Instant silence. The sharp sword intent of the great swordsman resounded behind Katakuri.
However, his future-seeing Observation Haki had already seen the direction of Shiki's slash three seconds earlier.
Therefore, Katakuri urgently used his ability to shift his main body, turning into a mochi-like fluid and shrinking to the ground, dodging Shiki's slash.
Then, his entire body compressed like a spring, and after accumulating enough potential energy, he spun his trident like a drill and burst forth!
Ding—!
The high-speed spinning pitch-black trident clashed with Shiki's raised famous blade, Oto and Kogarashi. Sparks flew from their friction.
"Oh, the little brat from Beehive Island back then has become quite capable now, hasn't he!"
Shiki, cigar in his mouth, looked down from above. The blades at his feet began to carry pitch-black lightning. A golden film of Haki forcibly pushed open between their weapons.
"Not good!"
Having been by Linlin's side for over forty years, Katakuri naturally knew the technique that set these kings of the sea apart from others… Conqueror's coating!
So, when lightning began to flash on Shiki's blade, he did not hesitate. He poured his fruit ability directly into the ground.
—Mochi Mochi no Mi - Awakening!
An invisible wave spread from Katakuri's feet. The entire riverbank began to dissolve. The ground, a mix of rock and soil, revealed a turbid white color. It turned into white mochi balls!
Countless mochi balls flowed and spread, gradually covering the entire land, like undulating waves!
Then, hundreds of giant fists coated in Armament Haki coiled out. The rain of dense fist shadows, like a white mountain range, blocked the view behind.
"Mochi Singing Result!"
Facing this legendary pirate, Katakuri dared not be careless. He directly used the strongest attack he could unleash in his awakened state.
"Not bad! Too bad you're Linlin's child!"
Facing the sky full of mochi iron fists, Shiki used his leg blade, coated in Conqueror's Haki, to sweep horizontally.
A stunning, sharp aura carried a several-hundred-meter-long golden sword wave. Amidst the delayed sound of the wind came the sound of tearing, its aftertaste echoing.
—Coating - Slash Wave!
The pitch-black rain curtain that had nearly covered the entire sky dissipated before this sweeping strike. The sword wave that had shattered Katakuri's attack continued toward him, undiminished.
His Observation Haki began to frantically warn of the incoming attack again. This was the second time today that Katakuri had tasted a future he could see but was powerless to resist.
'Damn it! My Haki isn't strong enough!!!'
His heart pounded violently. The life-or-death battle ignited his spirit with this determination.
He didn't want to lose! His perfect terror could not be broken, otherwise the world would once again covet his younger brothers and sisters!
Katakuri exerted all his strength and abruptly raised both hands. His ability manipulated the mochi-ball earth to surge, stacking up a several-hundred-meter-wide giant mochi wall, then solidifying it into a fortress.
His constantly rising Haki was poured into the wall without reserve, dyeing the vast wall pitch black.
Boom!
The slashing wave crashed into the mochi wall, exploding into countless tiny slashes. The slowly flowing Haki deflected these attacks, but the wall, unable to withstand the crumbling effect brought by the Conqueror's Haki, was also blasted with a huge hole.
Through that hole, Shiki, with a bold smile, shot forward, his speed so fast it was staggering.
"Lion - Thousand Slice Valley!"
With lethality stronger than the slashing wave, multiple sword strikes, enough to slice apart the mountain-like thick waters, surged with equally mad Haki, exploding before Katakuri.
Pfft!
The cold blade crushed everything, sweeping past Katakuri's body. Blood sprayed, spraying in the direction the blade howled.
"It's over!"
Shiki's cold gaze followed his slash, flying toward the two still battling in the distance.
His zealous and greedy spirit spread. His will to fight and kill was firm. His brutal and blazing monstrous strength roared.
Two large shield tunneling machines... oh no, two powerful Emperors. With each clash of their blades, they tore open the earth and cut off rivers.
"Hmm, is that side already finished?"
Sakura's Observation Haki, locked onto Linlin, inadvertently caught a glimpse of the blade light from Shiki's sword slashing through Katakuri's body.
Then...
The still-humming giant slash flew straight toward her, directly hitting Sakura, who was in a struggle with Linlin.
The carefully designed slash automatically dissipated after cutting off the hem of her feather robe, revealing the girl's long legs, without causing Sakura even a trace of damage.
The damage was minimal, but the insult was immense.
"Whew~" Shiki whistled.
"..."
