The collision carved a giant crater into the ground between them.
The two sword waves wrapped around each other as they climbed—
then detonated overhead.
BOOOOM—!
In the distance, people swallowed hard.
"They're just swinging sword waves… and it's like this?!"
"Move! Get out of here!" someone finally screamed, sprinting backward.
"Yeah—leave! When those two really clash, the shockwaves will kill you!"
They fled like rats.
No one wanted to die the way those unlucky fools did—
obliterated by a stray aftershock before even collecting money.
Pedro forced the awakened crocodile back with a heavy slash, then glanced toward the sea.
So that's why the captain stayed locked onto him…
Kuro knocked Spidey's spear aside, eyes flicking up.
"So you finally moved."
"Finally!" Spidey exhaled.
Even he knew it—Shura was terrifying.
Now that Shura was in motion, Spidey felt like a boulder had been lifted off his chest.
Lightning crackled around White Ghost.
He began transforming—Dragon-Man form.
Shura's body swelled too, reaching nearly ten meters.
He looked like a demon: sharp fangs, a twisted face, a long tongue, and black, deathly aura clinging to him.
Even from far away, they could see each other clearly.
White Ghost's wings trembled.
He dove.
Shura roared and charged upward.
Red arcs and black arcs tore the air—
two monsters closing head-on.
"Hahahaha!" Shura bellowed. "Show me your spirit, brat!"
He raised his great sword and swung.
White Ghost lifted his own huge blade.
"Then watch."
BOOM—!
For a heartbeat, everything went silent.
Then—
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!
Conqueror's Haki exploded outward.
The earth split. Storm winds screamed through the battlefield.
BOOOOM—!
The sound shook the entire coastline.
"Back off!" people screamed.
Bounty hunters, pirates—everyone ran.
No one dared look back.
Even those who had fainted on the ground were abandoned.
No one would risk approaching while those two were clashing.
Thunder boomed.
People looked up—
and their faces drained.
"The sky—!"
"No… the sky is splitting!"
Some fled outright, screaming.
"Is that… power humans can even have?" a bounty hunter whispered, dropping his weapon without noticing.
"Wait—look!"
"They're not even touching blades!"
Between their weapons, a red sphere of force pulsed—like a beating heart.
Lightning danced around them.
One man broke first.
"I'm done! I'm out! I'm leaving!"
Then ten. Then hundreds.
The battlefield froze as everyone stared.
Sea surging. Land cracking. Sky torn.
It looked like the world itself was losing.
"Truly… a god," Urouge whispered, eyes burning with fanatical devotion.
Enel's lips curled. "Of course."
"That kind of power… only a god has it."
Django exhaled.
With the Conqueror's pressure flooding the field, weaker lackeys were dropping in waves—rolling their eyes back and collapsing.
Django's pressure eased sharply.
And he stared at White Ghost and Shura's clash.
This is even crazier than when the captain collided with Kaido…
Kuina gritted her teeth, resisting the pressure, forcing herself to look up.
"So… this is the symbol of the strong…"
Something inside her surged.
"AAAH—!"
A shockwave burst out from her body.
Her aura snapped into place.
"Conqueror's… awakening!" her opponent—some dog-headed man—shouted, stunned.
Inside the fortress, Nami, Lucian, Olga, and Ashie all rolled their eyes back and fainted instantly.
The others—those who had trained—didn't pass out, but they were still straining to endure it.
Behind the fleet at sea, several black-robed figures stared grimly at the sky.
"This is bad," one hissed.
"It's worse than his clash with Kaido."
"That brat… has grown up."
CRACK—!
White Ghost and Shura separated, both grinning with pure battle lust.
"Hahahaha!" Shura laughed. "Not bad. It's been years since I fought."
"Don't disappoint me."
White Ghost laughed softly. "Didn't think rats like you could have this much backbone."
"I haven't fought in a long time either."
"Don't die too early. It'd get boring."
"Arrogant!" Shura swung.
"And if I'm not arrogant," White Ghost answered, meeting him head-on, "then every stray cat and dog thinks they can come bite me."
Their blades crashed again and again.
Each strike was a landslide.
Each swing brought hurricane winds.
"Clang-clang-clang—!" Shura laughed. "Nice swordsmanship, brat!"
White Ghost laughed back. "Not bad yourself, rat!"
"Young people are so rude!" Shura snarled, swinging faster.
"Politeness is for friends," White Ghost snapped, deflecting the blade—
—and cutting Shura across the chest.
SZZZT—!
Sparks burst.
No visible wound.
But the force behind Conqueror's coating wasn't just surface-level.
Shura staggered back a few steps, eyes widening—
—and saw White Ghost already descending again, huge sword raised for another cut.
"Tch." Shura clicked his tongue. "So you're not as weak as I thought."
"Shura Slash!"
He met the blow—
BOOM—!
Aftershock blasted outward.
In that clash, Shura's back suddenly sprouted four arms, each holding a weapon.
They struck at once.
White Ghost's eyes widened.
Too late to evade.
He could only coat his body in Haki—
BAM—!
He was hit in the head and thrown backward.
"Hahahaha!" Shura roared. "Brat—I told you. You're still green!"
Another two heads grew beside his main head.
"Asura—Three Heads, Six Arms!"
White Ghost steadied himself in midair, spat blood, and stared.
"Tch." He wiped his mouth.
"How did I forget… Asura means three heads and six arms."
A strange force flowed from White Ghost's body.
A faint wind stirred around him, rising, gathering.
He vanished.
His speed jumped—like wind itself was pushing him.
He reappeared and slashed at the left head—
"Fast!" Shura's pupils shrank.
All six arms rose to defend.
CLANG—!
Blocked.
White Ghost's body shifted again—wind-assisted movement, violent and clean.
Shura's six eyes strained.
Observation Haki pushed to its limit.
White Ghost landed for a split second—
—and his eyes flashed red.
He jumped.
BOOM—!
The spot he'd been standing on was smashed.
Shura looked up—
—and saw White Ghost's sword dropping toward his face.
SLASH—!
The blade cut across Shura's front.
Shura was blasted away by the impact.
He stopped only after sliding a long distance.
He touched his face.
From forehead to chin ran a deep cut—bone visible.
His right eye had been forced shut.
Shura's expression turned… very, very serious.
"Brat…" he rasped.
"That was Observation that sees the future, wasn't it?"
Then his gaze dropped to White Ghost's sword.
There was a strange, unfamiliar aura flowing along the blade.
"…And what is that?"
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