"Shadow Bats!"
The bats bared their fangs, flapped their wings, and let out eerie shrieks as they surged toward Gin Ichimaru.
"Oh my, that's a lot of bats. How frightening."
They came in from every direction, on the verge of swallowing Gin whole—
yet he still wore the same lazy smile, as if Moria's shadow bats were nothing worth taking seriously.
"Big guy… if I crush your shadow with Reiatsu, I wonder if that'd be amusing?"
The moment those words fell, the air itself began to boil, crackling with sharp, explosive sounds.
BOOM—
A pillar of spiritual pressure erupted from Gin's body, so powerful it twisted the surrounding space.
Under that pressure, the pirates still struggling on the ground couldn't even raise their heads. Many clawed at their own throats in panic, as if invisible shackles were tightening around their necks, the pain of suffocation pushing them to the edge of collapse.
"Ugh…"
Even Moria let out a muffled groan.
The pressure bearing down on him made it feel as though his entire body were about to come apart. A man who dreamed of contending with Kaido could now do nothing but tremble beneath Gin Ichimaru's Reiatsu.
Bzzz—
The air screamed.
The overwhelming pressure descended from above, instantly crushing the shadow bats wrapped around Gin's body until they were obliterated completely.
"In the middle of a fight, getting distracted is a very bad habit, you big leek-head."
Gin's voice reached Moria's ears, and his pupils contracted violently.
He spun around—
only to find Gin standing behind him, smiling with infuriating amusement.
"So this is all a pirate worth 320 million Berries can do? Seems the Marines really inflate their bounty values."
The words were pure mockery.
"Poison Blade, don't underestimate me!"
Fury flashed across Moria's eyes, and he roared like a man trying to vent all his frustration at once.
"Shadow Horn!"
His shadow twisted violently beneath his feet, taking the shape of a sharp lance in an instant.
"I'll pierce right through you!"
With bloodshot eyes, Moria hurled the shadow spear toward Gin at blistering speed.
"You really do have a terrible temper."
Gin remained perfectly calm.
He simply raised Shinsō and pointed it toward Moria once more.
Slash—
Another streak of light shot forward.
The seemingly unstoppable shadow spear shattered instantly—
and Moria's body was blasted away.
But this time—
he wasn't injured.
"Oh?"
Gin narrowed his eyes.
"So it was your shadow?"
The "Moria" he had struck had already switched places with a shadow double, while the real Moria had slipped elsewhere.
That was the power of Doppelman.
"Kehehehehe… I've already figured your trick out!" Moria laughed wildly. "Your slash can't hit me!"
The grin on his face hadn't even had time to settle—
before a chill ran down his spine.
"And what makes you think you can say something that arrogant?"
Moria froze.
He turned slightly—
and behind him, a soft pink light had begun to bloom.
"Scatter… Senbonzakura."
At the release command, a flood of cherry blossoms swept toward him like a crimson tide.
Those endless blossoms—
were also countless blades.
They bloomed in slaughter, staining the fog red with blood.
"It's over."
Byakuya Kuchiki's eyes sharpened.
With a slow clench of his hand, the sea of petals surged toward Moria in layered waves.
Shhk—! Shhk—! Shhk—!
Every petal that passed across his body opened a fresh wound.
"AAAAAAAHHH—!"
Moria's scream of despair tore through the fog and reached toward the heavens.
Hundreds—then thousands—of petal-blades carved bloody lines across his flesh, leaving behind a body riddled with brutal cuts.
Byakuya looked on without the slightest trace of emotion.
"The thunder carriage, the gap in the spinning wheel, with light gathered and split into six—"
"Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō."
As the incantation fell, six rods of blazing light appeared out of nowhere and slammed into place, locking Moria in a prison of radiance.
When the sea of blossoms finally faded, Moria collapsed to the deck, barely alive.
His enormous body—nearly seven meters tall—was drenched in blood. His clothes were in tatters, and every inch of skin was covered in horrifying wounds.
"Damn it! I'm Gecko Moria!" he roared in madness. "I won't go down so easily! I'm supposed to conquer the New World!"
With his cry, his body rapidly swelled under the wrapping of his shadow powers.
"Shadow Box!"
Moria clenched his hand, and four walls of darkness rose around Byakuya, closing in to trap him.
Against most opponents, that move would have worked.
But he had underestimated Byakuya's speed.
"Moria, stop wasting your strength."
Byakuya's voice came from right behind him.
Moria froze.
Byakuya was already there.
The shadow box hadn't even fully closed yet.
"When did—?!"
"Still don't understand?"
Byakuya slowly raised his blade, eyes as cold as ice.
"The reason you lost isn't just that you gave in to impatience."
He lifted his gaze slightly.
"It's that the gap between us was always this vast."
Then, with elegant precision, he swung.
Slash—
The attack expanded in Moria's vision until it completely pierced through him.
"AAAAAAAHHH!"
Moria screamed in agony.
All his life, he had been proud, arrogant, certain of his future. He had never suffered a wound like this.
And yet—
worse than the pain in his flesh was the despair crushing his mind.
At this moment, Moria had lost everything.
The Thriller Bark Pirates had been slaughtered.
And he himself had lost all right to dream of contending with Kaido.
"Farewell."
Another slash flashed through the air—
and pierced straight through Moria's heart.
The life within him bled away in an instant.
And so—
the great pirate who had once shaken the first half of the Grand Line…
fell.
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