Seeing this, Kalifa glared fiercely at Hina, then quickly reminded Ryuya, "Ryuya, Smoker's weapon is made of Seastone. Don't let it touch you!"
But Kalifa's words were a step too slow.
Smoker was already swinging his jitte, slamming it heavily into Ryuya.
"BOOM!"
Ryuya was knocked back by Smoker, his figure instantly dissipating in mid-air.
When Smoker saw this, he realized he had been tricked.
His decent battle awareness reminded him to stab his jitte behind him.
"BOOM!"
Another illusion was destroyed by Smoker.
But before Smoker could breathe a sigh of relief, Hina beside him reminded him, "Smoker, his head!"
"Armament Haki, ON!"
Ryuya's illusion descended from the sky, its fist covered in Armament Haki, slamming into Smoker.
This completely negated Smoker's elementalization.
Although the illusion's Armament Haki was only at the intermediate level, it was enough to deal with Smoker!
This wasn't over yet. Before Smoker could recover from his daze, another illusion appeared behind Smoker. With the same Armament Haki, it punched Smoker in the back!
Smoker stumbled forward.
Another one of Ryuya's illusions appeared in front of Smoker, Armament Haki coating his knee, and he slammed into Smoker's abdomen.
"PUFF!!!"
Smoker felt a mouthful of blood surge up his throat.
Ryuya's attack hadn't even lasted a second.
The illusion shattered, revealing Ryuya's figure.
He stood before Smoker, looking down at the half-kneeling Smoker and said softly, "You've lost."
Everyone in the training ground stared at the scene in disbelief.
This was far beyond their imagination.
"Smoker is a Logia-type Devil Fruit user!!!"
"He didn't even have time to use his ability, and he lost?"
"That's too strong!"
"This illusion's strength is too powerful!"
"It's so unpredictable, you can't guard against it!"
…
The soldiers around them whispered among themselves.
Hina couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"Smoker actually lost! How is that possible!"
Thinking this, Hina looked at Ryuya in disbelief, as if she wanted to etch his appearance into her memory.
When Kalifa saw this scene, she burst into laughter. "See? Ryuya is amazing!"
As if she was showing off to Hina, Kalifa raised an eyebrow at her.
Even Kalifa herself didn't know why she was so happy.
Only then did the soldiers around them recover from their shock.
They immediately erupted in deafening cheers!
"Ryuya! Ryuya! Ryuya!"
"Ryuya! Ryuya! Ryuya!"
"Ryuya! Ryuya! Ryuya!"
…
These soldiers chanted Ryuya's name, so loudly that even the entire Marineford could hear them!
In another training ground, Akainu defeated Vice Admiral Doberman.
Looking towards the training ground where Ryuya was, Akainu, with his stern face, said coldly, "Heh, a mere clown. He's just a Captain. Wait until you face me, and see if you'll still be cheering so loudly!"
In the training ground, Ryuya extended his hand towards Smoker and said, "Are you okay?"
Smoker looked at Ryuya and grinned. "I'm fine. It's just that I'm too weak. Next time, I'll definitely win!"
"Let's work hard together!"
Ryuya smiled faintly, and this smile instantly caused the surrounding soldiers to cheer even louder.
But for some reason, Kalifa felt a pang of sadness at this moment.
Why could he smile like that to others, but he was so cold to her?
Kalifa bit her lip, constantly thinking about this question.
Time passed quickly, and three days went by in the blink of an eye.
During these three days, Ryuya used the Bijo Bijo no Mi's ability to repeatedly trick his opponents, making it impossible for them to find his real body.
They were all defeated by Ryuya with ease, completely baffled!
His powerful strength, coupled with his gentle smile, earned Ryuya immense popularity!
His popularity even surpassed the three potential Admirals who were known as monsters in the Navy.
"The Final Showdown"
In Sengoku's office.
Garp sat beside Sengoku, constantly eating senbei.
Sengoku's forehead was increasingly marked with the "#" symbol.
"Garp, do you really like eating my senbei that much?"
"Yeah, because if I lose the bet, I won't be able to eat them anymore. I have to eat my fill now!"
"But I feel like even if you lose the bet, you'll still eat them!"
"Hahaha, Sengoku, you really know me. But are you really going to arrange for Akainu and Ryuya to fight in the next match? You know, this is the fight for the position of Admiral?!"
"Garp, I know what you're thinking. But based on my observations these past few days, Ryuya's personality is most compatible with our Doves. Even if we can't recruit him into our faction, it's better than Akainu getting promoted!"
The Navy wasn't a monolithic entity. The factions within it were incredibly complex.
Sengoku had two plans in mind.
The first plan was to offer Ryuya an olive branch after he was defeated by Akainu, recruiting this incredibly talented person into the Doves.
The second plan was that if Ryuya could defeat Akainu, they would reach an agreement and work together, all for peace on the sea!
Garp naturally understood Sengoku's plan, but that was precisely why he was curious about why Sengoku was so confident that Ryuya would defeat Akainu?!
After finalizing the list, Sengoku had his subordinates release it.
Everyone who saw the list was shocked.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, did you hear? Akainu is facing Ryuya!"
"Really? Akainu is actually facing Ryuya!"
"It's true, it's been made public."
"I remember Akainu said to Ryuya before, if he ever met him, he'd make him pay!"
"That's definitely something Akainu would say. After all, he's so ruthless!"
…
Compared to the gentle Ryuya, Akainu, with his ruthless methods, was genuinely disliked.
Standing before the list of matches, Akainu looked at the contents, clenched his fists, and a powerful aura emanated from him. "Ryuya, don't lose too badly tomorrow! The Navy doesn't need someone who suddenly interferes!"
"We'll see about that tomorrow, won't we?"
Ryuya, standing next to Akainu, smiled and said to him.
Akainu snorted and turned away, leaving the list.
____________________
for more advance chapters visit my p@treon
p@treon.com/kane45
Casual Reader - 15 Advance Chapters
Intermediate Reader - 30 Advance Chapters
Expert Reader - 60 Advance Chapters