Inside the enormous colosseum, under the burning gazes of countless excited spectators, the finals began.
As the commentator, Gatz was beside himself with excitement.
"He has appeared!"
"The final defender is actually that legendary figure, the man whose name has shaken the seas for decades, the shadow that has loomed over every top monster in the world, the one who controlled the battlefield during the Summit War two years ago!"
"The man whose bounty reached the highest peak in history!"
"Mr. Ozz!"
"Although I don't know why Mr. Ozz has become so young, could this actually be Mr. Ozz's son?"
"The sons of Pirate King Roger, Revolutionary Dragon, and Mr. Ozz..."
The more Gatz spoke, the more outrageous it became, until a bolt of black-red lightning struck toward him and was blocked by an invisible force of space.
Only then did he break into a cold sweat and shut his mouth, hurriedly returning to the match commentary.
On the arena floor, Azure Ozz's face was covered in dark lines.
Even if they were both himself, being mistaken for his own son would make anyone unhappy.
And this power enveloping the entire colosseum seemed to involve space.
Before trying it himself, Azure Ozz could not be certain whether his current full strength could break through the barrier set up by his peak self.
Azure Ozz stared unhappily toward the commentator. Just as he was about to turn back, he tilted his body slightly to the side.
A pitch-black hand shaped like a dragon claw brushed past him, tearing through the air with a sharp sound.
"Dragon Claw Fist!"
Sabo attacked directly, trying to seize the initiative.
Unfortunately, he did not even touch him. He rolled and landed on the ground.
Azure Ozz narrowed his eyes.
"At my core, I'm still the same person as Black Spear. My Observation Haki is not weaker than his at all."
The young man in military uniform crouched slightly and clenched one hand into a fist, seemingly imitating Sabo's previous movement.
"Dragon Claw Fist, huh? As expected, it suits a real dragon better."
Clang.
Pitch-black, flowing Armament Haki instantly wrapped around Azure Ozz's hand as it closed into a dragon claw.
He gripped the steel pipe Sabo tried to use for defense.
Almost without effort, he crushed the supreme-grade steel pipe into a sheet of twisted metal, snapping it into two pieces.
"Sabo!"
Ace, standing nearby, hurriedly shouted, anxiety appearing on his face.
"I'll help you!"
Ace clenched one fist, orange-red flames igniting around his hand.
After the slightest charge...
"Fire Fist!"
A fire fist worth four billion covered more than half the colosseum. The surging flames gathered onto Azure Ozz's body.
From Ace's point of view, Azure Ozz seemed to have predicted the attack long ago.
But he did not seem to have any intention of dodging.
Instead, he smiled with disdain.
Facing the overwhelming sea of fire directly, letting it engulf his body completely, Azure Ozz stood firmly in place.
The flames burned fiercely.
Sabo panted as he came to Ace's side, his expression grave.
"As expected of the world's strongest, Mr. Ozz. Even in his youth, his Haki is terrifying."
Ace also frowned. He did not refute Sabo's words at all.
Because he remembered the old stories Roger, that unreliable old man, had told him during these two years of training.
"Ozz? That guy is a complete monster."
"Let me put it this way. The level of Haki you've reached now? Ozz probably achieved it when he was fifteen, maybe even younger."
And there had also been Roger's warning.
"Ace, this sea has many monsters."
"Some true monsters were beings even I had to admit I might not be able to defeat."
"So whether it's for yourself or for your mother..."
"When you meet them, don't think about winning first. Think about protecting yourself and your companions."
And today, Ace finally understood the feeling of suppression Roger must have felt when he encountered Rocks.
Even if they lived in the same era, it was a mountain he could not cross by himself.
The flames burned fiercely, illuminating everything.
A figure slowly walked out from within, flames still lingering around him.
"Playing with fire in front of a dragon? It feels about the same as soaking in a hot spring."
From beginning to end, Azure Ozz had not used his dragon-man form.
That meant he had not taken this seriously at all.
He was completely treating the two young men across from him as children.
"Not good..."
Zoro and Kuina had naturally been affected by the edge of that wide-range Fire Fist.
Zoro looked gravely toward Ace and Sabo, who were facing Azure Ozz.
"Even those two will have a hard time against Master."
"I need to end this quickly."
Then Zoro looked toward Kuina, who was still inside the flames. His Observation Haki sensed that she was fine.
He immediately took his Three-Sword Style stance.
"Sorry, Kuina. My captain is still waiting for me!"
Then he began his chant.
"Nine mountains and eight seas make one world."
"..."
"Three-Sword Style Secret Art, Great Three Thousand..."
"Great Thousand Worlds!"
A slash on the level of a great swordsman, empowered by Haki, shot straight toward Kuina, who was wrapped in flames.
The figure inside the fire silently transformed, gradually becoming taller.
She raised Wado Ichimonji, its blade dyed pitch-black, and directly blocked the slash.
Although her body was forced back again and again, she endured it.
"What?!"
Zoro had not expected that even this move would fail to take Kuina down.
"I told you I'd give you a surprise, Zoro."
The flames slowly dispersed.
A pink dragon tail swept lightly, scattering the smoke.
Kuina, dragon-man form, appeared.
"This is... a dragon?!"
Even Azure Ozz could not help glancing over at that form.
But it was only a trace of surprise.
After all, although Kuina was not bad, she was still far from a true powerhouse.
He had seen what a truly physically powerful woman looked like.
And he was about to turn twenty soon...
Thinking of that, Azure Ozz could not help hesitating.
After all, the Azure Dragon Fruit he had eaten was obtained because Black Spear owed that woman a favor and had promised to give her a child twenty years later.
Linlin had also fulfilled her end of the bargain, maintaining her youthful and beautiful appearance for all these years.
Azure Ozz fell into a dilemma.
After all, she was the caring big sister who had grown up alongside him...
And what about Ozz, the one who had caused all of this?
At this moment, he had also fallen into a dilemma.
Looking at the Mink Tribe before him, the cat girl, dog-headed girl, rabbit girl...
"This really is hard to decide..."
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