A massive dragon-shaped energy formed, shooting straight toward Rayleigh, heading for the ground.
"An interesting way of releasing energy... seems like it's not a Devil Fruit ability" Rayleigh softly remarked, lightly swinging his hand holding the sword. The sword unsheathed, and the enormous dragon-shaped energy was sliced in half.
Ryu, who was behind the dragon energy, was forced to interrupt his second move and used the Moonwalk technique to dodge Rayleigh's slash.
Boom~
Ryu tilted his head slightly, and he saw that the massive bubble tree behind him had been directly cut in half.
"Dragon Subduing Palm Second Move: Flying Dragon"
Rayleigh did not continue to chase after Ryu, who had fallen to the ground, giving Ryu a chance to retaliate.
"Dragon Subduing Palm Third Move: Descending Dragon!"
After delivering two strikes in quick succession, Ryu didn't dare to be careless. He desperately activated his inner energy while keeping a sharp eye on Rayleigh's movements.
Upon seeing Ryu use two consecutive techniques, Rayleigh's expression finally became more serious. However, instead of continuing with slashes, his entire arm turned black, as if he intended to test the strength of Ryu's Dragon Subduing Palm himself.
Boom~ Boom~ Boom~
The collision between Rayleigh and the dragon-shaped energy resulted in a series of explosions. But Ryu did not slack off, continuing with his attack:
"Dragon Subduing Palm Fourth Move: Conqueror!"
Sure enough, as soon as Ryu launched his fourth move, Rayleigh emerged from the explosion's smoke, completely unscathed. Ryu felt an immense sense of frustration. After executing the fourth move, his inner energy was running low. But Ryu gritted his teeth and, as Rayleigh collided with the dragon-shaped energy, called upon the last of his inner energy to deliver the final blow:
"Dragon Subduing Palm Fifth Move: Hidden Dragon"
Boom~~~
Somehow, Rayleigh had already dispersed the energy from the fourth move and appeared right in front of Ryu. Just as Ryu executed the Hidden Dragon Does Not Move, Rayleigh directly clashed fists with him.
Boom~~ Boom~~
"Sir~!"
Lena, seeing Ryu fall like a broken kite in the distance, immediately ran over to him.
"Just a kid, why go that hard?" Shakky complained to Rayleigh, who had appeared beside her.
She thought highly of Ryu, not like the average Marine. That's why she had earlier said Ryu would eventually turn into a pirate. Historically, Marines with ideals and a sense of justice, after climbing to high ranks, often either compromise and join the corrupt system or are forced out.
"That last move of his actually posed a threat to me, so I had to act. If I hadn't, I would've been the one getting hurt. I'm getting old, my arms and legs aren't what they used to be, so it's better for him to be the one injured" Rayleigh laughed heartily, saying this as he watched Ryu.
Shakky looked at Rayleigh in surprise. She was very clear about Rayleigh's strength, but how could Ryu, who was so young, already pose a threat to him? It didn't make sense.
"He's a good seedling. That old man Garp must have found a treasure. In a few years, he'll really be able to spar with me" Rayleigh laughed and said.
He naturally noticed Shakky's surprise, so he explained.
Just because Ryu could launch an attack that posed a threat to him didn't mean he had reached Rayleigh's level. It simply meant that Ryu's last move had the power to injure him. However, Rayleigh wasn't an idiot—there was no way he would just stand there and let Ryu strike. So, when Rayleigh said Ryu still needed a few years of training to truly spar with him, he meant it.
"Lieutenant Lena, what's going on?" Just as Lena finished bandaging Ryu's wounds, the Marines who had felt the massive explosion rushed over.
"It's nothing. Medic, come over and check on the Rear Admiral, then we'll head back to the ship!" Lena glanced at the spot where Shakky and Rayleigh had been standing, but there was no one there now, so she didn't ask further and planned to leave with Ryu.
"Ahem, don't worry, it's nothing serious. Has the coating on the warship been completed?" Ryu, who had been knocked away by Rayleigh, got up from the ground, coughing a few times, and said.
"Report, it's been completed. The ship is ready to depart at any time!" a Marine soldier replied.
"Sir, should we rest for a couple of days before leaving? After all…" Lena asked with some concern.
"It's fine. I'm just exhausted. Besides, aren't you on the ship? I'll recover quickly. If we don't leave now, the news about me fighting with Rayleigh will reach headquarters soon. I don't want to get caught by the Admiral!" Ryu shook his head and said.
Although he was a bit disheveled, he wasn't seriously injured. However, if the headquarters found out he had fought with Rayleigh here, Admiral Sengoku would probably not let him off easily. So, it was better to leave quickly.
Soon, after returning to the Huaxia, Ryu immediately set sail toward Fish-Man Island. That was Whitebeard's territory, and he hoped to contact Whitebeard through Fish-Man Island.
As a military vessel, the Huaxia was equipped with a fair amount of Sea-Prism Stones, so the sea kings or other large sea creatures in the depths of the ocean paid no attention to the ship. Ryu arrived safely at the depths of Fish-Man Island.
"Sir, should we go directly in?" Lena asked as she noticed the warship had already docked at the harbor. There were quite a few pirate ships around.
Ryu shook his head and said, "Don't make a move here. Both Whitebeard and the Fish-Man tribe deserve respect."
He understood Lena's concern—since he never let bounty criminals off easily, she probably thought he would do the same here.
"Exactly, this isn't a place where your Marines can do as you please." As soon as Ryu finished speaking, a Fish-Man, clearly a whale shark type, spoke up.
"Jinbe?" Ryu asked, looking in the direction of the voice in surprise.
"That's right, it's me. May I ask what the Marines are doing here?" The whale shark Fish-Man, known as Jinbe, asked calmly.
Lena also looked over in curiosity. She saw that this Fish-Man, known as Jinbe, was a large-bodied figure with eyebrows and sideburns like gusts of wind. He had a topknot hairstyle, a short black beard on his chin, and a lightning-shaped scar near his left eye. His lower jaw had two prominent fangs.
"I'll say I'm just passing by. Would you believe that?" Ryu shrugged and asked.
Jinbe furrowed his brow. He was aware of Ryu. Even before the Huaxia had reached Fish-Man Island, he had already received word about Ryu. He had already gathered information on him. Jinbe suspected that Ryu was sent here because he didn't attend the meeting that had gathered the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and this was likely a warning.