Chapter 25 Showdown in the Reef Area...
The afternoon sun cast a hazy mist from the sea, distorting the landscape of the reefs near Baratie under the intense heat.
A small lifeboat bobbed in the waves, slowly approaching the largest rock.
Zoro leaped onto the rock first, his bare feet sinking into the rough, scorching surface.
His bare upper body was wrapped in bandages, old and new bloodstains mingling, creating a dark red hue in the sunlight.
Luffy followed, his straw hat casting a small shadow in the midday sun.
He still had his hands in his pockets, seemingly not there for a fight, but merely for a post-lunch stroll.
Sanji stood on another rock a short distance away, watching Zoro untangle the blood-soaked bandage from his arm: "Has that green-haired guy gone mad? Fighting like this?"
Nami gripped the ship's railing nervously: "Won't Luffy go too far...?"
Nojiko spoke softly, her gaze fixed on the arena: "Luffy knows his limits."
Kaya bit her lip, her hands clasped tightly to her chest.
Zorro slowly assumed the starting stance of his Three-Sword Style.
He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath of the scorching air, the aggravation of his internal injuries bringing a sharp, needle-like pain, yet it also sharpened his mind.
When he opened his eyes again, a faint, dark red light flashed deep within his green eyes.
"Let's begin," Zoro's voice was calm, but the knuckles gripping the hilt of his sword were white from the force.
Luffy nodded.
Almost the instant Luffy nodded, Zoro moved.
Without testing, without holding back, he went all out from the start.
Three-Sword Style: Demon Slash!
Three sword lights intertwined into a deadly net, blocking all of Luffy's angles of evasion, the blades tearing through the air with a sharp whistling sound.
Even more terrifying, as Zoro unleashed his full power, an invisible yet undeniably real pressure emanated from him.
Several clumps of seaweed stubbornly growing in the crevices of the reef instantly collapsed, and the fine waves on the nearby sea surface eerily subsided for a moment.
Sanji's expression hardened: "It's here! That damn thing is out again!"
Nami felt a sudden, inexplicable unease and instinctively took a half-step back. Nojiko supported her, feeling her own breathing become labored.
Kaya's face paled, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Facing this oppressive force, Luffy didn't even flinch.
Luffy merely shifted slightly to the side.
Three swords grazed past his clothes, the closest slash coming within an inch of his throat.
Zorro's eyes blazed with a dark red light, and before the sword strike was even finished, he abruptly changed his attack—Three-Sword Style: Tiger Hunt!
The three swords slashed out in a larger arc, sealing off any escape route.
Luffy's body displayed the bizarre power of the Gum-Gum Fruit at that moment.
His waist bent backward in an impossible arc, almost folding his body in half, as three swords swept overhead.
Just as the blades were about to leave the attack range, his feet remained firmly planted on the rock.
"Too slow, and you're scared," Luffy's voice rang out amidst the flashing blades, his tone infuriating.
Zoro's pupils contracted, but his attack continued unabated.
Three-Sword Style: Bull Needle!
Countless fine, dense thrusts rain down like a torrential downpour, each strike aimed at a vital point.
This time, Luffy didn't completely dodge. He raised his left hand, his index and middle fingers together, and his pitch-black Armament Haki instantly covered it—Finger Pistol Modified.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
A series of rapid, almost continuous, metallic clanging sounds!
Each of Zoro's three sword thrusts was precisely deflected by the two Armament Haki-covered fingers.
Not a parry, but a deflection!
With minimal force, at the most precise moment, striking the very point of force application on the blade, each of Zoro's attacks felt like piercing a slippery steel ingot, the power deflected and neutralized.
As Luffy deflected the attacks, he calmly said, "You're afraid of the power within you, so your swords hesitate."
"Shut up!" Zoro roared, his dark red eyes suddenly blazing!
The invisible pressure intensified abruptly, this time not spreading, but coalescing as if by consciousness, mixed with his raging will, slamming into Luffy!
The impact of Conqueror's Haki!
Although chaotic and uncontrollable, it was indeed the aptitude of a king!
The nearest pebbles silently turned to dust.
Nami, in the distance, groaned, her vision blurring, almost losing her balance.
Nojiko and Kaya were also deathly pale.
Sanji gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, enduring the mental shock.
However, Luffy, at the very center of the impact—
He didn't even flinch.
Luffy's eyes pierced through the glint of the blade, staring directly into the dark red swirling in Zoro's eyes, as if watching some amusing but harmless little trick.
"Anger that cannot be controlled will only become your weakness."
After speaking, Luffy flicked Zoro's thrust away one last time, then thrust forward.
These two fingers, covered in Armament Haki, didn't deflect the blade this time, but instead passed through a gap in Zoro's sword net created by the surge of power, gently touching Zoro's chest.
Thump.
A dull thud, like a heavy hammer striking a leather drum.
Zorro's entire body stiffened abruptly.
