"What the heck is this thing?!"
Momonosuke screamed in sheer terror from the sky.
Because the fat and oil that Kaido generously gave him was now relentlessly piling up around his neck, fusing to the torn flesh at the base of his skull.
Worse, his pink aura—his life source—defied his will. It recognized the oil as compatible flesh and continued pumping Sakura Dragon energy into it.
Fueled by that energy, the fat—absorbing the Sakura Dragon vitality—grew uncontrollably.
Pseudo-muscles formed from the oil began winding around the living skeleton of the Sakura roots. Layers of faux dragon scales, molded from the same fat, adhered without gaps.
And before long, Momonosuke realized—he had become a fat dragon.
A transformation from a regenerating, plant-flesh hybrid Sakura Dragon into a blubbery mass of worthless fat.
It wasn't just disgusting. The oil clogged every pathway in the Sakura root system—crippling his energy circulation.
That he could still stay airborne without dropping like a stone was nothing less than miraculous.
Kaido, with a smirk, admired the results.
"Look at how greasy that is—if we lit him up, he'd burn for ten days and nights. Perfect for the main flame of my fire festival!"
Roya snorted in response.
"Wano doesn't need you. And it doesn't need your fire festival."
Kaido shrugged, and backed off. Up above, Momonosuke seemed to have accepted his fate.
He writhed on his bloated frame, roaring:
"You mortals are truly ignorant! Life shape makes no difference now—for even with this form, I can still wipe you out!"
With that, his massive fat tail slashed downward—not toward any individual—but directly toward the entire banquet platform.
BOOM!
The ground—long endured through all the battles so far—crumbled like tofu under the blow.
The nearly 200-meter Sakura Dragon re-rooted itself deeply into Onigashima soil. Then, it shrunk rapidly to about thirty meters, the rest sinking underground.
Now, the part above ground was sized to match a human's—suitable for fighting someone like Roya.
As it shrank, the ground shook violently.
One dried Sakura tree sprouted after another from the earth—twisted, lifeless trunks with no bloodline behind them.
They grew chaotically, offering no clue to their purpose.
Momonosuke roared again—and spewed another Sakura Poison Dragon Breath toward the sky.
It didn't dissipate. Instead, it formed a dense pink cloud above Onigashima.
Lightning crackled inside. In moments, several thunderbolts as thick as buckets ripped down toward the ground.
CRACK! BOOM!
The sky shattered with thunder. As the bolts neared the brittle Sakura trunks, they instantly branched into hundreds of smaller arcs—each striking a separate tree at once.
A pink lightning storm erupted—the energy wild and pervasive.
Every time a bolt jumped from tree to tree, it released charges capable of piercing open air.
Tiny electric sparks rained downward like serpent troops.
In an instant, the banquet platform was turned into a horrific pink thunderfield.
Even just seeing the pink hue made clear: this wasn't lightning alone. It carried a dark Sakura Poison taint.
The survivors on the platform had no choice but to activate Armament Haki, just to hold off the deadly sparks.
Kaido and Big Mom exchanged a knowing look and shrieked:
"Lord Roya, that creature is fierce—looks like only you can stand against it!"
"We'll get out before we become dead weight—so you can handle that bastard alone!"
With that, Kaido leapt off the platform and sprinted toward the sea—without looking back.
Big Mom followed close behind.
Many of the Calamities, the Flying Six, and even the Sweet Commanders attempted to follow their boss's lead.
But Momonosuke had no intention of letting them escape.
Three massive lightning strikes descended again from the sky!
The electrical reaction among those dried Sakura trunks doubled in intensity—instantly overwhelming the Haki defenses of anyone caught in its path.
Screams filled the air. Among the Flying Six, only Drake had already returned to Roya's side.
The rest, including Scratchmen Apoo, fell unconscious from the electric barrage.
They collapsed trembling—pink electric blossoms infiltrating through every pore and pressure point.
Then their bodies were dissected into flesh nodules, which wriggled and merged with the dried Sakura branches—harvested by Sakura Poison as nourishment.
Much of Big Mom's dessert crew suffered the same fate.
The most powerful opponents—like the Calamities and Sweet Commanders—held on longer, but had already lost any chance of escape.
Once the pink lightning had had enough—it combined its remaining energy and launched itself toward Roya, as well as those under his protection—Hiyori and the Red Scabbards.
"Fools!" Roya whispered disdainfully.
He swung his hand, and a sharp strand of Observation-Haki blade flared from his fingertips—tracing across the entire banquet platform.
In the blink of an eye, every dried Sakura tree—even the main trunk Momonosuke inhabited—was cut clean in half.
"No!"
Momonosuke screamed in agony as he lurched upward.
But the trunk—and rooted structure—was severed. Now he had lost two-thirds of his mass.
From the cut stumps, thick globs of putrid fat began gushing out.
When the remaining lightning struck the fat, it ignited into a burning inferno.
In seconds, pink flaming mist engulfed the entire banquet platform—consuming it utterly.
That extinguished any hope Momonosuke had of reclaiming the severed branches and reweaving himself into his body's skeleton.
"You bastard! You ignited me fully, you lowly reptile!"