One Piece: Starting with Breathing Techniques

Chapter 181 The Power of the Float Fruit

"call----"

"It's been a long time since I've gone all out, but—"

"Kilo, since you're so eager to see me at my peak, then watch out!"

He transformed into a blur too fast for the naked eye to see, appearing in front of Kiro in an instant. Two peerless blades were already pressed against Kiro's face, radiating a suffocatingly chilling sharpness.

Faced with the fierce slash that was almost impossible to react to, Kiro was not surprised but delighted. He smiled and instantly drew his sword, Dragon Slayer, to block in front of him.

"Well done!"

Three peerless blades arrived almost simultaneously, their fierce strikes instantly overlapping and clashing together.

"boom!"

After several crisp, loud noises, the Golden Lion's expression changed, and he staggered backward, retreating dozens of meters to distance himself from Kilo.

His face was solemn as he shook his slightly numb legs, a wave of horror washing over him.

Who is this kid? He is the Golden Lion, and he has never suffered a loss in terms of strength in his life. But just now, after exchanging blows with the opponent's seemingly ordinary blade a few times, he felt completely overwhelmed in terms of strength.

It was as if the other party was not some inexperienced young man, but some kind of monster who had cultivated his physique to the extreme.

"Interesting, now that's more like it, a worthy opponent!"

After a brief exchange and witnessing how formidable Kilo was, the Golden Lion did not back down; instead, a fierce fighting spirit gradually ignited in his eyes.

This time, he was no longer arrogant. Dark Armament Haki instantly wrapped around the sword, turning into a blur as he slashed at Kiro.

In an instant, the two peerless blades intertwined in the air to form an impenetrable grid of sword energy, which piled up layer by layer at an extremely terrifying speed, instantly surrounding Kilo at the center.

Moreover, for some reason, these sword energies seemed to have lost the constraints of gravity, flying freely in mid-air without losing any potential energy.

Faced with the successive onslaught of sword energy, Kiro raised an eyebrow, clenched his right arm tightly, and his muscles bulged out.

The next moment, Zhanlong streaked through the air with a bright silver sword light.

"The long sword slashed down with terrifying force, its immense power distorting the surrounding air. Instantly, it tore the impenetrable grid of sword light to shreds, and with undiminished momentum, it slashed toward the golden lion not far away."

The golden lion's expression changed, and he bent his knees, instantly placing two longswords horizontally in front of his chest.

The moment the two longswords touched Zhanlong, an inexplicable shockwave caused his expression to change drastically, and he felt as if nearly half of his strength had been dissipated.

Caught off guard, even though he mustered all his strength to defend himself, he was still struck by Kiro's powerful slash, which forced him to retreat repeatedly, his blood and qi churning violently within him.

"How is that possible?!"

"This is----?!"

After retreating dozens of meters in a disheveled state, the Golden Lion barely managed to neutralize the force of the sword strike, and stood there looking up at Kiro in disbelief.

"What is this?"

"Why was your slash able to deflect my block?!"

Golden Lion was utterly horrified. He was a swordsman who had lived from the old era to the present, possessing unparalleled swordsmanship and never having made a mistake.

But his swordsmanship, which he was so proud of, suddenly suffered a crushing defeat today, as he was defeated by Kiro in front of him by some unknown means.

"Could it be the power of a Devil Fruit?"

Upon hearing this, Kiro smiled and shook his head, "No, this is sword intent!"

He unabashedly unleashed his sword intent, gradually wrapping it around the Dragon-Slaying Sword, his eyes gleaming.

After Kilo released that incredibly powerful surge of spiritual energy, the Golden Lion's pupils constricted. He suddenly recalled a rumor he had heard long ago and exclaimed in horror, "This, this could be—?!"

"That's right, it's that sword intent."

Kiro nodded, confirming Golden Lion's conjecture, "Only by condensing one's own sword intent can one become a great swordsman."

"Therefore, you have no chance of winning against me, who possesses sword intent."

The Golden Lion was taken aback, his brows furrowing. "You're just telling me this much information about sword intent?"

"Aren't you afraid I'll figure it out?"

After all, he has lived for so long, and his understanding of swordsmanship has long reached its peak. He is probably only missing cognition and understanding to condense the so-called sword intent.

In response to Golden Lion's question, Kiro waved his hand dismissively with a smile, "Even if you figure it out, so what? You're no match for me."

"Hmph, how arrogant!"

The Golden Lion snorted coldly, but in his heart he was gradually pondering the condensation of sword intent.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed, and his aura became even more fierce.

"What—it's actually true?"

He had just tried to integrate his lifelong understanding of swordsmanship into his heart and to carry out the will he had always upheld. Unexpectedly, his swordsmanship, which had not improved for a long time, showed signs of a breakthrough.

Judging from this trend, he might actually be able to condense the sword intent that Kiro mentioned in the near future!

"How about it? I didn't lie to you, did I?"

Kiro smiled. "In return, fight me with your full strength!"

A fiery blaze flashed in his eyes, the fighting spirit born from the mutual respect between swordsmen.

The equally bloodthirsty Golden Lion instantly understood the fighting spirit in Kiro's eyes, and smiled knowingly, "So that's it, you're also a swordsman who came here to pursue battle?"

"Since you've displayed your sword intent without reservation, then I'll go all out from here on out!"

Having said that, the Golden Lion held nothing back, his aura trembled, and suddenly rose to a peak far exceeding the previous one!

In particular, the stance that had always surrounded him became even more chaotic and violent, as if it controlled the laws of all things.

"As expected, I knew the Float-Float Fruit wouldn't be that simple!"

Kilo's eyes lit up as he sensed the terrifying aura emanating from the golden lion, and a sense of excitement crept in.

The golden lion smiled, then his eyes sharpened. "It's coming!"

In an instant, he vanished from Kiro's sight.

"?!"

Before Kilo could react, an inexplicable force enveloped him instantly, and Kilo felt himself lose his balance. Even the special effect of riding the wind seemed to temporarily stop working.

His body floated up uncontrollably!

As Kilo lost control of his body, two terrifying slashes, each radiating brilliant light and brimming with the power of spiritual energy, instantly attacked from behind.

A chill ran down Kiro's spine.

With his immense core strength, he instantly turned around, his sword intent and Conqueror's Haki instantly swirling around the Dragon Slayer Sword, and swung it behind him.

"boom!"

The two incredibly powerful slashes intertwined instantly, producing a deafening roar.

The powerful aftershocks spread instantly, shaking the white clouds within a radius of several miles until they were all swept away.

When the smoke and dust from the explosion cleared, the two figures appeared in the center.

Compared to before, Kilo's breathing was slightly disordered, but he still looked bright and energetic, with an even stronger light in his eyes.

"That's really fun, let's do it again!!"

On the other side, the Golden Lion's legs trembled slightly, but his eyes burned with fierce fighting spirit. He laughed loudly, "Hahaha, that's exactly what I was thinking!"

"Again!!"