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Gulp!
Tension hung heavily in the air as someone swallowed hard and fixed their gaze on the island ahead.
A gentle breeze stirred, ruffling their robes.
Suddenly, two figures shot forward from the island at incredible speed, appearing as streaks of light to the onlookers.
"The battle begins!" Someone roared, their voice a mix of tension and exhilaration.
The two figures closed the distance in an instant, visible to the naked eye, then swung their blades ruthlessly.
Bang!
A deafening roar erupted, and a violent shockwave instantly obliterated the gentle breeze and scattered the smoke. The shockwave sent Marco and the other officers reeling and made their faces pale.
"This battle is at least twice as intense as their clash on the Moby Dick earlier!" Vista exclaimed in shock.
"This is their true battle!"
In a darkened corner, Marshall Teach watched the duel with burning intensity.
One of the combatants was Whitebeard, the World's Strongest Man.
The other was a rising Marine legend, renowned for capturing Roger and Golden Lion Shiki. From the very first clash, the clash between these two titans erupted into a spectacle of awe-inspiring force.
"Such power is absolutely astonishing!" Marshall Teach trembled, his eyes fixed on the young figure in the arena.
In terms of age, he and his opponent were not far apart. Yet their difference in strength was as vast as heaven and earth.
"One day!" Teach clenched his fist fiercely. "I will possess such power too!"
His eyes blazed with ambition.
On the desolate island, the two blades clashed violently, and crimson-black lightning twisted and flickered across the sky, shaking the heavens themselves.
"Gulalala!" Whitebeard roared with laughter. "This is a battle worthy of my enjoyment!"
"Young man, your strength has earned my respect!"
With that, Whitebeard gripped his blade once more with his right hand and delivered another thunderous slash.
Kojin swiftly parried, a grin spreading across his face.
"Your power excites me, too, Whitebeard!"
As he fought the World's Strongest Man, Kojin experienced a sensation unlike anything Golden Lion Shiki could have elicited. It wasn't just the sheer difference in power; it was also the profound disparity in their mental and spiritual fortitude.
Their blades clashed fiercely, moving too fast for the eye to follow.
Crimson-black lightning, infused with Haoshoku Haki, crackled around them. The oppressive Haoshoku aura made the entire island feel heavy.
"Let's see just how far you've climbed in this world!" Whitebeard's gaze sharpened as he roared with laughter.
In an instant, his massive frame vanished at lightning speed. Kojin's pupils constricted as he snapped his head up. The colossal figure was already towering above him, gripping his naginata, Murakumogiri, with both hands and poised to strike.
Boom!
The air vibrated and rippled outward. A faint halo materialized on the blade of Murakumogiri and rapidly coalesced into a spherical shape.
"Next! Give it your all, boy! Survive my attack! Gulalala!"
Whitebeard roared with laughter as he slashed his hands down ruthlessly. Kojin's mind trembled as he gripped his blade; an endless divine light blazed in his eyes.
The blade vibrated violently. Crimson-black lightning, infused with Haoshoku Haki, crackled across its surface while golden sakura petals danced around it. Flowing sakura coalesced into a pitch-black sheen.
A deep voice thundered through the air:
"Kamusari (Divine Departure)!"
With a swing of the blade, the very fabric of space seemed to distort. The two blades hurtled towards each other in the air, colliding with brutal force. Time and space seemed to freeze. The world was blinded by a bright light, leaving grains of sand and leaves quivering and suspended in midair.
Roughly two breaths later, the pause button on the world was released.
Then...
BANG!
A massive tremor surged downwards, rippling along the blade and engulfing Kojin's body. His expression instantly twisted in agony. His internal organs convulsed and were instantly damaged, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
At the same time, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble violently and split open like shattered glass.
Tremor-Tremor Fruit!
The terrifying tremor power had inflicted internal injuries on Kojin from the moment of the first clash.
He's truly powerful!
His strength was beyond words!
Whitebeard roared ferociously in mid-air. He had witnessed the power of Divine Departure countless times, yet this man's strike was no less formidable than Roger's.
"ROAR!"
With a deafening roar, Whitebeard's massive frame was propelled upwards by the force of the blade. His hands went numb and the surging electricity scorched his skin black.
What a powerful brat!
The same thought flashed through his mind.
He had only ever witnessed such overwhelming power, in swordsmanship, Haki, and raw strength, in Roger and Garp. From this day forward, it seemed there would be another name to add to that list.
Amidst the howling wind, Whitebeard's massive frame was thrown uncontrollably into the sky by the colossal impact.
Suddenly, his pupils constricted.
"Oh?"
Above and behind him, a blinding light erupted, its searing heat instantly vaporizing the moisture from his body.
He whirled around and gazed up at the heavens.
"1.2 billion Volts - Heavenly punishment!" A majestic voice boomed from above as a towering thunder pillar pierced the void and plunged towards him.
"Is that the Goro Goro no Mi (Thunder Thunder Fruit)?"
"What a formidable power!"
Whitebeard roared with laughter. His naginata, Murakumogiri, vibrated in his hand as he swung it ferociously towards the lightning.
BOOM!
Tremor waves erupted simultaneously, causing the surrounding air to ripple violently.
The Thunder Pillar descended, blotting out his entire field of vision. Yet Whitebeard remained unfazed, erupting into hearty laughter.
