Jerry hadn't been using his fishing rod as a weapon for very long, yet somehow it felt incredibly familiar in his hands. At this moment, triggered by his opponent's serious attack, his hand became a blur as he swung the rod frantically to counter her assault.
Both fighters moved their weapons with lightning speed, creating arcs through the air. The flashing interplay of sword and rod was chaotic yet somehow orderly, and in the blink of an eye they had clashed nearly a hundred times.
The continuous exchanges between the two combatants left the street surface covered with densely packed scratches of varying lengths and depths.
As the previous exchange came to an end, Gion quickly gathered her energy and attacked once more. After her dazzling quick combination, she rushed forward at high speed with a massive slash.
"Cherry Blossom Sword Shadow!"
"Hmm? Time for a sweep!" Jerry responded.
As his opponent changed tactics and pressed forward, Jerry reacted instantly. He took a large step forward with his left foot, extended his right arm fully, gripped his fishing rod tightly, and swept out with tremendous force.
Both weapons, coated in Armament Haki, collided violently. The impact burst outward instantly, sending both fighters flying backward.
Jerry's entire body slammed into the auction house wall behind him, creating a massive hole in the thick structure. Correspondingly, Gion was also blown away—there was another shop across the wide street, but she managed to stop herself forcefully before crashing into it.
The surrounding shops and auction houses had begun closing when the two started fighting, and had been completely evacuated by the time the Marine reinforcements arrived.
After his body demolished part of the building's exterior, Jerry dusted off his shoulder casually and returned to the battlefield. He was somewhat dusty but completely uninjured.
As if the door to a new world had opened before him, his eyes sparkled with excitement as he kept muttering, "Am I really a natural at this?"
After their previous exchange, he felt that wielding the fishing rod now seemed much more intuitive and effective.
In his earlier battles with Gion, she had always taken the initiative while he responded reactively with his rod. He'd simply wanted to see how far he could push this improvised weapon.
At this moment, he felt fantastic—as if he'd achieved some breakthrough after being tested by Gion's sword techniques. The fishing equipment in his hands could genuinely serve as his new weapon.
Jerry raised his head, rolled his eyes with amusement, and grinned widely. "Come on! Let me show you, Marine swordswoman, just how powerful my technique can be!"
"Haha, young man, don't you normally use your fists?" Gion asked calmly, regardless of his provocation.
"My fists are available anytime, but fishing is my specialty!" Jerry replied with a grin, giving his fishing rod a casual practice swing.
"Really? Then I'll have to learn from your example," Gion responded with professional interest.
After this brief exchange, Jerry initiated a new round of combat.
The intensity of their battle began escalating significantly. As the fight continued, Gion began to notice something peculiar about her opponent's behavior.
Constant rumbling sounds echoed across the battlefield as Jerry appeared to be getting overwhelmed. After exchanging several moves with her, he would get struck and sent flying backward at high speed.
Jerry went sailing through the air again, and the surrounding shops were already reduced to rubble and ruins.
Gion glanced around their expanded battlefield and finally realized what the person in front of her was actually doing.
The battle continued with undiminished intensity, with Jerry being knocked flying in various directions repeatedly. But he always performed an immediate recovery after crashing into a shop, then rushed out full of energy in the next moment.
Initially, Gion hadn't understood what was happening with him. Jerry's constant back-and-forth movement had been extremely rapid, making it look like a normal battle where he was being suppressed and at a disadvantage.
But thinking about it more carefully, Gion suddenly said with irritation, "Hey! Damn you, little brat! If you use this opportunity to demolish all these auction houses and shops, they'll file complaints about us with the World Government!"
"Huh? Are human trafficking bosses really that shameless? They'd dare cause trouble for the Marine?" Jerry asked with feigned innocence.
"How do you think they manage to operate here so openly..." Gion began, then caught herself.
"Oh! I think I understand now," Jerry said, blinking with mock comprehension.
He wasn't sure if this qualified as insider information, but what she meant was that those people probably had some kind of arrangement or understanding with the World Government, and the Marines couldn't do anything about it.
"Well, forget what I just said. You didn't hear any of that. Anyway, stop trying to pull tricks!" Gion declared.
Perhaps influenced by Garp's example, she had become somewhat outspoken and accidentally revealed sensitive information. Not wanting to discuss it further, she attacked again.
She flew forward with a fierce slash. After one attack was blocked, she continued with evasive movements and additional strikes, making her opponent feel as though they were truly experiencing a sword storm and being completely overwhelmed.
"Then I'll give you my Full Rotation Defense!" Jerry called out confidently while facing her combination of body techniques, explosive speed, and all-around storm-like assault.
In reality, he was completely focused, using his powerful Observation Haki for early warning while spinning continuously and wielding his fishing rod to parry and block the sword strikes coming from all directions.
A chaotic symphony of clashing sounds rang out densely—the speed of weapon collision was so fast that all individual sounds merged into one continuous noise.
Gion's attack was as fierce as a hurricane. Ordinary people couldn't even see her figure clearly, only catching glimpses of her red clothing and the brilliant sword light covering the entire battlefield.
Jerry remained extremely calm and composed, using the fishing rod in his hand like a nimble serpent, quickly weaving through his opponent's attacks while delivering accurate defenses and counterstrikes.
With a thunderous crash, Jerry was launched into the air again at the conclusion of Gion's combination attack. Yet another shop was completely demolished by his impact.
From the very first time he'd been sent flying, Jerry had remembered that the nearby streets seemed filled with shops and auction houses related to human trafficking, so he felt no shame in destroying them.
However, this time when he got back up, he was no longer completely unscathed. It was still challenging for Jerry to handle Gion's ferocious sword techniques using only his fishing rod, especially since he hadn't had time to develop techniques specifically designed for the weapon.
Glancing at his torn sleeve and the shallow, bleeding wound on his arm, he controlled the flowing blood and stopped the bleeding by concentrating on the injury.
He still maintained a certain degree of control over his own blood, though when it came to other people's blood, he encountered significant resistance. He suspected that perhaps his abilities hadn't developed far enough yet.
With a slight smile, Jerry roughly assessed his current level using only the fishing rod. Next, he decided to combine it with his other skills.
"Come on! Don't think you can easily defeat me like this," he declared.
"As Kizaru mentioned, you really aren't simple, little brother," Gion acknowledged.
Regardless of whether Kizaru had been holding back during his previous encounter, Jerry's growth over this period had definitely made him a formidable opponent in Gion's assessment.
She knew very well that what had made this man famous wasn't his fishing rod, but his fists.
"Of course! Though living simply is the real deal," Jerry philosophized suddenly, "being too simple isn't necessarily good either. When it comes to getting serious, you can't go easy on yourself."
Jerry unexpectedly began discussing life philosophy, cracked his neck, grinned widely, and continued, "Sister, here I come!"
"Watch this! And this too!"