The island was a typical, uninhabited rock in the middle of the ocean. It featured towering mountains and dense, ancient forests at its center, all surrounded by jagged reefs and pristine white sandy beaches. Waves crashed steadily against the shore while seabirds circled lazily in the sky. Everything about the place seemed peaceful and serene. However, the moment Kyle and his "Problem Children Corps" stepped onto the sand, that tranquility was shattered.
"Alright, this looks like a good spot," Kyle said, stretching his arms over his head. He looked around and nodded with a satisfied grin. "It's spacious enough, so there should be plenty of room for you all to mess around."
Behind him, five of the most dangerous men in the world stood in a line. Dracule Mihawk, Crocodile, Gecko Moriah, Gild Tesoro, and Donquixote Doflamingo each watched Kyle with a different expression. Mihawk's sharp eyes were already focused, his aura locked onto Kyle as he entered a battle-ready state. Crocodile stood with a cigar clamped between his teeth, his right side already dissolving into swirling yellow sand. Moriah let out a high-pitched "Kishishishishi!" cackle as his shadow stretched and twisted eerily across the beach. Tesoro kept his hands in his pockets, but the ground beneath him had already transformed into shimmering golden dust. Doflamingo stood at the very back with a cruel smirk, his fingers twitching as nearly invisible threads spread out to hook onto the surrounding trees.
The five men projected distinct, powerful auras that intertwined, making the very air feel thick and heavy.
"Are you ready?" Kyle asked with a playful smile. "Because I'm about to start."
As soon as the words left his lips, Kyle's figure faded. He vanished from his spot like a mirage in the afternoon sun.
"He disappeared?" Moriah gasped.
"Where did he go?" Tesoro shouted, his eyes darting around.
The five felt a simultaneous jolt of alarm. Their Observation Haki spread out like an invisible net, frantically searching every inch of the island for any sign of their opponent.
"First, let's start with you, Doffy," Kyle's voice whispered suddenly, right next to Doflamingo's ear.
Doflamingo's pupils constricted in shock. He hadn't sensed Kyle's approach at all. "Overheat!" Doffy reacted with blinding speed. He flung his arm backward, lashing out with thick threads wrapped in pitch-black Armament Haki. The whip tore through the air with a piercing shriek, but it struck nothing but empty air.
"Good reaction," Kyle's voice came from behind him again. "But unfortunately, you're just too slow."
A hand pressed gently down on the top of Doflamingo's head. An irresistible, terrifying force followed. Before Doflamingo could even scream, he was slammed face-first into the sand. The impact was so great that only his head remained above ground, and his signature sunglasses shattered in half.
"Pfft!" Doflamingo spat out a mouthful of blood. His vision spun, and he felt as if every bone in his body had been disconnected. With just one move, the arrogant "Heavenly Yaksha" had been planted in the dirt like a common weed.
"Doffy!" Crocodile barked, his eyes widening.
"No way!" Moriah yelled.
"BOSS!" Tesoro cried out.
The speed of the takedown left the remaining four in a state of shock and fury. Their hearts skipped a beat as they realized the sheer gap in power.
"Don't get distracted during a fight, you nobodies," Kyle's voice rang out again. This time, he appeared directly in front of Tesoro.
"Gold Sea!" Tesoro roared. He didn't hesitate, commanding the gold beneath his feet to rise in a monstrous wave. The liquid metal swept toward Kyle, intending to swallow him whole.
"This is child's play," Kyle muttered. He didn't even look at the golden tide. He simply flicked his finger.
An invisible sound wave rippled outward. The golden wave, which was powerful enough to melt solid steel, solidified instantly upon contact. A second later, it began to crack and crumble. The massive wave turned into a rain of golden dust that fell harmlessly to the ground. Tesoro felt a sharp pain in his mind; his connection to his Devil Fruit power had been forcibly severed by a brutal, raw force.
"How is that even possible?" Tesoro stammered. As he lost his composure, a fist rapidly grew larger in his field of vision. It looked like a simple, slow straight punch.
Bang!
A dull thud echoed across the beach. Tesoro's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. His body curled up like a cooked shrimp as he was sent flying backward. He smashed through over a dozen thick coconut trees before finally hitting the ground, completely unconscious.
"Kishishishishi! Look over here!" Moriah's eerie laugh echoed from beneath Kyle's feet. "Horned Knife Shadow!"
Kyle's own shadow was suddenly manipulated, stretching and twisting into a giant scythe. It slashed toward Kyle's neck from a lethal angle. Simultaneously, Crocodile made his move. "Sables!" he shouted. A massive tornado of sand rose from the beach, enveloping Kyle. Thousands of sharp sand blades rotated at high speeds inside the storm, shredding everything in their path.
The two worked together with surprising coordination, but Kyle just stood there, unmoving. "Too noisy," he said softly.