"Gulalala!"
Murakumogiri clashed violently with the Thunder Pillar, its lightning crackling with 1.2 billion volts of immense power.
At the moment of impact, however, a faint ka-cha sound echoed through the air.
Then, before Crocodile's astonished eyes, the Thunder Pillar shattered. This single strike had shattered the lightning itself.
Immediately afterwards, a tremor halo erupted beneath Whitebeard's feet. With a leap as swift as Blink, Whitebeard materialized before Kojin high in the sky.
"Is that all you've got, kid?" Whitebeard roared, his naginata slashing downwards.
Kojin grinned, his laughter echoing. 'This is just the beginning!'
Bang!
The two warriors clashed again in mid-air, unleashing terrifying shockwaves that radiated outwards and swept across tens of thousands of meters.
"You truly excite me... Whitebeard!'
He let out a soft sigh.
Then, endless lightning erupted from his eyes.
His long hair danced wildly in the surging electricity, elongating, while purple, cloud-patterned ribbons infused with Haoshoku Haki spiraled upwards. Behind him, the five Thunder Drum sigils materialized, connected by crackling purple lightning.
Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!
The deep, resonant drumbeat sent hearts racing.
"What's that?" Marco and the others murmured, their faces grave.
Looking skyward, they saw that the entire sky within a radius of 10,000 meters and even 100,000 meters was now saturated with dense lightning.
"Thunder God!"
Suddenly, they recalled his Marine title:
Hōng Lóng Lóng!
Deafening thunder shattered the air, piercing everyone's eardrums.
"Then let's fight with all our might!" Kojin's voice boomed across the battlefield.
In an instant, tens of thousands of lightning bolts erupted from his body, transforming him into a bolt of thunderlight that reached Whitebeard in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, tens of thousands of bolts of lightning crashed down from the sky behind him, forming countless golden, purple, and blue streaks that crisscrossed the heavens.
At that moment, the dome of the sky exploded like a fireworks display.
"Oh?" Whitebeard narrowed his eyes.
He threw back his head and roared with laughter, clenching his left fist and unleashing a devastating punch into the dense swarm of lightning.
Crackle! Crack!
The sky shattered, and tens of thousands of bolts of lightning were severed and vanished into nothingness.
By then, Kojin had already raised his blade above Whitebeard's head.
Whitebeard laughed again and swung Murakumogiri.
Bang!
A thunderous shockwave erupted. Starting from Kojin, dozens of massive, jagged fissures tore through the earth for tens of thousands of meters behind him.
Whoosh!
Kojin exhaled slowly, a wide grin splitting his face and his eyes burning with excitement. With a flick of his right hand, lightning crackled around him. He surged forward in a blinding flash, slashing downwards from a different angle.
Whitebeard reacted instantly, meeting the strike with his blade.
Soon, Kojin's speed increased exponentially, turning him into a living bolt of lightning.
Yet, even at this blistering pace, Whitebeard countered every strike with perfect precision, using either his blade or his bare fists.
He was demonstrating the pinnacle of his physical condition!
Remember that during the Marineford War, his deteriorating health had forced him to endure most attacks passively, relying solely on his resilience.
But now, his formidable body moved like that of a god or demon.
His reaction time and destructive power were unmatched anywhere in the world.
Their clash raged ceaselessly, from the skies to the island and back to the ocean surface.
The sky shattered, jagged fissures scarred the landscape of the island, and the ground was scorched black. The sea churned violently beneath them.
Kojin launched a full-force assault, unleashing every weapon in his arsenal: The Longinus Guns, the Thunder Giant, and the 2 Billion Volt Thunder God, among others.
But Whitebeard withstood each attack, sustaining only multiple scorch marks and a few superficial wounds.
Kojin was stunned by Whitebeard's staggering vitality.
In terms of physical prowess alone, Whitebeard surpassed his current self. His terrifying strength and astonishing stamina enabled him to completely disregard ordinary lightning strikes.
His indomitable fighting spirit and boundless energy were truly awe-inspiring.
Whitebeard, in turn, was equally astonished.
"He's taking the full force of my Tremor Fruit head-on!"
After such a relentless and brutal battle, he's still fighting with undiminished vigor.
"This kid's a monster!"
During their titanic clash, both combatants threw caution to the wind; each strike carried the force of a natural disaster. They repeatedly clashed head-on, each demonstrating extraordinary resilience against the other's attacks.
In the blink of an eye, the battle raged until dusk.
Thunder boomed across the island, accompanied by the constant sounds of shattering rock and splintering wood.
"They're both absolute monsters!"
"Kojin is terrifying! He's actually holding his own against the Old Man!"
"Before this, only Roger could do that!"
Marco and the others watched in wide-eyed shock as the two figures continued to trade blows on the island ahead of them, their blades and fists colliding endlessly.
This battle was clearly going to be long and arduous.
"Their Haki, Rokushiki, swordsmanship, and sheer willpower have all reached top-tier levels."
"So this is Whitebeard?"
Even his Devil Fruit powers seem unable to inflict significant damage on him in this all-out clash.'
Kojin's eyes shone with fervor as his excitement grew with each passing moment.
His opponent possessed an incredibly thick health bar, while his own life force seemed limitless.
A truly evenly matched battle!
(End of Chapter)