While Kizaru and Liam's battle was entering its last collision, Luffy's battle with Akainu had just begun.
"Hehahahaha! This feels so amazing."
Luffy continued laughing while bouncing on the ground. Even the lava on the ground had turned rubbery, but it did have an effect on him based on its head.
It's just that Luffy had been facing heat higher than this. So, it didn't affect him at all.
"No wonder Liam has been urging me so much to awaken it. I feel like I can do anything now."
Luffy flew towards the sky, on top of the island, looking at the sun that was slowly setting on the horizon.
His laughter made those who seemed worried about the war happy and relaxed.
On a certain island, Rayleigh was also watching it. When he saw Luffy's form, he couldn't help but get excited.
"Roger, it's coming. The time of prophecy is coming. We were too fast, but now these children will achieve what we failed to achieve."
"Shanks, your bet was a success."
On the ship, Kuma, with the body of a machine, was shedding human tears while looking at Luffy's figure.
Bonney approached her father in silence but didn't say anything. She just watched her father and Luffy.
The other Straw Hats also didn't say much. Most of them already knew about Nika because of Liam, but even so, they were still stunned by Luffy's appearance.
"Robin! What are you doing? You need to rest."
Chopper shouted while holding Robin's leg.
But Robin just smiled and said.
"I just want to watch Luffy, Chopper. Don't worry, I won't do anything that might hamper my recovery."
She walked toward the deck and saw Luffy flying high above the Sabody in his Gear Fifth Form.
When she saw this, she sighed a breath of relief.
Luffy was a careless guy. She knew this very well. That's why she asked Luffy to promise her to stay alive.
If they did face someone they couldn't defeat, that was bound to kill Luffy. She didn't have to worry about that.
Instead, she was worried that Luffy might try some suicidal moves just to awaken his fruit. Even Liam wasn't sure if he could awaken it through that kind of mentality.
But Luffy always wanted to try, or rather, he wanted to awaken his fruit to put Liam's mind at ease.
That's why she was truly relieved that Luffy had awakened his fruit without any sort of death.
Luffy, on the other hand, had no idea that his friends were watching him or that his girl was watching him.
He was just laughing while enjoying the level of freedom he had achieved.
Although he couldn't say he was absolutely free, he had indeed achieved a level of strength that would make him free.
"Straw Hat!"
[Meteor Volcano]
Akainu roared as he rained down several magma fists towards Luffy. When he saw Luffy awakened, he knew Luffy's threat level had grown significantly.
At this moment, he was already going all out. Now, all he could do was to tire out Luffy from his form and defeat him.
Considering Luffy's age, that possibility didn't seem out of his reach.
But he didn't understand the absurdness of Luffy's Gear Fifth.
[Gomu Gomu No Giganto]
Whoosh!
After turning into the size of a giant that could overshadow the entire island, Luffy took a massive breath and released all of it towards the meteor of magma fists.
The breath coming from his mouth was more than enough to completely extinguish the flame attached to the rocks, and even cool them to a certain degree.
After that, he opened his giant mouth and ate all of those rocks.
Then, he turned towards Akainu as a sinister gleam appeared in his eyes. While fusing those rocks with Armament Haki, he started shooting them towards Akainu.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each stone moved at a speed enough to catch Akainu off guard. Even with his Observation Haki, he couldn't dodge most of them and got hit by some.
These stones were more than enough to create a five-foot crater on the ground, which meant Akainu took a serious beating from his own attack.
At this moment, his head was fuming, but before he could react, Luffy was already in front of him.
Bang!
Luffy punched him straight in his face, almost bending his face like a rubber body.
Thud! Thud!
Akainu flew out several times, but he managed to forcefully stop himself. Then, he charged towards Luffy with a massive magma ball in his hand.
[Ground Explosion]
He punched the ball into the ground, and that turned the ground into magma, releasing several explosions towards Luffy.
Luffy simply flew away to dodge them, but Akainu wouldn't let him run away.
