The massive cord of compressed strings slammed into Kai like a freight train at full throttle.
Doflamingo's triumphant grin died on his lips.
Cold sweat erupted across his forehead. His throat worked, trying to force words past the sudden dryness. "You've... you've got to be..."
His voice cracked.
"...kidding me."
The attack that could demolish a building had connected dead-center on Kai's torso. The impact should have sent him flying, bones shattered, organs ruptured.
Instead, Kai stood perfectly still. Not even a tremor ran through his frame.
"Hmm." Kai tilted his head, studying Doflamingo with mild interest. "Seems your ability isn't quite as impressive as you thought, Doffy."
Before Doflamingo could process the words, Kai's hands flicked outward.
Crocodile and Jinbe became human missiles.
"Spider's Web!"
Doflamingo's right palm erupted with countless near-invisible threads that spread horizontally in a split-second, weaving into a massive web of reinforced string.
CRASH!
Both Warlords slammed into the construct with bone-rattling force.
Twenty-plus years of String-String Fruit mastery meant Doflamingo's threads were thousands of times tougher than steel wire of equivalent thickness. His control was absolute, his strings nearly unbreakable.
Nearly.
The web strained under the sheer kinetic energy. Several threads snapped with sharp pings before the rest held.
Doflamingo's jaw clenched. His physical strength... the force he can generate... it's beyond anything I calculated.
Time to change tactics.
"Five Color Strings!"
His right hand snapped into a claw formation. Five threads—each dozens of times thinner than human hair—shot from his fingertips, coated in jet-black Armament Haki.
Sharpness rivaling supreme-grade blades. Speed that could bisect steel before the target registered movement.
Direct attacks won't work. But if I can cut through his defenses with precision strikes...
"Shadow Revolution!"
Moria's voice boomed across the field as his shadow writhed like a living thing.
The Shadow-Shadow Fruit's most insidious technique. Shadows and physical forms were linked—change one, change the other. Moria's shadow had already infiltrated Kai's during the chaos of the shattered Shadow Box, slipping in through the dispersing bats.
Kai's shadow twisted on the ground, contorting into impossible shapes.
An alien force tugged at Kai's body, trying to reshape flesh and bone to match the warped shadow.
Kai's eyebrows rose slightly. "Controlling shadows... interesting." A nostalgic smile crossed his face. "Wonder how this compares to Shikaku's techniques back home."
"Your body—" Moria's voice cracked with disbelief. "How is there NO CHANGE?! My shadow is INSIDE yours!"
Kai's smile turned pitying.
If Moria thought this level of force could distort his body, the man was delusional. Hell, even in this world, fighters like Garp, Sengoku, Rayleigh, Shanks—anyone who'd mastered second-stage Armament Haki—would shrug off Shadow Revolution like an annoying itch.
No wonder Kaido crushed him so thoroughly.
Doflamingo's Five Color Strings slashed through the air toward Kai's vitals—
Dozens more threads dropped from directly overhead, impossibly thin, wrapping around Kai's limbs and torso like puppet strings.
Doflamingo's left hand rose, index and ring fingers tucked in, middle finger and pinky extended. His grin stretched wide and manic.
"Fufufufu! Admiral White Dragon, my Parasite has you now! Next, you're going to—"
"Going to what?"
Kai's tone was almost playful.
Panic flashed behind Doflamingo's sunglasses. His fingers twitched frantically, jerking the puppet strings with desperate intensity.
Kai didn't move.
Not a muscle twitch. Not a head turn. Nothing.
Just like Shadow Revolution, Parasite was utterly useless against someone of Kai's caliber.
"Well then." Kai's smile sharpened. "Guess it's my turn."
"Six Powers: Finger Gun—Heaven Piercer!"
"Six Powers: Tempest Kick—Demon!"
His finger thrust shot forward like a railgun round, Armament Haki coating it in obsidian black.
His leg whipped up, generating a crescent blade of compressed air that screamed toward its target.
No time to dodge. No space to maneuver.
THUNK!
The finger strike punched clean through Doflamingo's right shoulder. A fist-sized hole appeared, blood spraying from the exit wound.
SLASH!
The wind blade carved through Moria from left shoulder to hip, opening a canyon of torn flesh that exposed white bone beneath.
Doflamingo looked down at the hole in his shoulder.
Shock.
Then rage—pure, incandescent, uncontrollable rage.
He'd been raised by Vergo and the others in privilege and power. When had he ever been wounded like this? And this bastard had exposed his Celestial Dragon heritage in front of everyone—
"MARINE ADMIRAL... KAI MITARASHI..."
His voice rose to a shriek.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!"
Doflamingo's hands shot skyward, fingers splayed wide.
"STRING-STRING FRUIT AWAKENING—BIRDCAGE!!!"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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