's eyes practically sparkled.
The little money-grubber was completely stunned and increasingly turning into Ryūjin's biggest admirer.
In her eyes, Marine Admirals were monsters that stood at the top of the seas.
Yet Ryūjin treated them like punching bags.
Meanwhile, Enel, who had been observing everything through Mantra from afar, felt his pupils shrink violently.
"How was it, Admiral Kizaru?" Ryūjin asked casually, a faint smirk appearing on his face. "What's it like getting kicked at light speed?"
Although Ryūjin's movement came from Flying Thunder God rather than true light transformation, his current speed was not inferior to Kizaru's.
The methods were different.
The result was the same.
Kizaru dusted himself off slowly before walking out of the ruined forest.
"Scary speed," he muttered lazily.
"You really are troublesome, Demon Eye Ryūjin."
As he spoke, Kizaru suddenly raised one leg and casually kicked forward.
Whoosh!
A golden beam of light erupted from his foot and shot toward Ryūjin instantly.
But Ryūjin's eyes had already shifted into the Kamui Mangekyō Sharingan.
The light beam phased directly through his body without causing the slightest damage.
Kizaru scratched his cheek.
"So that's the intangibility ability mentioned in the reports."
"That really is annoying."
Clap!
Ryūjin pressed his palms together.
In an instant, four Wood Clones split off from his body and appeared around the battlefield.
Kizaru raised his eyebrows slightly.
"He can make clones too?"
Using Observation Haki, Kizaru immediately sensed that the clones were not illusions.
Every single one possessed a physical body.
Another completely new ability.
At this point, even Kizaru was starting to feel irritated by the endless surprises.
"Trying to gang up on me?"
Kizaru shrugged lazily before crossing his arms.
Golden light rapidly gathered between his hands.
Even against multiple opponents, Kizaru had no intention of backing down.
But Ryūjin had no interest in overwhelming him with numbers.
"A mere Admiral isn't worth jumping together," Ryūjin said casually.
"Ninja Art, Four Red Yang Formation."
The four Wood Clones instantly moved into position.
A massive crimson barrier rose around Ryūjin and Kizaru, trapping both of them inside.
The entire space became sealed off.
The reason was simple.
Kizaru was the best escape artist in the One Piece world.
Even if he could not win, his speed made retreating ridiculously easy.
Ryūjin was not about to let him casually slip away.
"What is this thing?"
Kizaru glanced around at the enormous barrier while Aokiji's expression became much more serious outside.
Neither of them recognized the technique, but they could instinctively tell it was dangerous.
Kizaru immediately fired several beams of light toward the barrier.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The attacks exploded against the crimson wall.
Nothing happened.
The barrier did not even shake.
Kizaru's expression finally became slightly ugly.
"My light can't pass through?"
Aokiji's face darkened as well.
That meant Kizaru had been completely trapped.
If he lost, escaping would become impossible.
Thinking about Ryūjin's endless bizarre abilities, Aokiji felt a growing sense of dread.
Even now, he still had no idea where Ryūjin's limits actually were.
Every time they thought they understood one of his powers, Ryūjin revealed something even more absurd.
"Good grief," Kizaru muttered.
"You're really making this troublesome."
Golden light exploded around his body.
Then he raised both hands.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
Countless beams of light flooded the battlefield like a golden storm.
The entire space inside the Four Red Yang Formation was instantly filled with devastating attacks.
Even Crocodile felt his scalp go numb watching from outside.
If he faced this attack directly, he would probably die instantly.
Even turning into sand would not save him from that level of destruction.
But Ryūjin remained completely unfazed.
Buzz!
At that moment, his eyes changed again.
The Mangekyō Sharingan disappeared.
In its place appeared the Rinnegan.
Aokiji and Crocodile both noticed immediately.
Over time, they had already begun understanding some patterns behind Ryūjin's abilities.
Different eyes.
Different powers.
The blood-red Sharingan granted him that ridiculous intangibility.
The ripple-patterned Rinnegan controlled attraction and repulsion.
Now that Ryūjin had switched eyes, it meant he was planning to face Yasakani no Magatama head-on instead of phasing through it.
But why?
Would he use repulsion to block everything?
That seemed unnecessarily difficult.
The answer came immediately.
