A dazzling light erupted from Ryuuto's body as boundless golden Apocalyptic Divine Thunder burst forth. The air filled with a deafening roar of thunder. All of this happened in an instant. As the golden lightning dissipated, Ryuuto had transformed into his Thunder God Form, a being composed entirely of golden lightning plasma.
The figure stood over ten meters tall, clad in ancient golden armor. The lightning plasma flowed continuously across its surface, forming mysterious, totem-like patterns. On its indistinct face, one could faintly recognize Ryuuto's features. With every movement, countless sparks of golden lightning flew out.
"Thunder Kill!"
With a sharp cry, Ryuuto swung the Kui Dragon Slayer in his hand, meeting the massive descending palm head-on. A long golden trail stretched out behind him as he ascended. The intensely brilliant golden lightning coalesced into a colossal longsword.
BOOM!
The two forces collided with a thunderous crash. In an instant, the sky was scoured clean, and clusters of white clouds vanished into nothingness. Then, an incredibly powerful shockwave swept outward. The entire world trembled violently! The shockwave shot out for tens of thousands of meters.
All the energy then exploded at once. Above, Ochoku's black lightning crackled and burst, while below, Ryuuto's boundless golden lightning surged. The two powers clashed relentlessly, creating a constant cacophony.
CRACKLE!
Lightning-shaped energy waves erupted everywhere.
"Whoa!"
Vivi and the others were hit by a gale caused by the shockwave, forcing them to squint their eyes. The giant bird they rode flapped its wings furiously to keep from being blown away.
"What terrifying power!"
Seeing this, Burgess's eyes cleared with a newfound sobriety.
"He can be as strong as he wants; I've got my captain!" Nami said with a proud lift of her lips.
At that moment, if not for his Chain-Chain Fruit ability, Cort, who was on Ochoku's shoulder, would have long since been thrown into the sea.
"Ryuuto, you're stronger than I imagined! But if this is all you have, then it ends here!" Ochoku's voice boomed like crashing boulders, ringing in Ryuuto's ears. He then slammed his right palm downward, intending to smash Ryuuto into the ocean depths.
In Ochoku's view, Ryuuto had likely eaten some kind of lightning-related Logia-type Devil Fruit. As long as Ryuuto was knocked into the sea, he would have no chance of survival.
"Then have a taste of the Apocalyptic Divine Thunder!"
"Thousand Bird Thunderfall!"
Seeing this, Ryuuto's voice deepened. The golden lightning blade in his right hand instantly transformed into a barrage of thick lightning spears, which skillfully avoided Ochoku's massive palm and shot straight for his head.
It was worth noting that Ochoku's current form was extremely bizarre. The giant skull-shaped rock formation from Hachinosu had become his head, and from its two empty eye sockets, an eerie blue light glowed—Ochoku's eyes.
Then, Ryuuto gave the Kui Dragon Slayer in his right hand a sharp upward jerk, and his entire body vanished in a flash of lightning.
"Not good!"
Realizing what was happening, Ochoku immediately abandoned his pursuit of Ryuuto, instead raising his left hand to block his face.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Countless golden lightning spears slammed into Ochoku's hand, erupting in brilliant flashes of light. In an instant, several buildings on his hand collapsed, turning into a shower of rubble that rained down from the sky.
But it wasn't over.
"Myriad Thunder Skyblade Slash!"
Ryuuto's thunderous voice echoed from a distance. He raised the Kui Dragon Slayer in his right hand, and a series of slashes shot toward the heavens. After Ochoku lowered his damaged left hand, a massive golden slash descended from the sky, aimed directly at his head.
"Is there no end to this!" Ochoku was utterly enraged. With a furious roar, he swung both fists to meet the attack. Infused with Armament Haki, Ochoku's fists turned obsidian-black and crackled with countless arcs of black lightning, their power astonishing.
The reason Ochoku used Haki inconsistently was that, having become the island itself, his natural defense was already incredibly high. He didn't need to constantly use Armament Haki. After all, covering such a colossal body with Haki would consume a tremendous amount. In his aged state, Ochoku couldn't maintain it for long.