Sakura's eye twitched as she turned her head. Veins bulged on her forehead, revealing shark-like teeth. "Bastard! What! Are! You! Doing!"
'Retaliation. This old bastard was definitely deliberately retaliating.'
'What a petty guy. Wasn't it just that I accidentally discharged some lightning and knocked him out when he was making his cool entrance? Does he have to hold a grudge for this long?'
"Opening! Die, brat!"
Linlin noticed Sakura's distraction. She directly used her Homie Napoleon to push aside Sakura's blade, forming a golden ring of light with her right fist.
Her massive body shattered the ground. Her entire being shot forward like a cannonball, slamming her iron fist, wreathed in Conqueror's and Armament Haki, into Sakura's face.
Boom!
The roaring sound suddenly spread, suppressing all noise, as if the world had fallen silent.
Terrifying Haki spread, swept. The violent, monstrous force, which ordinary people could not bear, burst from Linlin's arm.
The impact slammed Sakura into the ground, spinning and flying backward, carving a deep path on the ground that had turned into mochi balls, until, at the end of the line of sight, it seemed to hit something, exploding into a huge cloud of dust.
"Shihahahaha! Sakura, you're so weak~ Need me to give you a hand?"
Floating in the sky with a watching posture, his arms crossed over his chest, Shiki showed a sardonic smile.
"You stinking lion, disrespecting your elders!"
Under the ruins, Sakura pushed aside the earth and rocks burying her and climbed up. "Once I've dealt with that woman, I'll tear your head off!"
White substance slowly condensed from the void outside her body. The damaged feather robe, under the gathering of Natural Energy, changed shape bit by bit, finally becoming a white, tight-fitting Ninja outfit.
Two pairs of silver-white horns grew from Sakura's forehead. Cherry-pink flames burned on them. Light blue eyeshadow spread at the corners of her eyes. Her entire aura nearly merged with nature.
"Hey hey, this kid also has a secret weapon like this?"
As a master of Haki, Shiki had instinctively sensed the power lurking beneath the girl's unremarkable appearance… the power that drove external things toward decay!
Linlin, standing in the distance, also sensed the approach of death. She gripped her fierce-looking greatsword with both arms, spreading Haki throughout her body defensively.
"Phew, time to get a little serious!"
Entering Sage Mode, Sakura's amplified senses immediately connected to the cycle of nature. Her Observation Haki spread out dozens of kilometers, locking onto the positions of all five people present.
'Wait, five people?'
'The number was off. The other members of the Charlotte Family... had disappeared?'
"Old lion, you're so blind you let a still-capable enemy escape?" Suddenly noticing the anomaly, Sakura turned her head and cursed.
"What did you say?"
Shiki frowned, about to use his ability to return to the mochi-ball fortress to check on Katakuri's condition.
But the next second, the mochi-ball sea, which had never disappeared, erupted, splashing to form walls that blocked everyone's view.
Katakuri, merged with the mochi-ball sea and carrying a giant mirror, rode the white tidal wave toward Linlin.
"Not a chance!"
Sakura waved her arm. A Flying Thunder God kunai coated in Senjutsu Chakra shot forward.
After arcing through the air, it pierced the defense wall of mochi balls and then shattered the large mirror, which was similar in size to Linlin's figure!
"Brulee, it's up to you!!!"
Katakuri's trident swung horizontally, cutting the kunai's handle, which was engraved with a cherry blossom mark, severing the anchor of the Space-Time Ninjutsu.
After all, this was not the first time Sakura had used Space-Time Ninjutsu in this world. After she became an Emperor, almost all intelligence agencies on the sea had investigated her abilities and analyzed countermeasures.
The Charlotte Family, possessing the world's third-largest intelligence network, second only to the World Government and the Revolutionary Army, had naturally done the same.
"Tch!"
Sakura clicked her tongue. She used Soru and charged toward them!
"Mama, Katakuri-nii!"
From the largest mirror shard, Brulee, the Mira Mira no Mi's user, rushed out of the Mirror World.
Her hands spread open on the ground, tearing open a vortex-like passage, pulling the two back into the Mirror World.
Sakura, arriving shortly after, reached her right hand toward the passage. Just as her arm entered the passage, a crisp sound rang out.
Crack!
The passage shattered. The instantly restored space severed half of Sakura's arm along with it.
The victory that was about to be secured was reversed by them in an instant.
Sakura stood in place, her gaze sweeping over her severed arm as she sighed helplessly. She looked up at Shiki, who had an awkward expression on his face in the sky.
"Old lion, look at the mess you've made!"