Looking at Kenji's 'hehe' smile, Whitebeard's eyes twitched with anger. He wished he could punch that detestable fellow in the face right then and there.
However, the two streams of Conqueror's Haki relentlessly pursuing him forced Whitebeard to defend with all his might.
The Conqueror's Haki Emission that Kenji unleashed bypassed the front and attacked Whitebeard from behind.
But Whitebeard, sensing something was amiss, decisively retreated, preferring to risk Kenji's frontal pursuit rather than letting his back take the full impact of those two Conqueror's Haki Emission attacks.
Due to Whitebeard's decisive action and swift movement, he narrowly avoided the Conqueror's Haki after exerting force with his feet to move backward.
Afterward, as he continued to retreat at high speed, he managed to create some distance from the two streams of Conqueror's Haki in a short time, turning the ambush into a chase, with the two sides in pursuit of each other.
"Hmm? Can't shake them off?"
Whitebeard ran and turned, attempting to make the Conqueror's Haki miss, but he was surprised to find that the two streams of energy seemed to have eyes, automatically tracking him.
"Could it be… he's still controlling them?"
At this thought, Whitebeard's first reaction was disbelief.
After all, Haki is not a Devil Fruit ability, and this was a long-range attack. It would be very difficult to maintain stable control of Haki for a long time.
And Conqueror's Haki is a notoriously difficult power to control, with a very domineering nature.
"Even Armament Haki Emission has its limits." Whitebeard narrowed his eyes, carefully observing the subtle changes in the Conqueror's Haki that was closely pursuing him not far ahead.
"Conqueror's Haki is even harder to control than Armament Haki. The range of its Emission can only be smaller."
Whitebeard not only checked the changes in the Conqueror's Haki but also looked past the Conqueror's Haki towards Kenji further away, calmly observing the latter's expression changes and silently calculating the distance between them.
In fact, Whitebeard had already run very far at this point, creating a distance of at least a thousand meters between himself and Kenji.
However, even at this distance, the two streams of Conqueror's Haki showed no signs of weakening, still appearing fierce.
This could be easily discerned from the domineering aura emanating from the dark red light.
"It seems I can't avoid it."
Perhaps he finally confirmed it, or perhaps he lost patience with the 'cat and mouse game,' Whitebeard simply stopped retreating.
The next moment, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes, then he forcefully stomped his feet on the ground, simultaneously leaning his body forward.
As his body tilted, Whitebeard swung the large naginata in his hand with the momentum.
The large naginata, imbued with top-tier Conqueror's Haki, carved cracks in the air, as if space itself was tearing apart.
Whitebeard timed it perfectly. Just as the power of his slash reached its peak, the two streams of Conqueror's Haki charged right in front of him.
Whoosh!!!
The Conqueror's Haki-infused slash clashed with the streams of Conqueror's Haki from a distance, and the energy ripples caused endless arcs to spread.
Whitebeard was familiar with this scene, and Oden and the others watching from outside the battlefield were even more so.
"How come all the fighting… seems to look pretty much the same?" Ushimaru, standing beside Oden, asked with an uncertain tone.
"Hmph! What do you know? That is… a very terrifying battle!" Oden snorted coldly.
Although he himself didn't quite understand what the two distant figures were fighting about, from their aura, he could discern that Kenji and Whitebeard were using Conqueror's Haki.
It's just that the way they used Conqueror's Haki, well, Oden had witnessed it many times in the past few days, yet he still found it difficult to comprehend.
"How can such a volatile power as Conqueror's Haki be used like Armament Haki? How do they do it?!"
Previously, when Oden fought Whitebeard, besides being beaten black and blue, he wasn't entirely without gains.
At the very least, he learned the name of the technique Whitebeard used for Conqueror's Haki: Conqueror's Haki Infusion!
And after several beatings, Oden now thoroughly understood that his Armament Haki simply could not withstand the power of Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
"Hmm, that Whitebeard, besides Conqueror's Haki Infusion, also possesses another powerful ability."
Oden's eyes widened, his sight clearly catching the ripple traces left in the air by Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit power.
Compared to Conqueror's Haki Infusion, Oden felt even more terrified by this vibrating power.
Because this was a power that could destroy Wano Country!
As for Conqueror's Haki Infusion, though strong, from Oden's perspective, trying to destroy a country with Conqueror's Haki Infusion would definitely exhaust one to death.
So at this moment, Oden's focus remained on Whitebeard.
This terrifying Legendary Pirate who had thrashed him was the true strongman who required his full vigilance.
On the other side, the Marine personnel who had originally arrived near the battlefield were now quietly dispersing under Kuzan's command and arrangement, spreading out to various points on the edge of the battlefield.
Kuzan himself remained not far from Oden and the others.
"What exactly is going on?"
Even now, Kuzan still couldn't figure out why Whitebeard had appeared in such a place.
Fortunately, after some observation, he found that his leader seemed to be steadily withstanding Whitebeard's attacks.
"It looks like this Legendary Pirate isn't that strong after all." Kuzan stroked his chin, muttering to himself.
"But I still need to be careful… to prevent him from going berserk."
"They say that if he goes berserk… he can shake the world."
In the battlefield, Whitebeard's full-power slash finally managed to stop the streams of Conqueror's Haki.
The two sides temporarily entered a standoff.
And this clash made Whitebeard realize that the Conqueror's Haki in front of him was not under Kenji's continuous control.
This was good news for Whitebeard. If Kenji were to continuously control it, the Conqueror's Haki would receive an unending supply.
Then Whitebeard wouldn't even need to fight. If someone could control Conqueror's Haki remotely, it would mean they could release several more attacks, and Whitebeard wouldn't even be able to fight at close range.
After all, Whitebeard was using almost all his strength just to deal with these two streams of Conqueror's Haki in front of him.
Fortunately, this Conqueror's Haki ultimately received no replenishment, and under continuous high-intensity collisions, its power visibly weakened.
However, Whitebeard still couldn't be happy.
"Uncontrolled, yet capable of free tracking?" Whitebeard frowned, pondering a countermeasure.
"In the upcoming battle, I must maintain a certain distance from him…"
Just as Whitebeard was considering a countermeasure, the two streams of Conqueror's Haki unleashed by Kenji finally ran out, and the naginata annihilated them.
Only the flickering black lightning remained, seemingly the last remnants of the Conqueror's Haki.
Whitebeard slowly retracted his naginata, raising his eyes to look at Kenji in the distance.
At this moment, Kenji still stood in place, showing no intention of moving.
In fact, when Whitebeard was attacked by the Conqueror's Haki and forced to retreat, Kenji had remained in place, showing no intention of moving, as if he was enjoying what kind of battle results his launched 'bullets' would achieve.
Currently, the situation didn't seem very ideal.