Chapter 155: Improvement

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(T/N: Check out my new Translated Novel - Naruto: Different Path)

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With only a week left until the Tea Party, Byakuya had finalized who would attend with him. 

From his perspective, the likelihood of a fight breaking out during the Tea Party was quite high. 

Therefore, those attending had to be strong and capable of defending themselves. 

Based on the current members of the Night Organization, Lucci, Enel, and Sonic were definite choices. However, Byakuya also wanted to bring Law along.

Although Law's current strength was lacking, Byakuya knew that with a little time and proper guidance, Law's deep-seated hatred for Doflamingo would continue to drive him to improve.

Taking Law to witness one of the Four Emperors standing at the peak of the sea wouldn't be a bad thing for him. 

After thinking about it for a while, Byakuya decided to also bring Bruno. After all, Bruno's Devil Fruit ability was quite useful and might come in handy. 

Just as Byakuya decided, he suddenly heard a thunderous roar outside. Lightning streaked across the sky, casting dark clouds over half of Skypiea.

"This... This is Enel's ability. Could there be an intruder on Skypiea?" Byakuya muttered to himself. "It can't be this much of a coincidence, right?" 

"I just moved Skypiea here, and we've already been discovered?" 

Sensing the intensity of the battle, Byakuya rushed to the scene only to find Enel and Sonic locked in combat. 

From the looks of it, they had been fighting for a while, and the battle was nearing its end as both prepared to unleash their most powerful moves.

Seeing Byakuya arrive, Lucci slightly bowed and said, "I didn't expect you to be disturbed, Byakuya-sama." 

Byakuya smiled wryly, "With such a commotion, it's hard not to be." 

In the sky, lightning and explosions lit up the clouds, creating a spectacle visible to nearly everyone on the island. 

Worried that Byakuya might misunderstand, Lucci quickly explained, "They're just sparring to gauge each other's strength. There's no bad blood between them."

"I understand," Byakuya replied as he watched the two fighting figures. 

He asked, "Lucci, who do you think is stronger?" 

Lucci thought momentarily before replying, "In terms of raw power, Sonic should have the edge. 

But because Enel is a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, and Sonic's Armament Haki isn't particularly strong, he poses little danger to Enel. 

So, during the fight, they seem evenly matched." Byakuya nodded, impressed. 

As expected of the strongest individual in CP9's 800-year history, Lucci's analysis was spot on.

Sonic hadn't been familiar with Haki for long, and he could coat his ninja blade with Armament Haki due to his innate strength. 

Meanwhile, Enel, after mastering Armament Haki, had seen a significant boost in his abilities, especially in the development of his Devil Fruit powers. 

It was clear that Enel's strength had more than doubled since Byakuya first encountered him.

If Sonic were fighting someone with physical skills similar to Enel's but without his Devil Fruit abilities, the fight wouldn't be as difficult. 

As Byakuya and Lucci chatted, the battle in the sky peaked. Enel, brandishing his golden staff, was surrounded by arcs of lightning and declared loudly, "Though your strength is indeed impressive, you are no match for me."

Sonic, holding his ninja blade in reverse across his chest, responded coldly, "Strength is determined by power, not by who talks tougher." 

Enel scoffed, lightning flashing in his eyes. "Take this move, and I'll acknowledge your strength."

"100 Million Volts: Thunder God!"

In an instant, Enel unleashed 100 million volts of electricity. Countless lightning bolts enveloped his body, illuminating the sky as if it were daytime. 

Under this immense electrical power, Enel's body expanded dozens of times in size, his staff now appearing to be made entirely of lightning. 

The spectacle made him look like a god of thunder, causing awe and fear in all who witnessed it.

Byakuya, watching from a distance, remarked with some surprise, "Not bad. I didn't expect Enel to develop his Devil Fruit powers to this extent in just a few months." 

Lucci, who was familiar with Enel, replied, "That guy's obsessed with training. He ignores everything else and just focuses on improving his strength."

