Jozu's furious roar exploded like thunder, shaking the very atmosphere of the deserted island.
His right arm instantly underwent a triple-form transformation: the diamondized surface refracted the cold moonlight, while golden beams from the Glint-Glint Fruit flowed within, and a white halo of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit condensed at his fist.
"Triple Resonance: Tremor Flash!"
Jozu roared, throwing a fierce punch toward Kaido.
His fist suddenly erupted with a blinding golden light, as if tearing through the air.
To capture the rebels, first capture the leader—as long as Kaido was restrained, their escape plan would be half-successful!
The speed boost from the Glimmer-Glimmer ability made this strike faster than the eye could follow.
Where the fist passed, friction with the air generated intense heat, igniting the atmosphere in its wake.
Even more terrifying was the tremor force coiled around the fist, causing the space to crack like glass in a spiderweb pattern.
And this was without Armament Haki applied—first, let's see if Kaido could withstand this blow!
Kaido frowned, his beastly instincts making him abruptly dodge sideways.
But Jozu forcibly intercepted him, stepping into the light to throw a counter-punch!
BOOM!
Kaido's massive body was sent flying backward by Jozu's tremor-wrapped heavy punch, his dragon scales scraping against the air and sparking brilliantly.
But Jozu's assault didn't end there.
His eyes suddenly blazed with dazzling golden light as the Glimmer-Glimmer Fruit's power activated instantly!
"Light Speed: Tri-Star Blitz!"
Jozu's figure suddenly split into three golden streams of light, appearing almost simultaneously before the three All-Stars.
The speed was so fast that even Observation Haki could barely track it, leaving only three scorching light trails in the air.
First Flash: Jozu's diamond-clad right fist, wrapped in high-frequency vibrations, shot straight toward King's face.
The Lunarian didn't even have time to raise his sword before being sent flying backward, his black wings scattering countless feathers.
Cracks formed on his mask, though his Ancient Zoan regeneration began to work immediately.
Second Flash: As the light appeared before Queen, the Plague had just begun raising his mechanical arm.
Yet Jozu's fist turned elemental upon impact, the shining photons piercing through the mechanical defense to deliver a solid Tremor punch to Queen's bloated abdomen.
Sparks erupted from Queen's mechanical eye as he doubled over, dazed.
Third Flash: The light materialized above Jack's head.
The Drought roared, swinging his shotels, but Jozu teleported behind him with near-instant movement, delivering a photon kick reinforced with diamond hardness squarely to Jack's spine.
CRACK!
The sound of bone fracturing echoed clearly as Jack's massive body crashed into distant rock walls like a ragged sack, stirring clouds of dust.
All this occurred in less than 0.1 seconds.
By the time Kaido stabilized his dragon form, he only saw his three Calamities scattered around like broken dolls.
Jozu had already returned to his solid form, standing proudly mid-air.
His full-body diamond armor reflected the cold moonlight, while golden light and tremoring white energy still lingered on his fists.
"Now, Ace!"
Before Jozu's roar faded, Ace had already ignited his entire body.
"Flame Emperor: Jet Ascent!"
Ace did not transform into a phoenix, but rather a living comet.
Streams of violent fire erupted from his feet and back, propelling him skyward like a rocket.
The entire night sky turned scarlet; wherever the heatwave swept, the beach burst into flames.
Ace's figure carved a blazing trail through the night, tearing through the darkness to escape.
"Good..." Jozu turned to watch Ace becoming a distant red dot on the horizon, a relieved smile curling his lips.
"He should be safe."
Kaido's draconic pupils narrowed into dangerous slits, his furious roar shattering rocks within a kilometer.
"JOZU—!!!"
But it was too late.
Ace's fiery form had already broken through the clouds, vanishing into the vast night sky.
Meanwhile, Jozu slowly assumed a combat stance, his three Devil Fruit abilities resonating perfectly within him.
His eyes sparkled with unwavering fearlessness, ready to confront the overwhelming wrath of the "World's Strongest Creature."
"Bastard!"
Kaido's maw opened, and a blast of Bolo Breath erupted at the critical moment, scorching flames pouring down like a storm.
But Jozu had already predicted the attack.
Jozu's right arm suddenly erupted with blinding light, diamond crystals rapidly reorganizing like living organisms.
Under the moonlight, countless facets interlocked with precision, producing crisp crystalline collisions.
In the blink of an eye, a massive diamond sword measuring over two meters in length had fully materialized.
Its blade was entirely crystalline and translucent, yet countless golden light trails swirled within, as if sunlight had been sealed inside the crystal.
"Diamond Art: Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi!"
With Jozu's furious roar, the golden light trails inside the blade suddenly went wild.
It was the photon energy of the Glint-Glint Fruit madly refracting through the diamond crystal lattice, with each reflection causing the energy to grow exponentially.
Even more terrifying was the distorted white halo along the blade's edge—the high-frequency vibration waves created visible ripples in space itself.
"Bolo Breath!!"
The destructive exhalation erupted forth, instantly vaporizing any rock in its path and plowing a boiling trench across the sea surface.
At the critical moment, Jozu gently turned his wrist.
The form of the Diamond Sword underwent a subtle transformation—the crystals reconfigured into 720 perfect rhombic faces, each facet optically calibrated to form a reflection array comparable to Kizaru's Yata no Kagami.
"Triple Integration: Prismatic Reflection!"
ZZEEEEOOOOM!
The moment the magma-like dragon breath struck the shield surface, an astonishing phenomenon occurred.
The breath didn't break the shield.
Instead, the diamond facets decomposed the heat into fundamental energy streams.
The internal photon matrix polarized the energy, and the vibration field launched it back out!
What was originally a dragon breath capable of destroying islands was broken down into thirty-six slender, high-energy laser beams that scattered radially in all directions.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Distant sea surfaces erupted with hundred-meter-high water columns one after another.
The most deadly refracted beam even grazed past Kaido's dragon body, scorching a patch of his indestructible scales.
"Impossible!"
Kaido stared in shock at how easily his breath had been neutralized, instinctively looking at the burn on his waist.
How many years had it been since he'd been injured?
Jozu's figure emerged from the gradually dissipating steam, his diamond body shining brighter than ever.
"Come on, Kaido! Is that all the heat your Breath has?"