Boom. Boom. Boom…!
The entire island shook—not with the familiar tremors of Whitebeard's fruit, but as if something deep underground was clawing its way to the surface, trying to burst free.
Suddenly, the earth split open, a massive fissure stretching thousands of meters across the battlefield.
From the chasm, titanic branches—each dozens of meters thick—erupted skyward, twisting and weaving together. In just a few breaths, a colossal humanoid shape began to take form.
The branches interlocked, and a gigantic Buddha statue materialized atop the island. Thousands of meters tall, its eyes were closed, but its face was twisted in a fierce, wrathful expression—a deity both compassionate and terrifying.
Buddha descends with mercy, but also with wrath to subdue demons.
"What… what is that thing?!"
"It's… it's insane!"
"Is that Pops? Or… the Marine?!"
"What the hell is happening on that island?! How did a Buddha that huge just appear?!"
Pirates and Marines alike were frozen in shock, minds blank as they stared up at the True Several Thousand Hands Buddha, utterly speechless.
Whitebeard's face was deadly serious. For all his years ruling the seas, he'd never seen anything like this. He didn't dare drop his guard for an instant.
Without warning, the massive Buddha snapped its eyes open. Behind it, countless wooden arms—some curled into fists, others stretched into open palms—launched at Whitebeard in a relentless wave.
Whitebeard's instincts screamed at him. His counterattack came instantly, fists hammering into the oncoming arms. Razor-thin cracks of space radiated from his punches, colliding with the wooden barrage.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power shattered arm after arm into splinters—but the Buddha's hands were endless. Every time one was destroyed, another surged forward, keeping up the pressure.
"How is this possible?! It can actually withstand my Tremor Domain?!" For the first time, Whitebeard's eyes flashed with real caution.
He'd never imagined this Marine brat could last so long after unleashing his fruit's full power—let alone retaliate with an attack of this magnitude.
No time to think. The wooden arms pressed in, suppressing the Tremor-Tremor's force and closing the gap.
"Damn it…"
Whitebeard grit his teeth, pouring more power into his fists. But all he could do was slow the onslaught—he couldn't stop it.
Finally, the countless wooden arms crashed down on Whitebeard.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each fist and palm was hundreds of times larger than Whitebeard himself. The impact was unimaginable—like being hammered by the hand of a god.
Kai had never felt it himself, and he sure didn't want to.
But Whitebeard had no choice but to endure it. For nearly fifteen minutes, the Buddha's assault rained down, only gradually slowing as the dust began to settle.
As the haze cleared, Whitebeard's figure emerged, standing tall and proud, his eyes burning into Kai.
But the shattered armor of Armament Haki clinging to his body, and his trembling frame, betrayed the truth: Whitebeard was badly wounded.
"Huff… huff… huff…"
Whitebeard gasped for breath, refusing to look away from Kai. After a long silence, he finally spoke:
"Marine brat… what kind of fruit did you eat?!"
He couldn't hold back any longer. What Devil Fruit had this kid eaten? First those massive blue fists, then fire, and now a wooden Buddha that nearly crushed him!
Whitebeard had studied every Devil Fruit encyclopedia in existence, but nothing matched what he was seeing.
"What fruit? I didn't—"
Kai's voice cut off. A sly smile crept onto his face.
"I ate the Divine Tree Fruit."
"Divine Tree Fruit? What kind of fruit is that?!"
Whitebeard's confusion deepened. If a fruit this powerful existed, the world would have heard of it—there'd be legends, traces, rumors.
But he'd never heard a single word about the Divine Tree Fruit.
Kai just smiled. He hadn't lied—Whitebeard hadn't asked what Devil Fruit he'd eaten, just what fruit. And Kai had, in a sense, eaten the Divine Tree Fruit.
Straightening, Kai met Whitebeard's gaze.
"Whitebeard… this fight's gone on long enough. There's no need to drag it out. Let's finish this… Your era is over."
As Kai spoke, his eyes began to change.
A crimson glow flooded his pupils.
Three black tomoe spun into view, whirling around his irises before merging together.
Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!
To unleash Susanoo, Kai needed his eyes at Mangekyō level. Lacking the Uchiha's cursed blood, he went straight to the Eternal Mangekyō form.
In the next instant—
A massive blue giant erupted onto the battlefield, towering over the entire island, its feet straddling both shores. Kai stood at the center of its brow, commanding the titan.
But the transformation wasn't done. A dense layer of black material flowed from Kai, enveloping the blue giant in a shell of pure power.
Armored Susanoo—coated in Armament Haki!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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