~ Support & Read 13 Advanced Chapters on Patreon

❁❁❁❁

Check out my new One Piece fanfiction! I'd love your support, thank you :)

❁❁❁❁

The Mochi-Mochi Fruit was a special Paramecia, but even if his body was transformed, it should still be vulnerable to the Armament Haki imbued in the Seven Star Sword.

Armament Haki was the one ability that could strike the true body of a Logia user.

No, that's not it.

This is—what the Captain called the strongest stage of Observation Haki—Future Sight.

Katakuri transformed into mochi in advance, avoiding his fatal blow.

Shiryu's combat intuition was extremely sharp, and he instantly sensed that something was wrong.

He seemed to know exactly where the attack was going to land, transforming into Mochi beforehand to conceal his real body.

————————

In that instant, the balance of the battle was shattered.

Katakuri, under the triple pressure of his mother Big Mom's expectations, the hopes of his younger siblings, and the watchful eyes of all the spectators, had finally pushed his Observation Haki to a higher level.

A pinnacle that even Arthur had not yet reached.

It was impossible to know the expression on the half of his face hidden beneath the fluffy scarf, but Katakuri's eyes were as cold as ever. He approached Shiryu step by step with his trident, wanting to end the battle quickly.

"You're powerless now—aren't you?? I can see every single one of your attacks clearly. Give up. You can no longer win against me."

It was unclear if he was mocking him or simply stating a fact. He was so much stronger than he had been a moment ago. The chances of Shiryu winning were now slim to none.

To know in advance what your opponent is going to do, to have your every move in their grasp, to have all your efforts be in vain—how could one even summon the courage to face that?

However, the person Katakuri was facing was Shiryu—the number two man of the Thunder God Pirates. Even with powerhouses like Byrnndi World and Naguri on the crew, Arthur still believed he was the one who could carry the crew's second flag.

"POWERLESS?"

Shiryu suddenly snapped back from the dreadful realization of his opponent's future sight. For some reason, his entire being relaxed.

He slowly lit a cigar, closed his blood-red eyes, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"Katakuri, you are a very strong opponent... The Captain once told me that there are many ways to counter Future Sight. The simplest is to make you lose your calm—to make you unable to calculate, and thus, defeat you."

"In a battle, winning by any means necessary is still a victory. Only the victor has the right to speak. But that's not what I want. I want to kill you with true strength, not with schemes and tricks. Just like when the Captain fought Whitebeard. He clearly had a defensive ability—yet he chose to clash head-on with a power he was at a disadvantage against!"

"BECAUSE HE—MY CAPTAIN—WANTED TO CRUSH THE WORLD'S STRONGEST MAN IN EVERY SINGLE ASPECT! EVEN KNOWING HE WAS OUTMATCHED, HE HAD TO SHOW HIS FANGS!"

"Captain Arthur is the goal I will spend my entire life chasing. I have already disappointed him once. This time..." Shiryu's eyes snapped open, the blood-red light in them dyeing the clouds in the sky with a reddish hue. His entire being was like an unsheathed, peerless divine sword, its sharp aura stinging the eyes of everyone present.

He let out a low roar, "THIS TIME... YOU WILL UNDOUBTEDLY BE DEFEATED!!"

"CLANG!!"

The Seven Star Sword hummed with a sound like a dragon's roar, the resonance echoing across the sky. Its pale green glow was mesmerizing—almost too intense to look at directly.

"You can indeed predict where my attacks will land and turn into mochi beforehand to dodge. But—what if every single part of your body is under my sword, leaving you no place to dodge at all?"

"DIE!!!"

Amidst Shiryu's low, angry roar, he unleashed the greatest slash he had ever swung in his life.

The Seven Star Sword vibrated, and in an instant, it transformed into a torrential downpour, raining down from all directions. The dense sword energy formed a great curtain that surrounded Katakuri's entire body. The speed of his slashes was extreme, flickering in and out of sight, ever-changing.

The green light of the sword's body became like lightning. Even with Arthur's world-class reflexes, if he were enveloped by such a sword momentum, he would have no choice but to block it head-on, with no way to dodge.

Arthur had never seen Shiryu in this state. He hadn't even realized that after his defeat at the hands of Mihawk outside Loguetown, Shiryu had become even more silent, and the intensity of his training had doubled.

How terrifying was his improvement in strength? In order to chase Arthur's never-ending forward march, Shiryu had given it his all.

————————

"Hm?"

The calm and composed Katakuri's expression changed dramatically the moment Shiryu unleashed his sword. He never recovered.

His face gradually turned pale, and fine beads of sweat even appeared on his forehead. This was not fear of the enemy's strength, but—the strain of excessive calculation.

In the future he foresaw, no matter which angle he looked from, no matter how many methods he tried, he could not dodge such a frenzied attack. In the end, his only choice was to take it head-on.

Just as Shiryu had said, he couldn't dodge.

"ARMAMENT—HARDENING!"

Katakuri seemed to have become the person others saw when he was eating—he had completely lost his composure.

Armament Haki, with a flash of his thought, covered his entire body. He relied on his body's defense to meet Shiryu's rain-like, dense sword energy.

————————

"CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!!"

The sound of metal clashing continuously rang out. The gale formed by the sword pressure was so strong that it made people shut their eyes tightly, terrified of being cut by the overflowing sword energy.

For a full ten minutes, the torrential downpour continued before it finally stopped.

Shiryu sheathed his sword, panting heavily, but his back was still as straight as a sword, not bent in the slightest. And Katakuri was lying on the ground, covered in blood. Although he had not passed out, everyone knew that he had been defeated.

Since his debut, Katakuri had it too easy.

All the pirates who came to challenge the Big Mom Pirates were defeated by him. He had never lost. Perhaps the only pressure he felt was from Big Mom herself.

What a glorious record.

However, the higher one stands, the more tragic the fall from the throne. No one knew if he could ever stand up again!!

"Hahahaha!" Arthur let out a loud, wild, and unrestrained laugh.

He was very happy that Shiryu had taken another step forward on the path of a swordsman—and at the same time, he was overjoyed at his own judgment.

"Shiryu, well done! Don't put too much pressure on yourself. I've said it countless times: you have never disappointed me."

Arthur nodded forcefully at Shiryu, who was looking at him. A person who sees you as their goal desperately needs to be affirmed.

————————

"Brother Katakuri..."

"BROTHER!!"

The children of the Charlotte family were terrified, letting out all sorts of screams. They had never seen Katakuri in such a battered state. It was unclear if it was because his towering image had collapsed—or if they were truly worried.

"BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!"

With a loud bang, Big Mom smashed the round table in front of her and stood up directly—her face ashen—her eyes filled with a murderous glint as she stared at Shiryu.

"BIG MOM, ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO DROP THE ACT AND TAKE ON MY CREWMATE YOURSELF?"

❁❁❁❁

~ 13 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)