The puff of smoke had barely dispersed when Kuina shot over Dalmatian's head, her blade flashing silver as it came down toward him.
"Oi oi oi…"
Dalmatian raised a brow, surprised.
"You go straight for me the moment you show up? Isn't that a bit…"
"Too arrogant, pirate!"
Her edge was about to reach his throat when a red light flashed in his eyes. He jerked his head aside, and his half–beast-transformed claws, coated heavily in Armament Haki, swung back toward her wrist.
CLANG!
Metal clashed as Kuina caught the strike with her blade, flipping backward and landing in a controlled slide, sparks skittering along the stone.
Dalmatian was pushed back two steps as well.
He glanced down at his claw, five steel-hard digits now marked with a deep, white gouge.
"Not bad…" He licked a sharp canine fang. "Kid, your swordsmanship is impressive. Shame your strength doesn't quite match it."
Kuina didn't answer. She only adjusted her breathing, fingers tingling but grip steady as ever.
"That's why…" Dalmatian lowered himself, muscles coiling like springs.
"Just this? It's not nearly enough!"
FWIP!
He vanished, leaving only an afterimage.
Kuina's pupils shrank. She didn't have Observation Haki yet, but the instincts of a swordswoman told her immediately,
Left!
CLANG!
Wado Ichimonji barely caught the incoming strike, the force shoving her several meters back.
Dalmatian reappeared, not slowing at all. His claws rained down like a storm.
CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!
Sparks flew. Kuina's sword danced like flowing water, deflecting each blow with precision, but each impact pushed her further back.
"What's wrong?!"
Dalmatian smirked.
"Only defending? Where'd that earlier spirit go?"
CRACK!
His tail whipped out like a lash, fast and vicious.
Kuina had been focused on his claws, she dodged late, the tip grazing her waist and sending pain lancing through her side. She staggered, almost falling,
But at that moment, Nojiko finally broke through several Marine officers and charged in.
"I'll back you up!"
The mithril gloves on her hands pulsed with blue light as she launched a cannon-like punch at Dalmatian's flank.
"Ripple Fist, Shatter Break!"
"Hmm?"
Dalmatian's canine ears twitched. His assault stalled, left claw sliding back to guard.
The moment their attacks collided, Kuina seized the opening
"Tailwind Cut!"
SCHRRIP!
Dalmatian's green suit tore open as a gash ran from his abdomen toward his chest.
He roared in pain and fury, then slammed a massive fist toward Nojiko's face.
Nojiko crossed her arms, Armament Haki flooding over them in an instant.
THUMP!
The blow sent her flying, tumbling across the ground until she spun back onto her feet.
Shaking off the numbness, she grinned with excitement.
"Good power, big dog. Now this is getting fun."
She cracked her knuckles with sharp pops.
A year ago, back in Cocoyashi Village, when she was pushing her martial arts to the next stage, Shanu had trained with her nonstop.
Dalmatian's power… honestly wasn't even above her brother's back then.
Totally manageable.
"…?"
Dalmatian glanced at his bleeding chest. The sight darkened his expression.
"You brats…"
His body began to expand, fur erupting outward, until he fully transformed into a gigantic black-and-white spotted hound over five meters long, even bulkier than Gin.
"As a Marime HQ Vice Admiral… I'll show you real power!"
Kuina and Nojiko took a back-to-back stance.
"As planned… I'll take point."
"Got it. I'll open chances from the side."
"RAAARGH!"
Dalmatian kicked off the ground, the dock cracking beneath him as he lunged with terrifying speed.
The gleam of his fangs reflected the two girls' steady gazes, and the chaos unfolding on the battlefield behind them.
"White Fist!"
"Épaule Shoot (Shoulder Meat, Shoot)!"
BOOM!
Smoker and Zeff each blasted away the Marines surrounding them and landed side by side. Their gazes locked onto the woman in the Justice cloak ahead.
Vice Admiral Bumaya slowly licked the tip of her oversized syringe, eyes glowing with twisted excitement.
"Hey, old man."
Smoker bit down on his cigar.
"That woman looks unstable. Her Devil Fruit's weird too, stay sharp."
"Lived this long, I've met plenty of lunatics."
Zeff cracked his metal leg, raising it.
"Just don't slow me down, Smoke Boy."