"It seems like he's put in a lot of effort to try and surpass me," Byakuya mused. "At this rate, he might reach a tenth of my current power in a few more years."

"..." Lucci fell silent, thinking, " A tenth of your power in a few years? 

So, even if Enel trains his whole life, will he only reach that level? It was a merciless assessment. 

Enel might have coughed up blood out of sheer frustration if he had heard it.

But if Byakuya knew what Lucci was thinking, he'd probably tell him, You still don't fully understand your boss. 

Once I reached full synchronization, I could split the Earth in two with a single punch. 

Enel could train for ten thousand years and still never reach my level. After all, humans have limits...

As Enel prepared to unleash his most powerful attack, Sonic, too, readied his ultimate technique. 

He sheathed his shorter ninja blade, leaving only the longer one strapped to his back. Gripping it with both hands, he murmured, "Ultimate Art: Ten Shadows Burial!"

Sonic's figure began to blur before everyone's eyes. It seemed he was standing still, but subtle changes could be observed every moment. 

Just as Enel prepared to strike with his thunderous attack, ten images of Sonic suddenly appeared, surrounding him. 

Even with his heightened "Mantra" (Observation Haki), Enel couldn't pinpoint which of the figures was the real Sonic.

But hesitation wasn't in Enel's nature. Unable to distinguish the real from the fake, he destroyed them all. 

"Ha!" he shouted, swinging his lightning staff at the closest shadow. Thunder roared as the staff struck, and the image shattered into nothingness.

"A fake?" Enel muttered. Without hesitation, he continued swinging his staff at the remaining images of Sonic.

Suddenly, a cold and eerie voice echoed from the sky: "Burial..." Only nine afterimages looked up at Enel simultaneously, raising their ninja swords. 

The purple figures intersected and charged toward him. With his quick reflexes, Enel unleashed a massive surge of endless lightning wrapped around his body. 

He was confident that this amount of electricity would reveal Sonic's real body. 

However, Enel didn't anticipate Sonic darting through the lightning like a slippery eel, evading the attacks. 

Even though four afterimages were lost in the process, Sonic still managed to get within striking distance of Enel.

For Sonic, this close range was his ideal fighting distance. His ninja blade was now coated with the black hue of Armament Haki. 

Like being stared down by a venomous snake, a sense of danger filled Enel's heart. 

He instinctively attempted to slip into his Logia form to dodge, but the pitch-black blade was already inches from his face. 

"Could it be… Is he trying to kill me?" A flash of fear crossed Enel's eyes. This was the second time his prideful self had felt the presence of death looming over him.

As the blade was about to land, Byakuya's voice rang out, "Stop. Don't scare him." 

The moment the words left his mouth, Sonic's sword halted, hovering a mere centimetre from Enel's forehead. 

It was clear Sonic had never intended to kill Enel. If that were his true goal, there's no way he could have stopped such a powerful strike so suddenly. 

Sonic sheathed his sword and walked over to Byakuya, bowing respectfully, "Lord Byakuya."

Pale and visibly shaken, Enel let the lightning around him dissipate and addressed Byakuya, "Lord Byakuya." 

Enel had entirely initiated the fight between Enel and Sonic. If Byakuya were to hold this against him, Enel knew he would be in serious trouble. 

But before Enel could speak up to explain, Sonic took the initiative, saying, 

"Lord Byakuya, I noticed that Enel is a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, and since I've never fought against a Logia before, I was eager to test my strength against him. I didn't expect to disturb you."

Enel shot a surprised glance at Sonic. He hadn't expected Sonic to take the blame for the situation.

"This… I…" Enel began to explain but was interrupted by Byakuya, who smiled and said, "I understand what's going on between you two. I don't mind that you're sparring."

"But I do have one condition: you're allowed to inflict serious injuries, but no killing blows. I have healing potions, so as long as no one dies, everything can be restored as it was." 

