One Piece: Starting with Breathing Techniques

Kilo's body stiffened slightly as he slowly turned around, revealing a familiar figure before him.

He was a tall man wearing a black cloak, his signature sunglasses, his signature curly hair, and a bandana emblazoned with the navy insignia.

This is a character that Kilo is very familiar with: one of the three future admirals of the Navy.

Logia-type Devil Fruit user, Ice-Ice Fruit user—Aokiji!

Aokiji looked Kiro up and down, and a pattern on his chest caught his attention.

"Hey, that pattern on your clothes, isn't that something only Ohara scholars would have?"

Upon hearing this, Kiro examined his shirt and indeed found an intricate pattern at the collar.

Judging from the small characters engraved on it, it is faintly discernible that it is an exclusive mark of the scholars of Ohara.

Noticing this detail, Kiro gradually broke out in a few beads of cold sweat on his forehead.

He doesn't remember such a detail in the original work at all!

But now, this detail he overlooked may put him in grave danger!

"Sorry, my mission is to deal with the archaeologists on the island."

"The little girl from before is different from you. I have no reason to let such an obvious archaeologist like you get away with this."

Aokiji's slightly apologetic voice rang out, but the content sent chills down Kiro's spine.

"etc……"

Kilo hurriedly spoke, but the next moment, he keenly felt a palpitation he had never experienced before.

A blast of ice spread rapidly from Aokiji's feet, reaching Kilo's feet in the blink of an eye.

Before Kilo could react, an extreme chill surged from the soles of his feet to his heart, and solid ice rapidly spread up his calves.

All of this happened so fast that Kiro's pupils contracted; he hadn't even seen how Aokiji made his move!

By the time he realized what was happening, it was already too late!

As he watched the solid ice gradually turn him into an ice sculpture, a sense of death that Kilo had never experienced before surged into his heart.

It was a cold touch that I had never felt even when fighting Muzan, as if my heart was being gripped tightly by a cold hand, and a faint feeling of suffocation came from my throat.

The fear of impending death surged into my heart like a tidal wave, and an inexplicable tremor made my heart pound violently.

Do not!

He couldn't accept dying here, in this corner that nobody cared about!

Kilo struggled to twist his body, trying to break free from the ice, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape the ice that was as hard as iron.

What to do!?

My mind raced through a series of images, trying to find a glimmer of hope.

The difference in strength between the two sides was simply too great. As one of the three future admirals and a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, Aokiji was considered a top expert on this sea. How could Kiro, a newcomer, possibly stand against him?!

Countless possibilities flashed through Kiro's mind, only to be quickly overturned one by one, and a hint of resentment appeared in his eyes.

If I don't do something soon, I'm going to die here!!

Suddenly, a wildly imaginative idea popped into his mind.

If I had any trump cards left...

Marks!!!

One of the ultimate powers in the Demon Slayer world is a powerful trump card that comes at the cost of burning the body's potential and overdrawing one's life force.

When they were besieging Muzan's demons, all the Pillars activated their Demon Slayer Marks and fought to the death.

However, there are two conditions for activating the markings: first, one must have seen the markings before, and second, one must have extremely strong physical abilities.

The first condition is not a problem for Kilo, but the second condition is clearly not met by his current body.

As for activating the markings with the physical abilities of an ordinary person, Kiro had no idea what would happen...

But now there's no other choice; whether or not he can activate the markings, this is his only option!

Based on Kiro's understanding of the plot, Aokiji's heart is now wavering, and he is beginning to question the justice he has been upholding.

If he could tell Aokiji the truth and take the opportunity to shake Aokiji's resolve...

There's still a chance!!!

……

As the boy in front of him was gradually frozen into a silent ice sculpture, Kuzan reached out and took off his sunglasses, revealing a rare look of confusion in his eyes.

"Is this really the right thing to do?"

"Murdering scholars, blowing up refugee ships...is this really justice?"

"Sauro, could it be... that I was wrong?"

After a moment, he calmed himself down, put his sunglasses back on, and turned to walk toward the warship.

Click, click.

Several crisp sounds came from behind him, and Aokiji turned around in obvious surprise.

The ice sculpture was slowly cracking, and the cracks were expanding.

A moment later, a loud bang spread out, and a blood-soaked figure, shrouded in white steam, shattered the ice sculpture and stood holding a knife.

Aokiji was somewhat surprised, because several crimson lines had appeared on the boy's cheeks, appearing messy and broken.

What's even more surprising is that Kiro's original black hair has turned completely white, but his body is radiating a vitality far greater than before.

White steam billowed from Kilo's mouth, his eyes tightly closed.

As he gradually tightened his grip on the hilt of the knife, visible clouds of flames appeared from his mouth.

He slowly but firmly raised the long sword in his hand, and faint crimson flames appeared around him.

He only had one chance; the life force constantly draining from his body was eroding his vitality.

It's now!

The moment the rising aura reached its peak, Kiro instantly opened his eyes, stomped his foot, shattered the ground, and his figure blurred before suddenly disappearing.

