"Does it really have to come to this?" Smoker's expression was grim.
He didn't want to fight—because the reason for this battle was honestly disgraceful, even laughable.
And deep down, he regretted it. He regretted not stepping in sooner to stop Barton's idiocy, which had ended up provoking Kaito.
"No apology at all, and you just want to walk away like nothing happened? Where's that confidence coming from? Your so-called Logia-type Smoke Fruit?"
Kaito clearly had no intention of letting this go. Today, he was going to fight Smoker—the strongest among the upperclassmen. Doing this now would save him plenty of trouble later.
As for Smoker, he had his own pride. Being publicly mocked by Kaito over and over again had finally pushed him over the edge.
"If that's how it is, then let's fight, Kaito!" Smoker couldn't hold back any longer and challenged Kaito head-on.
"See? Would've been easier if you just said that in the first place."
Kaito stretched his body a bit, then hooked a finger toward Smoker, signaling him to come at him.
"Arrogant bastard! "
Smoker went all in—his lower half turning into thick white smoke as he charged straight at Kaito.
"White Fist!"
Mid-charge, Smoker's arms also transformed into smoke. Taking advantage of the smoke's properties, his fists extended rapidly, cutting through the air with powerful force as they flew toward Kaito.
Kaito's body shifted ever so slightly. Smoker's attack completely missed.
"It's not over yet!" Smoker didn't panic. The two smoke-trailing fists quickly reversed direction mid-air and flew back, aiming straight for Kaito's back.
"Kaito! Watch out behind you!"
A shout of alarm came from the crowd—Ain had noticed how strange Smoker's attack was and hurried to warn him.
Her friend tugged at her sleeve gently, silently thinking,
Girl, neither of these two are to be messed with. Stay out of it!
Kaito still hadn't moved. His Rinnegan opened slightly.
Almighty Push!
Boom!
Before Smoker's fists could touch Kaito, they were shattered into drifting smoke by a sudden burst of repelling force.
After a moment, the scattered smoke slowly regrouped around Smoker's wrists, solidifying back into fists.
"A Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user?" Smoker was starting to find this Kaito more and more troublesome. That shockwave just now clearly countered his Smoke Fruit perfectly.
"If that's what you want to think, sure." Kaito didn't bother explaining. A black vortex appeared in his palm, and he activated Universal Pull toward Smoker.
Smoker's body jolted as he was forcefully yanked toward Kaito.
"Damn it, what is this now?!"
But this time, Smoker didn't end up like others who had been pulled in by Kaito before. Because Kaito hadn't gone straight for his throat.
Just as Kaito reached out to grab him, Smoker turned into smoke again, separating his head from his body—a real-time "split maneuver."
Kaito had expected Smoker to go into his element form and didn't panic. He quickly formed a few hand seals with one hand.
Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!
A fierce gust blasted out of Kaito's mouth. The cafeteria's furniture was instantly sent flying, and some people nearby were knocked off their feet.
As for Smoker, who was directly hit—his entire body was blown apart into countless wisps of white smoke.
It took a while, but the smoke eventually regrouped into a humanoid shape. Smoker's bluish face emerged first. He glared at Kaito and growled:
"Wind this time? That was definitely a different force than that shockwave earlier. Don't tell me... you've eaten more than one Devil Fruit?"
Smoker was rattled, cautiously controlling the smoke to reform his body. That Great Breakthrough had hit his smoke form pretty hard.
"You could just think of that as Ninjutsu." Kaito didn't take the opportunity to follow up. He just stood there watching as Smoker finished reconstructing himself.
"Ninjutsu? Are you a ninja from Wano?"
"Wano? Heh... what kind of trash would dare call themselves ninja?" Kaito sneered, his expression turning dangerously cold.
"I'm done playing. Now I've got a question for you."
"What?"
"Logia-types... do they bleed?"
At that moment, Smoker instinctively launched himself backward—desperately trying to retreat. But Kaito was faster.
Without warning, Kaito appeared behind him and reached out to grab him.
"It's pointless! Without Armament Haki, no matter how strong your attack is, it's useless!"
Smoker noticed Kaito wasn't using any strange powers this time, so he relaxed slightly and even mocked him.
"Is that so?" Kaito's hand touched Smoker's shoulder.
A translucent circular barrier formed around them both.
Rinnegan – Preta Pathl
Smoker's eyes went wide in panic. He suddenly couldn't access his Smoke Fruit ability—it was as if his limbs had been severed from his nerves.
"Let go of me!"
This unnatural situation completely freaked Smoker out. He could only scream in fear.
A variant use of the Preta Path, didn't drain stamina or chakra like the usual Preta ability. Instead, it absorbed and sealed the enemy's techniques.
While Kaito couldn't extract Devil Fruit abilities directly without using the Human Path to kill the user, this technique allowed him to temporarily suppress an opponent's power through physical contact.
He pinned Smoker to the ground with one hand, while a black rod formed in the palm of the other.
Without hesitation, Kaito stabbed it hard into Smoker's right shoulder.
Splurt!
The black rod pierced straight through. Blood gushed out. The pain made Smoker instinctively try to activate his Smoke Fruit again.
But nothing happened.
Even though Kaito had already dispelled the barrier, Smoker still couldn't use his powers properly.
More precisely, most of his body could elementize again—but his shoulder felt completely foreign, like it didn't belong to him.
When he tried to grab the rod with his other hand, a wave of weakness surged through him the moment he touched it. Pulling it out was impossible.
The black rod, created through Yin-Yang Release by a Rinnegan wielder, disrupted and sealed the flow of energy in the body.
A Rinnegan user could even use it to control corpses—just like Nagato and his Six Paths puppets.
"Don't struggle. Keep that up and your wound's just going to get worse." Kaito looked down at the bloodied Smoker and offered a friendly warning.
...
"What the hell is going on here!? Everyone, stop this now!"
A sharp bark cut through the air—Zephyr had arrived on the scene.
Seeing the destroyed cafeteria, Kaito standing tall, and Smoker on the ground, Zephyr's head immediately started aching.
"Someone explain. What happened?"
Ain shook off her roommate's hand and stepped forward, raising her voice.
"Instructor Zephyr! The upperclassmen provoked first! It was Barton who attacked, and Kaito only retaliated!"
Zephyr nodded and looked down at Smoker.
"What about you, Smoker?"
"Instructor, I'm fine. I was just sparring with Kaito. Sorry for the destruction we caused."
Smoker gritted his teeth through the pain and explained slowly and clearly.
Kaito looked at him, surprised, and his opinion of Smoker improved significantly.
He pulled the black rod out and helped Smoker to his feet. Facing Zephyr, he added,
"Yes, Instructor Zephyr. It was my fault—I didn't control my strength well enough and went too far."
Zephyr exhaled softly. Truthfully, both of them were his prized students. He didn't want to punish either of them too harshly.
"You'll escort Smoker to the infirmary yourself. Also, the two of you will handle the cleanup and repairs yourselves."
"Yes, sir!" Kaito and Smoker responded in unison.
"Barton! You instigated this whole mess—go run a hundred laps around the field! If you don't finish today, get the hell out of the training camp!"
Hiding in the crowd, Barton's face went pale. He didn't dare argue and dragged his trembling body off to run.
Zephyr shot a glare at Kaito and Smoker, dispersed the crowd, and swept out of the cafeteria with a swish of his coat.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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