As the endless barrage of light reached him, a strange invisible force formed before Ryūjin.
Then something unbelievable happened.
The attacks vanished.
Not blocked.
Not deflected.
Absorbed.
"What?!"
Aokiji's pupils contracted violently.
"He's absorbing the energy itself!"
That was the power of the Rinnegan's Preta Path.
And unfortunately for Kizaru, nearly all of his attacks were pure energy.
Against Ryūjin, he was practically hard-countered.
Kizaru stared blankly.
"You can absorb light too?"
Even his usually lazy face looked genuinely stunned now.
This was complete nonsense.
His Glint-Glint Fruit abilities were literally healing the enemy.
How the hell was he supposed to fight like this?
At that exact moment, Aokiji suddenly moved.
"Rankyaku!"
Boom!
A compressed air blade exploded downward, instantly blasting open the clouds beneath Skypiea.
Without hesitation, Aokiji jumped straight through the opening.
He continuously used physical attacks to widen the hole while descending rapidly.
Ryūjin glanced downward and immediately understood what he was trying to do.
"So you're calling for backup."
Crocodile transformed into sand and rushed after Aokiji.
"Trying to escape?"
But Aokiji immediately coated his fist with Armament Haki and punched upward.
Boom!
Crocodile was blasted away instantly.
Compared to an Admiral, Crocodile's close combat ability still lacked too much.
"Forget him," Ryūjin said casually.
Crocodile stopped immediately.
Ryūjin simply did not care.
The Eight Trigrams Seal placed on Aokiji allowed him to track the man whenever he wanted.
Whether through Kamui or Yomotsu Hirasaka, catching Aokiji again would be effortless.
There was no reason to panic.
Meanwhile, Aokiji continued descending rapidly through the sky.
At an altitude of seven thousand meters, an ordinary person would die instantly from such a fall.
But an Admiral was not ordinary.
Using Soru and Geppo repeatedly, Aokiji constantly adjusted his descent speed and direction.
Far below, Akainu stood aboard a Marine battleship floating on the sea.
The moment he sensed Aokiji falling from above through Observation Haki, his expression changed slightly.
"Kizaru's still up there, but Aokiji's coming down?"
"And he's not using his Devil Fruit abilities?"
Akainu immediately realized something was wrong.
After observing carefully, he quickly reached a conclusion.
Aokiji's powers had likely been sealed.
Without hesitation, Akainu acted.
"Great Eruption!"
Boom!
A massive pillar of magma erupted upward from the sea, creating towering waves dozens of meters high.
The magma rapidly cooled and solidified beneath the waves, forming a massive stone pillar stretching toward the sky.
Aokiji instantly understood Akainu's intention.
Using Geppo, he adjusted his trajectory and landed against the pillar before rapidly slowing himself down.
Moments later, he safely landed aboard Akainu's ship.
Akainu stared at him immediately.
"What happened?"
"Where's Kizaru?"
Aokiji's face was serious.
"We need to return to Skypiea immediately."
"If we're too late, Kizaru's getting captured too."
Akainu frowned deeply.
"That Ryūjin is really that strong?"
"He's beyond the level of an Admiral," Aokiji answered directly.
"So stop wasting time."
Even Akainu was visibly shocked hearing that assessment from Aokiji.
The two of them rarely agreed on anything.
But he knew Aokiji was not the type to exaggerate recklessly.
"If that's true, then how are we supposed to get back up there?" Akainu asked.
"We use Geppo in turns," Aokiji answered immediately.
"One carries the other while alternating."
"It'll burn through stamina, but it's possible."
Akainu quickly understood the plan.
Before they could move, however, a familiar voice suddenly echoed nearby.
"So that was your plan."
Both Admirals instantly turned.
A pitch-black Space Gate had appeared in midair beside them.
Ryūjin's voice came directly from inside it.
Akainu's eyes narrowed immediately.
"What kind of ability is this now?"
Unlike Akainu, Aokiji already recognized it.
A spatial ability.
Ryūjin's Yomotsu Hirasaka.
"To save time, both of you can come over together," Ryūjin said casually from the other side of the portal.
Aokiji's expression darkened slightly.
Then, without hesitation, he stepped directly into the Space Gate.
Akainu stared at it for a moment before following behind him.