Naruto: Copy System#691+692: That's a Pretty Bold Thing to Say, You Think You Can Handle Zephyr?

“Aokiji, are you here to stop me?”

Kizaru’s gaze on Aokiji became uncharacteristically serious. If Aokiji was determined to stop him, a fight was inevitable.

This time, Kizaru was not only following orders—he also wanted to deal with Zephyr himself.

Aokiji didn't say a word, but by positioning himself between Kizaru and Zephyr, he made his stance perfectly clear.

Kizaru’s eyes narrowed. It seemed a battle with Aokiji was unavoidable.

"<Light Speed Kick!>"

Kizaru wasn’t one for formalities. Without warning or concern for a sneak attack, he launched a kick straight at Aokiji.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Aokiji, already anticipating the move, conjured a wall of ice mid-air, blocking Kizaru’s kick. He looked at Kizaru with a calm expression.

"Zephyr was your teacher, too. You don't want to carry the weight of killing your own mentor," Aokiji advised, his tone laced with a hint of goodwill.

If Kizaru really killed his own teacher, Zephyr, his reputation would be ruined, regardless of the reason.

Of course, Kizaru couldn't care less about his reputation.

"Aokiji, get out of the way. Otherwise, you’ll be an enemy of the Marines. Don't forget, you're not a Marine anymore."

Kizaru told Aokiji to step aside. They were once colleagues, and while not the best of friends, their relationship had been decent enough.

Kizaru didn't want a life-or-death struggle with Aokiji right now. There was another reason—Aokiji was a tough opponent. By the time he dealt with him, Zephyr would have already escaped. Then he'd fail his mission and get a pay cut.

His salary was already tight. If they docked it any further, he might as well just become a pirate.

Aokiji still didn’t move. He also wanted to stop Zephyr's extreme plan. He just couldn't bring himself to kill him. Now, seeing Kizaru ready to do just that, he couldn't help but intervene. He knew he shouldn't have gotten involved, but in the end, he couldn't hold back.

“Aokiji, you don’t want to see Zephyr destroy the entire New World, do you?”

“No, I don’t. But can’t we give him a chance? We could just defeat him and lock him in Impel Down.”

Aokiji glanced at Zephyr and sighed. For a former Marine Admiral to be killed by the hands of the Marines... it was too cruel.

"The order from above is to eliminate Zephyr. I'm just following orders. If you insist on stopping me, then you are an enemy of the Marines."

The aura around Kizaru grew sharper.

"Then I'm sorry." Aokiji formed a saber of ice in his hand and charged toward Kizaru, slashing at him.

CLANG!

The clash of ice and light sounded like steel on steel. The ice saber met Kizaru’s Ama no Murakumo, and their struggle for dominance ended in a stalemate.

Kizaru was older than Aokiji. While not necessarily stronger, his experience was far greater.

Seeing the edge of his coat sliced open, Aokiji’s eyes narrowed. An extreme cold enveloped the area, so intense that even Kizaru could feel the biting chill. It felt as if his blood was about to freeze, and Kizaru’s brow furrowed. The temperature was affecting his body, slowing him down.

Zephyr watched Aokiji and Kizaru fight, his expression complicated. Should he take the opportunity to escape with his men, or stay and help Kizaru? The two choices warred in his mind, and Zephyr didn't know which to choose.

———————

"Perfect timing. Just when things were getting interesting."

At that moment, Shin finally arrived. He watched Kizaru and Aokiji with some surprise. He didn't know what was going on. Why were they fighting? Could it be that Aokiji was stopping Kizaru from attacking Zephyr?

He hadn't interfered in the original story, so why now??

Perhaps it was due to the changes in the plot. After all, the current story had completely diverged, and no one knew where it was heading.

"What should we do?"

Robin asked Shin.

“What else? We watch the show. Are we supposed to help one of them defeat the other?”

Shin said with a grin, settling in to enjoy the spectacle.

Aokiji appearing and fighting Kizaru was something Shin hadn't expected. It wasn't that he was surprised by Aokiji's appearance, but that he was surprised they were actually fighting.

"Who do you think will win, Aokiji or Kizaru?" Shin asked Hancock and the others, sipping his wine.

"They're both trash, but even I can't tell who would win," Hancock said.

"That's a pretty bold thing to say, Hancock," Shin couldn't help but comment.

Calling Aokiji and Kizaru trash was definitely arrogant. After all, they were both Admirals, among the most powerful and respected figures in the world.

"Is it? Compared to you, they 'are' trash," Hancock said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, you're not wrong about that," Shin nodded.

“Is that you blowing your own horn? You’re not even a little embarrassed,” Nami said, rolling her eyes.

Shin shot a glance at Nami. He felt this little cat burglar was targeting him. Had he done something to offend her? It must have been the training. He couldn't help but sigh.

He had been kind enough to train her and improve her strength, and she was still mad at him. No good deed goes unpunished.

If Nami knew what Shin was thinking, she would have pounced on him and tried to kill him.

His training was practically trying to kill her. It was a miracle anyone could survive it. Of course she was mad. Not only was she mad, she wanted to beat him up.

Of course, Nami also knew her meager strength was no match for Shin, so she kept her mouth shut. A little complaint was enough. If she kept it up, she might get a beating. This was something Nami had learned on her own, so she stayed quiet, a picture of obedience.

Shin just glanced at Nami, then turned his attention back to Aokiji and Kizaru. Their fight seemed to have escalated. They were holding back before, but now they were unleashing lethal attacks.

