"He's fast!" Gion thought, eyes widening in surprise as she watched Cudius' movements. His speed had more than doubled from earlier, catg her off guard. At that moment, Gion was fully vihat Cudius had finally gotten serious.

  In the blink of an eye, Cudius closed the distaweehrowing a powerful straight punch aimed at Gion's chest. Reag quickly, Gion stepped back to avoid the hit, thinking she'd successfully evaded the attack. But just as she prepared to ter, a sharp pain shot through her chest. Despite missing her by a hair, the punch carried an invisible force that struck her hard, sending her flying backward.

  As Gion was knocked back, realization dawned on her. "So this is the power of his Logia Devil Fruit," she thought, grittieeth. Cudius's ability was invisible, colorless, and intangible, making it a serious threat to ahout strong Observation Haki.

  Cudius hadn't even touched her directly, but his ability to manipute nitrogen gas had extehe range of his attacks, allowing him to hit from a distahout making physical tact. He showed no mercy, and another burst of white smoke erupted from his feet as he shot fain, closing the gap almost instantly.

  Gion found herself on the deferuggling to keep up as Cudius unched a series of relentless attacks, using his invisible nitrogen manipution to disrupt her every move. The pressure he applied was intense, and her momentum from earlier had been pletely crushed. Each strike forced her to react quickly, but the unseen nature of his attacks made it nearly impossible tain trol.

  As she tio evade, Gion realized something else. The air around her was getting thinner. She could feel the suffog pressure building up Cudius was maniputing the air, depriving her of oxygen. If this kept up, she'd be in serious trouble.

  "He's using every advantage he in close bat..." Gion thought, grittieeth. The fight had beore challenging than she expected. His powers were more dangerous than she'd anticipated, and his fighting instincts were sharper than she gave him credit for.

  Determined not to lose, Gion steeled herself. Armament Haki surged across her body, and she took one of Cudius's punches head-on, using the impact to push herself backward and create some distaween them. She nded smoothly, her breathing steady, but her gaze had sharpened.

  "It seems you're worthy of my full effort!" Gion said seriously, her voice carrying a weight of determination.

  Cudius blinked in surprise. "Wait, I was just pretending to be serious. Now you're saying you're about to get serious?" he thought, feeling a bit uneasy. He knew Gion would bee an Admiral didate iure, so he couldn't uimate her now.

  Cudius remained cautious, watg as Gion took a deep breath. "Rabbit!" she whispered.

  Suddenly, the air around Gion shifted. Her aura intensified, and Cudius could feel her strength surge to new heights more than double what it was before. But what caught him off guard was her sudden transformation. From her head sprouted long rabbit ears, and a fluffy white tail appeared at her back. Her eyes turned a soft peach color, and strange markings adorned her forehead.

  Cudius blinked in disbelief. "A... bunny girl?" he muttered, his voice ced with amusement.

  Gion's face turned a bright shade of red. She hated using her Zoan-type Devil Fruit, the Mythical Zoan, Rabbit Rabbit Fruit, for exactly this reason. The rabbit ears and tail made her feel self-scious, ae her immense power, she rarely used this form unless absolutely necessary. (T/N: I'm not aware of Gion having a devil fruit, but I guess this is one of the author's tweaks. Also, keep in mind this fic was written ba 2020, so you might e across some things that weren't known at that time.)

  But seeing Cudius's amused expression only fueled her embarrassment aermination. Without a word, she stomped her feet, ung herself toward Cudius with incredible speed.

  Her movement was so fast that Cudius could barely register it. "She's ridiculously fast!" he thought, struggling to rea time.

  "Tempest Kick!" Gion called out, her voice sharp.

  Before Cudius could defend himself, her foot smmed into his chest. This time, the force was much stronger, and the impact was immediate. Cudius felt a sharp pain radiate through his chest, and blood spilled from the er of his mouth. His body flew backward, crashing into the wall of the training ground, shattering it on impact.

  "Ahh, Gion's angry," Kuzan remarked casually, watg the se unfold with a grin.

  Zephyr, standing nearby, shook his head in mild exasperation but reassured Nia, who looked ready to panic. "Don't wion isn't cruel. She might be angry, but she knows how to trol herself. Of course... ight be in for some pain. He might not be getting out of bed for a few days," Zephyr added with a chuckle.

  Cudius groaned as he y in the rubble, his whole body ag from the blow. "Damn... all I did was call her a bunny girl. Was that really necessary?" he muttered to himself, wing from the pain.

  Despite the pain, Cudius wasn't ready to give up. Struggling to his feet, he pushed the debris away and spotted Gion leaping into the air, preparing to nd another devastating attack.

  "What is this? Is she going to drop out of the sky and crush me?" Cudius quipped, uo resist a sarcastient even in the face of danger.

  His body reacted instinctively, white smoke trailing from his feet as he rolled out of the way just in time. The spot where he had been lying moments before exploded as Gion nded, her fist crashing down with enough force to create a massive crater.

  Cudius watched the se with wide eyes. "She would've turned me into a pancake if that hit me..." he thought, shivering at the thought.

  Gion straightened up, pulling her fist from the ground, her eyes still full of fury. Cudius swallowed nervously. "I thought ivorous Zoan fruits were supposed to be the violent ones. How is a rabbit this terrifying?"

  Taking a deep breath, Gion calmed herself, addressing Cudius with a stern tone. "Since you're an oppo worthy of my full strength, I'll tell you. I'm not just a regur rabbit Zoan. This is a Mythical Zoan," she said, her voice steady.

  Before Cudius could respond, Gion's figure blurred again as she unched forward with another punch. Cudius barely had time to react, turning his body to gas as the punch passed through him, avoiding damage.

  However, elementalizing his body couldn't save him for long. As soon as Cudius returo his physical fion was right behind him. Her rabbit paw, now transformed into a furry hand, nded squarely on his shoulder.

  "I've got you now," Gion whispered, a triumphant smile on her lips.

  Cudius was shocked. He could feel the pressure of her Armament Haki log onto his physical form. There was no esg this time.

  In a fsh of desperation, Cudius drew his short sword, Shinsō, intending to strike back, but Gion was oep ahead. She grabbed his wrist, f the bde away, and pinned him in pce.

  "Any st moves? If not, this battle is mine," Gion said fidently, tightening her grip.

  Cudius grinned, despite the pain. "Are you sure about that?"

  "Hmph, go ahead and try. I'm not afraid," Gion replied, though she remained on high alert.

  "Well, I wasn't pnning on using this move, but you've hurt my pride a little. So..." Cudius whispered, his tone soft yet ominous.

  Gion's grip tightened even more, ready for whatever Cudius had up his sleeve. She wasn't going to let him escape.

  "Shoot her... Shinsō!" Cudius murmured, his voice barely audible.

  In the instant, a fsh of blood-red light filled the space between them. Gion's eyes widened in disbelief as she felt a cold, sharp pain in her abdomen. Shinsō had extended, pierg both Cudius and Gion simultaneously.

  She hadn't anticipated such a reckless move. Shinsō, with its unique ability, had struck both of them, and Cudius had used the bde's lengthening power to surprise her.

  Cudius, now free of her grip, took advantage of the moment. He twisted around, grabbing Gion's wrist and log her in pce. With his other hand, he pressed Shinsō's edge lightly against her neck, the bde still dripping with blood.

  He leaned in, his voice low and slightly strained. "Looks like you forced me to use this. Now… you've lost."

  Gion stood frozen, shocked by the sudden turn of events. She hadn't expected Cudius to have such a trick up his sleeve.