Under the piercing gaze of the three-tomoe Sharingan, Patrick Redfield felt an unsettling, instinctive wrongness creeping through his senses.
An eerie mist of fresh blood seeped from his pores, dispersing into countless crimson bats that swarmed across the frozen air.
"Filthy bats..."
At this moment, Redfield's entire body radiated a pure, milk-white aura—a striking contrast to his dark, sinister attire. Opposite him, Uchiha Madara's eyes flashed with a predatory, crimson luminescence.
Every pore on Madara's right arm burst open, venting an inferno of brilliant white-and-pitch-black flames. Using that immense kinetic thrust to drive his fist forward, he struck with horrifying velocity and power, unleashing a devastating Majestic Fire Annihilation!
The dark flames roared forward, pulling the surrounding atmosphere into a raging vortex that ignited into a widespread web of fire. Contracting in an instant, the net condensed into a compact, palm-sized orb of violent flame, crashing sideways into Redfield.
Ignoring the concentrated fireball, Redfield clenched the fingers of his extended hand. Beads of blood burst from his pores, flowing as if alive to mold into a massive, grotesque hand of blood that met Madara's blazing fist head-on!
BOOM!
The flame light dimmed as the blood construct shattered into mist. Redfield was knocked back several steps, his shoulder scorched and blasted into a mangled mess by the residual blast.
Unexpectedly, in their very first exploratory exchange, Redfield found himself pushed onto the defensive.
The two had clashed three times before: from holding a commanding advantage in their first duel, to fighting to an absolute standstill in their second, to now struggling to keep pace. Redfield's expression shifted; he hadn't anticipated Madara's combat strength would escalate at such a frightening pace.
"It is not that I have grown stronger," Madara mocked coldly. "It is that you have grown far too weak."
"Do not get cocky, brat!"
Redfield's cloak billowed violently. Under the glare of endless crimson light, his entire silhouette expanded, resembling the monstrous wings of a colossal vampire bat.
Just then, a sudden flash of radiance pierced the darkness. Madara swung his staff-blade, unleashing a ferocious arc of cyan blade-energy. Spinning at hypersonic speed, the slash stirred up a howling dragon-cyclone of gale-force pressure, dropping downward to lock onto Redfield.
Taking advantage of the momentum, Redfield raised both hands high. A shroud of absolute darkness materialized around his form, dotted with incandescent, burning stars like a miniature cosmos descending upon the earth.
Blades of blood-light erupted from the cosmic void, colliding violently against Madara's staff-blade. Knocked back several paces with a pale face, Redfield triggered his Devil Fruit abilities once more.
The scattered specks of dark light swirled rapidly inward, resembling a colony of bats startled from the depths of an underground cavern. Glinting with dark-red bloodlight, they bared razor-sharp fangs, dripping with pure lethality.
The swarm of crimson bats condensed at extreme speed, burrowing back into Redfield's body. His form regained physical density, shedding its ethereal state as his complexion returned to normal.
Meanwhile, the "Madara" before him found himself enveloped by the bat swarm. The illusion took several involuntary steps back as strange airbursts detonated around his shoulder, shredding his clothing and tearing through skin, muscle, and fascia.
A moment later, "Madara" was torn to pieces before his very eyes. The spilling blood carried a delicious scent that left Redfield momentarily intoxicated.
"Redfield, you bastard!"
Cries of pure horror erupted from the Charlotte family. The target the Lone Red had just butchered was actually BIG MOM's 6th son, Charlotte Counter!
The victim slaughtered by Redfield was never Madara—it was the unlucky Counter.
"An illusion?!"
"You realized far too late."
As the three tomoe within his Sharingan spun with fluid grace, Madara materialized on the opposite flank. High above his palm, a colossal meteorite enveloped in black flames descended with crushing, apocalyptic majesty.
Sensing the catastrophe, Redfield danced his rapier rapidly, carving a crescent-shaped arc of blood-red sword-light. As it collided against Madara's dark flame meteorite, a blinding explosion shook the heavens.
"Flame-Flame Fruit... Masked warrior, why do you refuse to show your true face?"
"Because I'm too ugly."
Ace's blunt retort left Katakuri momentarily speechless, completely unable to counter the absurd explanation.
Katakuri was an extraordinarily difficult opponent. Utilizing his advanced Observation Haki that allowed him to see into the future, he could copy or neutralize an enemy's techniques before they could even form.
Yet when confronting true masters, he held immense respect for their strength, seeking a fair and honorable duel.
Katakuri possessed pinnacle-tier Observation Haki, refined to the point of peering directly into the future.
He could perceive not only visual outcomes, but auditory conversations as well, allowing him to process unfolding events in the fraction of a second.
Combined with his Special Paramecia Mochi-Mochi Fruit (Mochi Mochi no Mi), he could morph his body in advance to evade incoming strikes—even those coated in Armament Haki. His only vulnerability was that losing his composure completely disabled his foresight.
Beyond his Observation Haki, Katakuri's Armament Haki was equally formidable. He could coat his mochi constructs with dense Armament Haki, freely altering their shape while delivering immense destructive force.
In the original timeline, a single kick from him could send an Armament-hardened Gear Second Luffy coughing up blood, while a single punch could swell Luffy's hardened fist.
He could even project Armament Haki onto awakened mochi constructs from a distance, matching the raw output of Gear Fourth Luffy's King Cobra and Kong Gun.
Finally, Katakuri possessed Conqueror's Haki—capable of releasing atmospheric shockwaves that could shatter surrounding masonry upon colliding with an opponent's will.
Mastering all three forms of Haki, he was the undisputed second-in-command of the Big Mom Pirates, showing glimpses of his terrifying peak even in this era.
For Katakuri, the mysterious masked warrior before him was an opponent who ignited genuine excitement!
Facing Katakuri's challenge, Ace brought his palms together. The Logia energy of the Flame-Flame Fruit surged through his veins in a violent, escalating cycle.
"Fire Fist · Second Gear!"
With Second Gear engaged, Ace drove his fists forward, unleashing a roaring dragon of fire. Katakuri responded instantly by deploying Flowing Mochi, utilizing his Devil Fruit Awakening to convert the surrounding environment into sticky mochi to bind and restrain his foe.
In that instant, the awakened Paramecia behaved almost identically to a Logia, clinging tightly to Ace's incoming assault. However, the immense heat generated by Ace's Second Gear forced Katakuri into a state of active, defensive containment.
"BIG MOM... what exactly are you scheming?"
Shiraishi slowly spread his three pairs of frost wings. Combined with Ice Island's sub-zero atmosphere, his presence felt even more terrifying. Yet BIG MOM merely continued her crazed, maniacal laughter, locking onto Shiraishi with her giant broadsword, Napoleon.
"Mamama! My scheme is simple: to completely annihilate your Sunagakure Pirates right here on this island!"
"Heh."
Letting out a cold scoff, Shiraishi drew his silver blade. His aura converged into a singular point as waves of absolute frost erupted from all directions.
Adjusting his glasses, Shiraishi spoke with icy composure: "I will repeat what I said before: I will personally tear off your head right here, BIG MOM!"