Kai launched himself at Shiki without hesitation, golden wings flaring as compressed air exploded beneath his feet. The sky cracked when their swords collided again, black lightning spiraling outward in violent arcs. Steel screamed against steel as both were pushed back by the sheer force of Conqueror's Haki.
Shiki grinned fiercely, blades spinning where his legs once stood. "Jihahahahaha! That's more like it, brat! Come! Show me how far you've grown!"
Kai didn't answer with words. He surged forward again, Akatsuki carving a diagonal arc that Shiki met head-on. This time, Kai didn't buckle under the impact. He matched slash for slash, stance tightening, wrists adjusting with every collision.
Their blades clashed once, twice, then dozens of times in a heartbeat. Each strike refined Kai's angles, corrected his timing, and sharpened his reading of Shiki's rhythm. What had begun as adaptation was now acceleration.
Shiki narrowed his eyes mid-exchange. "You're copying me."
"I'm learning from you," Kai replied calmly, twisting his blade to redirect Shiki's thrust and counter with a clean upward slash.
Sparks burst between them as Shiki was forced to lean back mid-air. For the first time, his grin faltered—not from fear, but from calculation.
---
Kai shifted tactics without warning. His body shrank suddenly, reducing his frame mid-swing and slipping past Shiki's horizontal cut by inches. Then he expanded again instantly, muscles surging as he drove his blade forward with amplified force.
Shiki blocked, but the unexpected size change disrupted his timing. "You're playing tricks now?!"
Kai's voice remained steady. "Adaptation."
Wind spiraled around Akatsuki as Kai infused the blade with compressed air. A thunderclap followed as lightning coated its edge, and faint flames flickered along the spine of the steel.
Shiki's eyes sharpened. "You're mixing elements mid-combat?"
"I'm done warming up."
---
Kai swung his blade and released a massive spiraling projectile—pure wind compressed into a roaring vortex.
"Rasenshuriken."
The spinning storm tore through the sky toward Shiki, shredding the clouds apart as it traveled. Shiki barely dodged in time, twisting sideways as the projectile carved through a floating mass of rock behind him.
The rock disintegrated instantly.
Not shattered.
Disintegrated.
Shiki's grin faded completely as he watched the molecular slicing effect erase stone like sand caught in a hurricane.
"…You're insane."
Kai didn't respond. He raised his hand and several smaller Rasenshuriken formed around him, spinning violently with razor-thin wind blades.
They launched simultaneously from every direction.
---
Shiki roared and spun his blades in a defensive cyclone, cutting through two incoming storms while narrowly evading another. The fourth grazed his shoulder, tearing flesh and sending blood scattering across the sky.
"Tch!" Shiki hissed, retreating upward. "You think tricks like this will kill me?!"
Kai appeared behind him instantly, blade descending with lightning blazing. "I'm not thinking."
Their swords collided again, thunder detonating between them. Lightning struck downward from the clouds at Kai's command, forcing Shiki to split his focus between offense and evasion.
"You're fighting for the kill now," Shiki growled.
"Yes."
---
The air grew heavier as Kai compressed lightning into a small, blinding sphere between his palms. The energy crackled violently, unstable yet controlled.
Shiki's eyes widened slightly. "You're insane if you think you can contain that much—"
Kai vanished and reappeared above him, hurling the compressed lightning ball downward. It traveled faster than natural thunder, striking with devastating precision.
Shiki crossed his blades and blocked at the last second. The explosion illuminated the entire sky, sending both warriors crashing apart through layers of clouds.
Smoke cleared slowly.
Shiki emerged, coat torn, chest burned and bleeding. His breathing had grown heavier, yet his eyes still burned with wild pride.
"You're trying to erase me from the sky," Shiki muttered.
"I'm trying to end you," Kai replied bluntly.
---
They charged again.
Kai slashed horizontally; Shiki parried and countered with a spinning cross-cut. Kai ducked mid-air, shrank his body again to avoid the second blade, then expanded with explosive force to deliver a knee strike to Shiki's abdomen.
Shiki coughed blood but retaliated instantly, driving a blade across Kai's back.
The wound closed within seconds.
Shiki's jaw tightened. "That regeneration… it's unnatural."
Kai's voice carried no emotion. "It's necessary."
---
The battle escalated further.
Kai infused his blade fully with wind and fire simultaneously, creating a flaming vortex slash that collided with Shiki's golden arcs. The sky fractured under the pressure, shockwaves rippling outward in visible rings.
Invisible micro-wind blades followed behind his main attacks, slicing at a molecular level. Shiki blocked the primary slash but hissed as unseen cuts opened across his arm and chest.
"You're layering attacks," Shiki observed.
"I'm evolving."
---
Far below, the ocean churned violently from the shockwaves.
A Marine battleship surged forward at full speed, Garp standing at the front like a cannon ready to fire.
"Faster!" Garp barked. "I can feel them from here!"
A marine officer shouted back, "Vice Admiral, the sea is splitting from their clash!"
Garp grinned wildly. "Good! That means I'm close!"
---
On another horizon, the Moby Dick changed course sharply.
"Marco," Whitebeard commanded, staring at the distant ruptured clouds, "he's pushing Shiki back."
Marco's eyes widened slightly. "You can tell from here?"
Whitebeard smirked faintly. "The sea speaks."
---
Meanwhile, high above Wano, Kaido's massive dragon form tore through the sky.
King had delivered the delayed news of the Oni Samurai—how he had freed captured samurai from Onigashima before vanishing. The rebellion within Wano had slowed communication, but once Kaido heard, he didn't hesitate.
"Oni Samurai…" Kaido growled mid-flight. "The brat who dared touch my island."
Flames gathered in his throat as thunderclouds swirled around his colossal body.
"If he's strong enough to fight Shiki… then he's worth crushing."
He accelerated toward the New World.
---
Back in the sky battlefield, Kai pressed the advantage relentlessly.
He launched three Rasenshuriken in rapid succession while slashing forward with Conqueror's coating blazing along Akatsuki's edge. Shiki blocked one, sliced through another, but the third detonated near his side, shredding part of his coat and sending him tumbling briefly.
Kai followed instantly, blade descending in a vertical execution strike.
"Kamushari!"
Shiki crossed his blades desperately, the impact sending a shockwave so violent that the sea below split cleanly in two for miles.
Both warriors hovered, breathing heavily now.
Shiki's grin had vanished entirely. Blood ran down his face as he stared at the boy before him.
"You're not just imitating Roger," Shiki said quietly. "You're building something beyond him."
Kai's golden wings flared brighter, lightning dancing across his blade. "This era isn't yours."
Shiki's eyes burned with defiance. "Then take it from me!"
They lunged at each other once more, swords colliding in a storm of wind, thunder, and fire—two eras clashing violently in the heavens as titans from every corner of the sea raced toward their battlefield.