"Armament Haki, suppress."
"Observation Haki, suppress it."
"Devil Fruit ability, or suppression."
"Sakazuki has absolutely no reason to win."
Borsalino watched as Rosen activated his Susanoo, using Armament Haki as a bow and Ryūjin Jakka's explosive flames as an arrow, blasting Sakazuki several kilometers away, leaving him sprawled on the ground, his eyes filled with deep shock.
As the sole witness to the battle between Rosen and Sakazuki, and someone who observed the entire fight from the sidelines, he saw everything clearly.
From the very beginning of their battle, Sakazuki, who has always dominated the Grand Line with his strongest attacks, has been suppressed from the start.
It's not a suppression in one aspect, but rather a combination of Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and even Devil Fruits.
In every aspect, Sakazuki was completely outmatched by Rosen.
Compared to the attack power and temperature of Devil Fruits, the molten lava sea of the Magma-Magma Fruit is no match for the 6000-degree blazing heatwave of Ryūjin Jakka.
Compared to Armament Haki, Rosen unleashed his external Haki, creating a 250-meter-tall Susanoo that completely suppressed Sakazuki's Haki.
Compared to Observation Haki, which allows Sakazuki to foresee the future, Rosen can also do so, and even sees a future that is further into the future.
Most importantly, no matter how fierce Sakazuki's fighting style, how powerful his attacks, or how rich his combat experience, he was never able to harm Rosen in the slightest.
The only time it worked was when it made Rosen take a few steps back.
That's all.
Such a battle was less a clash between emperors and kings and more a one-sided thrashing of Sakazuki by Rosen.
"Junior."
"He's never used Conqueror's Haki before!"
Not even once.
This is the key point that moved Borsalino the most.
Sakazuki has already unleashed his full power, but Rosen hasn't gone all out yet.
At least, he never used that Conqueror's Haki that was comparable to Gol D. Roger's.
A blade as sharp as fire.
One Susanoo.
In addition, there's the Observation Haki that allows one to foresee the future.
He had already defeated Sakazuki, the strongest general, to the point that he was sometimes kneeling on the ground and sometimes crawling on his stomach.
Should we continue?
"Senior Sakazuki."
Rosen stood between Susanoo's eyebrows. In the blink of an eye, Susanoo raised its right foot and took a step that could shake the earth, walking towards Sakazuki, who was lying prostrate on the ground.
Even without using the Geppo, a distance of several kilometers is still within reach for Susanoo.
laugh
At this moment.
Sakazuki, who was lying prone on the ground, suddenly twitched, then pushed himself up with his hands and quickly stood up.
If you didn't see his charred body, you might even think he hadn't been injured.
This is Admiral Akainu.
Besides possessing the highest attack power among the three types of Devil Fruits, he is also a monster without any weaknesses.
An unfathomable health bar.
Its vitality and regenerative abilities are comparable to those of Zoan-type Mythical Beasts.
Its physical defense is second only to Kaido and Big Mom.
All of this combined allowed Sakazuki to perform sit-ups even after taking the Haki Flame Arrow fired by Rosen's Susanoo head-on, and he still appeared to retain his formidable fighting power.
"Rosen."
"I must admit that you have indeed reached a level above that of a Marine admiral."
"However, you also made a fatal mistake."
Sakazuki dusted off the ashes from his body. Even though he had been burned to a charred, human-like state by the explosive flames of Ryūjin Jakka, his face remained as cold as a knife, showing not a trace of pain.
"When fighting someone, whether it's a fight to the death or not, you must never stop until your opponent is completely incapacitated."
"This ocean is not lacking in people like me. Not to mention a few seconds, or even the blink of an eye, your opponent may recover and then launch a fatal attack on you."
"If you had continued your fierce attack, whether you had fired a second arrow or slashed with your sword, the difficulty for me to get up and continue fighting would have increased dramatically. I would have had to pay a higher price and suffer more damage in order to continue fighting."
"Instead of being able to swagger around and teach you a lesson like this now."
Sakazuki said this with an air of seriousness.
"You mean the awakening of the Magma-Magma Fruit, right!"
Upon hearing this, Rosen chuckled and asked in return, but his tone was full of certainty.
"Fruit awakening is just one aspect of it."
"Many factors can determine the outcome of a battle."