After Ochoku shattered the first slash, more and more slashes formed from golden lightning rained down from the sky, each carrying a terrifying aura of destruction. After all, lightning's primary nature was destruction, and in terms of pure offensive power, it was not something the Island-Island Fruit could match.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Soon, Ochoku was completely submerged in the countless slashes. Terrifying explosions rocked his massive body. Furthermore, due to the attack's vast area of effect, many golden slashes crashed into the sea. Instantly, seawater evaporated, leaving several craters hundreds of meters wide on the ocean's surface. Then, with a final deafening blast, a column of water shot into the sky.
The water spout reached a height of nearly a thousand meters—an utterly exaggerated sight. It was a testament to the terrifying power contained within Ryuuto's attack.
Meanwhile, endless rubble fell from Ochoku's body. It was clear he couldn't block the attack and could only play to his strength as a colossal tank and endure it. After all, it was just losing some rocks.
But for Ryuuto, this was merely an appetizer.
As the dust settled, Ochoku's figure reappeared. Although his body was tattered and broken, his expression showed that he hadn't suffered any severe damage. Given a little time, he could quickly recover to his original state.
"An attack of this level won't hurt me! Now, it's my turn to counterattack!" Ochoku bellowed. He clenched his right fist and launched an attack on Ryuuto, who had already entered the island's range.
Pillars of stone shot up rapidly around Ryuuto. And these were no ordinary stone pillars. They emanated an eerie black aura and crackled with black lightning. Ochoku's plan was to use these pillars to trap Ryuuto on this island forever.
"Stay here, Ryuuto! I'll give you a dignified death!"
Ochoku let out a wild laugh. He was now fearless in the face of death. This battle with Ryuuto was a true war between the strong, and it made him feel young again.
As for Ryuuto, he just glanced at Ochoku.
"Alright, the game is over," he said with a slight, mocking smile.
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!
Ryuuto pointed the Kui Dragon Slayer at the sky. As his heart beat with a powerful rhythm, countless streams of golden lightning erupted from his body and rapidly converged on the blade. More and more energy gathered, and the aura of the Kui Dragon Slayer grew increasingly powerful.
An apocalyptic golden blade of lightning, seemingly capable of shattering space-time itself, materialized before everyone's eyes. This all happened in a fraction of a second. The dazzling golden blade was a thousand meters long, condensed to the point of being solid, with lightning arcs crackling around it as if threatening to tear space apart.
"Blade of the End: Thunder God's Annihilating Slash!"
Ryuuto roared as he swung the Kui Dragon Slayer. The giant lightning blade slashed out instantly! A boundless destructive aura erupted like divine punishment. This single strike was like a blow delivered with all the might of the god of destruction.
CRACKLE!
Amidst the roar of thunder, the slash tore through the black stone pillars rising from the ground and, trailing a brilliant golden light, slammed into Ochoku's chest.
"How is this possible! What is this power! A power like this shouldn't exist in this world!" Ochoku's eyes narrowed in disbelief, the blue flames in his skull-like head glowing with maximum intensity.
A massive amount of Armament Haki converged on his chest, but it was too late. The Thunder God's Annihilating Slash had already struck his body.
BANG!
As the colossal golden light collided with him, a world-shattering shockwave erupted. The sea convulsed, and countless waves surged. Centered on Ochoku, the sea level in a radius of several thousand meters dropped by several meters. The violent airflow from the shockwave blew Vivi and the others hundreds of meters away.
CRACK!
With a sharp, clear sound, the golden slash shot through, and the entire sky was split in two.
As for Ochoku, his massive body had been severed at the chest.
BOOM!
With a tremendous crashing sound, the skull-shaped rock formation, along with a large portion of his upper torso, broke off and plunged toward the sea.
SPLASH!
The giant stone structure crashed into the water, sending up an immense spray. All that remained was Ochoku's broken form, standing silently where it was.
