The battle continued to escalate.
Seeing the half-dead Killer, Kid flew into a rage and began overexerting his Jiki Jiki no Mi's Abilities.
Under his influence, not just weapons, but even metal objects from nearby houses and construction materials flew up, rapidly converging towards Kid.
X Drake, as a Marine spy, couldn't stand by any longer. His sense of justice wouldn't allow it.
So he leaped out, drawing the sword and axe at his waist, and shouted towards Kid's direction.
"Hey! You Supernovas! If you want to fight, go to the New World!"
Clearly, Kid, enraged by his partner's severe injury, had no patience for this newcomer and ignored him outright.
This conveniently gave Drake an excuse to intervene.
"You bastard, ignoring me?!"
He yelled and decisively charged towards Kid.
As he charged, his body elongated, quickly entering his hybrid human-beast form.
As a user of the Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Allosaurus, he possessed strength and stamina surpassing modern beasts. (T/N: Dragon-Dragon Fruit.)
Moreover, unlike the other Supernovas, Drake, being a Marine spy, had received Haki training early on, giving him a clear advantage in that regard.
Meanwhile, Apoo couldn't escape involvement either.
"Hey! You guys, watch out!"
The Longarm Tribe had an extra arm bone compared to regular humans. This not only gave them greater hand strength but also allowed for more varied attacks using their arms.
Because of this, most Longarm Tribe members excelled at fist-based attacks. There was even [Destruction Cannon] Ideo within their tribe, who could create explosive effects with just his fists.
But Apoo was different.
He utilized every part of his body to launch attacks.
As a user of the Oto Oto no Mi, Apoo could turn any part of his body into a musical instrument. By 'playing' them, he could produce different effects through sound waves. (T/N: Tone-Tone Fruit.)
Like right now.
Fighting Music: Scratch!
He extended a hand and played his teeth as if they were piano keys.
Simultaneously with the sound, several silent slashing attacks shot towards the people below.
"Such petty attacks-"
Unlike Bege, Urouge, and Konohamaru, who were still standing around, Karin, being highly sensitive to sound, detected those sonic blades almost instantly.
Her response was simple.
"Get lost!"
Her shout transformed into similar sound waves, instantly disrupting all the sonic slashes around them, turning them into harmless noise.
"Ah bap bap bap bap! A troublesome woman!"
Seeing his move countered by Karin's voice, Apoo wasn't flustered. He simply leaped onto a rooftop and started running away.
He loved stirring up trouble, but when the heat was on him, he was the most pragmatic.
Unfortunately for him, Karin's speed far exceeded his.
A flash of golden light, and the Valkyrie appeared directly above him, gently flapping her wings.
"Keep running~"
"Hiss-"
Apoo sucked in a cold breath, then quickly slapped his chest.
Boom!
"Ah bap bap bap! Fool! At this close range-"
Looking at the Valkyrie shrouded in explosive black smoke, Apoo let out his peculiar laugh again.
His Oto Oto no Mi could do more than just launch sonic slashes!
Before Apoo's laughter finished, a sharp claw pierced through the smoke and directly gripped his throat.
The Longarm Tribe Supernova immediately became like a chicken with its neck wrung, unable to utter a word.
He finally remembered his Longarm Tribe heritage and threw punches rapidly at Karin.
But without Haki, his attacks against the already hybrid-transformed Karin were like tickling.
"Go down!"
Gripping Apoo, Karin spun rapidly downwards, dragging him with her.
This move was inspired by a Konoha's Taijutsu technique called [Front Lotus].
Boom!
Although Apoo was the last among the Supernovas to attack, he was the first to be eliminated.
After being slammed heavily into the ground, he fell into a dazed state.
Fortunately, Karin hadn't gone for the kill, otherwise, that single impact could have snuffed out this future informant for Kaido right in his cradle.
While Sasuke and Karin were dominating their fights, Konohamaru wasn't idle either.
Since the three appeared together, he was naturally considered an enemy by both Kid's and Bege's crews.
Their ordinary crew members swarmed towards Konohamaru.
In their eyes, anyone on the other side was an enemy.
Although Konohamaru was no match for a powerful enemy like Jack, dealing with these ordinary pirates was well within his capabilities.
"Ganging up on me? I, Konohamaru, am not afraid of you!"
Perhaps infected by the battlefield's atmosphere, the aura brewing within Konohamaru finally erupted.
He flashed a confident smile, just like the one he remembered Naruto using, and formed hand seals.
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!
Poof! Poof! Poof!...
Smoke rapidly billowed across the battlefield. Then, under the stunned gazes of the pirates, countless identical Konohamarus charged out from the smoke.
"Come on! Now let's see who has the numbers advantage!"
The shadow clones, wrapped in varying amounts of Haki, rushed at the pirates.
These pirates, who hadn't even made a name for themselves, and the mafia members relying on firearms, were no match for Konohamaru.
Thud!
Thud! Thud!
The pirates, lacking any elite fighters, were quickly pushed back. Even when both sides realized their disadvantage and temporarily stopped fighting each other to jointly attack Konohamaru, it was futile.
Their slashes couldn't hit Konohamaru.
And one punch from Konohamaru was enough to leave few standing.
Even if a few sneaky ones hid in the crowd and landed a shot on him, he would just disappear with a poof of smoke.
It was simply unfair.
Drake barely blocked Sasuke's kick with his weapons, then saw Konohamaru using the clone technique.
As a Marine spy, he had to study information on many powerful figures in the New World.
This ability to fight thousands alone, creating countless copies, reminded Drake of another individual.
A guy who gave both the Marines and the World Government headaches.
[The Great Hero], Naruto Uzumaki.
Of course, that man had another title, which was why Drake connected Konohamaru to him.
[One-Man Army]
Literally, a one-man army.
Legend had it that twenty years ago, Naruto used an unknown ability to create countless copies of himself, single-handedly holding off one of the Four Emperors, Kaido.
It was after that battle that Naruto shot to fame. Later, it was uncovered that he, like Shanks, had been an apprentice on Pirate King's ship.
After that, the guy became unstoppable.
Whitebeard, Big Mom, Shiki... various veteran powerhouses either fought him to a standstill or were defeated by him.
And Drake knew more: one of the Marine Admirals, Akainu, Sakazuki, had his arm broken by that man.
'If this kid was connected to that man, things might get complicated.'
Although Drake hadn't received any specific intelligence, he knew discussions about Naruto within the Marines had skyrocketed recently.
Even this execution of the 'sinful bloodline', [Fire Fist] Ace, was related to that man.
'What a troublemaker,' Drake thought, while struggling to defend against Sasuke's attacks.
Unconsciously, the battle situation had shifted to Sasuke single-handedly suppressing him, Bege, and Kid.
Their attacks couldn't land on him, while his every punch and kick accurately broke through their defenses.
'This guy's Haki level is high.'
Drake could tell.
A young powerhouse of such exceptional skill shouldn't be so unknown.
Just as Drake was puzzling over this, a voice suddenly spread across the entire battlefield.
"Everyone, stop for a moment."
The voice wasn't loud, but it was penetrating.
And somehow, it seemed to carry a subtle pressure.
Hearing it, everyone instinctively slowed their movements, their eyes turning towards the source.
Click-clack, click-clack-
The sound of geta sandals reached their ears, as if stepping on their very hearts.
Led by a 'meek and honest' Urouge, a man wearing an orange haori slowly walked into the battlefield.