"Is, I can join forces with you. With my help, I'm sure we can overthrow the World Government."
Shiki retreated rapidly, avoiding Is's attack as he spoke.
"Are you joking, Shiki? Why would I ever ally myself with a pirate?"
Conqueror's Haki coated Is's blade as he charged forward once again.
"Lion's Imperial Earth Roll!"
Seeing Is rapidly closing the distance, Shiki continued retreating.
Behind Is, countless stones gathered together, forming the head of a gigantic lion.
The lion opened its massive jaws and lunged toward him.
Slash!
The moment the stone lion reached him, Is turned and swung his sword, cleaving the enormous construct cleanly in half.
Whoosh!
Shiki suddenly appeared behind Is, swinging both of his famous swords downward with tremendous force.
Bang!
Is spun around and met the attack with his own blade.
The explosive collision of their powers sent violent shockwaves rippling across the battlefield.
Both men pushed against each other briefly before being forced apart.
"Is, what's wrong with working together with pirates?"
Holding both swords firmly, Shiki stared at Is and questioned him.
"Our statuses aren't the same, Shiki."
Is answered with open disdain.
"I'm a World Noble, while you're nothing more than a pirate. Do you really think you're qualified to stand beside me as an ally?"
"It seems an alliance between us was never possible."
Shiki shook his head regretfully before immediately launching another attack.
When it came to pure swordsmanship, Shiki held a slight advantage over Is.
After all, he was one of the sea's legendary veteran pirates and a true Great Swordsman.
Whoosh!
During their exchange of blades, Shiki suddenly spotted an opening.
Without hesitation, he swept both swords horizontally.
The attack came from extremely close range.
Under normal circumstances, it would have been nearly impossible for Is to evade.
Yet Is remained completely calm.
Crack!
Shiki's swords sliced through Is's body, severing him cleanly at the waist.
However, there was no spray of blood.
Instead, Shiki's expression became even more serious.
The figure he had cut wasn't Is at all.
It was a wooden substitute that had been sliced in two.
This was Wood Release: Substitution Technique.
The instant Is was about to be struck, he had exchanged places with a wooden stand-in.
"He dodged even that?"
Shiki's expression darkened as he looked toward the distant Is.
He had been certain that attack would land.
Even if it couldn't kill Is, it should have at least wounded him.
Yet it had been avoided entirely.
"Your swordsmanship is impressive."
Is spoke calmly.
"But swordsmanship isn't the only thing I'm good at."
The truth was that Is had never devoted himself entirely to mastering the sword.
Naturally, he fell slightly short of Shiki in pure swordsmanship.
"You shouldn't underestimate my abilities either, Is."
A cold smile appeared on Shiki's face.
"Shark Imperial Earth Devour!"
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
The ground beneath Is suddenly began trembling violently.
"Hm?"
Without warning, a gigantic shark formed entirely from stone erupted from below and swallowed him whole.
To the stone shark, the earth was no different from an ocean.
Carrying Is within its jaws, it rapidly dove deep beneath the island's surface.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Countless enormous fissures tore through the ground.
Moments later, Is shattered the stone shark from within and burst back to the surface.
"You may not know this, but my Devil Fruit awakened long ago."
Shiki grinned viciously.
"Within a certain range, I can control all non-living matter."
"Devil Fruit awakening, huh? That is a little troublesome."
Is casually brushed the dust from his clothes.
He didn't even bother looking directly at Shiki as he spoke.
"Damn it."
Veins bulged across Shiki's forehead.
Is's indifferent attitude infuriated him.
"Flying Slash!"
Raising both swords high overhead, Shiki unleashed a massive sword wave shaped like a shark's fin.
The attack tore across the ground at high speed, carrying terrifying momentum as it raced toward Is.
"Your attacks are too slow, Shiki."
Is merely tilted his body slightly and effortlessly avoided the slash.
His Observation Haki allowed him to briefly glimpse the future.
From his perspective, Shiki's attack was far too slow.
"Don't get so full of yourself, Is!"
Shiki roared.
From beginning to end, he had felt as though Is's presence overshadowed him completely.
It irritated him to no end.
"If you've got the strength, why shouldn't you be proud of it?"
Is spread his hands and sneered.
"Or should I hide it instead?"
"Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique!"
Several branches emerged from Is's body and quickly transformed into multiple clones.
Every clone wore the same clothes as Is.
Their appearances, expressions, and mannerisms were virtually identical.
An ordinary person would never be able to distinguish them.
"How is that possible?"
Shiki froze in shock.
Several Ises now stood before him.
Over the years, he had encountered Devil Fruit users capable of creating clones.
With his experience and strength, identifying the real body had always been easy.
After all, clones inevitably possessed flaws that differentiated them from the original.
But the clones Is created were different.
He couldn't tell which one was real.
Because even their auras were nearly identical to the original.
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