Akatsuki, Akatsuki! ...I see you, I'm going to kill you!...
War often comes out of nowhere. Weevil, after losing his mother as a strategist, became the instigator of inexplicable wars. Even if he survived today's battle, he would still be a war machine led by the nose. Shichibukai Weevil, upon seeing Pain and the others, indiscriminately charged towards them, shouting and screaming, without distinguishing right from wrong, without asking if they were the people he was looking for, and without asking if his mother's death was related to others.
Nero led a group of Marines to retreat to the side, clearing the battlefield for Weevil and observing the enemy's strength. Weevil's large saber continuously swung as he ran, and each swing unleashed a massive Saber Qi that attacked Pain and the others.
Pain remained motionless, while Preta Path stood in front of him, absorbing all attacks. Oden easily dodged the Saber Qi, not preparing to make a move. Reno flashed out of the battlefield to observe the situation. The ensuing battle became a fight between the big, clumsy Weevil and Pain.
The most pitiful were Golden Lion's subordinates; being hit by Saber Qi meant either death or severe injury, with serious cases being dismembered on the spot. In Weevil's vision, everyone else had dodged the attacks, and only two people in the field stood firm without dodging. Weevil then focused his attention directly on these two who were taking the hits. Weevil might be foolish, but his strength is indeed not to be underestimated, and his combat talent seems to be innate.
Pain had already felt the power of this Saber Qi when he let Preta Path absorb Weevil's attacks. This was an energy attack formed by Qi; the stronger the Qi, the stronger the energy attack. Weevil ran towards Preta Path, swinging his saber, and then leaped into the air, holding the saber with both hands. A huge saber-shaped energy, with Qi emanating outwards, directly slashed at Preta Path.
Pain did not let Preta Path take the hit. His body turned into sand to dodge the attack, while simultaneously closing in and engaging Weevil in close combat. Pain watched from the side, not yet making a move, deciding to observe the strength of the big, clumsy man.
Pain controlled Preta Path to launch various attacks at Weevil, but Weevil neither dodged nor avoided, choosing to take the hits with his body as if it were made of steel. All of Preta Path's attacks were repelled by an invisible layer of Qi around Weevil before they even landed, completely unable to harm him.
Weevil's attacks also failed to land effectively on Preta Path, leaving him with power but nowhere to use it. Although Weevil was foolish, he was not foolish in combat. Seeing that he couldn't break through for a long time, Weevil instantly blackened his hands with Haki, and their color turned purplish-black.
This purplish-black Haki directly imbued Weevil's large saber through his hands, turning the originally gray and white saber into a purplish-black color. Nero, who was observing the battle, was surprised by Weevil's transformation; Weevil actually possessed the ability to materialize Haki onto weapons and other external objects.
In this world, those who can materialize Haki onto inanimate objects are few and far between, countable on one's fingers, and Weevil is one of them. Perhaps it's a foolish person's luck; heaven granted Weevil a childlike heart but also powerful comprehension abilities. Pain, seeing Weevil's blackened weapon, dared not be careless and controlled Preta Path to temporarily avoid Weevil.
Pain understood clearly that this was Intermediate Haki. If he let Preta Path take another hit from this Haki-infused weapon, Preta Path would surely be split in two. Pain finally felt the enemy's Tricky; this big, clumsy man, who appeared out of nowhere and started fighting, was incredibly strong. His defense had an unknown Qi that could isolate external damage, and if this layer of Qi couldn't be broken, Weevil would be in an invincible state.
His attacks had the ability to materialize Haki onto external objects, which would completely counter Devil Fruit abilities in front of Weevil. With this understanding, Pain believed it was time to act; if he didn't, Preta Path might be crippled.
Pain's will controlled Preta Path to dodge Weevil's frantic attacks, while his hands quickly formed seals and he let out a soft cry.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!..."
As soon as he spoke, a huge fireball hurtled towards Weevil's massive body. Weevil swung his saber, intending to cut through the fireball, but was instead engulfed by it.
Weevil's roar came from inside the fireball, "It's so hot!... Give me water!... Hurry and give me water!..."
