Boom! Boom!
The explosions were relentless.
There were no surprises in the exchange of raw power. The terrible heat wave and the shocking cold were locked in a constant, violent collision, grinding against one another like celestial gears. In the center of the blast, the scaly, ferocious flame Dragon was directly struck and blasted out of the air.
Thick smoke billowed from the point of impact, and large amounts of molten magma fluid splashed into the sky like a crimson fountain.
"Roar—!"
But in the blink of an eye, the roar returned. Ryuji, who had been sent hurtling back, looked remarkably composed for someone who had just taken a direct hit from a Marine Admiral. Aside from being a little disheveled and covered in soot, he appeared as though he were a perfectly normal person. He rushed out of the bubbling magma lake once more, his momentum surging: "Come again!!"
He looked like a beast rising from the deepest pits of hell. The terrifying pressure he exuded was enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
"This guy... can he really ignore damage?" Aokiji's expression finally shifted. For the first time, a look of genuine concern flickered across his face.
It was his first time encountering a monster that seemed completely unafraid of pain and could seemingly ignore the consequences of a direct hit. Even Kaido, the "Strongest Creature," wouldn't just take an Admiral's full-power strike and act as if it were nothing at all.
Logia users could claim to be "invincible" by turning into their element to ignore physical attacks, but they could never ignore the crushing power of Armament Haki. Yet, this opponent—the Butcher—hadn't tried to dodge a single blow from the very start. He simply charged forward, meeting every strike head-on, and somehow, the damage from Aokiji's Haki-infused punches seemed to vanish into thin air.
Bang! Bang! Boom... Boom!
The two figures blurred into a chaotic dance of destruction, clashing together again without hesitation. But this time, the gap in technical skill still seemed insurmountable.
"The gap between you and me cannot be bridged by bravery alone. No matter how many times you try, the result remains the same..." Aokiji muttered. His hands, encased in ice gauntlets and entwined with high-level Armament Haki, struck out with a precision that was cold and absolute.
With his superior Haki cultivation and refined combat skills, he once again crushed the flame Dragon through the air, blowing him back with a heavy, bone-shaking impact.
"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"
The wind turned razor-sharp and freezing. A massive bird made of solid ice suddenly flapped its wings and soared toward the falling Ryuji. It carried an unimaginable quantity of freezing air—power so concentrated that it didn't just extinguish the flames, it instantly flash-froze the hot magma it passed over. Aokiji intended to completely entomb the giant fire Dragon before he could even stabilize himself.
However—between the lightning and the flint—Ryuji, who should have been reeling from the previous blow, reacted. Instead of falling helplessly into the magma, the giant flaming beast opened its jaws wide. A pair of bright, golden horns atop its head began to glow with a blinding, celestial radiance.
"Thunder Roaring Cannon!!!"
Buzz... Buzz...
Thunder and light intertwined in a dazzling display of energy.
Flash—!
In an instant, a roar louder than any thunderclaps broke through the air. A concentrated beam of terrifying lightning blasted outward.
Boom! Boom!
The sound shook the heavens. In the blink of an eye, the violent thunder cannon and the terrifying ice bird collided with the force of a falling moon.
The ice bird was ruthlessly penetrated and shattered into a million frozen shards. Waves of astonishing pressure rippled outward like a shockwave, carrying lethal fragments of ice that made it impossible to keep one's eyes open.
"What!?" Aokiji's eyes widened. He was forced to dodge immediately as the thunder cannon surged through his previous position.
He looked at the unbelievably ferocious flame Dragon, stunned that Ryuji could launch such a powerful counterattack while being blown backward. He hadn't expected the opponent to possess such an exaggerated, versatile ability—to fire a cannon of lightning from his mouth with such destructive force. The beam continued unabated, screaming across the horizon until it slammed into the distant sea.
Rumble...!
A massive section of the ocean exploded. Huge pillars of water shot into the sky like a torrential downpour in reverse.
Splash! Splash!
The entire sea became turbulent, rolling up giant waves reaching hundreds of meters in height, forming a tsunami that swept in all directions. The sheer heat of the lightning caused massive amounts of seawater to evaporate instantly, leaving the surface boiling and wreathed in steam. Countless fish and sea beasts were stunned by the electricity or simply cooked by the heat, floating to the surface in a macabre display.
