With the exception of a very small number of fruits, ordinary Bird-Bird Fruit users lose their original arms when entering Human-Beast form, with wings taking their place. As a result, kicking techniques are practically mandatory for this type of Devil Fruit user.
Itsumade’s tail instead gave Mars an additional means of attack. Combined with his sharp, serrated beak, Mars was actually a “Four-Sword Style” fighter.
After a single exchange, however, Yamato noticed that something seemed to have infected her arm.
“Sharp instincts. You actually noticed it before it could take effect?”
Itsumade was a yokai born from famine or warfare, and plague was almost inseparable from such a creature. Because of this, the Itsumade’s ability inherently granted immunity to viruses. This was also why Queen’s Plague Bullets had failed earlier.
In addition, Mars could use those antibodies to inflict plague on enemies during battle.
Normally, by the time an enemy noticed what was happening, the virus would already have been replicating wildly inside their body and reached an uncontrollable state. However, this method was of little use against Yamato.
White gradually spread across the pitch-black battle armor. Black and white intertwined with one another. Though they were two sharply opposing colors, they gave off a peculiar feeling. Their collision was like two halves of a jade bracelet that had once been severed and were now joined back together.
No one felt that anything about it was out of place. Instead, it seemed as though it had always been meant to be this way.
It was not the reconciliation of ideal and truth, merely the simultaneous use of the powers of three sides. Simple stacking and true fusion of power were completely different things, but this was already enough.
As white took over half of her body, azure flames swept across Yamato’s arm, and the plague from Mars disappeared along with them.
“Itsumade… until when…”
Mars let out a strange cry. The unique call of the Itsumade seemed to produce some kind of resonance, and the clouds blocking the moonlight began brewing peculiar lightning in response to Mars’s roar.
A mass of black oil also began condensing inside Mars’s mouth. As the oil scattered, black flames completely enveloped Mars’s body.
“Fire and lightning. Our abilities really are quite similar. Unfortunately for you, I’m stronger.”
Black flames and black lightning surged toward Yamato along with Mars’s movements, only to be stopped by powers of the same nature.
Zekrom’s lightning shattered the dark clouds in the sky, while Reshiram’s flames devoured the black oil. Yamato herself went past the attack range of Mars’s legs and tail and arrived directly in front of his chest.
“Like hell I’d be… defeated by someone like you!”
The kanabo she swung with all her strength struck Mars squarely under the chin. Kyurem’s extreme cold nearly froze Mars’s head solid in an instant, while two phantom figures appeared behind Yamato, pressing Mars down and smashing him into the ground.
“I made a mistake. With b*stards like you, I shouldn’t have told you to get out. I should make sure you stay here forever!
“Thunder! Bagua!”
Boom!
The dust kicked up by the impact nearly engulfed most of Udon. At that moment, the other guards in Udon were not fighting, but instead evacuating outside in an orderly manner.
“Boss Babanuki, are we really just going to flee without fighting?”
“Idiot, this isn’t fleeing without a fight! Those three monsters will be handled by young miss and the others. If we stay here, we’ll only get in the way. Hurry up and organize a second defensive line somewhere safe. We just need to make sure the other prisoners can’t escape!”
Do what you are capable of doing. This was a world where the power of a single individual could change everything. Once an individual’s strength reached a certain level, sheer numbers ceased to matter.
Nothing else needed to be said. A clash of Conqueror’s Haki between top-tier powerhouses alone was enough to make most soldiers lose their ability to fight.
Fourtricks’ feat of taking one of Garp’s punches head-on was still widely circulated throughout the Beasts Pirates.
However, it was not praised as an act of bravery. Instead, it was used as a cautionary example to warn newcomers who had yet to grow strong enough. There were even rumors that he had missed the entire social gathering because of it and lost priority in choosing a partner.
In a certain sense, Fourtricks had indeed become famous throughout the entire crew.
Aside from some special prisoners who needed to be taken away, Babanuki was directing the pirates as they evacuated important prisoners in an orderly fashion, including Law, whom he was personally carrying over his shoulder.
However, leaving so easily was not going to be possible. Saturn, who had remained motionless until now, finally made his move. Several pirates who were evacuating suddenly went weak in the legs and collapsed to the ground.
“What’s wrong with you guys?”
Just as Babanuki was wondering what had happened to his subordinates, a stabbing pain suddenly tore through his head. His body nearly froze against his will, while blood began pouring uncontrollably from his nose and mouth.
“What… the hell is this…?”
