En-Ō Santōryū: Ippyakusanjo Hiryu Jigoku
(King of Hell Three Sword Dragon: 103 Emotions – Flying Dragon Samurai Extreme)
This was the ultimate technique Zoro had mastered after acquiring the black blade Kokuto Enma.
A newly developed, strongest-ever Three Sword Style finisher.
Once before—
Zoro had used this very strike to cleave through King the Conflagration's flaming dragon… and cut down the Beasts Pirates' second-in-command himself.
A feat that proved just how devastating this attack was.
Now, on the chaotic battlefield of the Summit War—
Zoro unleashed the same strike once more.
But this time, his opponent was far more terrifying than King—
the Marine Headquarters' highest combat power, Admiral Kizaru.
What would the outcome be?
Kizaru's hands moved in a blur.
The same radiant energy blade he once used to cross swords with the Dark King Rayleigh materialized once again, shining even brighter than the sun.
Golden light exploded as the Admiral met Zoro's "King of Hell" slash head-on.
Blinding energy clashed with overwhelming sword aura, the two forces grinding against each other in a deadlocked stalemate.
Kizaru was, after all, one of the absolute peak powers atop the pyramid of the sea—
a full tier above a Yonko's top commander.
A slash that could obliterate King the Conflagration was, against Kizaru, unable to completely overwhelm him.
In fact, the Admiral still had strength to spare.
"Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro… in just ten days, you've even mastered Haki. No—
not just you. Every last one of you Straw Hats has completely transformed. Care to tell me… what exactly happened?"
Kizaru's lazy drawl carried an edge of curiosity.
"Hah… who knows? You can try and guess," Zoro smirked.
His arm muscles bulged, strength surging as his sword aura flared even higher.
But Kizaru's glowing blade hand still held firm, unmoving.
"If you won't talk, then so be it. Ten days ago, I missed that kick.
Today… I won't."
Kizaru's right leg suddenly blazed with golden light—preparing to unleash his signature light-speed kick.
"Not good!!!"
Marco's expression changed. He spread his wings to intervene—
But suddenly—
A crushing pressure descended from above.
Flames and lightning burst without warning as a golden figure appeared midair—
Sanji, in Stealth Black form, swooping in to join the fight.
Even Zoro knew—
not even he could fight an Admiral alone without overconfidence.
From the very start, this strike had been a coordinated assault.
The Pirate King's two wings—joining forces against Kizaru.
"You're too slow, curly-brow!!!" Zoro barked.
"Shut it, moss-head!" Sanji shot back, his body coiling into a Leo Kick stance.
His Lineage Factor boiled, exoskeleton resonating with his battle suit.
He unleashed a kick at maximum power—
"Ifrit Jambe – Boeuf Burst!!!"
BOOM!
Flames and crackling lightning erupted as Sanji's Ifrit Jambe clashed directly with Kizaru's light-speed kick.
The explosion sent shockwaves rippling through the very air.
"Ara ara…"
Kizaru's eyes narrowed slightly at Sanji's combat suit.
"That transformation… Germa 66's Stealth Black, Number 3. No wonder, no wonder…"
As a North Blue native, Kizaru knew Germa 66 well—he had even encountered them during Marine dealings with the World Government.
"I told you, I have NOTHING to do with Germa!" Sanji snarled.
"Well, that kick isn't bad.
But it's still not enough to beat my light-speed kick~" Kizaru smirked, pressing his glowing leg down against Sanji.
"Not over yet!!!"
Sanji's blood boiled hotter.
His legs blurred as he launched kick after kick at blistering speed.
Ifrit Jambe at full output—finally forcing Kizaru's light-speed kick to a standstill.
Now, the Pirate King's two wings and the Admiral were locked in a tense deadlock.
The entire battlefield was stunned.
"No way!!!"
"What the hell is happening today?!"
"Straw Hat and that mysterious girl were one thing—but why are Zoro and Black Leg Sanji holding off Admiral Kizaru?!"
"Ten days ago, Borsalino crushed the entire Straw Hat crew with ease! And now…"
"That Black Leg guy is actually blocking a light-speed kick head-on! That's insane!"
"And Zoro's Busoshoku… it's unbelievably strong!!!"
All across the battlefield, elite Marines stared in disbelief.
Sengoku's jaw tightened. "Don't tell me… Borsalino's holding back?!"
Zephyr scoffed, using the moment to criticize. "That fool relies too much on his Devil Fruit—he's neglected his Haki and physical training!"
Garp, meanwhile, grinned proudly. "Regardless of whether Kizaru's acting or not… Luffy's crew has definitely grown stronger!"
Elsewhere on the ice—
Admiral Aokiji's gaze shifted from Kizaru to Luffy.
"The Straw Hats… really are strange," he murmured.
Before he could think further, Jozu attacked, shattering his ice body—
only for Aokiji to counter immediately, unleashing Ice Block – Pheasant Beak at Luffy.
Luffy didn't even flinch.
His right arm stretched back to the limit, steam hissing from his body as he entered Gear 2.
Advanced Busoshoku coated his fist—sparking with heat from friction against the air until flames roared to life.
Two Yamatos swooped in from above, smashing the giant ice bird apart—
And through the gap, Luffy launched his strike.
"Gomu Gomu no… Fire Fist Red Hawk!!!"
The Fifth Emperor, Luffy, struck.
In honor of his late brother Ace, he unleashed Fire Fist – Red Hawk, the flaming punch shooting forward like a bullet, as fast as lightning.
The high heat of the flames instantly vaporized the surrounding ice shards in its path.
Through the narrow gap in Aokiji's Pheasant Beak, the Fire Fist Red Hawk pierced through—
—striking Admiral Aokiji's true body dead-on.
