Sanji's face was deadly serious. Seeing the flurry of light particles shooting towards him, he instantly turned into a bolt of lightning to dodge. With his current Observation Haki, evading these light bullets wasn't the main problem; the real difficulty was dealing with Admiral Kizaru's superior combat experience.
After a sustained burst of light-speed attacks, Sanji reformed into his human body. Before he could speak, he felt a powerful foot slam into his face, shocking and overwhelming him. The next second, he was sent flying.
Bang! Bang!
Sanji smashed through several buildings before landing in a deep crater right in front of Zoro and Tashigi.
"Shitty Cook?!" Zoro yelled.
"Sanji?!" Tashigi exclaimed.
Both Zoro and Tashigi's expressions changed. They hadn't expected Sanji, who possessed the power of the Thunder Fruit, to be taken down so quickly by Kizaru. It was clear they had underestimated an Admiral's strength.
Sanji quickly leaped out of the pit. The cigarette he'd been smoking was gone, blood was welling up from the corner of his mouth, and his face was visibly distorted.
"Damn! That kick was really heavy!" Sanji complained, rubbing his cheek.
He recalled their previous encounter during the Summit War, where he'd managed to block Kizaru with a surprise move. Sanji had thought he could hold the Admiral off for a while, but he hadn't anticipated Kizaru would be so terrifying when fully serious, capable of defeating him in a single exchange.
"This is a real problem now!" he muttered.
"Straw Hat Crew, none of you can escape!" A beam of light particles merged and solidified into Kizaru's human form a short distance away. The Admiral walked toward them slowly.
Despite his declaration, Kizaru privately knew capturing the Straw Hats was practically impossible. They were essentially a crew led by two Emperors (Yonko-level forces, based on the story's progression ), and attempting a capture might fail completely. Even if they somehow succeeded, they would immediately face a relentless counter-attack from the rest of the crew. The Marines simply couldn't afford to start a war with two Emperors right now. Kizaru was merely putting on a performance for the Celestial Dragons, the World Government, and Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
Just then, several figures came running toward the scene. Kizaru immediately recognized the incoming group: Mr. 3 (Galdino), the Hypnotist Jango (Zan Gao), the cyborg Franky, and a skeleton.
What is that skeleton?! Kizaru wondered, as he'd never encountered a creature like Brook before.
"Zoro! Tashigi! Sanji! Are you all right?!" Galdino shouted, clearly worried.
"Who is that man in yellow? He looks so sleazy?" Brook asked curiously.
"That is Marine Admiral Kizaru! His strength is incredible. Right now, none of us—except for Luffy and Teacher Carl—can beat him!" Franky quickly warned them.
"So hurry up! Grab Zoro and the others and run together!" Jango immediately threw a circular saw blade from his coat at Kizaru.
"Nani?! An Admiral?!" Brook exclaimed. Although Brook hadn't fought an Admiral, Carl had given him a clear picture of the sheer power of such monsters. An Admiral was essentially a force equal to Carl himself, meaning Brook stood no chance alone.
Zoro and Sanji saw their friends arrive and ran to join them. While they knew that even the combined group might not defeat Kizaru, more people meant more power, more options, and a better chance to hold him off.
Kizaru destroyed two of Jango's circular saws instantly with a laser beam from his finger. The Straw Hats' hypnotist was an especially dangerous foe, not because of his physical attacks, but because of his hypnotic consciousness ability. Since the technique targeted the mind, being a Logia Devil Fruit user wouldn't help Kizaru, and he wasn't sure if he could even avoid being hypnotized. Therefore, he had to ensure Jango didn't get a clear chance to use his power.
Jango anticipated Kizaru's concern and quickly threw out a barrage of circular saws. The spinning blades flew towards Kizaru from multiple directions. Jango then began to clap and dance rhythmically, which immediately unsettled Kizaru.
Kizaru felt a vague disturbance washing over his mind. It was as if his rationality was being clouded.
"O-ooooh! The Hypnosis Master of the Straw Hat crew! It seems you are the most dangerous one here, so this old man will finish you off right now!" Kizaru declared.
He began firing his finger laser , but he soon noticed something strange: the lasers were missing the spinning circular saws. He had clearly sensed the correct location, so why were his attacks going wide?
Damn! I really have been affected by the hypnosis! Kizaru realized.
He immediately shook his head, focusing all his concentration on guarding his inner consciousness. He forcefully broke free from Jango's hypnotic environment. As his senses returned to normal, he realized the Straw Hat Crew had already run a considerable distance. They had obviously used the moment he was hypnotized to make their escape. This hypnotist, Jango, really has a few tricks up his sleeve!
"Oh no! He broke free from the hypnosis technique!" Jango, who was running alongside the group, looked defeated. He knew a Marine Admiral wouldn't be trapped easily, but he hadn't expected to be broken out of so quickly, which frustrated him.
Zoro reassured him, "Jango, it's incredible that you could hypnotize Kizaru even for a short time. We managed to run this far because of your skill. You don't need to belittle yourself!"
It was rare, but Sanji agreed with the Swordsman. "That's right, Jango. That's Kizaru we're talking about! He's a Marine Admiral!"
Jango smiled. He wasn't truly upset, as he knew his own limits. Successfully surprising and hypnotizing Kizaru, even briefly, was already enough for him to brag about. Maybe I'm in the top five or six strongest members of the Straw Hats now! he thought.
"Yo ho ho ho ho! He's coming again! Run faster!" Brook yelled. He drew his sword and stabbed at the rapidly approaching Admiral , but instantly discovered that he had merely pierced Kizaru's light form without causing any injury. I still can't hit a Logia user! he lamented.
"Brook, get out of the way! Watch my knuckle boxing!" Franky shouted.
Franky quickly slipped on a pair of metal knuckles and lunged, aiming a punch at Kizaru's chest. Kizaru initially ignored the attack, but suddenly sensed a profound danger. He instantly chose to elementalize , successfully avoiding Franky's powerful fist.
However, Franky immediately began to chase the scattered light particles. When the particles began to reform into Kizaru's body, Franky continued his attack. Kizaru had no choice but to keep dodging.
After being chased and forced to evade by Franky for a full minute, Kizaru finally landed on the top of a tree. He glared down at the Straw Hat Crew, paying special attention to the knuckles Franky was wearing.
"Franky, why is he dodging you?" Sanji asked, curious.
"Heeeey! I took Teacher Carl's advice and made these knuckles out of Seastone!" Franky explained with a proud smile, striking a victory pose. "Seastone really is the ultimate weakness of Devil Fruit users! Now even a Marine Admiral has to run from me! SUPER!"
"It's Seastone, just as I thought!" Kizaru's expression grew darker. He felt lucky he had realized something was wrong and quickly avoided the strike. If that "Iron Man" had hit him even twice, it would have been a disaster. Serious injury was one thing, but being laughed at would be a major issue, and failing to report a work-related injury was an even greater one.
However, the Straw Hats really never stop impressing me! Kizaru thought.
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