Byakuya paused before adding, "Also, when you two are out on missions together, I expect you to be partners who can trust each other with your backs." 

After saying that, Byakuya led Sonic away, leaving Enel standing there, feeling a new sense of belonging toward the organization.

Watching Byakuya and Sonic leave, Enel felt emotions he had never experienced before: a deeper connection to the Night Organization. 

Seeing Enel's expression, Lucci patted him on the shoulder and smiled, "There's no shame in losing this time." 

"As long as you keep training, you'll grow stronger. Besides, it's the only way we won't fall too far behind Lord Byakuya and end up just watching his back from a distance." 

The two exchanged glances, silently committing to train even harder. Back in the palace, Byakuya didn't waste time and got straight to the point with Sonic, 

"I have a way to increase your strength, but I'm not sure if it's good or bad for you. The process might also be painful, possibly unbearable." 

"So, I wanted to ask for your consent first."

Without any hesitation, Sonic replied, "I have no objections. If possible, Lord Byakuya, I'd like to begin immediately." 

Sonic was well aware of how difficult it would be to improve his current level of strength. 

Now that Byakuya was willing to use the world's essence to enhance his power, and the only cost was enduring some pain, Sonic felt it was an opportunity too good to pass up. 

Others could only dream of such a chance, and there was no way he would refuse. Seeing Sonic agree so quickly, Byakuya didn't delay. 

He opened the system interface. Elevating Sonic to the strength level of a Marine Admiral would cost 5,000 points of world essence. 

Although that didn't seem huge, Sonic's power would likely be at the lowest tier of Admiral-level strength after the enhancement. 

He would be slightly stronger than the weaker members of an Emperor's pirate crew, but not by much, meaning he could still face risks. However, for Byakuya, this was enough.

[Do you wish to spend 5,000 world essence points to enhance Sonic's strength?] 

"Yes!"

Sonic felt a warm flow surge from deep within his body, spreading throughout and continuously strengthening his physical form. 

Contrary to Byakuya's warning about pain, Sonic felt no discomfort—just a warm, soothing sensation that made him feel extremely comfortable. 

But as the saying goes, all good things must end. 

The warmth vanished before Sonic could fully enjoy the sensation, leaving him wanting more, though he dared not say it aloud.

Sonic stood up, stretched, and immediately noticed a significant boost in strength, speed, and reflexes. Everything had improved several times over. 

If Sonic were to fight Enel again now, Enel likely wouldn't have the chance to unleash a major attack. 

Sonic estimated he could defeat Enel in fewer than ten moves, mainly due to Enel's Logia abilities.

The drastic increase in strength left Sonic overjoyed and deeply grateful to Byakuya. 

However, Byakuya noticed that while Sonic's physical strength had been greatly enhanced, his mastery of Armament and Observation Haki hadn't improved at all. 

This led Byakuya to realize that perhaps only he could use world essence to enhance Haki's training levels. 

This revelation gave Byakuya a deeper understanding of the system. Byakuya reopened the system panel to check how much world essence would be required to elevate Sonic's strength further. 

Since Sonic had reached Admiral-level strength, the system subdivided Admiral-level power into five tiers: Beginner, Low, Mid, High, and Peak. 

(T/N: I honestly don't like this kind of tier)

Sonic was currently at the Beginner Admiral level. Byakuya then checked how much it would cost to raise Sonic from Beginner to Low Admiral. 

He gasped in disbelief—it would cost 10,000 world essence points. "Damn, this system is a total rip-off," Byakuya cursed internally. 

"This guy's strength is something I could crush with a single punch, and yet it costs so much world essence? What a black-hearted system!" 

Byakuya's rant, fueled by his frustration with the system, wasn't concealed from Sonic, who was now fully aware of what Byakuya had said. 

The remark about "crushing a bunch of low-level Admirals with a single punch" deeply wounded Sonic's pride. Sonic, now with Beginner Admiral strength, couldn't help but feel stung by Byakuya's words.

<End Chapter>

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