Journey to One Piece

228. What an irresponsible brother

Kizaru, employing his incredible speed, managed to phase through the path of Mjolnir, narrowly avoiding its crushing blow. He knew that if he took the attack head on he would definitely be injured if not killed.

"You have become too powerful Punisher Kenny. You can't be left alive."

"Oh! What happened to the kidnapped Celestial Dragons? I thought you are interested in that?" Ken asked.

"I can ask the same from your Captain and crew."

"Hahaha. It's seems you are an idiot. Have you been taking lessons from the goat of Sengoku? How can you be this dumb? The Straw Hats has already escaped the Archipelago. Only I and Luffy are here. If something happens to us, the Celestial Dragons will be given to the Revolutionary Army to play with and broadcast it to the entire world. They will be boiled alive, crucified, burnt and be killed in the most horrific ways possible if something happens to us. Did you expect us to dangle our crew members for you to bully them?"

And for the first time Kizaru trembled. He didn't expect that this guy had thought so much ahead. He had been searching and contacting the marines to help him the Straw Hats all this time but there was no response. Its no wonder there was no response, it because they had escaped altogether.

He had heard about the fact that their ship was an extraordinary one and possibly could fly, but the absence of their ship meant that Ken might be speaking truth in the first place.

"What do you want?" Kizaru finally asked.

"What do I want? Hahahaha.. You are going to execute my brother and you thought everything will be fine and dandy? You should fear us more than you fear Whitebeard." Ken said and this time his laughter was tinged with anger and hatred. Ken had lived with Ace for a long time to be close to him and consider him as his actual brother.

Kizaru seeing no other choice, made his move. Kizaru adjusted his strategy and focused his powers for a devastating technique.

"Luminous Annihilation!"

His entire body radiating an intense brilliance. In an instant, he transformed into a streak of pure light, moving with unmatched speed and precision toward Ken.

Ken aware of the imminent danger, summoned the power of the Bifrost once more. "Bifrost's Judgment!" he thundered, commanding Mjolnir to return to his hand. As it soared back to him, crackling with lightning, Ken swung Stormbreaker in a sweeping arc. The two legendary weapons collided, merging their formidable might into a cataclysmic storm.

The clash of Mjolnir and Stormbreaker with Kizaru's light beam unleashed an explosion of unimaginable magnitude. The sheer force rent the sky asunder, creating a blinding flash that temporarily consumed the battlefield.

Kizaru was distraught and pushed back by the powerful attack, which destroyed the huge tree of the Archipelago. Dust and debris filled the air, creating a smoky atmosphere. Drake, still on the island while the others had left, knew that their plan of infiltrating the Yonko was over.

As the dust settled, Ken was nowhere to be seen. He had come to gauge Kizaru's power, and if he wanted to continue the fight, he would have revealed more of his trump cards. But he wasn't ready to open his bag of tricks, not at this moment.

Kizaru noticed Ken's absence and immediately called headquarters.

"Punisher Kenny knows the secrets of SWORD. I say he needs to be eliminated quickly."

"Then why didn't you do so?" It was Sengoku on the other side. Since Garp was not nearby, he could speak his mind.

"He is a slippery fish. He has become more powerful than the last time Garp-san faced him, if the reports are to be believed," Kizaru said. Drake slowly walked towards him and stood behind.

"Sigh. Tell Drake to come back and work under Garp again. It's a failed mission," Sengoku said.

'Kacha'

Meanwhile, Luffy was facing another problem at the moment—the problem of the Pacifistas. Sentomaru had found him and actively deployed the Pacifistas to kill him. But of course, this Luffy wasn't the original 'Luffy' and was easily able to beat down the Pacifistas.

However, he wasn't able to do the same against Sentomaru. Sentomaru had better Haki than Luffy, and thus Luffy had to use all the tricks in his arsenal to fight against Sentomaru in order to stay safe.

"I wonder where Ken is... He said he would meet me soon... What an irresponsible brother I have... Sigh!" Luffy mumbled under his breath as he fought against Sentomaru. Sentomaru possessed advanced Haki, which allowed him to use Haki externally. He didn't need to touch the opponent, and their attacks would be bounced back without even touching him.

Luffy was fighting Sentomaru while also forcing himself to learn Haki during the fight. In fact, he was having fun. But all the fun came to a stop when someone else showed up on the battlefield.

It was Kizaru himself.

And he didn't have a friendly expression. He was angry. He had been openly mocked by a new Supernova and had caused the Navy to fail one of their crucial missions with just a few words. If he wanted to keep this quiet, he wouldn't be able to, as their words had been recorded by a journalist who was nearby and had already sent the information to Morgan.

This was a terrible disaster—the kidnapping of Celestial Dragons and the failure of a secret mission.

"Where are the Celestial Dragons?" Kizaru asked, this time in a much more serious tone.

Luffy didn't expect someone to appear so fast, and he didn't even recognize Kizaru. But he could tell that this guy was dangerous. Kizaru and Sentomaru immediately tag-teamed and attacked Luffy from two sides, putting him in a pinch.

Luffy used almost all of his attacks that he knew at this point. Ninjutsu, taijutsu, his own devil fruit powers and Haki too, but these two knew better haki than him so Luffy was getting beaten down.