"Hey, hey... isn't this kind of power a bit too much?"
A collection of ice shards condensed back into a human shape. Aokiji, whose elemental body had been partially disrupted by the speed of the lightning, looked solemnly at the boiling ocean and the massive waves. If that blast had hit a military fortress like the G-8 branch, it would have been pierced through in a single second. The opponent's endless bag of tricks was becoming truly frightening.
"Heh... I don't think it's an exaggeration at all..."
Magma splashed aside as the giant flame Dragon, even larger than a Giant, rolled back onto his feet. He was unbelievably ferocious, a monster that seemed to know no pain and felt no fatigue. Carrying the dark red flames of the Lunaria, he ran out of the bubbling magma lake again, riding upon the clouds.
The Thunder Roaring Cannon was a move born from Ryuji's perfect fusion of his Mythical Zoan Dragon form and the power of the Golden Crown. It was significantly more potent than a single elemental attack. Ryuji could control the output freely, adjusting it for a single target or wide-scale destruction. If he truly took the time to charge it, he could wipe a town off the map in a heartbeat.
Crackle...
A rolling heat wave swept the island. The dark red flames of hell burned brighter as the giant beast stepped onto the clouds and ascended into the sky as fast as a bolt of lightning.
"Roar—!"
Immediately after reaching the apex of his flight, he swooped down. His front claws, covered in crimson scales and gleaming with a predatory light, were wrapped in dark, swirling Haki. Carrying the weight of the atmosphere and terrifying heat, he plummeted toward Aokiji.
"Dragon's Foot!!"
Aokiji's eyes sharpened. True to his rank, he showed no sign of weakness. He pumped out more freezing energy, reinforcing the ice gauntlets on his fists. Covered in high-level Armament Haki, he threw a brazen punch upward to meet the falling beast.
BOOM!!!
The result was familiar. The huge flame Dragon was violently blown back as if hit by a battering ram.
"What!?"
But this time, it was Aokiji who felt a violent tremor run through his body. His face paled with shock as he stared at the retreating Dragon. "That feeling just now..."
Throughout the constant confrontation, Ryuji had been suppressed, never gaining the upper hand. Yet, in that last clash, Aokiji felt it. The opponent's Haki was increasing. Not just growing—it was evolving.
"Heh... you're the one who taught me how to use Armament Haki, after all..."
A voice sneered from within the steam of the magma lake. The massive body began to shrink and condense. In the blink of an eye, the giant Dragon transformed into a scaly, humanoid monster about three meters tall. Bright golden horns adorned his head. His face was ferocious, with long fangs, yet his teeth remained human. His body was covered in dense, interlocking red scales, his muscles exaggerated and corded with power. His limbs ended in razor-sharp claws, and a scaly tail lashed behind him.
Wreathed in dark red flames, he looked like a humanoid demon emerging from the depths of purgatory.
"My blood is finally starting to boil... After all, this form is much more suitable for fighting true powerhouses!"
Ryuji felt the power thrumming through his veins. His eyes were blazing with an unquenchable fighting spirit. He clenched his clawed fist and gripped his blade, Red Snow Zuofuji, which he unsheathed once more. He stared straight at the discolored Aokiji, his intent clear and murderous.
"Aokiji... how many more surprises can you handle?"
"Is this your Hybrid Form?" Aokiji's face was now a mask of absolute solemnity. He didn't dare show even a hint of contempt. "To use your own body during a life-and-death battle to feel and learn the flow of Haki... what a terrifying guy."
The man in front of him had potential that was becoming genuinely frightening. Ryuji had deliberately stayed in his massive, slower beast form just to act as a punching bag—using his body to experience the Admiral's Haki-infused strikes over and over again until he could replicate the sensation.
Under normal circumstances, trying to "learn" from a Navy Admiral in the middle of a fight was a death wish. But Ryuji's mysterious resilience—the feeling that he was either immortal or simply able to negate the concept of injury—allowed him to do the impossible. He wouldn't stay down. No matter how many times he was struck, he rushed back as if nothing had happened.
It felt like facing a hybrid of Kaido's immortality and Big Mom's "Iron Balloon" skin. And most dangerously of all, this "Butcher" had a terrifyingly fast rate of growth. He had actually succeeded in mastering the basics of advanced Haki in the middle of their duel.