As the Mangekyo Sharingan activated, the world seemed to slow down in Uchiha Hikari's eyes.
Her gaze locked onto a brilliant flash of blade energy erupting from the naginata's edge, tearing through space and air as it surged toward the ice meteor. From a distance, it looked like a massive mirror shattered by an axe, with cracks branching out like tendrils, accompanied by a teeth-gritting screech.
—Haki Infusion!!
More precisely, it was a "Haki Infusion Plus" laced with the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!
A pinpoint strike breaking through the surface!
Faced with such a fierce and relentless attack, Esdeath didn't meet it head-on. Instead, she played it safe, tapping her foot in mid-air and retreating like a gust of wind.
Almost at the same moment she pulled back, the naginata's blade energy reached the ice meteor—a massive chunk nearly a hundred meters wide—and struck!
Crack—!
A series of explosive snaps echoed out.
Even larger cracks spread across the ice meteor's surface.
In the blink of an eye, the meteor began to fracture and disintegrate, still plummeting downward while breaking into countless chunks of ice and rock that shot outward. Some fragments splashed into the sea, sending up waves seven or eight meters high; others smashed into the Moby Dick's hull and deck, leaving pitted scars.
Seizing the moment, Marco mustered his strength, weaving through the gaps of falling ice chunks. He grabbed a rope tossed from the ship and swung back onto the Moby Dick's deck in one swift move.
"Pops…"
Marco started to say something, but a hearty laugh cut him off. "Gurararara! No need to say it, my foolish son. Opponents of this caliber are beyond you for now. Leave the rest to your old man!"
With those words, a man stepped onto the deck, his white mustache curved like crescent moons.
Edward Newgate.
The man known as "Whitebeard."
He wasn't as towering as Kaido or Big Mom, standing at "only" 6.66 meters tall. His bare upper body was marred with countless scars and wounds, some fresh from recently removed IV tubes. Yet the overwhelming pressure radiating from him surpassed even Kaido's, another of the Four Emperors, making anyone who saw him instinctively tense.
At that moment, gripping his naginata Congregation Cloud Cutter—taller than himself—Whitebeard stood at the ship's bow, shielding his "sons" behind him, his laughter growing even bolder.
"This guy…"
The shattered half of the ice meteor crashed into the sea, kicking up waves dozens of meters high. As the spray scattered, it was like a torrential downpour.
Esdeath stood in mid-air.
Every droplet near her froze instantly, creating a bizarre contrast with the Moby Dick's side, where rain and hail fell in equal measure.
"Another one with Conqueror's Haki?" Esdeath mused.
As someone who hadn't read One Piece, she didn't know Whitebeard. But Conqueror's Haki? That she knew well, having seen it plenty of times from Kaido and Yamato.
And because of that, she could easily tell Whitebeard's Conqueror's Haki was purer and more threatening than the father-daughter duo's. The realization sparked a thrill in her, like a hunter spotting prime prey.
"Hey, you with the naginata—are you the 'Whitebeard' Hikari mentioned?" Esdeath called out. "You've got the aura of a strong fighter, but if you're claiming 'world's strongest,' that little display just now? Not even close. Far from enough!!"
Before her words faded, a terrifying aura erupted from Esdeath, transforming into a chaotic storm of frost that swept outward in all directions!
—Secret Technique: Ice Storm General!!
Normally, Esdeath needed to charge this move, channeling the Essence of the Demon into her ice cavalry over three days before unleashing it to create a blizzard spanning thousands of miles.
But now, she skipped that step. The storm's range wasn't as vast, but it still engulfed dozens of miles around them.
In mere seconds, the air filled with countless ice shards, layer upon layer, dense as a forest of blades and spears materializing in the space. The sea below unknowingly froze, forming white icebergs that rose from the surface and spread outward recklessly!
Whoosh…
Crunch, crunch—
The sound of ice forming rang out continuously.
"This… this is impossible!"
"This level of ice and snow control… even Aokiji—no, even Aokiji couldn't pull this off!!"
