Clang!
Thwip!
Blades and sword clashed violently once more, sparks flying in all directions.
This time, Zoro's blades left three deep gashes on the cloud-sword, which was hard as steel.
"As a swordsman, I acknowledge your skill with the blade."
"But a sword that's too short is a weakness."
Ohm tried to gain the upper hand with words.
Zoro sneered, sheathing his swords. "Do the weak only know how to make excuses for themselves?"
Just then, the giant dog beneath Ohm launched a surprise attack. Its massive body erupted with astonishing speed that belied its size. A heavy, white paw, carrying a foul wind, slammed down viciously towards Zoro.
BOOM!
The ground was crushed into a massive crater, rocks flying everywhere.
Although Zoro managed to leap back in time to avoid the direct hit, he was still caught by the terrifying shockwave, tumbling twice on the ground before regaining his footing.
"Did that dog eat a Devil Fruit or something?"
Given the number of oddballs on their ship, Zoro couldn't help but think this.
In terms of animals, there were Chopper and Nika.
And the ship spirit, Merry.
The Grand Line certainly had more than enough weird stuff.
"My Iron Cloud can be freely shaped like regular cloud, but it possesses the hardness of iron."
"I never expected you could go this far. A pity, but my Iron Cloud can regenerate infinitely, even if damaged."
Ohm retracted his cloud-sword, looking at the three clear slash marks on it. A flicker of surprise passed through his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. "You still have no chance of winning."
"Not a pity."
Zoro slowly placed Wado Ichimonji in his mouth, gripping Sandai Kitetsu in his right hand and Yubashiri in his left. The aura around him began to shift subtly; an intangible pressure started to spread. "No matter how many times it regenerates, I'll just cut through it all!"
Armament Haki silently wrapped around his blades. In his view, regenerative abilities were meaningless. The way of the swordsman was to sever everything!
"Hmph, you seem very confident."
"The number of braggarts like you who have died in my trial is beyond counting."
Ohm gripped the hilt of his Iron Cloud Sword with both hands, whipping it about like a frenzied, dancing serpent. Then, with all his might, he swung the massive blade, now condensed with an enormous amount of iron cloud! "I'll take your life now!"
"First generation: thirty-six worldly desires... Second generation: seventy-two worldly desires... Third generation: one hundred and eight worldly desires..."
Facing this terrifying attack capable of cleaving mountains and splitting rocks, Zoro seemed utterly indifferent, as if he hadn't heard it. He shifted his stance slightly, raising his twin swords high above his head... and continued reciting poetry.
As everyone knew, the longer the poetry, the more powerful the technique.
Three Sword Style...
At the very instant the enormous Iron Cloud whip was about to strike, a sharp, crimson glint flashed in Zoro's eyes. The muscles in his arms bulged, veins throbbing like coiling dragons.
He stepped forward, twisting at the waist. All the power in his body poured into his arms like a volcanic eruption as he swung all three blades simultaneously, tracing three interwoven arcs of death.
SHIIING!!
"Hyakuhachi Pound Ho!"
Countless condensed, azure flying slashes, like ferocious birds breaking free from a cage, erupted instantly from Zoro's blades!
The massive iron-cloud sword, hard as steel, was torn apart as easily as paper before this dense, violent storm of slashes. The relentless flying slash attack, like a sudden squall, instantly engulfed Ohm and the giant dog beneath him!
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
The sound of blades slicing flesh rang out in rapid succession. Blood sprayed like fountains in all directions. In an instant, Ohm's body was covered with countless terrifying gashes, deep enough to see bone.
Ssschiiing—
Zoro slowly sheathed his swords. Without even a glance at the gruesome state of the man and dog on the ground, he coldly tossed out a single word: "Small fry."
Almost at the same moment.
The battle between Luffy and Enel also reached its white-hot stage.
Having transformed into the Raijin, Enel, feeling the seemingly endless power within him, regained his confidence. He let out a deafening roar: "This is the power of a god! Before absolute power, all struggle is futile! Straw Hat kid, you shall vanish into nothingness along with this island!"
To be fair, if Enel were placed in the Grand Line, with the Goro Goro no Mi's terrifying destructive power and his island-wide Mantra, he could easily command a bounty of at least 500 million Berries.
In his Raijin form, he did indeed possess the power to shatter heaven and earth with a wave of his hand.
But luck was also part of strength.
And he had the misfortune of meeting Luffy.
The scene of the two giants facing off made even the massive Lord of the Sky, far in the distance, tremble, burying its head even deeper.
Standing on the Lord of the Sky's head, Nami saw Luffy, in his white giant form, begin to stretch his arms far behind his back, assuming a pose that looked somewhat familiar to her.
"That pose... is that the move Dorry and Brogy used back on Little Garden?" Nami exclaimed.
"'Absolute power,' you say?"
"Then taste this!"
The air around Luffy grew incredibly dense, as if brewing a storm that would sweep across heaven and earth.
The ancient ruins beneath his feet groaned under the pressure, beginning to crack. Dust rippled outwards from him in concentric circles.
White flame-clouds and blue lightning intertwined and roared around his body, emitting a terrifying, suffocating aura.
"Even from this distance, you can feel that pressure... It's absolutely stifling."
Robin frowned deeply, her hands tightening slightly. The oppressive feeling permeating the air made her heart race with fear.
In this world darkened by the Raijin's descent, the immense aura radiating from Luffy's body pierced the sky like a sharp sword, standing equal to Enel's thunderous might!
"See if you can handle this move, Enel!"
The next moment!
The wildly raging aura around Luffy abruptly contracted inward. The howling winds across the land seemed choked by an invisible hand, coming to a sudden halt.
The air solidified.
Time itself seemed to freeze in that instant. All sound vanished, leaving only deathly silence.
The giant fist, retracted to its absolute limit and now wrapped in Armament Haki and the violent lightning absorbed from Enel, erupted forward!
"Gomu Gomu no... hakoku!"
"RAIJIN!"
Enel's pupils constricted sharply as he sensed the lethal danger. Steeling himself, he gathered all the power of his Raijin form into his own fist and met the attack head-on.
Heaven and earth fell into a final, ultimate silence before the collision.
The next second!
BOOOOOOOOOOM—
A hundred million bolts of thunder seemed to detonate at once, as if the entire sky had collapsed.
The moment the Bakkoku shockwave made contact, Enel's Raijin giant form burst apart from the inside like a balloon popped by a needle. The terrifying lightning energy, trying to rampage, had no time to spread before being blasted skyward by the impact!
Enel's true body was exposed amidst the shattered Raijin form, eyes rolled back in his head, completely unconscious. Like a ragdoll, he was hurled violently away by the remaining force of the shockwave!
***
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