The initial collision sent shockwaves through the harbor as both fighters were forced back several steps, their feet carving furrows in the ground as they absorbed the tremendous impact. Neither showed any signs of serious damage, but the raw power behind their attacks had left the surrounding area trembling.
Without missing a beat, both surged forward simultaneously, launching into an explosive exchange that would have been invisible to ordinary observers. This was no longer a mere fight—it was a high-speed chess match played with fists and weapons, where each move carried the potential for instant victory or devastating defeat.
Katakuri's assault was a terrifying display of coordination and power. His left fist moved in perfect harmony with his right-handed trident, creating a dual-weapon fighting style that had conquered countless opponents across the New World. Each strike carried enough force to shatter stone, delivered with the precision that came from decades of combat experience. The trident's three prongs whistled through the air like hungry serpents, seeking vital points, while his fist followed up with bone-crushing impacts that could cave in a ship's hull.
Jerry responded with his own devastating combination of strikes. His punches cut through the air with the speed of lightning, each one enhanced with advanced Armament Haki that made his fists harder than steel. His kicks swept in wide arcs that could have felled trees, delivered with the fluid grace of someone who had turned violence into an art form. Every attack flowed seamlessly into the next, creating a relentless torrent of offense that left no openings for counterattack.
The wind howled around them as their battle created its own weather system. Air pressure waves rolled outward from each collision, shattering windows in nearby buildings and sending loose debris flying like shrapnel. The ground beneath their feet, already damaged from Jerry's fight with Cracker, began to buckle and crack under the tremendous forces being unleashed.
Katakuri quickly realized that his traditional fighting approach wasn't sufficient against Jerry's incredible speed and agility. The height difference between them created the same tactical challenges he'd observed during Cracker's defeat—Jerry's naturally lower attack angles forced Katakuri into awkward defensive positions that disrupted his rhythm.
"Power Mochi!" Katakuri called out, his voice cutting through the chaos of battle.
In an instant, multiple arms sprouted from both sides of his torso, each one formed from his mochi substance but hardened to the consistency of iron through his advanced Armament Haki. The additional limbs immediately began launching a barrage of attacks, increasing his offensive output several times over. What had been a duel between two fighters suddenly became Jerry versus an entire army, as fists rained down from every conceivable angle.
But Jerry remained completely calm in the face of this overwhelming assault. His body seemed to shift into an even higher gear, moving with such speed that his form became a blur. His advanced Observation Haki allowed him to track every incoming attack, while his reflexes let him respond to threats that were coming from multiple directions simultaneously.
"These fists are really something else," Jerry commented with genuine admiration as he weaved between the storm of attacks. "You're definitely worthy of being called a pillar of the Big Mom Pirates."
As the battle continued to escalate, Jerry found himself genuinely impressed by Katakuri's capabilities. This was the same fighter who had dominated Luffy during their encounter—a Luffy who had already spent over two years training and growing stronger. The raw power behind each of Katakuri's strikes was staggering, and his technical skill was beyond question.
But fortunately, I'm not exactly weak either, Jerry thought to himself as he dove back into the seemingly endless sea of fists, his own attacks finding gaps in Katakuri's defense with surgical precision.
The prolonged battle created a strange paradox—despite the incredible intensity of their exchange, neither fighter was accumulating significant injuries. This wasn't due to lack of effort or power, but rather because both combatants were operating at such a high level that most attacks were being neutralized or deflected.
Jerry's incredible speed allowed him to dodge at the last possible moment, even when completely surrounded by attacks. When he couldn't avoid an impact entirely, his body moved like water, twisting and flowing to disperse the force while his advanced Armament Haki absorbed what remained. More importantly, he maintained an aggressive fighting style that kept Katakuri constantly on the defensive, attacking far more often than he was forced to defend.
Katakuri, meanwhile, relied on his most devastating ability—advanced Observation Haki that allowed him to see several seconds into the future. Whenever Jerry's attacks threatened to land, Katakuri would transform the targeted area of his body into a hollow space made of mochi, allowing the strike to pass harmlessly through. When he couldn't avoid an attack entirely, he would harden the impact point with Armament Haki to minimize damage.
This created the surreal spectacle of a battle that looked incredibly violent but produced minimal actual harm. Both fighters were landing what appeared to be devastating blows, but their respective defensive abilities were neutralizing most of the damage.
As the fight progressed and the intensity continued to build, Jerry began incorporating his unique abilities into the assault. Water droplets began condensing from the air around his attacks, each one compressed and hardened until they possessed the cutting power of bullets. These projectiles supplemented his physical strikes, creating additional threats that Katakuri had to account for in his future-sight calculations.
Jerry's offensive capabilities seemed to grow stronger with each passing moment. His attack frequency increased beyond what should have been humanly possible, while his techniques became more varied and unpredictable. He was adapting to Katakuri's fighting style in real-time, learning to work around the Sweet Commander's precognitive abilities.
