Although Shiki trusted the binding rules of the Davy Back Fight-
to prevent the doctor from tampering during the operation, he still had an operating room set up within the research facility.
Indigo and the great ape stood by as supervisors. He even moved a floating island directly above Alubarna as a precaution.
"Just how paranoid are you?"
Sakura changed into surgical scrubs and performed a sterilization routine.
"Hmph! When I was being ambushed in the underworld, you weren't even born yet!"
Even lying on the operating bed facing the doctor about to operate on him, this lion refused to back down.
But what he said was true. After all, this old man was from the same era as Garp. A rough estimate put his age close to seventy.
Then, Sakura pressed down on Shiki's head. A hand wearing rubber gloves reached over, and a Chakra Scalpel extended from her fingertips.
"Wait, aren't you going to use anesthesia?"
"Relax, I have special techniques."
"Hey! If I pass out, my ability will fail!"
"It's fine. I told you, I'm a professional."
"Ow ow ow!"
Squelch!
The helm embedded in Shiki's head was roughly removed. Then, vines suddenly grew from the floor of the operating room, flowers blooming atop his head and spraying a green mist.
Sakura placed both hands on Shiki's head, using Mystical Palm Technique to repair the hole that had been in his brain for over a decade.
While expelling contaminated blood, she used Wood Release to produce universal plasma and infused it into Shiki's body.
The entire operation lasted half an hour, successfully removing the helm and all residual fragments from Shiki's head.
"Here, keep it as a memento."
Sakura handed the removed half of the helm to Shiki, but he slapped it away.
"Who wants something like that?!"
Feeling clear-headed and refreshed, Shiki was in a great mood and didn't hold it against her.
"It's actually been removed?"
Dr. Indigo, observing from the side, was incredulous.
As a scientist capable of independently developing drugs, he knew very well how troublesome the helm embedded in Shiki's head was.
Wooden splinters deep within the brain tissue, entangled with it… the slightest mistake could have taken Shiki's life.
This helm, which he had spent over a decade unable to remove, had actually been dealt with by Sakura in barely half an hour.
'Were all these Devil Fruit ability users this damn unreasonable?'
"Shihahaha!!"
Shiki laughed heartily, raising a hand to feel his intact head. An invisible wave of force burst forth from him.
Everyone in the entire research facility, swept by this power, promptly lost consciousness.
However, even with the helm removed, over a decade of wasted years couldn't be recovered in an instant.
"Tch, can't use Conqueror's Haki Infusion?"
Shiki looked at the Haki flowing over his pitch-black elbow and clicked his tongue.
"Hmph, degenerating to the point of placing your ideals on external objects. Be glad your spiritual presence only declined somewhat."
Sakura crossed her arms, giving him a sidelong glance.
On these seas where will determines everything, there were countless examples of the body degenerating alongside a lost will to advance.
One reason Shiki didn't 'deteriorate' in his later years was that his Haki being crippled was due to an objective factor… he hadn't actively given up. Another reason was that he still retained the resolve to defy the world, even if his direction was somewhat misguided.
"Sharp-tongued brat."
Shiki mocked Sakura, but then suddenly grinned. "However, you must be prepared too, right?"
"If you're willing to fight here, I don't mind either!"
Sakura tilted her head, glancing at the researchers lying unconscious all around.
They were all Shiki's assets on the sky island anyway. Blowing them up wouldn't hurt her feelings.
"Tch!"
Shiki's gaze swept over these people. He raised a foot and cut a large hole in the research facility's wall.
"Follow me!"
With that, he took the lead and flew out.
…
The distant firmament began to brighten. Sunlight was split by the sky island's peaks, refracting into a world of sharply defined light and shadow.
-The world of the strong!
Above the Floating Islands, Shiki and Sakura stood facing each other, their gazes colliding in the air.
Invisible presence stirred into waves. The surging tide of Haki raised rumbles of dark lightning.
It whirled and spread.
Causing the beasts on the sky islands to flee, dust to spray out in rings, and trees to sway incessantly in the gale.
"Shihahaha, come on, brat! I'll give you three free moves!"
Caught up in the exhilaration, Shiki crossed his arms, bending over to look down at Sakura.
"You said it yourself!"
Sakura took a firm step forward without hesitation. Flying Thunder God combined with swordsmanship flashed with ultimate ferocity.
Countless extending streaks of pale lightning erupted from Kumotsuna, blanketing the sky, sealing off all of Shiki's gaps and barriers.
'Shit!'
Shiki heard the increasingly high-pitched and shrill screeching. His Observation Haki, dormant for over a decade, was practically deafening him.
-What the hell are you still posturing for at a time like this! Evade!
"Zanpa!"
A majestic wave of sword energy tore through the lightning, colliding with Sakura's Flying Thunder God: Roaring Light Sword the instant it was about to pierce Shiki's neck.
Crack!
After clashing swords once, Golden Lion's body swiftly retreated backward.
The blade of Kumotsuna in Sakura's hand also shattered due to the penetrating, flowing Haki.
"Hahahaha!"
Although Kumotsuna's blade shattered because of Shiki's internally destructive Haki, making that posturing old man swallow his words still felt immensely satisfying to Sakura.
"Tch, dangerous one!"
Shiki swept his body with Observation Haki, discovering a sakura blossom mark on the skin of his arm beneath his sleeve.
Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately used his sword to slash the mark off, then tore off part of his cape to bandage the wound.
"Planting something on someone during surgery... that's a dirty move!"
After doing this, Shiki lit a cigar and placed it in his mouth, casting a disdainful look at the girl before him.
"Can't be helped. Isn't that the pirate nature you seniors taught me?"
Sakura pulled a Flying Thunder God kunai from her pack, lightly twirling it by the handle.
Undoubtedly, Shiki was a formidable enemy. He was cunning, cruel, despicable... As someone from the underworld, he possessed every dangerous trait a pirate could have.
To oppose a great pirate of this type, one had to be more cunning, more cruel, and more despicable than him!
Coincidentally, as a Ninja, Sakura was a professional in these aspects!
"I'm liking you more and more, baby-chan!"
Shiki grinned, revealing a ferocious smile.
Then, he flipped his body in mid-air. Vast, majestic slashes fell like a rainstorm and a howling gale.
Simultaneously, as he swung his arms, blizzards shaped into lion heads roared as they rushed towards her.
In the distance, Sakura infused the kunai she held with Haki.
Under the throwing technique, it shot towards Shiki faster than a bullet, smashing through two or three of the blizzard-formed lion heads.
Whoosh!
Spatial teleportation. Sakura's figure abruptly escaped the encirclement Shiki had prepared for her. The blade in her hand, Kumotsuna, once again extended its edge as she brought it down on Shiki, now within arm's reach.
"Thinking you can defeat me isn't that easy!"
On the swords attached to Shiki's feet, searing Haki flowed as he swung upward in a slash.
Facing him, Sakura's response, gripping her sword with both hands, was equally simple.
"Roaring Light Sword!"
Boom-!