Lulusia Kingdom, Port Town.
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
Residential buildings were blasted apart by scorching hot magma, turning the surrounding area into a sea of molten fire.
Dog Bite Crimson Lotus! Akainu fiercely swung his magma-transformed right arm, turning it into a roaring dog head, and lunged towards Yamato, who was enveloped in cold air in the distance.
Yamato, whose feet were covered in a layer of ice armor, stomped on the magma-covered ground. Her body flashed, and without dodging, she raised her wolf fang club and charged towards the magma dog head.
Thunder Bagua!
The next moment, boom!
The moment it collided with the wolf fang club, the magma dog head was instantly blasted apart, turning into a sky full of magma that splashed in all directions, igniting the surrounding residential buildings. Thick black smoke rose.
Screaming Arrow! Leaping purple lightning quickly wrapped around the wolf fang club. After a brief charge, Yamato swung her hands forcefully, and a pillar of light as thick as a bucket, interwoven with white cold air and purple lightning, shot straight towards Akainu.
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!...
The cold air light pillar instantly pierced through Akainu's left chest and left shoulder, leaving a bucket-sized hole. It shot straight into the residential buildings behind him, finally dissipating after traversing hundreds of meters.
"If you don't die today, you will definitely have a place among the top powerhouses on this sea in the future! It's hard to imagine that someone like you was previously unknown. Where did you suddenly appear from..." Akainu's gaze was as sharp as a knife.
On his pierced and frozen left chest, magma surged and wriggled, reshaping his missing chest and shoulder.
"Hmph! I have no obligation to answer you..." Yamato snorted coldly, raised her wolf fang club with both hands, and charged towards Akainu.
Her Great Mouth True God Fruit allowed her to control cold air to create ice, while Akainu had the Natural System Magma-Magma Fruit, with scorching hot magma in his attacks. The two were mutually exclusive in terms of attributes... For a time, neither of them could quickly determine the winner!
Swish! Swish! Swish!...
Onigumo used his six arms, as well as his own hands, to wield eight standard military swords in a tight, impenetrable manner, slashing towards Kozuki Hiyori's vital points. However...
Facing Onigumo's stormy offensive, Kozuki Hiyori appeared very at ease, occasionally even casually blocking bullets that were wrapped in Armament Haki and shot from a distance. Through long-term sparring with Black Maria, Kozuki Hiyori had long become accustomed to this attack pattern, allowing her to handle it with ease.
Even though Onigumo's overall strength was slightly greater than Black Maria's, he still didn't pose a threat. Kozuki Hiyori turned her head and glanced toward Kuina. Then, she leaped back, putting distance between herself and Onigumo.
"It's time to end this! I was a little interested in toying with you, since your fighting style is similar to Black Maria's... but Kuina's situation seems a bit unfavorable. I need to finish you off quickly and go help."
Onigumo gritted his teeth, his face twisted with rage. "There's a limit to how much you can look down on people!"
"I'm not looking down on you. You just don't understand the size of the gap between us..."
As she spoke, Kozuki Hiyori's moist blue eyes turned red. Two vampire fangs grew from her mouth, completing her transformation in an instant. Her body shape and appearance began to change.
Tiger-like yellow-brown striped fur covered her fair skin. A slender black snake tail grew from her back, and a sash made of black flame clouds wrapped around her arms. In the blink of an eye, Kozuki Hiyori completed both her vampire and Nue transformations.
Crackling—!
Blue-white electric arcs appeared on Kozuki Hiyori's body, constantly stimulating her muscles. A brutal and powerful aura suddenly emanated from her.
Gulp—!
Seeing this, Onigumo's pupils shrunk, and he swallowed hard. An inexplicable feeling of being targeted by a savage beast arose in his heart.
The next moment, Onigumo's vision blurred. A figure wrapped in blue-white lightning crossed paths with his body. Pain and numbness erupted from his chest.
"I advise you to stand still and not move. You don't want to die from your wound bursting..." Kozuki Hiyori's indifferent voice came from behind him. Onigumo looked down and saw a huge wound had been cut from his left shoulder to his right waist.
He carefully assessed it and realized the wound had even reached the outside of his heart. If he moved recklessly, the wound would split open, and he would die on the spot...
What relieved Onigumo was that his Life Return cultivation level was very high. As long as he stood still for a few minutes and fully controlled his body's muscles to repair the damage, he could survive.
Thinking of this, Onigumo's face became grim. He had been shown mercy by a woman!?
It turned out that this woman hadn't been fighting him serio...
"I lost!"
After speaking, the six standard military swords Onigumo held in his arms clattered to the ground. After defeating Onigumo, Kozuki Hiyori immediately prepared to go support Kuina.
However...
A tall man wearing a white suit vest and a dark blue shirt suddenly blocked her path forward. Aokiji scratched his head, looked at Kozuki Hiyori, and said with a slightly helpless expression, "Well... Although I'm on vacation."
"However, I thought about it. Indeed, I still can't just let you be..."
Yamato and Akainu, due to their mutually exclusive attributes, couldn't determine a winner in a short time, even though Akainu's overall strength was slightly higher than the opponent's. Momonga and Doberman were also in a tough battle.
As for the more than a hundred low-ranking officers who were chasing Perona... Aokiji used Observation Haki to carefully sense the auras in the distance. He found that only a dozen or so people were able to continue pursuing the girl, while the vast majority had been hit by her Negative Hollows, falling into infinite questioning of life.
Just now, Kozuki Hiyori defeated Onigumo with just one strike, fully demonstrating her strength as a Great Swordsman... If Aokiji continued to stand by, Doberman and Momonga would definitely lose. Next, it might form a situation where Akainu fights four! Although Aokiji and Akainu have always been at odds, with different styles of action, and basically no private relationship outside of work. But...
Aokiji wouldn't just watch Akainu fall into a trap while dealing with Pirates. In addition, the damage caused by Akainu and Yamato to the Port Town was too great. If he continued to let it go, the entire town might turn into ruins.