Then, in the midst of thousands of exchanged blows, Jerry spotted his opportunity. As Katakuri committed to a particularly aggressive trident thrust, Jerry slipped to the side and drove his right foot into the Sweet Commander's chest with devastating force.
For the first time in the battle, Katakuri's future-sight failed him. The kick connected solidly, lifting him off his feet and sending him flying backward toward the candy-coated building behind him. But even in this moment of disadvantage, Katakuri's combat experience showed. Just before his back would have collided with the wall, he twisted his body in mid-air and managed to land feet-first against the vertical surface.
Using the wall as a springboard, Katakuri pushed off and slid backward across the ground in a half-crouch, his feet carving deep grooves in the pavement as he absorbed the tremendous kinetic energy. He came to a stop just short of another building, but the ground along his entire slide path had cracked and spider-webbed from the forces involved.
The watching crowd, which had been holding its collective breath throughout the battle, finally began to process what they were witnessing. Hushed conversations broke out among the spectators, their voices carrying a mixture of disbelief and excitement.
"Hey! Are you kidding me? What's going on today? Is this guy going to defeat all four Sweet Commanders?" one pirate whispered to his friend.
"That would make one hell of a headline," a news reporter muttered, already mentally composing the story that would shake the New World. "Unknown Pirate Challenges Big Mom's Top Fighters!"
"That's absolutely impossible!" protested a Big Mom Pirates member. "Lord Katakuri will never lose! He's undefeated!"
"But look at what's happening right now..." another voice trailed off uncertainly.
The crowd represented a diverse mix of pirates, merchants, and information brokers who had been drawn to Totto Land by various business opportunities. Among them were several news correspondents who had come hoping to catch wind of some significant story—though none had expected to witness something of this magnitude.
For most of the onlookers, Jerry remained an enigma. While his bounty exceeded 100 million Berries, marking him as a legitimate threat, he hadn't made any major headlines recently. The events in Wano Country that had first established his reputation as a serious fighter remained largely unknown to the general public due to that nation's isolation.
Even his activities over the past six months, helping the Whitebeard Pirates on various expeditions, had been overshadowed by other members of that crew. To most observers, Jerry appeared to be just another promising rookie who happened to be in the right place at the right time—a perception that was being rapidly corrected by his current performance.
Jerry had spent the battle carefully analyzing Katakuri's abilities and fighting patterns. His own Observation Haki, while not quite as advanced as Katakuri's future-sight, was sophisticated enough to read his opponent's intentions and predict his strategies. Through this analysis, Jerry had reached some important conclusions about how this fight would need to end.
Katakuri's precognitive abilities meant that conventional attacks, no matter how fast or powerful, would likely be anticipated and countered. To achieve victory, Jerry would need to employ one of several advanced strategies. He could launch attacks so overwhelmingly powerful and wide-ranging that even foreseeing them wouldn't help Katakuri escape. Alternatively, he could increase his attack frequency to such an extreme level that Katakuri's body couldn't keep up with what his mind could see coming.
But Jerry had another significant advantage that he hadn't fully exploited yet—the battlefield itself. The harbor setting, with its proximity to the ocean and abundance of water sources, was perfect for his abilities. He could incorporate massive volumes of water into his attacks, turning each strike into a area-of-effect assault that would be impossible to dodge completely. The ultimate expression of this strategy would be to manipulate the seawater itself, creating a tsunami that would change the entire nature of their confrontation.
The tactical possibilities were numerous, and Jerry found himself almost spoiled for choice as he considered his options.
Katakuri slowly straightened from his defensive crouch, his expression colder than winter steel. He pressed his lips together tightly, using pure willpower to swallow back the blood that threatened to escape his mouth. Despite his incredible defensive abilities, Jerry's kick had still managed to cause some internal damage—a testament to the frightening power behind the attack.
Jerry landed gracefully after his successful strike, his posture relaxed but ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. He watched Katakuri's recovery with professional interest, already planning his next sequence of attacks.
But as Jerry's attention momentarily shifted to tactical considerations, Katakuri suddenly dropped into a low stance, placing both hands flat against the ground beneath him.
"Flowing Mochi!" he called out, his voice carrying a new note of deadly seriousness.
The effect was immediate and spectacular. Starting from Katakuri's position, the entire ground surface began transforming into flowing mochi, spreading outward like a rapidly expanding wave. The solid pavement, the scattered debris, even parts of nearby buildings—everything was being converted into an extension of Katakuri's Devil Fruit abilities.
This was the awakened state of the Mochi-Mochi Fruit, a level of mastery that allowed the user to affect not just their own body, but the entire environment around them. The harbor area was becoming Katakuri's domain, where every surface could potentially become a weapon or a trap.
The flowing mochi surged toward Jerry like a tsunami of sticky, hardened material, seeking to engulf and immobilize him. But even as the attack launched, Katakuri's expression suddenly changed to one of alarm.
"Huh!? Not good!" His eyes widened as his future-sight showed him what was about to happen.
He quickly turned his head and shouted to his subordinates who had remained in the area after rescuing Cracker:
"Retreat quickly! Quickly!"
"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"
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