One Piece: Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

"Is there any need to tell me about this?"

Sage bowed slightly, like a fierce beast about to hunt, his entire skeleton tensing up. He lowered his head and said in a deep voice: "I don't remember offending your kingdom."

Well, this bounty hunter career was about to come to an end.

Ennio bared his teeth ferociously: "Didn't I already say? I like that head of white hair of yours!"

Sage instantly stepped forward, his hands rising and falling as he delivered a powerful chop straight at Ennio's face.

"Two Mountain-Splitting Waves!"

If the other party didn't want him to have it easy, then there was no need to hold back!

Faced with this overwhelming chop, Ennio didn't dodge, allowing the hand to strike his face.

Bang! The Two Mountain-Splitting Waves was a technique of the Hokuto Shinken. Sage could easily split rocks with this move, but when it hit this man's face, it couldn't even dent the fat.

"Iron Body."

That face was as hard as steel. Ennio grabbed Sage's wrist and slowly moved it away. "Not bad power."

Whoosh! He quickly raised a foot, bringing with it a light blue slash, aiming straight for Sage's body.

At such close range, it should hit no matter what. That extremely close slash was dodged by Sage with a leap into the air. Using the wrist that was grabbed, his body made a very gentle flip, his arm slipping out of that hand like a snake. His whole body flipped behind Ennio, both hands rising and falling like spears, rapidly stabbing towards his temple.

Ennio was about to block with Iron Body, but suddenly his pupils contracted as he sensed something. His huge and obese body became as soft as a candle in the wind at this moment, swaying everywhere, as if it had softened.

"Paper Art!"

The swaying body dodged Sage's hands, while Sage directly kicked downwards, his extended foot turning into countless afterimages at this moment, trying to catch Ennio's twisting body.

"Hokuto Soft Breaking Slash!"

"Moon Walk!"

Just as Sage's foot kicked out, Ennio stopped twisting, stepped on the air, and directly bounced up. He stepped in the air several times in succession, actually stopping in mid-air.

"Moon Walk and Paper Art, mastery of all Six Powers?"

Sage landed on the ground and turned to the now dumbfounded Lily, "This demon father of yours is quite formidable."

Knowing the Six Powers meant he was at least a rear admiral of the headquarters, and an elite one at that. Moreover, his senses were very keen, at least he discovered the danger of this move, otherwise he wouldn't have used Moon Walk to dodge.

Is this the gold content of a usurper?

Where did he come from?

Hearing this, Lily could only say blankly: "I don't know."

In her impression, apart from memories of Ennio's pleasure-seeking, there were never any memories of his strength.

The last assassination attempt, Ennio was also stabbed by her without any defense. If it weren't for the guards around him stopping her, she might have succeeded.

"Hahahahaha!"

Ennio, bouncing in the air, laughed arrogantly: "What can she know? Raised in the palace since childhood, no one could recognize her. Originally thought she could be used as a tool for marriage alliance with other countries in the future, but she actually dared to assassinate me. Now she's talking about going out to sea. Going out to sea can avoid taxes, but do they dare?!"

Ennio stared at Sage, his eyes carrying an indescribable emotion, his voice becoming low: "As for a man like you, why don't you go out to sea?"

Sage took up a stance and exhaled, "Is that any of your business!"

The Hokuto Soft Breaking Slash just now was a typical hard-countering-soft kicking technique, specifically countering large and agile opponents. It was perfect for countering Ennio who had used 'Paper Art'. Once hit, his body tissues would be completely destroyed.

Unfortunately, he discovered it. Ennio was jumping in the air, seemingly pondering something. Then, in the instant of stepping on the air to jump, his feet curled up and suddenly kicked down wildly.

"Tempest Kick - Chaos!"

Countless slashes descended from the sky, attacking the ground indiscriminately, causing Sage's pupils to contract.

Advanced Six Powers?

This was no ordinary Six Powers user! He stared intently at these incoming slashes. His body actually began to dance softly, moving nimbly among the large number of slashes like a dancer, skillfully avoiding these attacks that could plow huge gashes in the ground upon contact.

Whoosh! The last slash came straight for Sage's head, but was easily avoided by Sage leaning back, spinning a circle in the air before landing steadily.