【Sun Breathing - Eleventh Form - Dragon with Solar Halo】!

The crimson blade flashed like a blur, hurtling towards the prepared Aokiji at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

A wall of ice, far more solid than before, instantly rose in front of Aokiji, intending to block Kiro's blade, but in the next instant, it was abruptly split in two by the flame-encased blade.

The crimson afterimage continued its rapid pace, arriving before Aokiji with a burst of fiery light.

Aokiji was somewhat surprised, and then he condensed extremely strong ice to protect himself, while also elementalizing the parts of his body that might be attacked.

However, the target of that blade of light was not Aokiji.

As a sharp blade flashed past, Aokiji felt a lightness behind him as the cloak bearing the word "Justice" was severed and fell to the ground.

Under the intense heat from the blade's flames, the sunglasses that Aokiji always wore suddenly slipped off, revealing shocked eyes inside.

Aokiji slowly turned around, his gaze fixed on Kiro behind him. His tone was no longer calm, but clearly filled with doubt and shock.

"You...you just aimed your knife at my cloak?"

Why?

Kilo slowly turned around, the markings on his face gradually fading, and the rich life force he exuded rapidly diminished.

He didn't answer Aokiji's question directly, but spoke softly.

"Slaughtering scholars, sparing not even refugees—is this truly the justice you uphold?"

"Kuzan, you and Sauro both heard the cries of those innocent people in your hearts, didn't you?"

Ignoring Kuzan's increasingly shocked expression, he continued.

"I can tell you that the history being studied here has absolutely nothing to do with ancient weapons."

"The Five Elders, the World Government, the Void Century... Vice Admiral Kuzan, aren't you curious about what kind of 'truth' needs to be covered up with a Buster Call?"

"What O'Hara studied was merely the keyhole; behind the real door lies something that could shake the very foundations of the world!"

His tone gradually became agitated.

"And now, only I know all this! If you kill me, this history will only have the version written by the World Government!"

Kiro stared directly into Aokiji's eyes, those eyes that revealed a wavering resolve.

"Aokiji! I can tell you what kind of justice you seek! And all you need to do is ignore one remnant who narrowly escaped the Buster Call!"

After saying this, Kiro's body, which was on the verge of collapse, could no longer hold on and he fell to the ground with a thud. Even as he fell, his eyes remained fixed on Aokiji.

Aokiji remained silent, a strange light gleaming in his eyes, as if he were deep in thought.

Staring at the "Justice" cape that Kiro had deliberately cut off on the ground, and the sunglasses that were shattered in two, Aokiji seemed to have made a decision.

After a long silence, Aokiji turned around without saying a word. In that instant, an inconspicuous ice path began to form on the sea behind Kilo, stretching along the previous ice path.

Kiro grinned when he saw this.

He knew he had made the right bet.

Even with the markings activated, he still had no chance against Aokiji. The more likely scenario was that Aokiji would use his elemental transformation to evade him and then easily defeat him after adapting.

Only by taking advantage of his familiarity with the plot and considering Aokiji's wavering heart at this moment can he succeed.

Finally, by combining his quick thinking and resourcefulness, he was able to seize a sliver of hope.

Clearly, I did it!

With a look of excitement at surviving the ordeal in his eyes, Kilo struggled to his feet and limped along the icy path toward the sea.

The deafening roar of artillery fire continued to echo behind us.

If Kiro only had some muscles torn during his previous battle against the Navy squad, now that he has activated his Mark, almost no muscle on his body is intact.

His attack just now seemed simple, but it actually burned away most of his life force, as could be seen from his hair, which had turned completely white.

Moreover, his target was not Aokiji's body, but the cloak on his back, which is why he succeeded.

The purpose of aiming at the cloak was simple: to further shake Aokiji's resolve.

That powerful attack probably wouldn't even harm Aokiji, who is a user of a Logia-type Devil Fruit.

He doesn't know any Armament Haki now; as long as Aokiji transforms into his elemental form, none of his attacks will be effective.

Kilo's physical condition is beyond description. Without timely rescue and rest, his body, which is as fragile as porcelain, is likely to slowly collapse.

After walking along the icy road for an unknown amount of time, Kilo's vision began to blur.

Damn it, I'm celebrating too soon. I haven't even escaped Ohara yet!

He began to have some doubts about whether he could get out of the icy path.

Could it be that I didn't die at Aokiji's hands, but instead died from blood loss while escaping?

Kiro gritted his teeth, unwilling to fall like this, but his consciousness began to gradually fade.

Despite persevering for a while longer, his severely damaged body simply couldn't keep going.

thump.

Kilo fell onto the ice.

Is this how it's going to end?

Kiro thought to himself, unwillingly.

However, at the last moment, Kilo heard a cry of alarm.

The voice belonged to a young girl, and considering her current location...

It could only be Robin who hasn't gone far yet!

With a forced smile, Kiro's head lolled to the side, and he fell into a deep coma.

Robin-chan, you've arrived just in time!