At this point, Ryuuto deactivated his Thunder God Form. His body flickered with lightning as he hovered steadily in mid-air.
"He's still not dead, even after all that?" Ryuuto muttered, his gaze fixed on the remaining part of Hachinosu. He could still sense Ochoku's presence there.
CRACKLE!
In the next moment, Ryuuto transformed into a flash of lightning and appeared before Ochoku, who was hiding in an upside-down house.
"Ochoku, death or submission?" Ryuuto demanded, placing the Kui Dragon Slayer before Ochoku's blood-streaked face.
"I'll do anything you want, I just beg you to spare my life!" Ochoku's face was filled with terror, as if all he wanted was to live. He repeatedly slammed his head against the wall, his display of sincerity almost convincing.
But in reality, Ochoku's heart had already sunk into a dead calm. A moment ago, when his giant island form was severed, the people who had been on his shoulder were thrown into the sea. Cort and Lin Sheng's whereabouts were unknown. He had lost everything.
"In that case, do one thing for me," Ryuuto said with a satisfied nod.
This Island-Island Fruit was very useful. Ryuuto planned to have Ochoku sneak to the Red Line and launch a surprise attack on Imu. Imu would be in Mary Geoise, only to discover the Red Line had run away.
But just as Ryuuto finished speaking, Ochoku secretly pulled a five-centimeter-thick glass tube from his waist. Inside was an orange-red, rock-like crystalline substance.
"Let's die together! You can accompany my sons to the grave!"
Ochoku let out a maniacal laugh and crushed the tube. This was a Dyna Stone. It possessed terrifying power; a Dyna Stone the size of an adult's head could obliterate a small island. Most importantly, it was extremely unstable, exploding violently upon contact with oxygen. Ochoku intended to use it to take Ryuuto down with him.
BOOM!
As flames erupted, a massive mushroom cloud shot into the sky. The world was engulfed in fire. The explosion detonated at the waist of the island-form, and a powerful heatwave instantly enveloped both Ryuuto and Ochoku, followed by a tidal wave of shockwaves. In that moment, countless pieces of rubble rained down. All Ryuuto could see was a world of fire.
"Run! More rocks are falling!"
"What's happening? Why another explosion?"
"Stop staring!"
"Hurry up and run!"
On the sea's surface, tens of thousands of pirates cried out in alarm. They began to swim frantically, dodging the falling boulders. These were the pirates who had been on Hachinosu when Ochoku transformed and were subsequently thrown into the sea.
"Captain!" Vivi commanded the giant bird made of liquor to charge toward the explosion, shouting his name. In just a few moments, an explosion had occurred right where Ryuuto was.
But the flying debris and the outward-blasting shockwaves made it difficult for Vivi and the others to get close. Moreover, the temperature at the center of the blast was several thousand degrees.
"Really can't let my guard down."
"Cough..."
Ryuuto's voice suddenly cut through the chaos. Having taken the full force of the Dyna Stone's explosion, his clothes were tattered and a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. He had clearly been injured in the blast.
Ryuuto was holding Ochoku in his hand. Ochoku's condition was far worse. His entire body was a bloody mess, his face was charred black, his tongue was severed, several teeth were shattered, and his eyes were lifeless. He had fallen into a coma. Already severely injured, he stood no chance against the power of a Dyna Stone.
Soon, the blast wave dissipated and the fiery cloud cleared. Ryuuto's figure became visible to Vivi and the others.
"Captain (Ryuuto), are you okay!"
They flew over on the liquor bird and gathered around him, their voices filled with concern.
"I'm fine."
Ryuuto slowly shook his head. After reassuring them, he tossed Ochoku's body to Jean Bart. Jean Bart immediately understood Ryuuto's meaning. After a quick procedure, Ryuuto's reputation value increased by 100,000.
Ochoku was, after all, a great pirate whose name once shook the seas, his strength barely reaching the level of a Yonko Commander. Of course, as an old pirate, Ochoku had severe weaknesses. His stamina was poor, and much of his Haki had diminished with age, which was why Ryuuto had been able to defeat him without much effort.