Amidst the devastated ground, Sage stood up, looking provocatively at Ennio.

"Paper Art?" Ennio was stunned for a moment, "You know the Six Powers?"

Martial arts are universal, they won't deviate from the principles of martial arts no matter what, even in a different world.

That 'Paper Art' move, Sage could see that when using it, this guy relaxed all the strength in his body, purely relying on changes in air flow to make his body respond accordingly to dodge attacks.

And the 'Hokuto Empty Extreme Flow Dance' he used had the same principle, changing the body along with air flow changes through variations in air flow, thereby dodging.

The principle is the same, so of course it can be considered 'Paper Art'.

But why say it? Sage sneered, "Guess?"

He looked at Ennio's body bouncing in the air, his eyes narrowing.

Jump, keep jumping for a while, he'll also... Bang! Like the sound of a cannonball being fired, it burst out from Ennio. That obese body was like a sphere, spinning while rapidly falling towards Sage's direction.

"Iron Body - Cannonball!"

The deep voice, carrying immense gravity, pressed down strongly. The wind pressure it stirred up blew Sage's hair tips, even making his facial skin twitch slightly.

This momentum... can't be met head-on!

Sage, who originally wanted to counterattack, directly retracted his hands and retreated, allowing this 'cannonball' to descend. But as the cannonball approached the ground, it suddenly extended its limbs. Its hands lightly touched the ground, its legs spread into a split, and it spun violently.

"Tempest Kick - Circular Cut!"

Hum! A huge circular Tempest Kick flew out from his legs, quickly cutting towards the surroundings.

Sage was startled. His body leaned heavily backwards, forming an inverted U shape, barely dodging this slash. The slash quickly spread to the distance, directly cutting the nearby buildings horizontally. The stairs extending upwards behind were also cut open with a large gap by this strike.

This power... Sage didn't even have time to catch his breath when a huge shadow covered his body. He had just raised his head when he saw a fist imprinted on his face.

Bang! Sage's head jerked back, blood spraying out. His body, not yet straightened, fell backwards directly.

At this moment, taking advantage of his body falling backwards, he raised both feet and directly clamped Ennio's arm. His body rose up with this force, two fingers extending, pointing towards Ennio's arm.

As long as he hits...

"Iron Body - Horizontal Lock!"

Sage only felt the clamped arm harden. Ennio swung his arm violently. The tremendous force not only made Sage unable to clamp it, but that arm was also like a loach, directly slipping out from Sage's clamping legs, actually throwing him out.

Clang!

The huge force also threw off the thin sword at Sage's waist, rolling on the ground twice before landing right in front of Lily's feet.

"Combined technique?!"

Sage, flying in the air, had a shocked expression. That move just now, was it Iron Body and Paper Art used together? Sage quickly scanned Ennio, revealing an understanding look. His body quickly spun in the air, but before he could land, he saw Ennio, who had thrown him out, move his feet.

"Shave!"

His figure flashed, turning into an afterimage rapidly appearing in front of Sage who hadn't landed yet. His five fingers formed a blade, quickly stabbing over.

"Finger Pistol - Blade!"

That hand blade chopped down, almost tearing the air, quickly stabbing into Sage's chest.

Bang! Like iron striking iron, when the hand blade stabbed, it made a muffled but extremely hard sound.

Ennio revealed a stunned expression, "You..."

Sage had just landed steadily at this time. He slowly raised his head and said calmly: "Iron Body."

Hokuto Shinken is a martial art that has researched the human body to the extreme. Once you understand one principle, you understand all. As long as the principles are the same, Sage could naturally understand.

He certainly didn't know the Six Powers, and this was his first encounter with a Six Powers user, but he could observe.

The principle of Paper Art is the same as the Empty Extreme Flow Dance, which can be used without looking. The rest needed observation.

And now, the observation was almost complete. The other party had already demonstrated two or three times. If he couldn't learn it by now, it would be a waste of this ultimate assassination fist that had mastered the human body.

Iron Body requires a well-trained body, then accelerating blood flow to speed up muscle movement for hardening. As for the principle... There's no need for Hokuto Shinken's understanding, it's something all men can do, just changing from local to full body, just strengthened.

A well-trained body, Sage had.

Accelerating blood flow, having seen enough of this, he could naturally use it!