BOOM!
A tremendous impact instantly tore apart the Forest of Hatred ahead.
The shockwaves from the explosion spread in all directions.
Looking at the battlefield that had been flattened in an instant, everyone’s eyes once again focused on the ground.
The shattered Forest of Hatred began rapidly regenerating right before their eyes.
In merely a few breaths, the battlefield had returned to its original state.
On the enormous vine at the very center, Aramaki’s face appeared once again.
Naguri stood atop the floating rock controlled by Fujitora, a cigarette clenched between his teeth. He rubbed his throbbing temples and said,
"This Logia Devil Fruit user is as troublesome as ever. Looks like we’re going to have to put in quite a bit of effort!"
Aboard the battlefield, even Blue Ogre Dorry and the others fell silent.
Destroying the vines themselves was not difficult. The real problem was completely dealing with Aramaki, who had merged himself with the entire island.
For a moment, everyone’s eyes inevitably turned toward Lucas.
Aramaki noticed the change in their expressions and immediately burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! What is it? Are you only realizing how formidable I am now?"
"Trying to find my true body is like searching for a needle in a haystack! I advise you all to surrender while you still can!"
"Is that so?"
Lucas looked at Ryokugyu, who had completely merged with the island, and at the face appearing on the enormous vine. He smiled faintly.
"If we can’t find you, then we’ll just make you come out on your own."
"Fujitora, I need one breath’s worth of time."
"One breath?" Fujitora’s eyelids twitched slightly before he smiled. "That won’t be a problem."
"Brother Aramaki, I’d advise you to be careful. If nothing unexpected happens, something unexpected will happen very soon!"
"Gravity Blade: Raging Waves!"
Fujitora’s cane sword instantly flashed into motion.
One purple gravitational ring after another shot straight into the heavens.
The strange move left Dorry and the others momentarily stunned.
They had clearly never seen an attack that wasn’t directed at the enemy before.
But just as that thought arose, a thunderous roar tore through the sky.
Looking upward at the enormous meteors gradually appearing overhead, Dorry and the others’ expressions changed drastically.
At that moment, they finally understood why Fujitora was regarded as having the combat power of an Admiral.
Fujitora’s cane sword slid back into its sheath.
He calmly said,
"Meteor: Meteor Shower!"
Below, Aramaki watched the scene and roared furiously, his expression twisting.
"Brother Fujitora, you actually went so far as to help this arrogant Marine!"
"I refuse to believe this nonsense about ’something unexpected happening’!"
"I want to see how he’s going to find me!"
BOOM!
Seven or eight blazing meteors descended from the heavens.
Carrying overwhelming force, they slammed into the island.
In an instant, the Forest of Hatred created by Aramaki was torn apart.
The resulting explosive shockwave, mixed with endless flames, swept across several kilometers.
Watching this devastating attack, which resembled a natural disaster, Dorry and the others tensed up.
Yet all around the battlefield, figures of Aramaki began appearing one after another.
There were more than a hundred of them, taking root in the earth like spores.
"Hahaha! What’s wrong? There are more than a hundred of me here! I want to see how you’re going to find the real one!"
Aramaki’s laughter instantly echoed throughout the entire island.
At the same time, near the edge of the island, another figure of Aramaki appeared on a massive root.
However, unlike the arrogant Aramaki standing in the middle of the battlefield, this one’s expression was distinctly grim, and there was even a hint of fear in his eyes.
"That damn bastard. Why is this so much more troublesome than I imagined?"
"If I’d known that bastard would even recruit Brother Fujitora, I wouldn’t have gotten involved in this mess. I could have dealt with his disrespect toward the Celestial Dragons later."
"Right now, all I can do is hope they haven’t discovered that I’m hiding here. If they exhaust themselves and obediently leave, that’ll be for the best."
"Fortunately, this is the Sabaody Archipelago, which is made up of mangrove trees. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to move around so freely."
"For now, I’d better control those clones and keep frightening them. I may be losing the battle, but I can’t afford to lose face!"
Aramaki’s expression remained grim as he looked toward the battlefield once more.
But the moment he did, his expression suddenly changed.
His control, which had previously extended throughout the entire battlefield, suddenly seemed to become sluggish.
Normally, merely willing it was enough for him to activate his Logia intangibility.
Yet now, there was no response.
Aramaki’s face instantly turned pale as he hurriedly looked toward the sky.
The sun that had been hanging high overhead had somehow been obscured by a black full moon.
The entire world seemed to plunge into darkness in an instant.
Aramaki, standing below, underwent a dramatic change in expression.
The greatest reason he had dared to attack Lucas, whose fearsome reputation had rapidly spread throughout the sea, was not his own combat power.
Rather, it was the nearly immortal and incredibly troublesome nature of the Mori Mori no Mi.
As long as even a trace of plant life remained, he could use the power of the Mori Mori no Mi to regenerate, rising again from what should have been certain death.
Although doing so would consume a tremendous amount of the nutrients stored within his body, requiring considerable time and effort to recover afterward, that hardly mattered.
As long as he could remain effectively immortal, that was Aramaki’s greatest source of confidence.
Yet now, a black moon had suddenly appeared in the sky, creating an eerie spectacle resembling a solar eclipse—and, even worse, it had completely severed his control over his Devil Fruit powers.
His greatest advantage had been stripped away in an instant.
Then Aramaki remembered what Fujitora had said moments ago.
If nothing unexpected happens, something unexpected will happen very soon!
Wasn’t this happening a little too quickly?
His greatest trump card had suddenly been taken away.
Now he had to face not only the newly appointed Marine Admiral whose fearsome reputation had spread throughout the sea, but also a group of extraordinary combatants attacking him together.
Aramaki completely lost his nerve.
Without another thought, he turned around and desperately fled.
However, after he had run barely a hundred meters, the darkness covering the sky suddenly disappeared.
As the light returned, an indescribably terrifying aura of death instantly enveloped him.
Aramaki hurriedly turned his head.
What he saw first was so unbelievable that he could hardly comprehend it.
Lucas, who had not made a move from beginning to end, had finally drawn his sword from tens of thousands of meters away.
That horrifying aura of death was emanating from him.
Before Aramaki could react, Lucas swung Monohoshizao down through the air.
"Dark Entanglement: Dimensional Slash — Other Shore!"
BOOM!
A pitch-black slash descended.
It tore apart everything along its path in an instant, and even space itself seemed to be cleaved in two.
What Aramaki found most unbelievable was that once he was locked onto by the sword’s killing intent, an immense dragging force surrounded him, as though he had been plunged into a deep swamp.
It gave him the terrifying sensation that there was nowhere he could escape.
Watching the attack rapidly enlarge within his pupils, Aramaki still couldn’t believe it.
The unexpected had come far too quickly!
The only thing he could do was grit his teeth and face it head-on.
BOOM!
As the slash descended, the entire world seemed to plunge into darkness for a brief moment.
Even the air itself appeared to stop flowing.
The next instant, the spacetime that had seemingly fallen into stagnation was released once more.
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