184. The Water Dragon Slayer vs The Rubber Human

Even though the Gear Second was a technique foreign to ninjas, Guy who saw it felt that the Gear Second looked a bit like the Eight Gates. Especially when Guy felt Luffy's increasing power.

In the arena.

Luffy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He used his left hand to aim at Izumi, while his right hand prepared to launch a punch.

"Jet Pistol."

Then he delivered "Gomu Gomu no Pistol" so fast that the movement of his punch was invisible. Due to the incredible speed, the attack became much more powerful and more difficult to dodge. Though, it's not that much trouble for Izumi.

*whoosh*

Luffy's punch made a gust of wind that passed through Izumi's body and made dust scatter everywhere. Izumi also thought if he didn't have a Logia-type Devil Fruit, Izumi himself would have had a hard time dodging that attack when Izumi wasn't using his magic.

Suddenly, Luffy appeared behind Izumi while simultaneously throwing a punch using both hands.

"Twin Jet Pistols."

*boom*

Luffy's punch hit the ground and cracked it while passing through Izumi's body. And at that very moment.

"Suiryuu no Tekken!"

Izumi's fist appeared which was wrapped by water pressure and was launched at Luffy so suddenly. His punch landed on Luffy's face and caused him to be dragged a few steps backward.

Izumi furrowed his brows. He didn't expect, with only Gear Second, Luffy could withstand his blow, even though the hit should be quite strong.

Izumi created a whirlwind to pull Luffy toward his front with his left hand. And once again, Izumi launched a punch containing water pressure on his right hand. Luffy tried to counterattack when pulled into the whirlwind, but to no avail, as his punch couldn't hit Izumi.

As a result, Luffy could only receive hard blows from Izumi which made him flung away since Izumi increased the power of his punches.

Luffy rolled to the ground and then stood up again gasping for air. Because he wasn't used to using his new technique, Luffy's energy was drained drastically.

Luffy felt distracted because he didn't know how he could touch Izumi's body, which had the power of a Logia-type Devil Fruit.

In front of Luffy, Izumi unleashes pressure on him with his killing intent. From Luffy's eyes, he saw Izumi who changed the shape of his fingers into a small sharp vortex of wind pressure, then added the water pressure to them which made those two elements swirl together.

"Suiryuu no Uzume."

Izumi used his fingers as a water dragon swirling claw technique and made his hands look as if they were truly dragon claws. Izumi's attack was so fast. However, because Luffy's fighting sense using the Gear Second also increased, he avoided Izumi's attack.

"Suiryuu no Sekkyaku."

Izumi didn't stop just there. He shrouded one of his legs with a large amount of water that spun around his leg before striking Luffy with powerful rapid kicks.

Luffy quickly backed away, but Izumi appeared behind Luffy using his magic and continuously striking Luffy with his rapid kicks once again.

Luffy couldn't dodge, the attack hit Luffy repeatedly and hurt him because the water on Izumi's feet was spinning very fast which made the water become sharper.

"Ahhh… Jet Gatling."

Luffy couldn't hold back the pain which made him scream. Unknowingly, he unleashed a barrage of swift punches toward Izumi.

"I told you, it's usel...bhughh."

At first, the blows only passed through his body, but suddenly, he was hit by an unnoticeable strong blow that made him groan, and was blown backward.

*Bang*

Izumi crashed into the arena wall and fell to the ground. He vomited blood while holding his chest which was in pain from the blow.

"Cough...cough...Did he just use...Busoshoku Haki?" Izumi who was lying on the ground raised his head, then looked at Luffy who was panting heavily because he had used up a lot of energy. Izumi himself didn't think that Luffy would be able to hit him. Moreover, from what Luffy did just now, he seemed using Haki without realizing it. If Luffy really intends to use Haki, Izumi will immediately notice with his Kenbunshoku Haki which can observe Luffy's intentions.

Izumi got up from the ground. He let out a smirk toward Luffy who looked at him. Izumi felt that if Luffy really could use Busoshoku Haki, it would be more interesting. Izumi himself didn't realize that he was starting to look obsessed with an intense battle.

Looking at Izumi's smirk, Luffy made his move and tried the same thing as before because he felt his punches were effective.

"...Jet Gatling."

Izumi tried to focus more on Luffy's attacks. Learning from his previous mistakes, he continued to observe Luffy's punches. But unfortunately, the Busoshoku Haki that Luffy released earlier was not intentional. Maybe because Izumi previously put pressure on Luffy, Luffy's Busoshoku Haki appeared spontaneously by releasing spiritual energy from his body.

"It seems, I might find another way to use Busoshoku Haki by drawing out my spiritual energy." Izumi said inwardly.

Awakening Busoshoku Haki in a brute way could be done by hitting a hard object with bare hands continuously. But it was useless if someone couldn't draw their spiritual energy from their bodies.

Luffy was almost exhausted which made his movements slow down. At that moment, Izumi called out his spiritual energy to his arms. Then, he attacked Luffy right in his stomach.

*Wham*

Luffy rolled to the ground and coughed out blood. It was seen that he held his stomach painfully. And with that, Izumi could confirm that his deduction was right on the spot.

He didn't realize that he could use Busoshoku Haki already. Since he confirmed that he could use Haki, he curled his lips upward.

But, it wouldn't be fair to fight against Luffy that way. So, he would rather not use it for now.

After seeing Luffy get up off the ground, Izumi attacked him once again.

"Suiryuu no Tekken."

Izumi engulfed his fists with compressed water and punched Luffy.

"Yokugeki."

Then, Izumi engulfed both of his hands in compressed water that resembled the wings of a dragon as he rushed toward Luffy, slashing Luffy upon contact. Then, Luffy was thrown backward due to the force of the impact.

"Fusasou."

Following that, Izumi amassed a large quantity of water on his feet, enhancing the power of his kicking attack.

"Sekkyaku."

And lastly, he enshrouded his legs with a vast quantity of water which spiraled around his leg before lashing outward with powerful rapid kicks.

With that combo, Luffy immediately fell to the ground. The appearance of Luffy's Gear Second had also disappeared as his body returned to normal.

Meanwhile, Izumi held his chest in pain due to Luffy's previous attack.

Since the winner had not been announced for a long time, Izumi's gaze shifted to Hayate who looked dumbfounded. He called Hayate many times until Hayate finally came to his senses.

"Cough...The winner is...cough… Miyamura Izumi!"

Shortly after Hayate announced the winner. Everyone came to their senses one by one. And cheered for Izumi afterward.

They were also surprised that those two's abilities exceeded their expectations. Judging from the strength Izumi and Luffy had shown, both of them seemed to have the power to match a Jōnin-level ninja.

Guy who was watching as usual along with Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma started to comment.

"Is this an exam to promote a Genin-level ninja to a Chūnin-level? Why do I even see it as a fight between Jōnin-level ninjas?"

"If you ask me, who do I ask?"

"Kakashi, are they really Genin-level ninjas?"

"Who knows, but one of them is 15 years old, and the other is 17."

"Aren't they too strong for someone their age?"

Their conversation was heard by the people around, especially the examinees who did not pass in the final round that was in front of them. As a result, Luffy and Izumi became the talk of the crowd.

Meanwhile, the Hokage was also so astonished to see such talented youngsters from another village. This made him think that Warrod could give him some tips for teaching the young ninjas in Konohagakure. He heard that those youngsters often went on adventures. But making them that strong, definitely couldn't be separated from the teaching of experienced people like Warrod.