Even the Admiral himself hadn't expected such perfect coordination from the enemy. Caught completely off guard, he hadn't been able to preemptively shift into his elemental ice form.
Luffy's advanced Busoshoku Haki gripped and bound him—
BOOM!
The flaming fist punched straight through Aokiji's chest, scattering his ice body into countless fragments.
"Admiral!"
"Aokiji-taichō!"
"Kuzan-taichō!"
Nearby Marine elites who witnessed it firsthand cried out in shock.
"Alala…"
Aokiji glanced down at the gaping hole in his chest and let out a helpless sigh.
A second later, searing flames roared up—burning his fragmented body to almost nothing.
"How can this be?!"
"The Admiral… the Admiral was burned away!"
"This… this can't happen!"
"Kuzan-taichō, defeated?!"
The Marines clutched their heads in disbelief, unable to accept what they had just seen.
"Oi! Stop talking nonsense! Admiral Kuzan could never die so easily!" veteran Vice Admirals barked back.
A moment later—
On the ice nearby, shards began to gather.
Piece by piece, they reformed into Admiral Aokiji's figure.
The undefeated Admiral still stood—though the trace of blood at the corner of his mouth proved he'd been injured.
Before the Marines could even process the sight of their Admiral wounded—
A deafening crash echoed from above.
The clash between Admiral Kizaru and the Pirate King's two wings—Zoro and Sanji—had reached its conclusion.
Under Zoro's King of Hell – Three Sword Style and Sanji's Ifrit Jambe, Kizaru's light blade shattered.
His pride—his light-speed kick—failed to land.
The Admiral was driven from the air, slamming heavily into the plaza in an explosion of dust.
"Kizaru-taichō!!!"
"Borsalino-san!!!"
The Marines in the bay plaza cried out in disbelief.
In barely over ten seconds—
Two of Marine Headquarters' highest combat forces had been struck down in succession by the Straw Hats.
It was like something out of a dream—too unreal to believe
Moments later, countless photons flashed, condensing once again into Kizaru's form.
"Scaaary~" the Admiral drawled, lips curling as usual.
Aside from some damage to his clothing, he was unharmed—because he had chosen to retreat.
Zoro and Sanji were strong—but defeating him outright was still a step beyond their reach.
Kizaru had sensed Marco ready to move.
If, in the middle of their deadlock, he were struck by someone of Marco's caliber… he might end up like Aokiji—spitting blood.
So he had made the tactical choice to pull back.
Still, such a move was another blow to Marine morale.
For the Marines, Marco's strength was understandable—he was Whitebeard's right-hand man, the strongest under the Yonko, with a former bounty of 1,374,000,000 beli.
But Pirate Hunter Zoro and Black Leg Sanji?
They had been at sea for less than a year, reckless youths whose combined bounties didn't even top 200 million.
And yet…
"When the hell did the Straw Hats get this strong?!"
Shichibukai Gecko Moria's eyes flickered. Seeing Luffy injure Aokiji and Zoro and Sanji drive back Kizaru, he realized—
if they turned on him now, he'd be wiped out instantly. Better to keep his head down and keep watching.
"Fufufufu… For rookies of this level, even a 1.5 billion bounty each wouldn't be enough!"
Shichibukai Doflamingo laughed aloud.
"Roronoa Zoro—that strike… splendid," Dracule Mihawk said with a nod, praising Zoro's King of Hell technique.
"Luffy~ Truly the man I've set my heart on~"
The Pirate Empress Boa Hancock cupped her cheek, lost in a lovestruck daze.
Her open declarations of affection went unnoticed in the chaos.
The Straw Hat trio had repelled two Marine Admirals.
Marine morale plummeted, and even Vice Admiral Momonga's group no longer dared to advance.
The pirates' morale, meanwhile, soared to the heavens—cheers and laughter echoed skyward.
At the same time—
In Sabaody Archipelago's public plaza—
Tens of thousands of civilians and reporters stared, dumbstruck, at the live feed of two Admirals being driven back.
Luffy's one-shot of a veteran Vice Admiral could be explained away with excuses.
But injuring an Admiral—one of the Navy's highest powers, equal to a Yonko—
there was no way to write that off as luck.
"I don't believe it! An Admiral can't lose to a bunch of brats!"
"Then what, are you saying this is fake?!"
"Or that all the Admirals are just actors?!"
"Face it! That Straw Hat Luffy has really grown strong enough to fight an Admiral!"
A reporter whispered, trembling:
"He really is the Fifth Emperor now—Straw Hat Luffy."
The plaza erupted.
"You're kidding—ten days ago he was just another Supernova like us, and now he's the Fifth Emperor? They haven't even set foot in the New World yet!"
Fire Tank Pirates captain Capone Bege shook his head in disbelief.
"Don't know what happened to them… but from what we've seen of Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji today, they've got the qualifications to be a Yonko crew," said the Mad Monk Urouge.
"And those twin sisters—if they're Straw Hats too—then in top-tier combat power, they're already on par with the other Yonko," added the defector Rear Admiral X Drake gravely.
Suddenly—
"Oi, quiet down! Look at the big screen!" a civilian shouted.
"Something's falling!"
"That's… a warship?"
"Marine reinforcements?"
"No… wait. Those people are wearing prison clothes!"
"Hold on! Some of those faces… I know them!"
The square erupted in confusion.
On the high platform, Bege, Urouge, Drake, and Bonney's eyes went wide, their faces twisting in shock.
They might not know everyone aboard—
but a week ago, the man responsible for nearly getting them all annihilated by Admiral Kizaru?
They'd never forget him.
"That's… Straw Hat Luffy!!!"
"And… there's two of him?!"