The violently surging power within him, at the moment of that touch, abruptly stopped and became chaotic, then rebounded wildly!
"Pfft—!" Zoro spat out a mouthful of blood, the internal turmoil caused by the backlash of the power.
Zoro staggered backward, his three swords almost slipping from his grasp. A dark red light flashed violently in his eyes, and the color drained from his face instantly.
"Do you understand?"
Luffy withdrew his fingers, looking at Zoro kneeling on one knee.
"You can't even control your own power, letting it run rampant within you. What makes you think you can challenge me?"
Zoro gasped for breath, each breath carrying the taste of rust.
He was unwilling, but more than that, he was clear-headed.
The other was right, absolutely right.
The power Zoro had sensed earlier wasn't just physical strength, but also this terrifying control over that power.
"It's not over yet..." Zoro rasped, biting down hard on the tsuba of his swords, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Zoro slowly straightened up, placing the Wado Ichimonji in the center.
This time, he didn't let the power run rampant. Instead, he used all his willpower to forcibly restrain the surging dark red light within his body, struggling to suppress it towards his arms and the three swords in his hands.
It was a mad decision.
Zeff had warned him that forcibly manipulating this power before fully controlling it would only worsen the backlash.
But Zoro didn't care.
Zoro wanted to see how far he could go using all his strength, including this uncontrolled power.
The blades began to tremble, emitting a low hum.
It wasn't the blade itself vibrating; it was the invisible force coiling around it resonating.
Fine cracks spread from the surface of the reef beneath his feet, radiating outwards from him.
Sanji's expression changed: "This madman… he's going to channel that power into his sword?!"
Luffy, observing Zoro's stance, lowered his right hand, which had been constantly in his pocket, letting it hang naturally at his side.
"The secret technique of the Three-Sword Style…" Zoro enunciated each word clearly, each syllable seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, tinged with blood.
The dark red light in his eyes stopped flickering and instead burned steadily.
"Three! Thousand! Worlds!"
The final syllable exploded!
Zoro's figure seemed to vanish in that instant. The forcibly restrained Conqueror's Haki erupted, pushing him beyond his limits!
Three dazzling sword beams, crisscrossing in a swastika shape, slashed out!
Where the blade's edge passed, the air was cleaved in visible, pale arcs, and the seawater below was plowed with three deep furrows by invisible pressure!
This was Zoro's all-or-nothing, a strike beyond his limits!
It contained his entire will, and the Conqueror's Haki forcibly harnessed!
Faced with this tragically heroic, self-sacrificing attack, Luffy finally became serious.
He simply took a step forward.
His right fist clenched, and jet-black Armament Haki spread across his entire arm like a living thing, the muscle fibers swelling slightly under the Haki, tautning the sleeve of his red vest.
Without charging, without shouting the name of the attack, he simply and directly met the three crisscrossing blades with a punch.
Straight, simple, without any frills, yet containing the absolute power of a Vice Admiral.
The dazzling blade's edge, upon contact with this black fist, shattered like a wave crashing against a reef!
The black fist crushed everything in its path, its momentum undiminished, magnifying in Zoro's pupils, which had shrunk to their absolute limit.
At the last moment, Luffy's fist slightly shifted, transforming into a palm, its edge coated in Armament Haki, and gently pressed against Zoro's abdomen.
It avoided vital organs, but it was enough to end the battle.
Bang!
A muffled thud.
Zorro's expression froze, the dark red light burning in his eyes instantly extinguished.
He arched his back, as if struck by an invisible giant hammer, flying backward, smashing through three smaller rocks before finally coming to a stop in the surface of a fourth, larger rock, creating a human-shaped crater.
Zorro was embedded in the rock, his arms hanging limply, three swords slipping from his hands and falling into the rubble and seawater below.
He lowered his head, blood gushing from his mouth and nose, quickly staining the rock face red.
He tried to lift his head, but only swayed weakly before losing consciousness.
From Zoro unleashing his Three Thousand Worlds technique to being defeated with a single blow, the entire process took less than two seconds.
Dead silence.
Only the sound of waves crashing against the rocks and the whistling of the wind through the cracks in the cliffs.
Nami and Nojiko let out a long sigh.
Sanji's cigarette had long since fallen into the sea. He stared blankly at the green figure on the distant rock face, its fate unknown, then slowly turned his head to look at the black-haired boy in the center of the arena, who was slowly withdrawing his palm.
Complete crushing defeat.
Utterly, without suspense, a crushing defeat that transcended dimensions.
Even more terrifying, Sanji could tell that the Straw Hat kid... wasn't using his full strength at all.
He hadn't even used his Gum-Gum Fruit powers for any offensive extensions, merely employing basic physical techniques and Armament Haki.
Luffy flicked his wrist, as if casually swatting away an annoying insect.
Luffy looked towards the small boat, his voice calmly drifting back: "Take him back, let Zeff check on him, make sure he's not dead."
His tone was as casual as if he were saying: Take the trash with you.