A second later, a fluctuation far more terrifying than anything before erupted from Kyle. It wasn't a loud explosion, but a low hum that made the soul tremble. Moriah's shadow scythe shattered into pieces in mid-air. Moriah himself let out a scream as he was forcibly ejected from the shadows, bleeding from his nose and ears before collapsing into a heap. Crocodile's sand tornado was instantly blown apart. He groaned, his face turning deathly pale as he staggered back.
"Is that all you've got, little sandman?" Kyle asked. He stepped through the thinning dust and appeared in front of Crocodile, delivering a swift kick to his chin. Crocodile shot into the sky like a rocket, tracing a long arc before slamming into a distant mountain wall, leaving a human-shaped crater behind.
In less than a minute, four of the five world-class fighters had been taken down. Only one man remained standing: Dracule Mihawk.
Mihawk hadn't moved since the start. His hawk-like gaze had watched Kyle defeat his teammates in a crushing display of dominance. There was no anger or fear on his face—only a fanatical, burning fighting spirit. To Mihawk, nothing else existed in the world except the man standing before him.
"Finally, it's my turn," Mihawk said, his voice deep and hoarse. He reached behind his back and gripped the hilt of his weapon, the Black Blade Yoru.
Clang!
The unsheathing of the blade, one of the Twelve Supreme Grade Swords, released a sharpness that felt like it could cut the air itself. A massive, invisible intent soared into the sky, actually parting the clouds above the island.
"Come then, Kyle," Mihawk said, holding the sword with both hands. He settled into a focused stance, his mind and spirit becoming one with the blade.
Kyle looked at him and finally offered a small nod of approval. "Not bad, Little Hawk. Your sword has definitely gotten stronger. But it's still not enough. Come, show me your full power." Kyle extended his right hand, his fingers spread wide.
Mihawk took a deep breath, pouring every ounce of his Haki, willpower, and years of training into a single strike. He swung. An enormous, emerald-green slash tore through the earth and the forest, roaring toward Kyle. The ground was plowed into a bottomless chasm wherever the energy passed. It was a strike capable of splitting entire mountains.
Facing the incoming destruction, Kyle simply shook his head. He slowly closed his hand into a fist. "Spatial Wave: Distortion."
As Mihawk's massive slash came within ten meters of Kyle, it suddenly twisted. The energy bent into a U-shape, bypassing Kyle entirely and carving an earth-shattering gash into the landscape behind him. Mihawk's pupils shrank to pinpricks. He had never seen Kyle use a move like that. His proudest strike had been brushed aside as if it were nothing.
"It's over," Kyle said, his voice now right behind Mihawk.
Mihawk's internal alarms screamed, but his body was frozen in shock. In that instant, he felt a firm but irresistible pressure on the back of his neck. His vision went black, and his consciousness sank into darkness.
Kyle casually tossed the unconscious swordsman aside. He clapped his hands together to clear the dust and looked at the "problem children" scattered across the beach. Doflamingo was stuck in the dirt, Tesoro was buried under trees, Moriah was a mess of bruises, Crocodile was hanging off a cliff, and Mihawk was at his feet.
"What a tragic sight," Kyle sighed, rubbing his temples. He walked over to Doflamingo and pulled him out of the sand by his collar. "Hey, wake up."
Doflamingo slowly opened his eyes. Seeing Kyle's smiling face so close made him flinch in terror. "Ky... Lord Kyle..."
"How are you feeling?" Kyle asked with a chuckle. Doflamingo felt like he was about to die from the humiliation.
Kyle dropped him and went around waking the others. Soon, the five of them were gathered together, bruised and battered. They looked at the perfectly unharmed Kyle with eyes full of shame.
"Too weak," Kyle said, his words cutting deeper than any blade. "I thought the five of you together could at least provide a warm-up. But look at you. Doflamingo, you rely on clever tricks that fail against absolute power. Tesoro, you're too dependent on your Devil Fruit; your physical strength is a mess. Moriah, you're a mouse hiding in the shadows with no courage for a real fight. Crocodile, your schemes mean nothing once someone sees through them."
Finally, he looked at Mihawk. "And you, Mihawk. Your sword is strong, but you only see 'opponents,' not 'companions.' A lone wolf can never reach the true peak."
The five men sat in silence. They were some of the proudest people on the seas, yet they couldn't find a single word to refute him. They had fought as individuals and had been dismantled one by one.
"If I were your enemy, you'd all be dead," Kyle said, his voice growing cold. "With these skills, you think you can follow me to change the world? You disappoint me. Go home and farm!"
Without another word, Kyle turned and walked into the forest. He left the five of them stunned on the beach. Their shame and anger slowly began to transform into a new, burning determination. They watched Kyle's back as he disappeared, their fists clenching in unison.
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