Starting as a Roger Pirates Apprentice-Chapter 453: Kuzan VS Orin

The two of them just stood there, the atmosphere gradually freezing over, until Orin was the first to smile and speak,

"I heard you betrayed the Marines. Is that true, little chick~ "

"Little chick???"

As the Marine soldiers, whose bodies were gradually regaining autonomy, heard this address, they froze for a moment. Then they looked toward Kuzan’s figure and recalled his title, Aokiji, their expressions instantly stiffened, clutching their heads in disbelief,

"Could it be?!!! Is Black Gun calling— "

Before the Marine soldier could finish speaking, the soldier beside him immediately covered his mouth and hurriedly gestured for silence.

This tactless idiot, didn’t he notice that ever since Black Gun called Kuzan that name, the frost on Admiral Kuzan’s face had thickened by several layers?

Shaking off the frost covering his hand, Orin smiled indifferently, while Kuzan slowly exhaled a breath of icy air, 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"That’s right. I’m no longer a Marine. So even if I make a move against you now, I won’t have any burden at all."

"Really~"

Orin’s smile remained unchanged.

In the next second, as if without any warning, countless ice crystals rapidly spread from Kuzan’s body, growing toward Orin’s direction, the Marine soldiers turned pale with shock and hurriedly dragged the heavily injured Smoker far away. Even Doflamingo had no choice but to temporarily avoid the edge of the attack, the smile on his face retracting slightly.

He hadn’t expected Kuzan to actually dare to make a move against Orin.

Even though rumors said the two were enemies, did Kuzan really not see the gap in strength?

For someone like Doflamingo, who knew when to follow his instincts, this kind of behavior—challenging an absolute powerhouse—was completely incomprehensible, but Kuzan had his own convictions.

"Ice Age!!! "

Crack—crack—crack—crack—

The already frost-covered ice peninsula was instantly engulfed in raging snowstorms. Sky-piercing cold froze the entire coastline and vast stretches of the sea, and the place where Orin had been standing was now filled with innumerable massive ice spikes, like a frozen hell.

"Orin-sama!!"

Buffalo, who was being carried by Doflamingo, suddenly cried out when he saw this scene,

"Could he have been frozen?!!!"

"Shut up, Buffalo."

Doflamingo shot him an annoyed glance, then stood in the air and looked toward the coastline now completely filled by colossal cascades of ice, his lips curling into a grin,

"Fufufufufu, it looks like Orin-san is having a lot of fun~ "

Standing atop the massive glacier, Kuzan emitted waves of cold air as he looked toward where Orin had originally stood—yet a voice suddenly came from behind him,

"What are you looking at?"

Reaching out his palm to block the Armament-infused fist containing extreme cold, Orin’s arm began to bloom with ice flowers that spread toward his body,

"That’s really cold..."

Orin looked slightly dazed as he stared at the ice flowers climbing up his arm, seemingly unable to shake them off, but then he clenched his fist, and the ice flowers instantly shattered into fragments,

"Just kidding~"

"When it comes to Haki, you really didn’t inherit that old man Garp’s true teachings, Kuzan."

Orin strolled through the blizzard, pulling his black robe tighter around himself.

If there was anything that could contend with—or even injure—his current self, it would have to be Haki strong to a certain extreme.

Among those still alive today, the only Haki that could threaten him—aside from Imu—was probably Garp, who had come closest, faintly touching that realm.

"Enough talk. Let’s settle our grudges today, Orin!!! "

Cold air swirled in Kuzan’s hands, ultra-low temperatures spreading through the surroundings, accelerating as much as possible the Haki consumption of everyone within the frozen battlefield except himself.

Orin could even faintly feel his blood beginning to congeal. Only after coating his entire body with Haki did the situation ease somewhat.

But whether externally or internally, the rate of Haki consumption was terrifying. Orin looked at the frost on his hands, his eyes narrowing slightly,

"Looks like you’re serious, Kuzan?"

He had originally thought this would just be a reunion to catch up on old times—after all, Kuzan couldn’t possibly be his opponent—but he hadn’t expected him to be this serious.

"Hey, Kuzan, you didn’t leave the Marines just so you could come after me without restraint, did you?"

"Who knows?"

Kuzan’s cold aura erupted again, clearly with no intention of stopping. Orin could only feel helpless,

"Fine..."

The robe on Orin’s body slowly froze into fragments and fell to the ground.

Bare-chested, Orin revealed a perfect physique, a cross-shaped scar etched across his chest, world-destroying power contained within that body.

After all, they had been close friends for decades—ever since Orin first set sail, the two had known each other.

A rare seriousness appeared on Orin’s face as his figure instantly moved into the circular clearing formed by the glaciers,

"The space is a bit small, isn’t it?"

Jet-black spatial distortion power covered his fist as black-and-red lightning crackled faintly, without even turning his head, Orin threw a punch behind him, instantly pulverizing hundreds of meters of glacier into dust.

The aftershocks rippled tens of thousands of meters across the seabed. Even the Thousand Sunny, already far away from Punk Hazard, began to rock violently,

The Straw Hat crew could only marvel—truly worthy of the New World,

"A tsunami just suddenly rose! Is the New World’s weather really this unpredictable?!!!"

...

At the center of the battlefield, the two men silently stared at each other,

"You really could die, Kuzan~"

Black-and-red lightning continuously crackled around Orin’s body, his gaze sinking slightly.

"Die? I don’t care..."

"As long as I can live in the present, that’s enough."

Those were the words Garp taught him—never bound by rules, never retreating because of them.

"Is that so~"

Orin caught an ice sphere with one hand, instantly turning himself into an ice sculpture.

Kuzan instinctively tried to press the attack, but a sense of foreboding surged within him, so he quickly caused an iceberg larger than a giant to rise beneath his feet, taking the high ground to guard against danger.

In the next second, Orin’s overwhelmingly powerful punch slammed straight into the iceberg, lifting the entire mountain with brute force.

A heavy expression appeared in Kuzan’s eyes as he struggled to steady himself.

And just as the two clashed head-on among the glaciers, with Orin relentlessly pressing Kuzan,

Doflamingo stood in midair and let out a malicious fufufufu laugh, preparing to pull some small trick.

But at that very moment, an incomparably swift slash shot toward the sky, forcing him to abandon the idea and instead defend with strings,

"Who is it?!!!"

...

Within the sea of clouds, a figure wielding a black blade appeared, carrying the oppressive presence of a higher lifeform,

"Orin-sensei’s battle will not be interfered with!!!"