A flash of intense heat evaporated the seawater in an instant, carving a massive arc-shaped crater into the ocean's surface.
Shards of ice drifted down from the sky, falling into the hollowed sea basin. As they landed, they released a torrent of freezing energy, gradually sealing the water and transforming it into sharp-edged, crystal-clear ice.
Boom!
With a final thunderous explosion, the last remnant of lingering flames in the sky was snuffed out by the cold.
Aokiji, visibly fatigued, fell from the sky. In his moment of weakness, he failed to stabilize himself and crashed onto the icy surface below.
"Cough, cough!"
As he staggered to his feet, Aokiji coughed up several wisps of black smoke, still hot from the intense internal damage.
Looking up, his eyes landed on Luffy, who stood calmly at the edge of the massive hundred-meter-wide crater.
What caught his attention next was even more alarming: in Luffy's hand, flames were gathering again, eerily similar to the ones he had just barely survived.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Aokiji's forehead.
"Whoa, whoa, don't you think this is a bit much? I didn't come here to hunt you guys down."
Though his tone was relaxed and self-deprecating, the chilling aura erupting from Aokiji's body said otherwise. It was clear, he wasn't afraid, and he wasn't going easy.
If his vitality were quantified, that last attack had shaved off around 8,000 HP, less than a tenth of his total.
This was the future Fleet Admiral. The embodiment of the Marine's top combat power.
A single sentence from him had once cowed the unruly Doflamingo into retreat. That alone was testament to Aokiji's overwhelming strength.
Luffy's face was tense with focus. He knew full well that, with his current strength, defeating Aokiji was nothing more than a pipe dream.
But that didn't mean he was out of options.
He still had four uses left of the Rapid Growth Capsules. With a body that boasted top-tier talent, those four uses could push him close, if not equal, to an Admiral's level.
That said, unless absolutely necessary, Luffy didn't want to sacrifice any more lifespan. Even though the system shop occasionally refreshed with items that could extend life, he preferred to conserve his resources.
As long as he had enough gold, strength could always be bought. His physique was already near perfect, no need to waste more just yet.
But if it came down to life or death, what's a few years of lifespan?
In his palm, the Sky Flame surged to its limit once more. But this time, Luffy didn't stop, he continued pouring mental energy into his X-Gloves, pushing his body beyond its limits.
That earlier hit had only worked because of Hancock and Moria's feint, and because Aokiji let his guard down, he had never expected an artifact as broken as Mercury's Treads to exist.
Now that Aokiji was fully alert, there would be no second chance.
So...
Luffy compressed the surging, blistering energy into a spinning orb in one hand, a Sky Flame Rasengan.
Then, with his other hand, he channeled even more Mental Power energy. The gauntlet shimmered faintly, and a second searing flame flared to life, glowing orange, sending waves of heat into the air.
"Ahhh... I told you, I didn't come here to fight pirates. Isn't this a bit much?"
Aokiji's voice was calm, but his expression had hardened. He stared at Luffy with focused eyes, whether in jest or subtle warning, it was hard to say.
The second Rasengan quickly took shape.
Luffy looked up. His youthful face bore a strange calm, a quiet, unshakable determination burned in his eyes.
"I never said I wanted to beat you up because you're a Marine."
His voice was even, emotionless.
The moment the words fell, Luffy vanished from sight, leaving only two blazing orange trails streaking through the sky like twin bolts of lightning.
"What a pain..." Aokiji muttered again. With a sudden motion, he raised both arms in front of him.
Luffy's speed had already surpassed the limits of the human eye, but to Aokiji, it was still too slow.
"Ice Block: Partisans!"
A flash of frost spread across Aokiji's face, and an intense chill erupted from his body, surging forward in a sweeping wave.
Speed?
In the face of absolute zero, useless.
Whoosh!
At the Admiral's feet, countless razor-sharp ice spikes burst from the ground, racing toward Luffy like a sea of glittering blades. They spread across the frozen battlefield with devastating speed.
But Luffy had anticipated this. He stomped hard on the icy ground, launching himself into the sky like a koi leaping over the dragon gate.
Just as expected, Luffy soared upward, and Aokiji's lips curled slightly, the tiniest smirk breaking through his usual stoic mask.
"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"
With a flick of his right hand, Aokiji gathered massive cold energy around his arm and aimed it at Luffy.
Instantly, the energy took shape.
An enormous, lifelike ice pheasant formed in the sky, its wings outstretched, majestic and powerful. It tore through the air with explosive force, leaving a long, pale-blue trail of frozen mist in its wake.
Luffy didn't flinch. He twisted his waist mid-air and began to spin at high speed, despite having no foothold.
The twin Rasengan flamed furiously in his hands, and with the rotation, they created a blazing fire ring around him, repelling the surrounding air with sheer heat.
Ssshhh!!
The ice bird collided with the flame ring mid-air, releasing a burst of superheated steam that billowed into the sky.
The vapor met the surrounding cold and condensed into tiny droplets, forming a dense white fog that completely obscured Luffy.
Then, silence.
As if the world had momentarily gone still.
Suddenly, the mist parted.
Luffy was still spinning in mid-air, wreathed in blazing fire. The intense heat warped the air around him, creating distortions that made it seem like space itself was bending.
Boom!
Aokiji raised his Armament Haki-coated arm and caught both of Luffy's hands.
The force shattered the ice beneath them, and Aokiji was sent plummeting downward like a missile, crashing into the deep sea with terrifying speed.
But the moment before hitting the water, his body erupted with extreme cold, freezing the entire surrounding ocean solid, shielding him from submersion.
At the same time, a bone-chilling frost engulfed Luffy's arms, and most of his body, freezing him in place, even with the Mercury's Treads' speed boost.
The two Rasengan still spun furiously in his gauntlets, but Luffy could no longer move an inch closer.
"You've lost, kid," Aokiji said flatly, his gaze locked onto the now-weakened Rasengan, clearly diminished after the earlier clash.
"Heh..."
Luffy's sharp, heterochromatic eyes met Aokiji's beady ones.
Then, he smirked, and closed his eyes.
Not a word more.
"Brat, you!"
Aokiji's Observation Haki flared, and he sensed something terrifying. His stoic expression finally cracked, replaced with shock. His pupils dilated in disbelief.
Luffy's smile was strange, a mix of confidence, resignation… and madness.
"Ultimate, Inferno Detonation!!"
A thick wall of ice instantly rose between them, but the explosion occurred right in front of Aokiji.
The ice was obliterated in an instant, vaporized by searing flames.
The shockwave launched Luffy like a cannonball into the air.
As he flew, nearly unconscious from mental exhaustion, he frantically activated Life Pills from his inventory, desperately restoring his HP.
But just as he topped up his near-empty health bar, the flame backlash surged again, engulfing him entirely.
Too drained to resist, Luffy was swallowed by his own attack, the intense heat now a threat to himself.
It might not kill Aokiji… but to Luffy, this was over five times what his body could normally withstand.
"System, Buy me a thousand Small Life Pills!!"
Luffy screamed inside his mind while blindly downing pills.
[Purchase successful. Items added to inventory.]
The sky exploded with waves of crimson flame, spiraling outward like descending dragons, scorching the very heavens and earth.
The sheer heat sent shockwaves miles away. Those watching from afar were left breathless.
The warriors of Amazon Lily no longer dared to remain on the walls. The fear of stray fire forced them below, but still, they held their ground, ready to alert the nation at a moment's notice.
"Luffy..."
From a distance, Robin's eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
But before they could fall, the approaching heat vaporized them.
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