"Cough!"
It seemed his injuries were too severe, causing Golden Lion to cough up another mouthful of fresh blood uncontrollably.
After the ship's wheel was pulled from his head, it had apparently damaged some nerves as well.
At this moment, Golden Lion's vision began experiencing double images from time to time, and his thoughts became intermittent.
The person in front of him would sometimes be that brat called Naruto Uzumaki and sometimes transform into Roger.
The environment also shifted along with his fragmented memories.
Golden Lion seemed to return to that naval battle from twenty years ago.
Except this time, he would die in battle.
"Come on!"
Golden Lion's roar didn't know whether it was directed at Naruto or at the man who had defeated him in those memories.
"Jahahaha!"
The massive lion head pressed down from above, completely blocking out the sunlight.
At that moment, it was as if the heavens themselves were collapsing.
In comparison, Naruto, standing directly in front of this attack, looked as small as a speck of dust.
This time, Naruto sheathed his sword and assumed a drawing stance in midair.
At this moment, he had poured all his spirit into this next strike, completely merging man and blade into one.
At the same moment, Kurama inside Naruto's body opened his mouth wide.
In terms of attack range alone, this attack Naruto faced even exceeded Hashirama's Wood Release from back then.
Although it didn't have the "energy density" of Hashirama's wooden constructs or Madara's Susanoo, the spectacle alone was quite visually impactful.
You have to understand. When an attack's range and scale reach a certain magnitude, there's no need to fuss over so-called precision and penetration.
In the current ninja world, perhaps only that old man who could turn the moon into a seal could create attacks of such massive scope.
"Hey! Brat, can you handle this?"
Kurama's voice transmitted from the sealed space into Naruto's mind but received no response.
"Hey! You're not..."
"Shut up."
Before Kurama could continue trying to save himself, Musōkō at Naruto's waist had already left its sheath.
No sword cry, no collision.
There wasn't even a trace of the blade's path.
Like teleportation, Musōkō had already completed a horizontal slash from left to right.
This extremely quiet slash formed a stark contrast with Golden Lion's mountain-shattering, earth-splitting, terrifying attack.
When Kurama was still wondering if Naruto had made a mistake, a gentle breeze appeared from nowhere.
This breeze was like something invisible, seemingly slow but approaching that massive lion head at extremely high speed.
This light, floating slash was completely different from the massive slashes Naruto had casually swung before, appearing to have no power at all.
The invisible wind casually passed by, and just then, a mass of lava the size of a ship happened to drip down from the lion's teeth.
The high-temperature lava fell toward that "gentle breeze," then instantly vaporized and dissipated into the air.
After "vaporizing" that mass of lava, the wind continued floating unobstructed toward the lion head constructed from the giant island.
When the two made contact, the lion's head rapidly separated along the mouth line from top to bottom.
The crack spread toward both sides at extremely high speed, just like a soft cake falling onto a sharp blade. You could even describe it as "silky smooth."
"What kind of swordsmanship is this?"
Golden Lion also suddenly widened his eyes.
Even he had never seen such a strange attack.
At this moment, Naruto's voice slowly rang out, answering his question.
"Musō: Utsusemi."
After saying this, he exhaled a long breath, and his entire sword arm emanated extremely high temperature.
This was Naruto's own swordsmanship. You could also say it was a drawing slash he had created himself after witnessing various strong opponents over the years, taking their strengths and making up for weaknesses.
Like Musōkō's transparent blade, this strike was similarly invisible yet possessed powerful destructive force.
What composed that gentle breeze were actually countless tiny slashes invisible to the naked eye.
Therefore, even for Naruto, executing this technique consumed quite a bit of energy.
Accompanied by the crisp sound of the sword entering its sheath, that "soft" slash suddenly accelerated, rapidly cutting the lion head in half.
If it were just this, Golden Lion could still "squeeze" the rocks back together.
However, after cutting through the lion head Golden Lion had created, that slash continued with undiminished force toward the man himself.
This time, he didn't even have time to dodge.
The gentle breeze passed by, and Golden Lion's right arm, along with half his shoulder, fell straight downward.
In the end, Naruto had shown mercy. This strike hadn't aimed for his head.
Because he understood that from the moment Golden Lion chose to pull out that half ship's wheel embedded in his head to fight him with full strength, his life had already entered a countdown.
"Beautiful swordsmanship..."
Golden Lion seemed completely unable to feel pain as he looked at the cross-section of his severed arm, murmuring in a low voice.
At this moment, Naruto was also stepping on the continuously falling island fragments, rapidly approaching him.
"As a curtain call, this really was quite spectacular."
While saying this, Naruto had already used Life Return again to restore himself to his "normal" appearance.
His shirt was completely ruined, but fortunately important items like scrolls were all in the bag hanging from his waist, thus escaping disaster.
After hearing Naruto's words, Golden Lion, who had just been expressionlessly murmuring, suddenly raised his head.
The fanatical fighting spirit in his eyes hadn't diminished at all.
"Brat, what kind of joke are you making?!"
"I'm the Golden Lion. The battle is just getting started!"
The famous sword "Oto" held by his severed hand slowly floated to Golden Lion's side under his fruit ability, resuming battle stance.
Golden Lion Shiki's hair and beard stood on end, his roar unable to be covered even by falling rocks.
Accompanied by his roar, Conqueror's Haki, even stronger than before, frantically pressed toward all directions, seemingly displaying the final spirit of a legendary pirate.
But this time, Naruto didn't release his own Haki.
He didn't even look at his opponent again, just lowering his head to search for something in his bag.
Soon, a small metal flask was pulled out.
Opening the cork and smelling it, Naruto closed his eyes to savor the aroma within.
Then, he threw the wine to his opponent without reluctance.
The flask passed through the Haki and touched Golden Lion's body, then also began floating.
"Your wine tasted good. As thanks, let you also taste my collection."
The Haki suddenly subsided.
Golden Lion withdrew the expression from his face, silently looking at Naruto, then turned his gaze to the flask.
The lid automatically opened, and the wine fell from mid-air into Golden Lion's mouth.
"Not bad."
Golden Lion only managed to say these two words, unclear whether he was talking about the wine's taste or about Naruto.
His words came to an abrupt end, and along with them stopped the magnificent life of this legendary great pirate.
One of Pirate King Gol D. Roger's archenemies, the "Flying Pirate Admiral," Golden Lion Shiki, was dead.