The fireball dissipated, and Weevil appeared before everyone, unharmed, continuing to clamor for water.
Pain's Great Fireball Technique was not intended to harm the enemy; it was meant to test whether elemental energy attacks could break through the enemy's Qi. Seeing the fireball was useless, Pain did not stop, continuing to try various Ninjutsu attacks to see if he could weaken Weevil's Qi.
In the distance, Nero took out a Den Den Mushi and fully reported the situation here to Lucci, awaiting Lucci's instructions.
"Lucci… Although Weevil's strength is formidable… only two enemies have made a move… Kozuki Oden and the other person haven't acted yet… When should we make our move?…"
"No rush… Let's see if Weevil can fight the enemy to a draw… We'll make our move when they're both injured…" Lucci replied to Nero's question via Den Den Mushi.
"But… waiting for them to determine a winner or for both to be injured might be difficult… The two combatants don't seem to be using their full strength… Plus, Weevil isn't very bright…" Nero continued to report.
"It's fine… Let's wait and see for now… Aokiji has already arrived… We'll wait for the best moment to act…" Lucci answered calmly.
Pain tried all elemental Ninjutsu and found that they had no effect on Weevil. Pain understood that he couldn't hold back. At this moment, Pain's thoughts raced during the battle.
Pain was worried that using his full power would affect the upcoming war and didn't want to expose his trump cards. However, continuing the stalemate without using his full power was also very troublesome. Pain and Preta Path could currently only dodge Weevil's attacks and make timely counterattacks, while also considering various possibilities internally.
Weevil, on the other hand, was completely different; he was like a tireless machine, shouting, "Kill you! Kill you all!" and continuously and rapidly attacking Pain and Preta Path. Weevil was also extremely annoyed by the constant elemental attacks that made him alternately hot and cold while he was unable to break through, and his temper grew increasingly volatile.
Weevil's Aura continuously grew with his anger, and the Qi around him became increasingly powerful. Weevil roared loudly, shouting.
"Ahhh!... I am Whitebeard's son!... You annoying flies!... Die!..."
As the shout fell, the powerful Qi caused the surrounding sand to automatically swirl around Weevil, forming a huge sand tornado. Weevil, holding his saber with both hands, spun in place, and horizontal Saber Qi slashed out in all directions. These Saber Qi also shot outwards, from low to high, with the sand tornado.
This was an indiscriminate attack; whether Marine personnel or Pain and the others, all were within the attack range. Preta Path used Sealing Technique Absorption Seal to resist the powerful Saber Qi. Oden, on the other hand, drew his saber and cut down every Saber Qi that came his way.
Reno, seeing the unfavorable situation, had already flashed out of the attack range and was observing from afar. On the Marine side, except for Nero, who used Moonwalk to dodge by ascending into the air, all other Marines present were subjected to the powerful attacks and none were spared, with screams echoing incessantly.
Pain let Preta Path bear the brunt of these Saber Qi energy attacks, formed by Qi, while his mind pondered countermeasures. This was the first enemy Pain had encountered in this world that he found completely baffling, feeling as if the enemy had no blind spots or weaknesses.
It wasn't that Pain hadn't considered using Chibaku Tensei to restrain the enemy, but the current Chibaku Tensei, due to Chakra limitations, wasn't lethal enough. With Weevil's abnormal defense, it might only restrain him without necessarily harming him, and that would expose his trump card.
If he used all the Chakra in his body, he could release one Super Chibaku Tensei, but that would instantly deplete Pain's combat ability. Unless absolutely necessary, Pain would not use it. Pain was now considering every possible way to first break Weevil's layer of Qi defense.
Once the defense was broken, Preta Path could get close, and then use Devour: Sandification World to drain the enemy's body of water and stamina, and corrode the enemy's body.
Pain originally wanted Preta Path to use Desertification World to corrode the enemy's defense, but considering the ineffectiveness of various elemental Ninjutsu experiments, Pain chose to endure. Time quickly passed during the battle between Pain and Weevil.
To be continued...