At this moment, Kizaru was completely shaken.
The reason was simple.
The ability Renji had just used.
The power Kizaru had relied on for most of his life.
The ability that made his name famous across the seas.
The Logia-type Devil Fruit, the Glint-Glint Fruit.
In an instant, Kizaru pushed his Devil Fruit ability to its limit.
His speed exploded to the extreme.
Unfortunately, he was still too late.
Renji had already arrived in front of the mole-faced Marine.
A streak of light flashed past.
The Marine was dead.
Kizaru glanced briefly at the body.
Now was not the time to worry about a subordinate's death.
What mattered was Renji's ability.
"You… that ability just now was the power of the Light Fruit?" Kizaru asked while staring directly at Renji.
Although Renji's mastery of the ability was clearly inferior to his own, that was only a matter of familiarity. The power itself was unmistakably real.
Renji smiled faintly. "Why don't you guess?"
Seeing the tension on Kizaru's face, Renji knew his plan had worked.
He was shaken.
That was exactly what Renji wanted.
His goal was to force Kizaru to take the fight seriously so he could harvest stronger attributes.
Renji had already reached an extremely high level of strength. Attributes dropped by ordinary fighters barely helped anymore. They still increased his power, but the growth speed had become painfully slow.
An Admiral like Kizaru, however, was completely different.
That was why Renji had repeatedly provoked him.
He did not simply want to defeat Kizaru.
He wanted to grow stronger through him.
That was also why Renji chose to use the Light Fruit even though he was far more proficient with the quake-based ability he possessed. The purpose was to stimulate Kizaru and force him to become fully serious instead of calmly avoiding danger, just like what had happened earlier when Renji fought Jack.
"If you can defeat me," Renji said calmly, "I'll tell you why."
Kizaru nodded after a moment of silence. "Fine. After all the preparation you've made, you want me to fight you seriously."
The earlier panic quickly faded from Kizaru's expression.
Renji's performance had certainly exceeded his expectations, especially the appearance of a second Light Fruit. That alone forced Kizaru to take this battle seriously.
Renji's taunts themselves were meaningless to him.
But the goal of forcing him to fight seriously had clearly been achieved.
Kizaru spread his left hand and slowly slid his right hand across it.
Golden light stretched outward.
A sword made entirely of light formed in his grip.
"Ama no Murakumo Sword."
At the same time, Renji performed almost the exact same motion.
Golden light gathered in his hand.
Another identical light sword appeared.
"Ama no Murakumo Sword."
"What?!"
Monkey D. Luffy stared in disbelief.
"The same ability? Does that mean they have the same Devil Fruit?"
"That's impossible," Sanji immediately replied while shaking his head. "I've seen the Devil Fruit encyclopedia and studied Devil Fruits systematically within the Vinsmoke Family. Two identical Devil Fruits cannot exist in this world. The most likely explanation is that their abilities are simply very similar, and Renji is deliberately copying Kizaru's techniques to provoke him."
"No," said Silvers Rayleigh as he shook his head.
Rayleigh stared at Renji with a deep frown. Even he could not fully understand the situation.
"I don't know why Renji also possesses the Light Fruit, but I can tell you one thing. The ability he's using is definitely the Light Fruit."
Sanji frowned. "How can that be? You were the Pirate King's first mate. Don't tell me you don't understand the natural rules governing Devil Fruits."
Rayleigh chuckled coldly. Being subtly accused of ignorance by a younger man amused him.
"If we are talking about naturally occurring Devil Fruits, then yes," Rayleigh said calmly. "But there are Devil Fruits in this world that are not naturally formed. Years ago I heard that Vegapunk researched Devil Fruits and attempted to create artificial ones, but he eventually abandoned the project. The research results were later taken by a man named Caesar Clown."
Sanji froze.
This time he did not argue.
Rayleigh continued watching Renji.
"If Renji is truly using the Light Fruit," Rayleigh continued slowly, "then Vegapunk must have already succeeded with that research. He likely abandoned it because it was no longer interesting to him."
"Vegapunk…" Sanji muttered.
Nearby, Franky wore an equally shocked expression.
The rest of the Straw Hat Pirates had absolutely no idea what was going on.
If Vegapunk was involved, however, the impossible suddenly became believable.
Vegapunk was the greatest scientist in the world, said to be five hundred years ahead of current technology and treasured by the World Government above almost anyone else.
Anything connected to Vegapunk could overturn common sense.
Elsewhere, the Marines were equally confused.
Only Sentomaru fell into deep thought.
As Vegapunk's chief bodyguard, he had personally witnessed the artificial Devil Fruit research.
Rayleigh's guess was mostly correct.
But there was still a problem.
Vegapunk had never continued the research after abandoning it.
Creating an artificial Light Fruit should have been impossible.
Sentomaru suddenly thought of someone.
A strange scientist with the Gas Fruit.
"Did Caesar steal part of Vegapunk's research and succeed?" Sentomaru muttered to himself. "But even if Caesar succeeded, would the Whitebeard Pirates really cooperate with someone like him?"
The Whitebeard Pirates would never tolerate someone as disgusting as Caesar.
While everyone else was still shocked and speculating, the battle had already resumed.
Renji and Kizaru's Ama no Murakumo Swords collided in midair.
At that moment, Renji quietly collected the attributes that had dropped.
[You picked up a Devil Fruit growth experience.]
[You picked up an Armament Haki insight.]
Golden light erupted as the two swords of light clashed.
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