Babanuki’s physique was far stronger than that of an ordinary pirate, so he did not collapse immediately. But because of that, he ended up looking directly into Saturn’s eyes.
A spider-like lower body, yet with bull horns growing from his head.
Spider-Spider Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Gyuki.
Because the ice imprisoning Garp had been melted, quite a bit of water had accumulated on the ground. Those pirates had inadvertently seen Saturn’s reflection in the puddles.
They had paid no attention to something caught only in the corner of their eyes, but Saturn’s Evil Eye used it as a medium to take effect on these pirates.
This was the curse power of the Gyuki. For those who lacked sufficient strength, merely meeting his gaze could cause injuries to their bodies that were extremely difficult to reverse.
“The user of the Op-Op Fruit. We are still quite interested in him. This fruit does not appear on the seas very often, so naturally we cannot allow you to simply take him away.”
The Op-Op Fruit, which was capable of performing the Immortality Operation, had always been one of the fruits targeted by the upper echelons for recovery. Doflamingo had once been obsessed with the fruit for a very long time, constantly hoping that Law would perform the Immortality Operation on him.
As one of the highest-ranking Celestial Dragons, Saturn naturally had no intention of letting this secret slip through his fingers.
“Warden, take off these Seastone cuffs! I can get all of you out of here with my ability!”
Law avoided Saturn’s gaze and tried to get Babanuki to remove the Seastone restraints, but Babanuki refused.
“No.”
“Do you really think you’re a match for one of the Five Elders? I have no hostility toward the Beasts Pirates. Remove my restraints, and my ability can help you.”
“This is a matter of principle. As for whether I can beat him or not, you don’t need to worry about that. Someone will definitely come deal with him. It’s only a matter of how long it takes.”
Babanuki entered his Beast form. His enhanced physique allowed him to stand back up, and it looked like he intended to fight Saturn. As the warden, his job was not only to maintain the prison’s daily operations, but also to ensure the safety of certain special individuals.
Someone like Momonosuke could be ignored, but someone like Law, who was being kept under house arrest, still had to be taken away.
“An ant trying to shake a tree. Utterly foolish.”
Looking at Babanuki standing back up, Saturn gripped his cane with both hands and slammed it hard into the ground. A vicious gleam erupted in his eyes, as though he intended to fully unleash the power of his Evil Eye. But before he could make his move, a crimson spear tore through the air.
The spear seemed to contain an unfathomably profound power. Though it had merely embedded itself into the ground, the entire world seemed to have been divided into two halves by it, and Saturn’s Evil Eye ability was dispelled just like that.
“Boss!”
“I had to arrange the defenses in the other regions, so I arrived a little late… Looks like I still made it in time.”
Udon was not the only region in Wano Country, and the World Government’s surprise attack consisted of more than just these three people. After arranging the security of the other regions, Shayna had immediately rushed here.
The spear formed from the Red Chain returned to her hand. The flowing blue flame wristbands around her wrists showed that she was currently using both the Blue Flame Mode and her Mega form at the same time.
“Remnant of the Lunarians; it has brought back so many memories.”
“Memories? Hearing that word come out of the mouths of you World Government people is truly nauseating. I’ll make the word Lunarian become a nightmare you can never escape from.”
Flames spread onto the spear, and ghostly blue fire spiraled upward, forming a scorching fire tornado inside Udon. Shayna used this method to confine Saturn and herself within the same area.
As the flames burned, Babanuki could no longer see what was happening inside. But he knew that Shayna, who wielded a weapon bestowed by Arceus, would only do something like this if she had complete confidence.
“Take everyone who’s fallen with you! If you don’t want to get caught up in the Boss’s fight, move!”
Babanuki methodically continued organizing the evacuation, but by now Udon was already beginning to show signs of slipping out of control.
Aside from the battles with the Five Elders, Ryokugyu and Queen had also begun fighting fiercely.
“If it were Kaido himself, I wouldn’t fight him. But you’re just one of his officers. Don’t think too highly of yourself!”
“Muhahaha! Are you trying to make me laugh myself to death? I’ve got to hand it to you for finding such a fancy way to say you’re scared of Boss Kaido!
“I’ve fought Akainu, drunk with Aokiji, and this fist has punched that old man Garp. What makes you think you can defeat me?!”
Just as Queen was planning to kill Ryokugyu for the sake of his own future, an unexpected person suddenly joined the battle.
“Gum-Gum… Kong Gun!”
A black fist came flying in from the side, its target none other than Ryokugyu!
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