"Heh…"
Smoker's grip tightened on his Jitte as Armament Haki spread across it.
"Kihihihi… exciting…"
Bumaya giggled behind her hand.
"Two big strong men teaming up on me? Oh, I just love turning tough guys into pincushions!"
FWIP!
She kicked off with Moonwalk and vanished, appearing above Smoker with her syringe stabbing downward.
"Shots for everyone!"
Smoker used Soru to dodge, the ground where he'd stood sizzled into a charred crater.
"Poison?!"
Zeff's eyes widened.
"Watch it, Smoker! Her syringe carries toxin!"
"Aw, only noticing now? Too late~"
Her silhouette flickered behind Zeff as she swept the syringe for his neck.
"Is that so!"
Zeff twisted and counter-kicked without hesitation.
CLANG!
His Armament-coated steel leg knocked the syringe aside!
Even as Bumaya recoiled, she grinned again, ttill mid-air, her syringe began spinning and spewing a pink mist.
"Doctor's Mercy, Sweet Fragrant Breeze!"
The pink cloud drifted toward them, sickly sweet despite the danger.
Just as the two men braced to dodge,
KRAK-THOOM!
A dome of lightning erupted around them, blocking the gas entirely.
"Nice one, Gin!"
Zeff yelled toward the rampaging wolf.
Gin barreled through Marines, unstoppable. Two Rear Admirals tried to stop it, and failed, barely keeping it contained.
The lightning dome expanded, not only blocking the mist but repelling it, blowing it back across the battlefield.
The wind carried the gas into the Marine ranks
"Oh no!"
A Marine captain shouted, panicked.
"That's Vice Admiral Bumaya's toxin! Hold your breath, retreat!"
Some fled.
Others reacted too late.
Those who inhaled the mist
"Die… DIE!"
"You're all enemies! DIE!"
Their eyes reddened and they slashed at anything nearby.
The Marine formation collapsed into chaos.
"A perfect chance! Nami! We break out here, head for the ship!"
"On it, Zeff!"
The orange-haired girl sprinted toward the Curtainfall. Marine officers tried to chase,
FFFWOOM!
A wall of fire rose, blocking them.
"Hot—! What the hell?! Flames?! Gin again?!"
No, it's ME!!
Nami nearly tripped in frustration.
How blind WERE these idiots?!
CRACKLE, BOOM!
The lightning dome dispersed.
Zeff stomped the ground, blowing away residual mist.
"Thanks for the opening. Good to know your so-called 'Doctor's Mercy' doesn't spare even your own troops."
Bumaya's smile froze.
She turned, her own men were attacking each other, collapsing, dying, screaming.
Her toxin had spread like a plague.
"You useless worms! You're embarrassing me!!"
She shrieked, her syringe morphing, the needle widening
"Fine! I'll CLEAN UP myself!"
"Doctor's Mercy, Grand Clean Sweep!"
Hundreds of tiny poison needles sprayed out like rain, slamming into the berserk Marines.
One by one, they foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
The remaining Marines stared at her in horror.
"Maniac!"
Smoker snarled.
"You call yourself a Marine? You slaughter your own men like this?!"
Even he, an ex-Marine, avoided killing rank-and-file Marines whenever possible.
But this woman, a Vice Admiral, was a monster.
More than a hundred Marines… dead in seconds.
A monster like Onigumo all over again.
He was glad he defected back in Loguetown.
This wasn't justice.
"This drivel again? 'Justice,' huh?"
Bumaya flickered forward.
"Coming from a deserter like you? As long as it helps Sakazuki-san wipe out pirates, a few sacrificial pawns are.."
BOOOOOOM!!!
A massive blast detonated in the north. The island trembled.
Both sides froze.
Red magma rained from the sky in the distance, staining the clouds crimson.
So terrifying…
As expected of Sakazuki-sama…
Heat flushed Bumaya's cheeks. Her grip trembled with excitement.
"See? You should surrender. That way, when I administer your shots later, I can be gentle~"
She tilted her head toward Smoker.
"Didn't you see? Sakazuki-san is furious. Your captain will be charcoal any minute now…"
"Rokushiki SecretArt:Amber Ripple Dash!!"
BOOM!
The punch detonated a massive shockwave, the hundred-meter natural rock bridge nearby collapsed entirely.