Aokiji and Kizaru wouldn't be able to settle this quickly. Aokiji's fight with Akainu had lasted ten days and ten nights. This would be no different.

<><><><><><><><>

'Right, there are also the Dyna Stones. They say they're powerful enough to rival the Ancient Weapons. I should get my hands on those and take a look.'

Shin planned to get the Dyna Stones.

They were a type of stone that would explode upon contact with air. The blast was powerful enough to destroy an island, but Shin didn't know where Zephyr had hidden them.

It was unlikely he'd be carrying them. What if they exploded during a fight?

Though the Dyna Stones were powerful, they wouldn't be enough to take Kizaru down with him in a suicide attack. A Logia user could just go intangible, rendering the explosion useless. On the contrary, his own NEO Marines might be killed. The choice was obvious.

"They should be on Zephyr's ship. I'll go take a look," Olvia said.

It would be safer for her to handle the dangerous Dyna Stones, as she was a Logia user. Even if the stones accidentally exploded, she wouldn't be harmed.

"Alright, go take a look. But they might be on Zephyr himself," Shin said, his gaze on Zephyr.

Zephyr might just be daring enough to carry the Dyna Stones, perhaps safely stored inside his Smasher arm.

Olvia then headed towards Zephyr's ship. Though there were guards, they were no match for her.

———————

"Damn it."

When Zephyr noticed Olvia boarding his ship, he became anxious. He glanced at the fighting Aokiji and Kizaru, then immediately turned and headed for his ship.

“Well, here comes trouble. Should we keep fighting?” Kizaru felt a headache coming on. He had already spotted Shin. But it was precisely because Shin had arrived that Kizaru was getting a headache.

How was he supposed to deal with Shin Uzumaki? What was his purpose here? If he was also after the Dyna Stones, how could they stop him?

A series of questions popped into Kizaru's mind, making his head throb.

'Shin Uzumaki... a dangerous guy. I hope he's not after the Dyna Stones.' Kizaru could only pray.

At this moment, Aokiji also stopped fighting.

Looking at Shin in the distance, Aokiji also didn't know Shin's purpose. He didn't want Shin to get the Dyna Stones. Though he had left the Marines, Aokiji still held his own sense of justice.

Now that his heart was still filled with justice, he was very hostile towards pirates and hadn't cooperated with Blackbeard as in the original story. With Blackbeard dead and gone, there was no one to cooperate with anyway.

“Hina will handle Zephyr,”

Hina activated her Devil Fruit ability, stopping Zephyr as he tried to return to his ship. Iron bars completely surrounded him.

"You think you can handle Zephyr?" Shin glanced at Hina.

Though her strength was much greater than in the original story, she was still no match for Zephyr. Even if she had managed to stop him with her Devil Fruit ability, this scrap metal wouldn't hold Zephyr for long. He'd break free soon enough.

“What else can Hina do??” Hina said with a look of helplessness.

If it were anyone else, would they show mercy to Zephyr? Absolutely not. So she had to be the one to act. Only then would Zephyr be safer. If it were anyone else, Zephyr would be in real danger.

"Alright, you give it a try. We'll talk when you can't hold him anymore."

Since Hina had already acted, Shin let her try. When she really couldn't handle it, he'd step in.

The other NEO Marines were also stopped by the Marines.

Zephyr looked at the iron bars in front of him, glanced at Hina, then unceremoniously punched them open.

“See? You can’t handle him.”

Shin said, shrugging.

"I've got them."

Just then, Olvia returned, moving with incredible speed, as expected of a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, whose speed was not much inferior to the Glint-Glint Fruit.

Shin’s gaze fell on the container in Olvia’s hand—

—Inside were strange-looking stones. They had to be stored in a container, otherwise, they would explode. Though the stones weren't large, the explosive power of the Dyna Stones could destroy an island.

So it wasn't an exaggeration to say the Dyna Stones were comparable to the Ancient Weapons. Their power was no less than Pluton’s shells, perhaps even greater.

But this thing was indeed dangerous, and the quantity was very small.

"Hand over the Dyna Stones." Zephyr charged over, having clearly seen the stones in Olvia’s hand.

"I don't think so," Shin said calmly, then sent Zephyr flying with a Shinra Tensei.

Kizaru watched from a distance, frowning as he held a Den Den Mushi, reporting to Akainu. With Kizaru’s personality, he wasn't one to take all the responsibility. Now that the unbeatable Shin had appeared, he immediately notified Akainu.

Even if the mission failed in the end, he couldn't be blamed.

Kizaru’s mind was always calculating. He mainly didn't want to fight Shin. It was Kizaru's way of being smart. If you knew you couldn't win, and you still charged in, you were a fool. Kizaru didn't want to be that fool.

On the other side, Akainu was also having a headache. He hadn't expected this matter to involve Shin Uzumaki.

“FIND A WAY TO GET THE DYNA STONES BACK,” Akainu ordered Kizaru, wanting him to snatch the stones from Shin.

After all, these things were too dangerous. What if Shin Uzumaki used them to blow up some important island?

"I'll do my best," Kizaru said. Hearing Akainu tell him to find a way to snatch them back, he immediately rolled his eyes. Was Akainu trying to get him killed? How could he possibly snatch anything from Shin?

So in the end, Kizaru’s words were very perfunctory. 'I’ll say I’ll do my best. As long as I put in some effort, he can't punish me for failing. The opponent is Shin Uzumaki, after all. Failure is pretty much expected.'

With these thoughts in mind, Kizaru was no longer tense. He relaxed and settled in to watch the show.