Chapter Ninety: First Clash with Red Dog

"Pah!"

"Who are you calling a comrade? You nearly killed me just now!"

As soon as Chu Yi spoke, Marco, whose injuries had fully healed within the enveloping life-giving azure flames, laughed and cursed back at him. Then he turned his head and fixed a solemn gaze on Akainu, sneering:

"Still, right now there is indeed someone even more troublesome than you."

"Hey, kid, don’t drag me down!"

As he spoke, the life-giving azure flames around Marco suddenly surged upward. Yet the direction of their charge was not toward Akainu, but toward Chu Yi beside him.

However, when that surging azure fire swept over and enveloped Chu Yi’s Asura demon statue, the cracks upon the statue began to mend at remarkable speed under the healing power of the life-giving flames.

It was clear that Marco’s intent was not attack, but support.

He was using the self-healing power of the life-giving azure flames to repair Chu Yi’s Asura demon statue. It was only the sudden, fierce sweep of the flames that made the scene easy to misread.

As for Chu Yi, he had nearly obtained Marco’s fruit ability earlier, so he understood the life-giving azure flames very well.

Thus, when that strand of azure fire came sweeping in, Chu Yi remained utterly composed.

That composure, in turn, made Marco regard him with even greater respect.

"To think such boldness could come from one so young. Didn’t that Akainu fellow just call this kid Asura?"

"Could it be..."

"It’s him?"

Suddenly remembering the two world-shaking incidents from not long ago, Marco’s pupils contracted slightly. He had never imagined that the kid he had just fought might very well be the man on the bounty poster.

While Marco looked at Chu Yi, somewhat stunned, Akainu’s face darkened and he immediately retreated several steps.

"Damn it, this has become troublesome!"

Glancing around, he saw that the elite marines he had brought with him had all been ruined by the terrifying killing intent that had burst from Chu Yi earlier.

And having failed to kill Chu Yi with a single punch, Akainu was deeply frustrated.

After all, before this he only had to deal with two formidable figures of the sea, Chu Yi and Mihawk. Even with the addition of a half-crippled Vista, he had absolute confidence in taking Chu Yi down.

But now...

The marines’ elite fighting strength had been completely lost, and Marco’s fruit ability had recovered!

Alone, Akainu was effectively facing three powerhouses: Chu Yi, Marco, and Mihawk!

And this was still with Jinbe standing nearby, fists clenched as he helped Tiger to his feet, showing no intention of joining the battle!

Even so, though the advantage had entirely reversed into a disadvantage, Akainu was still unafraid.

Who was he?

He was one of the finest among this generation of marines, one of the supreme fighting powers of the Navy in the early years of the pirate era, the man who would one day defeat Kuzan and ascend to the position of Fleet Admiral!

Whitebeard was gravely wounded because of him, and Kuzan left the Navy because of him!

How could such an Akainu yield so easily?

And yet, just as half of his body turned into searing magma and his gaze locked onto Chu Yi, preparing to kill him first while Marco was still reeling and Mihawk could not yet intervene...

A dark red pupil flashed with a bright light.

The aura of Observation Haki burst outward, and before Akainu could launch a counterattack, Chu Yi, palms pressed together, struck first!

"Gravity Field... Three Hundred Times!"

Boom!

In an instant, an extreme three-hundredfold gravity descended. Under Chu Yi’s overwhelming Gravity Field, Akainu suddenly felt his body growing heavier and heavier. The fist that had once been easy to unleash now required all his strength just to drive it out with difficulty.

But why had Chu Yi’s Gravity Field grown stronger?

The reason lay in the fact that Chu Yi had conquered his inner demon, and conquered his own desires.

At that painful crossroads, Chu Yi had ultimately chosen to save Marco.

This had nothing to do with whether Marco was one of the more righteous figures in the original pirate tale. Rather, when faced with choice and sacrifice, Chu Yi felt he had to follow his own path.