Sakazuki's face rippled like molten lava under the blow.
Not good.
His eyes narrowed.
This technique fused the boy's entire arsenal of martial arts, plus internal-destruction Armament Haki.
He shouldn't,
CRACK!
The impact blasted through him, bone cracked in his chest, his upper clothes shredded, and he flew backward, smashing through stone pillars before embedding into a cliff.
CRASH, RUMBLE!
The cliff collapsed, burying him beneath tons of rock.
Waves surged into the quake-formed crater, steaming instantly from the heat.
"Hah… hah…"
Shanu held his stance, steam rising from his fist, staring hard at the rubble.
SPLASH!
A magma-coated arm burst free.
Sakazuki stood, blood at his lip, chest dented slightly, but otherwise uninjured, Haki strong as ever.
"…"
He was… bleeding?
He almost couldn't remember the last time that happened.
So many years…
He didn't even wipe it away. He simply looked up, meeting Shanu's gaze.
"What are you staring at?"
Shanu grinned.
"I'm not done yet!"
So this is a Marine Admiral…
The blow that crushed Crocodile only made this man bleed a little?!
Dammit, how tough IS he?!
Shanu vanished.
Soru!
Faster than before, his mountain-ripple fist shot at Sakazuki's temple.
"The same trick won't work twice."
Sakazuki's Observation Haki predicted it, his head magma-faded, letting the strike pass harmlessly through.
His magma-coated knee thrust upward toward Shanu's gut
"Tekkai!"
Shanu braced, taking the hit as he countered with a barrage of finger thrusts.
"Shigan:Ripple Rain!!"
But Sakazuki slipped through them with Paper Art, flowing like a reed in the wind.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
They clashed dozens of times,
Both gradually abandoning dodging, trading raw blows.
Magma shockwaves and Ripple fistwinds erupted, tearing apart the coast.
Water surged into pits only to evaporate again.
"You've lasted long enough. For a kid barely in his teens, take pride."
Sakazuki's voice rumbled through the crashing fists.
"But this is where it ends."
His clothes were shredded, bruises marking his body, cap gone,
But compared to Shanu, the boy was worse off.
Burns everywhere, charred flesh peeling away, white mist rising from his wounds.
Bone exposed along his sides where magma punched through.
Left arm limp from fracture.
Only his freakish endurance kept him standing.
"Hff… Hff…"
Shanu wheezed, Aura weakening rapidly.
BOOM!
Another clash, Sakazuki stood firm. Shanu was blasted deep underground.
Cracks spidered everywhere as Sakazuki looked down blankly.
Shanu staggered out of the pit, coughing blood,
And grinned.
"Half an hour, old man! You said this half an hour ago too! And yet, YOU STILL HAVEN'T BEATEN ME!!!"
"…"
Sakazuki's silence said everything.
A Marine Admiral unable to finish a half-dead teenager for thirty minutes,
Unacceptable.
"For someone below Four Emperors, only Marco has managed to fight me like this. Now, I suppose you barely qualify too."
He exhaled.
"But this suicide fighting style burns stamina. Your body's failing. Your allies will fall next. You can't possibly still think you can buy time long en.."
FWOOOM!
A bright orange flare burst into the sky from the south sea.
"Oh?"
Shanu's eyes lit up.
"Heh, looks like they DID make it."
What?!
Sakazuki shot upward with Geppo.
Far in the distance, the Curtainfall Pirates' ship was already leaving the harbor, speeding into open sea.
His face darkened.
Two Vice Admirals, multiple officers, two thousand elite Marines,
And they still escaped?!
Useless trash,
WHOOSH—!
Sakazuki turned into magma jet to blast toward the southern port,
But before he got far,
A shadow flashed above him.
A descending axe kick,
Shanu's grin wild.
"Get—"
His heel crashed down on Sakazuki's shoulder.
"BACK DOWN!!!"
KRAKOOM!!!
The Admiral plummeted like a meteor, smashing into the rocky shore and blowing the coastline apart.
He rose from the crater, coughing lava, staring upward in disbelief.
That speed…
That power…
Impossible for someone who should be near collapse—
"What're you spacing out for, old man?!"
Shanu laughed from above, chewing loudly on something.
"At this point, like hell I'd let you chase my friends!!!"