On the Moby Dick, Marco, fresh from the fight, stood alongside Diamond Jozu and the others, eyes wide and jaws dropped as they took in the scene.
All around, the world was a blinding white, as if the heavens and earth had been draped in silver.
The next moment, Esdeath moved.
As she charged forward, ice shards swirled around her, forming a towering ice giant twenty meters tall that barreled toward the Moby Dick.
At the same time, Whitebeard leaped off the ship, sprinting across the frozen sea!
His naginata swung!
"Congregation Cloud Cutter!!"
…
"Brr! It's freezing!"
Back on the Blue Planet, Bulma and the others scrambled to pull on down jackets.
No helping it—Ice Storm General was an AOE skill. Even though Esdeath had deliberately avoided their ship when unleashing it, the sheer volume of ice and snow drastically dropped the temperature. For someone like Bulma, with a relatively normal physique, bundling up was the only way to stay warm.
Well…
To be precise, Bulma was the one feeling it the most.
Naruto was halfway there.
The others? Yamato and Brand were unfazed, naturally. Kikyo's clay body didn't care about the cold. Even Nezuko, with her half-demon constitution, was fine aside from her cheeks turning slightly red. As for the other "normal" person, Yotsuya Miko, she'd gone back to school and wouldn't return until the next weekend.
Hikari barely paid attention to the commotion around her, giving it a quick glance before refocusing on the battle.
"By the way…" Bulma, now bundled up tight, sidled up to Hikari and whispered, "That aura Little Es just unleashed—doesn't it feel kinda like Conqueror's Haki?"
"…It's a bit similar, but the nature's different," Hikari replied casually.
She'd spent a good chunk of time studying the Haki system.
It started when Yamato crossed into the Akame ga Kill world and showed off the three types of Haki to her, Bulma, and a then-newly tamed Esdeath.
Later, during their trip to the Dragon Ball world for the martial arts tournament, Master Roshi, Korin, and Kami had offered some insightful takes on Haki.
From everything she'd gathered, Haki and "ki" were fairly similar cultivation systems. Armament Haki was the simplest and most straightforward. Observation and Conqueror's Haki were advanced applications, each excelling in different ways.
In theory, high-level Observation Haki could predict the future, much like Dragon Ball's Ultra Instinct.
Conqueror's Haki, meanwhile, was a special "burst" technique, capable of condensing "ki" into a highly compressed form called Haki Infusion, essentially an upgraded version of Armament Haki.
Hikari was pretty curious about both.
Right now, her eyes were glued to Esdeath and Whitebeard's clash, mentally breaking down and analyzing their moves.
It was clear Esdeath was experimenting with "ki" and Haki.
She hadn't said it out loud, but Hikari knew Esdeath had been quietly grinding to boost her strength, aiming to challenge her again. Especially lately, since boarding the Blue Planet, the general spent six to ten hours a day in the gravity training room and often sparred with Yamato, working to blend the two cultivation systems.
Not a bad thing, really.
Esdeath wasn't the same battle-crazed maniac she'd been when she first left the Akame ga Kill world. Her drive to win was more about shaking off the weight of being outclassed for so long, wanting to turn the tables and claim some bragging rights. Even if she won, Hikari doubted she'd void their master-servant contract. Though… she might demand Hikari play the servant instead.
That could be… kinda fun?
Her thoughts snapped back.
Watching the fight, Hikari suddenly activated her Blood Jade Barrier, enveloping the Blue Planet.
As she did, a violent shockwave rippled through the air, leaving massive cracks on the crimson barrier before they slowly faded.
But the glacier beneath the ship trembled, as if hit by a sizable earthquake.
"…The strongest Paramecia Devil Fruit. It's something else," Hikari muttered. "I wonder how its power is stored in the body… Maybe we should grab some tissue samples from Whitebeard for Dr. Gero to study. Could dig up something interesting."
A new idea struck her:
Maybe… it's worth taking a trip to meet this world's mad scientist, the guy supplying tech to the World Government—Vegapunk?