Time skip – 3 days.
Six days had passed since the first clash.
Six fucking days of Kairo throwing haymakers—ducking, avoiding slashes aimed at his neck.
He used his wings to block the ice coming to pierce him from behind.
He swung his sword, imbued with hot flames, clashing with the admiral's heated blade.
Kairo was drained. His body could not keep this up much longer. While yes, he was blessed with heavenly Lunarian genetics, he had been taking a beating for six days—yes, taking a beating, because while he did injure the man, Kuzan wasn't nearly as damaged as Kairo.
As Kairo was sent flying back, he flipped midair, landing on the ground—his axe in front of him and his sword behind him.
Kuzan would watch as Kairo's Haki poured into both weapons.
"If you think I'm going to let you charge this, you're dead wrong," Kuzan said, blitzing toward Kairo, an ice sword in hand.
Before Kairo could act, Kuzan was on him.
With a powerful strike, the man stabbed his ice blade into Kairo's skin. The blade didn't crack—it penetrated clean through.
Kairo coughed up blood as the admiral's attack pierced his body.
His flames were off, but still.
"This is over..." Kuzan said, feeling his power begin to freeze Kairo from the inside.
"Got you."
Kuzan's eyes widened.
Hakuko!
The ocean behind them split, and the island seemed ready to be sliced in half.
Kuzan stumbled back, a deep gash carved across his chest.
He staggered, struggling to stay upright.
He didn't think Kairo would actively deactivate his own flames in order to lure him in just to deal this damage.
Kairo, meanwhile, grinned—a devious smile spreading across his bloodied face. Instantly, fire appeared all around him as he began gathering a massive amount of power.
Flashback
"Six years ago... the World Government launched a massive attack on the Grand Line. They attacked the Lunarians living up there. I wasn't able to get much info, but three admirals and several vice admirals—alongside a quarter of the marines—were killed that day. From the description, the World Government seemed to have appropriated everything his clan had. From what my mother told me, those Lunarians were keeping history intact."
"So the World Government attacked them to destroy it," Sanji said, taking a drag from his cigarette.
"They killed every ninja in the village. Every single one... except Kairo."
"So he hates them because they wiped out his family," Zoro added, making sure he understood.
"I don't think he knows that."
"What do you mean?" Nami asked. Why the hell wouldn't he know that?
"Well, from what I can tell, Kairo's memory seems fragmented... almost gone. Considering this event happened when he was still young, he might've forgotten it."
That seemed to explain a lot to the crew.
Chopper added that such a traumatic event could cause memory loss. That sparked a memory for Sanji—of Kairo looking both furious and confused, like he didn't even know why he was angry. It checked out.
He had two different sides: one slightly goofy, and one a trained killer ready to snap if necessary.
"I don't know what happened that day, but whatever it was, only Kairo and the World Government know. Kairo, however, has no memory of it. He seems to be regaining pieces of it as he travels. Given that he's collecting devil fruits, he's likely looking for his clan's special fruit—even if he doesn't realize that himself. He'll probably try to return it to his village. I just don't know how he'll react when he finds it destroyed."
"Oh... yeah."
"We just have to stop him if he goes too far," Zoro said casually.
"As if you stand a chance against him," Usopp shouted. Damn, Zoro, you didn't catch that he'd fold you in half?
"Don't you think I know that, you dumbass?!" Zoro shouted back.
"What mosshead is trying to say is... we'll get stronger," Sanji said, lighting another cigarette.
Zoro almost sliced Sanji's head off but stopped himself.
Nami's eyes lifted upward.
She noticed clouds gathering above the island—tons of them. All lightning clouds.
It clicked.
Kairo had been building them since the beginning of the fight. He was probably going to use those clouds for a massive attack.
With that realization, Nami summoned thousands more clouds, merging them with Kairo's to amplify the lightning.
She gasped for air—she'd reached her limit.
"Nami, are you okay?!" Chopper rushed to her side, worried.
"I'm fine," she said weakly, even as Sanji was practically glued to her side.
Robin noticed what Nami had done.
"It seems like the final attack is going to be this one," Zoro said, watching the battlefield.
"Hm..." Luffy's eyes never left the fight.
Meanwhile, with Kairo...
As the admiral stumbled back, trying to freeze his wound shut, he noticed something—Kairo's lingering Haki was disrupting it. Just like how Haki could slow down a Holy Knight's regeneration, Kairo was using it to block Kuzan's logia ability.
Plus, he had mixed seastone fragments into that attack.
Kuzan felt drained through the fight—like trying to box while getting head.
Yeah, that was the only fitting analogy.
Kuzan stumbled back.
"This is going to leave a mark..."
He looked around, finally noticing the rain.
Kairo raised his hand toward the sky.
"Time to end this."
Clutching his axe, lightning came crashing down from the clouds, striking him multiple times. The power of the Goro-Goro no Mi surged through him as a giant Kirin formed from the storm, swirling around Kairo like a beast greeting its master.
He raised his sword, flames of Muspelheim still burning. Kairo poured everything into the blade—every drop of Haki, every ounce of will, even his Conqueror's Haki—until he was completely drained, even more than Luffy after running out of Gear 4.
As the Kirin fused with his axe, Kairo's flames flared blue.
Kuzan, seeing the attack build, stared death in the face. For a moment, Kairo looked like a demon—two giant silhouettes flaring behind him.
It was time to end it.
Kuzan inhaled deeply. The water and air around them began to freeze—everything down to the molecules.
RAGNAROK!
Kairo charged at full speed, using every ounce of his power.
Kuzan's body turned to pure ice. The man opened his mouth.
"Absolute Zero."
As those words left his lips—
FWOSH!
Everything froze.
A quick physics lesson for you all:
Absolute zero is the lowest temperature attainable in physics, defined as 0 Kelvin (K), equivalent to −273.15°C or −459.67°F.
At this temperature, internal energy reaches its minimum value. While all classical molecular motion halts, quantum effects prevent total stillness due to zero-point energy—the Heisenberg uncertainty principle at work.
In short: nothing can move.
Kairo's flaming attack clashed with the admiral's freezing power.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" ×2
From an outside view, the island before them split cleanly in two. It was relatively small, but still—perfectly divided.
A massive explosion followed, shaking the sky.
Then—silence.
No breathing. No sound. Just eerie stillness.
"Did... he win?" Usopp asked.
{Gum-Gum Rocket}
Luffy didn't wait another second. Five minutes after the explosion, he shot himself toward Kairo's presence.
"Wait, Luffy, what if Kuzan's still there—"
Yeah, Luffy didn't give a fuck.
A/N Yes...Kuzan used his awakening.
Anyway who won