Everything was for New Jaya Island.
Everything was for the Shandians.
Jebao's massive body suddenly accelerated.
This time, he completely abandoned defense, ignoring Izo's incoming gunfire as he charged forward like a rampaging beast.
Izo, already looking battered and exhausted, immediately raised his twin pistols and unleashed another barrage of shots, trying to force Jebao back.
But Jebao did not even bother dodging the flying Bullet Slashes.
After using Observation Haki to track the bullets' trajectories, he simply elementalized parts of his body, opening large holes for the bullets to pass through harmlessly.
In the blink of an eye, he had already closed the distance.
Izo attempted to retreat and widen the gap between them, only to discover that mud had appeared beneath his feet at some unknown moment.
The thick mud wrapped around his legs and locked him in place.
His expression changed instantly.
With no room to evade, Izo poured massive amounts of Armament Haki into his flintlocks and fired directly at Jebao.
Boom!
The explosion released by the bullet erupted with terrifying force.
This was not an ordinary shot.
Even Yasopp of the Red Hair Pirates frequently used similar techniques when ambushing enemies or instantly eliminating weaker opponents.
But during the recent war involving the Red Hair Pirates, Yasopp had never used this move recklessly.
The reason was simple.
Against true monsters, large-scale explosions were nearly useless.
Worse, the resulting smoke and debris blocked vision, something extremely disadvantageous for marksmen who relied on precision shooting.
Clearly, despite Izo's long experience at sea, his mastery of firearms still lagged behind Yasopp's.
Fortunately for him, he would likely have a chance to ask Yasopp personally in the future.
Before the smoke even cleared, a huge figure burst through it violently.
Jebao's giant fist, larger than a cooking pot, smashed toward Izo's face.
Izo clenched his teeth.
Since dodging was impossible, he would meet the attack head-on.
But before the punch landed, he suddenly raised both pistols once more.
"That trick won't work on me!" Jebao roared.
A confident smile appeared on Izo's face.
"Gorgeous Twin Shot!"
Two bullets fired simultaneously.
One carried explosive impact.
The other contained concentrated internal destruction.
This was Izo's trump card, a technique he had spent years developing despite never fully mastering it.
But at this distance, that no longer mattered.
Sure enough, Jebao continued charging without hesitation.
Just as before, parts of his body shifted into elemental form to evade the incoming bullets.
However, the first bullet was not a normal explosive round.
Instead of passing through his body, it detonated directly in front of him.
Boom!
The angled explosion released compressed Armament Haki shockwaves, instantly disrupting Jebao's unstable semi-elementalized state.
Before Jebao could recover, the second bullet struck his body directly.
Boom!
The force exploded internally.
"Pfft!"
Jebao spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered backward several steps.
Izo finally allowed himself a small smile.
After continuously consuming enormous amounts of Armament Haki, his body had nearly reached its limit.
At the very least, he had finally managed to injure this troublesome opponent.
Thinking that, Izo prepared to lower himself and recover some stamina during this brief opening.
Then his eyes suddenly narrowed.
The mud trapping his feet had already climbed all the way to his calves.
He immediately looked up.
The bulky body standing ahead of him was cracking apart.
Chunks of hardened earth shattered and fell away one after another, revealing Jebao inside.
Aside from a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, he looked completely unharmed.
"It really pays off listening to the boss tell stories," Jebao muttered while stepping out of the broken Earth Armor.
"That Gaara Sand Armor idea is seriously useful."
He looked at Izo and grinned broadly.
"Not bad. Without the Earth Armor protecting me, those two shots might've actually forced me into my hybrid form."
Despair slowly filled Izo's eyes.
After fighting for this long, he still did not even know which crew Jebao belonged to.
He did not even know the man's name.
How could someone this powerful remain completely unknown?
Jebao glanced around at the surrounding battlefields before suddenly speaking again.
"Oh? Looks like only Boss Wyper and Jason are still fighting. Was I really that slow?"
He cracked his knuckles and looked back at Izo.
"Forget it. I'll finish you first."
Izo froze.
He barely even heard the last sentence.
Feeling the mud fully restraining his lower body, he already understood the outcome.
Only then did he finally shift his attention toward the rest of the battlefield.
Everywhere he looked, Whitebeard's commanders had already fallen.
Only Jozu and Vista were still standing.
Jozu continued struggling desperately inside the sea of flames consuming the Moby Dick.
Vista looked even worse.
One of his arms was gone, and he could barely defend himself with a single sword.
To say he was struggling was not entirely accurate.
The truth was that Wyper clearly had not gotten serious yet.
The man was obviously no swordsman, yet he casually wielded a lightning-forged blade while hacking at Vista with reckless aggression.
At the same time, the scorching white sphere of condensed lightning in Wyper's free hand grew increasingly unstable.
It was obvious he was preparing to end the fight.
Izo slowly looked over the battlefield one final time.
Then his gaze landed on Whitebeard's towering back.
The old man was still fighting fiercely against Pini and Youki.
At that moment, countless emotions surged through Izo's chest.
"So we really were this weak…"
"For all these years, you carried everything for us…"
"You've worked hard, old man…"
Bang!
Jebao's blackened fist smashed directly into Izo's skull.
A faint cracking sound echoed through the battlefield.
As the mud binding his legs dispersed, Izo's body collapsed helplessly toward the ground.
During those final moments, countless memories flashed through his mind.
He saw himself and Kikunojo performing on stage in women's clothing when they were children.
He remembered meeting Kozuki Oden.
He remembered following Oden across Wano.
He remembered learning etiquette and swordsmanship under Shimotsuki Yasuie.
He remembered boarding Whitebeard's ship together with Inuarashi and Nekomamushi.
He remembered Oden marrying Toki.
He remembered Oden leaving to join Roger's crew.
And he remembered himself choosing to stay behind because he truly loved the atmosphere aboard the Whitebeard Pirates.
Finally, his memories stopped at Oden's smiling face before their final farewell.
"No problem. You're already a proper pirate now. Decide your own path."
Izo's fading consciousness trembled slightly.
"So that goodbye… really became forever…"
"Twenty-one years…"
"Oden-sama… I hope you're doing well…"
Thud.
Izo, retainer of the Kozuki Family, one of the Nine Red Scabbards, successor of Wano's Hanayanagi Style, and Sixteenth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, fell in battle.
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