Black Charcoal Serpent instantly grabbed a samurai sword, his eyes narrowing coldly as he stared at the door. His voice was icy: "Who are you?"
Creak—
The door slowly creaked open.
A man in a black robe stepped inside, gripping the black blade Qiushui in his hand, his gaze as cold as ice.
"Hmph…"
The man's mouth twitched slightly, clearly unsure how to react.
Black Charcoal Serpent stared straight at Ryuma, startled, then spat out, "You… how exactly did you get in here? Captain! Captain! What the hell have I been raising you for?"
"Enough yelling. They're already dead."
With that, Ryuma extended his other hand.
In it was the severed head of the ninja captain.
"Hahaha, never expected that the current Great General of Wano would be so weak. Truly laughable!"
"Who exactly are you?" Black Charcoal Serpent stepped back cautiously. "Are you from the Oden clan? Or the Moonlight family?"
"Can't you understand plain language? I already told you—I am Ryuma, the Dragon-Slaying Samurai. I don't change my name or title!"
"Hmph... Today, I'll teach you a lesson, you bastard, for impersonating Ryuma!"
Black Charcoal Serpent suddenly stood upright. The skin on the back of his neck cracked open grotesquely, his face twisted in agony as if his insides were being torn apart. His eyes fixed coldly on Ryuma. From the wound behind him, thick vines sprouted, growing into seven snake heads, while Black Charcoal Serpent's own head transformed into a serpentine one.
The Eight-Headed Serpent!
Ryuma's lips curled slightly. "Dragons are nothing to me. What's a snake like you? Even if you had a hundred heads, I'd chop them all off!"
Focusing intently on the monstrous Eight-Headed Serpent before him, Ryuma felt confident.
This guy… looks terrifying on the surface but is nothing more than a pushover.
In Wano, the Eight-Headed Serpent is considered a divine beast-level existence, yet this one was truly cursed.
The serpent had eight heads and eight tails, dragon-like faces with blood-red eyes. Moss and trees grew across its back, while its belly was festering and bleeding.
Having transformed, Black Charcoal Serpent's giant form had already ripped through the entire general's mansion, looking utterly battered.
"Hundred-Dragon Divine Slash!"
Ryuma shouted, his eyes bloodshot and veins bulging. The black blade Qiushui trembled slightly in his hand. Suddenly, hundreds of dragons burst forth from the blade's edge like blossoming lotuses, furiously lunging toward the serpent!
Ryuma thought: Let's see if your eight heads are tougher, or these hundreds of dragons.
As they clashed, he noticed that despite the dragons relentlessly tearing at the serpent, no wounds appeared—only a small patch of scales peeled off.
Ryuma inhaled deeply, eyes wide with astonishment.
This… this is unbelievable!
Far beyond any normal serpent!
At that moment, Ryuma finally understood.
Kaido is called the Strongest Creature, and to him, the scales of Black Charcoal Serpent were as soft as tofu—showing just how terrifying Kaido truly was.
"Hahaha, with your level of skill, you still want to defeat me? You're dreaming!"
Black Charcoal Serpent took a deep breath. In the next instant, his massive body reared up and swung his tail in a divine dragon's arc!
Ryuma's pupils contracted sharply. Despite his advanced Observation Haki, the attack's wide coverage was impossible to avoid—he was flung flying!
Seeing this, Ryuma remained calm; he had already prepared for the worst—to get knocked clear by that enormous tail.
The tail slammed Ryuma high into the air.
As Ryuma looked up, eight snake heads stared down at him. Though he knew not to fear, a chill flickered through his heart.
"Hahaha… You call yourself the ancient Dragon-Slaying Samurai Ryuma? The real Ryuma would leave you in the dust!"
The serpent opened its blood-red maw wide, ready to strike.
Ryuma's heart nearly broke. He knew that one bite from this colossal snake head wasn't a joke.
It could tear him limb from limb.
"Shadow Clone!"
Ryuma shouted loudly, as the shadows beside his body gathered in midair, forming a swirling mass of energy. Then, with a swift movement, he executed a Great Body Shift!
At that moment, one of the giant snake heads bit down hard on the shadow—mistaking it for Ryuma's real body—and refused to release its grip!
But in truth, Ryuma had already slipped away unnoticed.
His eyes locked coldly on the space before him, filled with icy resolve, and he let out a cold snort.
This giant serpent certainly had formidable offense and defense, but its eyesight left much to be desired.
Sensing something was amiss, Black Charcoal Serpent finally released his bite.
He fixed his gaze on Ryuma and sneered, "Hmph, I almost forgot—you absorbed the power of Moonlight Moria."
"That's right, that's exactly how it is."
Ryuma took a deep breath. "If you were even a little sensible, you wouldn't be acting this way. I'll give you one chance. According to the laws of Wano, you should perform seppuku. You've turned this country into a mess—a cesspool of chaos."
Black Charcoal Serpent's brow furrowed tightly, and he laughed coldly, "Hahaha, utterly ridiculous! You… you? You couldn't even block my tail just now. That was supposed to be your strongest move, wasn't it? It barely scratched me. What right do you have to negotiate with me?"
Ryuma let out a cold snort. "Is that so? Have you ever heard that a single spark can start a prairie fire?"
"You… stop preaching your grand ideals to me."
"No, no, this isn't some lofty ideal."
Ryuma smiled faintly, then closed his eyes.
The moment he opened them again, his presence surged with overwhelming power.
Black Charcoal Serpent stared daggers at him and growled, "You… you bastard, what exactly do you want?"
Before he finished speaking, Ryuma manipulated the shadows around him as if molding clay, splitting them into countless duplicates!
Suddenly, the shadows all around took on Ryuma's exact likeness.
Seeing this, Black Charcoal Serpent blinked in surprise but still didn't take it seriously.
"Is that all you've got?"