He could train diligently to become stronger, and he could work hard to complete the awakening material collection quest for strength’s sake.

But he could not slaughter the innocent at will simply to grow stronger.

Marco had no grievance with him—was he then to be killed merely as a stepping stone to power?

This was not sentimental weakness. It was Chu Yi refusing to become a puppet controlled by slaughter, refusing to let the pursuit of strength turn him into a slave of violence.

No act can be done for the first time without consequence.

Like gambling: win once, and you will surely want to keep winning.

Yet the final outcome is often ruin and utter loss.

For himself, and for those who cared about him, Chu Yi had to remain true to his own heart. And that very resolve was the key to defeating his inner demon.

With the inner demon defeated, no distractions remained in his mind.

Even in the midst of battle, Chu Yi could maintain the focused state Mihawk had spoken of.

And by sustaining that state of focus at all times, Chu Yi’s combat power rose dramatically.

This choice had benefited him immensely, and taught him that to give up is not necessarily a bad thing.

Just as now, Chu Yi could use the three-hundredfold Gravity Field to completely suppress Akainu. That was one of the advantages born from letting go.

Yet while pinned under the Gravity Field, Akainu could indeed find it difficult to counterattack, but that did not mean he had lost the ability entirely.

Clenching his teeth, Akainu actually wrapped himself in Armament Haki and began forcibly resisting Chu Yi’s three-hundredfold Gravity Field, preparing to unleash his fruit power in retaliation!

But as the saying goes—

Chu Yi was not fighting alone!

Almost the instant Akainu’s aura surged higher and higher, about to unleash a lethal attack with his fruit power...

Whoosh!

Sword aura filled the air!

Before Akainu’s counterattack could begin, Mihawk seized the opening and struck with a single sword slash!

The sharp sword aura first broke through Chu Yi’s Gravity Field and landed directly on Akainu’s back. Then Mihawk’s Armament Haki, entwined with the sword aura, pierced through the defenses of a Logia devil fruit’s elemental transformation, leaving a deep wound across Akainu’s back!

Without question, this was the result of Akainu’s desperate evasion; otherwise Mihawk’s blade would likely not merely have gravely wounded him, but sent him to the brink of death.

Even so, avoiding Mihawk’s slash had already forced Akainu to his limit.

No matter what, he could not avoid the blade descending from Chu Yi’s front!

"Swift Wind Style!"

"Cold Wind!"

The Asura Blade condensed, and the Ice-Ice Fruit power was unleashed!

This use of Cold Wind by Chu Yi was a sword technique formed in his focused state by combining Shattered Jade with the power of the Ice-Ice Fruit.

With this strike, Chu Yi could cleave open even the mightiest naval battleship.

With this strike, even the searing magma that roiled over Akainu’s body, Chu Yi had confidence he could freeze it solid.

Yet who would have thought that this slash would ultimately fail to land on Akainu at all?

Having taken Mihawk’s slash, Akainu had already understood how unfavorable the situation was. So just as Chu Yi’s blade came down, accompanied by a thunderous roar, Akainu, wrapped in surging Armament Haki, first broke through the Gravity Field Chu Yi had cast, then charged straight toward Marco!

Marco’s safety could not be compromised.

He was the support for Chu Yi and Mihawk, and his life-giving azure flames could help Chu Yi and Mihawk continue fighting Akainu.

For that very reason, when Akainu showed the intention to attack Marco, Chu Yi and Mihawk had already predicted his move through Observation Haki and prepared to rush in and protect Marco.

They had not expected that Akainu’s apparent strike at Marco was merely a feint.

The next moment, just as Chu Yi and Mihawk simultaneously barred Marco’s path and prepared to face Akainu head-on...

Boom!

At the spot where Akainu stood, searing magma formed a pillar of fire that surged violently into the sky.

And then, when that blazing magma column finally vanished...

Akainu, the future Fleet Admiral, had actually fled in panic, disappearing without a trace.