"Haki, swordsmanship, physical skills, and Devil Fruit abilities are certainly crucial, but combat is never just about these things. There is also willpower, defense, physical strength, recovery, and the ability to seize fleeting opportunities."
Sakazuki nodded first, then shook his head:
"In terms of developing Devil Fruits, I am inferior to you; in terms of the strength and skill of Armament Haki, I am also inferior to you; in terms of the length of time that Observation Haki can predict the future, I am still inferior to you, but..."
"Rosen, I can keep you occupied for ten days and ten nights."
"Even if they are not your opponent, it would still take you ten days and ten nights to end this battle without making a single mistake."
He first admitted that he was inferior to Rosen in every way, but at the same time he explained the difference between defeating and killing, and the difficulty of killing him.
The battle against the Emperor is against a monster like Sakazuki, who has high attack, high defense, high health, and high speed.
In a one-on-one fight, without any external interference, with his unwavering will comparable to Black Blade and Nika Form's sit-up-like ability, killing him would undoubtedly be an extremely time-consuming and exhausting task.
even.
Over time, if one's stamina wanes, there's a possibility that even if one's strength surpasses Sakazuki's, Sakazuki could turn the tide and defeat one of them.
"..."
Upon hearing this, Rosen's eyes flickered slightly.
He knew that Sakazuki wasn't just being stubborn; on the contrary, no one knew better than him just how tough Admiral Akainu really was.
This point was demonstrated perfectly by the enemy during the Marineford War.
Within the Marine Headquarters, and arguably in the entire world, no one could be like Sakazuki, who, after being ambushed by an enraged Whitebeard, unleashed a full barrage of attacks using Haki and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, targeting the back of the head and spine—areas capable of instant death or paralysis—yet managed to stage a near-comeback and kill Whitebeard.
Although he ultimately lost by a single move, after enduring injuries that would have been fatal or crippling to anyone else, Sakazuki immediately did sit-ups after falling to the ground, emerging from the earth with near-peak combat power, and once again achieved a series of formidable victories.
With a mere gesture, he defeated two revolutionary army cadres, Emporio Ivankov and Lightning.
He dealt a devastating blow to Jinbe, rendering him incapable of fighting.
He fought off a dozen or so Whitebeard Pirates captains, led by Marco, along with Crocodile, then broke through their encirclement and continued to pursue Luffy and Jinbe, leaving them severely wounded and unconscious.
If Trafalgar Law hadn't intervened and used his Op-Op Fruit to save them immediately, both Luffy and Jinbe would have been dead.
After the war, he went alone to hunt down Blackbeard, who had two Devil Fruit abilities, forcing the Blackbeard Pirates to flee in disarray, and then defeated Kuzan, who had been slacking off throughout the Marineford War.
Besides his unparalleled attack power, Sakazuki's most fearsome qualities are his high defense, high health, and high recovery, as well as his unwavering will, which is as indestructible as an unbreakable black blade, leaving no room for error.
"Do you understand?"
"You're already putting in so much effort and time just facing me, let alone facing a Yonko pirate crew."
"Ochoku may not have physical abilities comparable to mine, nor recovery skills, and certainly not defense that is no less than mine, but he has tens of thousands of subordinates and pirate officers whose combat power surpasses that of a vice admiral in the headquarters."
"These pirates can surround and ambush you when you are fighting Ochoku; they can also stop and hinder you when Ochoku is injured; and they can even harass and delay you after Ochoku is defeated."
"In the end, no matter how much advantage you gain in the early stages of the war, or how overwhelming your combat power is, the one who will have the last laugh will definitely be the Ochoku Pirates."
Sakazuki wiped the blood from his mouth.
He knew that Rosen was very strong, and he also understood that Rosen, who was not even twenty years old, was standing at the top of the world, which must be due to his youthful arrogance and disdain for the world.
so.
Despite witnessing that the man before him possessed Conqueror's Haki comparable to Gol D. Roger's, and knowing that he was no match for him, he still chose to fight Rosen.
The purpose was to share my experience and teach my juniors a lesson.
Make it clear to the other side that war and battle are not the same thing, and that fighting one-on-one against the Four Emperors and fighting one-on-one against the Four Emperors' crew are not the same concept.
...
If you enjoyed this chapter, drop a review, comment, or powerstone!
For free chapters up to 300, head to P@treon/Ren_Saga.