He chased after him, but he didn't know that Luffy wasn't running. He was rushing towards a place where two usable rocks were present.
He held both of these rocks and used them to propel himself towards Akainu, who was still chasing after him.
[Gomu Gomu No- Headbutt]
Bang!
Luffy struck Akainu on his stomach, turning his body into rubber. Because of this, Luffy managed to push him directly to another island where the buildings were quite good.
Akainu crashed into the ground and stood up. He was still going towards Luffy with his magma-filled hands.
But Luffy had already rubberized two large buildings and used them to create a slingshot.
Then, he used the slingshot to shoot himself towards Akainu at a speed that Akainu couldn't dodge.
He coated his hand with Armament and Conqueror Haki before stretching out his hand and punching Akainu in the gut.
[Gomu Gomu No]
[Dawn Rocket]
Bang!
Akainu was a dangerous person. When he was hit by an attack with Armament Haki and Conqueror Haki, they would simply collapse.
But this guy didn't. He just tanked the attack and launched several magma fists towards Luffy, all at once.
[Great Eruption Gatling]
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
His attack even caught Luffy by surprise, so much so that he got in the middle of the explosion that was enough to destroy an entire island.
Of course, it was also because Luffy got too distracted by his goofy attitude after landing a blow on Akainu.
But inside this explosion, Luffy's goofy smile disappeared as these flames only reminded him of Robin's tears.
He instantly flew out of the explosion. While his entire body was burned, he simply shook his body several times, and black dust fell off his body.
Then, he locked on Akainu with a serious look, then entered his Muscle Form, where his body became similar to Chopper's Heavy Form.
He rushed toward Akainu while spinning in mid-air. His hands were coated with Armament Haki and Conqueror Haki before he threw an enlarged hook at Akainu's face.
The power generated by his attack was able to send Akainu into a short confusion and render him unable to move for a moment.
Luffy took advantage of this short chance and held Akainu's hand with his hands and legs. He was binding Akainu with his body.
Then, he extended his upper body towards the sky and started spinning vertically. He coated his entire upper body with Armament Haki and Conqueror Haki while spinning.
At this moment, Akainu also woke up from his short confusion and realized that he was bound by Luffy.
"Let go of me, Straw Hat!"
Akainu roared and turned his body into magma.
"Argh!"
While spinning, Luffy screamed as the magma was seriously starting to burn his skin. Fortunately, he was in Gear Fifth, where he wouldn't suffer much damage.
"Damn it, Straw Hat!"
Akainu roared with red eyes as he stared at the sky. At this moment, the sky had turned darker with several black clouds appearing in the sky.
Luffy extended his head towards the cloud, bit a lightning bolt from the cloud, and covered his body with the lightning bolt while he was still spinning.
At this moment, he turned into a rotating blade, coated with Advanced Armament Haki and Conqueror Haki on top of a lightning bolt spinning on top of him.
[Gomu Gomu No]
[Dawn Spinning Axe]
Luffy came down with his body turned into a while spinning blade. Akainu released even more magma to escape this attack.
He knew Luffy was trying to tear him in half, but Luffy wasn't going to let him leave.
Even when his hands and legs were burning in magma, Luffy clutched onto Akainu until his body reached Akainu.
Akainu was still strong enough to move ever so slightly that Luffy missed his neck; instead, he cut through Akainu's right arm. Just to cut this arm, Luffy almost spent all of his willpower to endure the heat of the magma.
Then, he went to cut down even more. Although he wasn't able to split Akainu in half, he was still able to inflict a cut that went to his waist before Luffy let him go.
Thud! Thud!
Akainu fell to the ground with his eyes turned white and one arm not attached to his body.
Luffy gritted his teeth when he saw a bright yellow light coming towards him.
Just when the yellow light grabbed Akainu, Luffy grabbed the hand with a big smile and said.
"Come and take it!"
The yellow light only paused for a moment before moving away while Luffy screamed.
"Tell that Red Dog, I will take his leg next time."