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"Not like that Nico, use your legs more to put more power into it. Lean a bit forward and make sure you grip the handle tightly." Imai instructed.

Nico did what Imai told her to do. She could feel that her downward vertical slash was stronger. Although the training was tiring and she was sweating from the scorching sun, she felt as if she had to do this. If she didn't, she wouldn't be able to stand beside Imai.

Imai didn't know what was going on in Nico's head, but whatever it was, it was helping her take it more seriously.

"That's more like it!" Imai cheered on. "Keep doing it like that and you're going to surpass me in no time!"

"Thank you!"

Imai smiled as her eyes wandered Nico's body. She had built up a lot of muscle and worked on herself a lot. Even her calves and quads were built. But there is more potential to her, if she works out even more, and expands her abilities while learning the katana too.

Imai grinned at the thought of creating a monster.

"Oi, what's up with that smile?"

"Ah, it's nothing. Have you finished your daily training?"

"Yes." Nico responded as she used the towel to wipe the sweat dripping down her face and neck area. Somehow, this scene was a bit erotic.

"I see." Imai said as she stood up to get back to steering the boat. "Also, I don't think I asked you this before. What exactly is your devil fruit power?"

"The devil fruit I ate is called the Hana Hana no Mi. I can replicate and sprout pieces of my body from the surface of any object or living thing. But in order for me to do so, the target has to be in range of my view."

"Your power is really good." Imai said as she stared at the water. "But since you ate a devil fruit, that means you can't swim right?"

"Yes." Nico replied. "But I think it was a fair price to pay. I don't particularly like swimming in the ocean that's filled with monsters anyway."

"That's true.."

"That reminds me, I still need to ask you a question."

"Hmm, what is it?"

"Why are you looking for Enel the Lightning God? Did he do something to you in the past? What happened?"

"No, he didn't do anything to me in the past or anything. It's just that he has something I want."

"Like what?"

"His devil fruit."

"But why?"

"Because his devil fruit is extremely powerful." Imai said. "I heard from Luffy that you guys defeated him with ease but that's mostly because of Luffy. Lightning cannot do anything to rubber after all."

"Then what if Luffy wasn't there?" Nico asked. "As you said, the fruit was extremely powerful. Would we be able to defeat him?"

"Hmm, probably." Imai said. "The devil fruit is powerful and its abilities too. But it also depended on Enel and all he did was play god. What a waste."

"So what you're saying is when you take his devil fruit, you're going to be able to wield the power of the fruit to its full potential."

"Yes."

"But you're already strong, inhumanely strong. Why do you need the devil fruit?"

"Because humans will always be at a disadvantage against devil fruit users. No matter how strong one may be, the devil fruit user will win." Imai said. "Of course, the only exception is me."

"I see."

"Well, I haven't made the choice if I want to become the devil fruit user yet. I'll figure it out when I have to make the choice." Imai said. "Anyway, I'm getting bored. The ship will be on autopilot."

"Huh?" Nico was surprised. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to show something really cool, it's a magic trick that I use with my blade." Imai said with a wink.

Imai unsheathed her blade and pointed it towards the endless view of water.

"What's the magic trick called?"

Imai grinned. "It's called the splitting of the sky and sea. With a single slash of my katana, you will see the sky and sea split apart. Are you ready?"

Nico nodded her head in excitement.

"Well then, here we go!" Imai said as she slashed vertically. She had imbued part of her Conqueror's Haki into the strike as there was a vertical streak of purple heading towards the endless ocean.

*WHOOSH*

Nico's eyes widened in surprise, shock, and in awe. True enough, the clouds in the sky had split apart and beneath them revealed body parts of sea monsters.

How could she have forgotten? Empress of the Blade, the nickname that was given to Imai Ryujin by the world government. She was the woman that was called the strongest blade user in the world.

With a bounty worth three point four billion berries.

"This is just a simple slash from me. I do this if I want a better view or when I'm just bored." Imai said. Right as she was about to turn around, she noticed something with her Observation Haki. "Oh? Someone seems to have blocked my attack."

Nico stared into the sea and didn't notice anyone at all.

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, it's my Observation Haki. I've trained it to the point where I can detect living or non living things from extremely far away." Imai said. "And make sure to remind me to teach you it later."

"Alright." Nico said as she leaned against the railing. "So what you're saying is that we're heading towards whoever blocked your attack."

"Nope, that person is already heading towards my attack. It seems they recognized me."

"Is it the marines?"

"With how weak they are, they would never be able to block an attack of mine. But if it's one of the admirals then…maybe."

"Well, whoever it is. We're ready to take them on."

"I like the sound of that." Imai said with a smile. "You better not back out when we meet them."

"I won't."

"Haha! Though, I hope we don't have to fight them actually. I don't want to ruin this good ship of mine over a pointless battle."

"Do you already know who they are?"

"Yep, they're already in our view."

In the distance, a ship with red stripes over the left eye could be seen heading towards them. In the center, a certain man with red hair grinned.