"Roaring Thunder Bagua!"
Jerry's figure blurred as he flew forward at tremendous speed, gripping his fishing rod with both hands as he struck toward the red-haired Emperor with violent, crackling Haki energy.
Shanks immediately raised his sword to intercept, and when their weapons made contact, he skillfully used the impact force to gracefully launch himself backward through the air.
Taking into account his already tattered clothing and the strips of fabric fluttering dramatically in the wind, the movement added an almost elegant quality to his retreat.
"Wow! Young man, you're always stealing other people's signature moves," Shanks called out with obvious amusement. "Isn't that a bit unsporting?"
Hearing Shanks' airborne commentary, Jerry planted his feet and pursued like a relentless shadow while opening his mouth to deliver a motivational speech. "You never stop learning in life! Don't use age as an excuse—thirty or forty years old is the perfect time to keep striving!"
Shanks looked genuinely confused by this response, then noticed that the sole of a slipper was rapidly expanding in his field of vision.
"Gale Force Kick!"
Facing this lightning-fast attack, Shanks immediately swept his blade horizontally, releasing a burst of sharp cutting energy.
A muffled impact echoed through the air as Jerry's body plummeted from the sky like a meteor. With unstoppable domineering force behind his kick, he shattered the sword slash into fragments while his foot aimed directly for Shanks' face.
The red-haired Emperor's eyes narrowed slightly as his sweeping sword instantly shifted to a straight thrust. Violent Haki surged forth as the blade's tip cut through the air to meet Jerry's incoming foot.
An invisible shockwave swept outward in all directions, instantly separating both fighters in the powerful wind pressure.
Jerry, caught in midair, couldn't help but fly backward from the recoil, while Shanks staggered back several steps. However, the Emperor quickly planted his feet firmly, not only completely absorbing the counterforce but also launching forward again at astonishing speed.
His sword became a blur of motion, and several razor-sharp energy beams suddenly materialized, whistling toward Jerry's airborne figure.
Recognizing the danger, Jerry straightened his torso and used Moonwalk to pivot gracefully like a flying swallow, executing a perfect backflip to avoid every incoming attack.
However, Shanks suddenly accelerated and caught up to him in an instant. Crackling Haki energy ran from his body and arm to his sword like serpentine lightning, coiling and writhing before he thrust forward with devastating power.
Jerry's pupils contracted sharply. In his haste, he only had time to swing his fishing rod along with his somersault's momentum to meet the approaching blade.
Both weapons collided violently. Jerry gripped his fishing rod tightly but couldn't withstand the sword that was pressing inexorably forward.
Feeling his fishing rod being forced toward his chest in the blink of an eye, Jerry raised his left arm and threw a punch without hesitation.
Two unusual impacts rang out simultaneously as both intertwined figures were launched apart like cannonballs, crashing heavily onto the ice field that had already become thoroughly cratered from their battle's aftermath.
"Ugh! Why don't I have some kind of Supreme Reinforced Clothing? Could it be that my system is actually designed to destroy outfits?" Jerry climbed out of his impact crater, glanced down at the various sword cuts across his body and the shredded fabric hanging from his frame, and muttered with obvious annoyance.
On the opposite side, Shanks felt his right eye swelling from Jerry's punch, his puffy eyelid slightly obstructing his vision. He sighed with resignation, "Hiss! This is bad—am I going to need to redesign the crew's flag again?"
Just at that moment, a tremendous explosion and searing heat wave swept across their battlefield from the distance, drawing both fighters' attention.
After sensing the disturbance carefully for a moment, a trace of surprise crossed Jerry's features.
Then his expression grew deadly serious as he turned his gaze back to his opponent, only to see Shanks studying him with equally sharp focus.
Jerry closed his eyes gently and exhaled slowly. When he reopened them, there was a dangerous gleam in his pupils and his entire aura had become far more solemn.
His figure suddenly blurred, and in a flash he appeared at Shanks' left side, launching a fierce assault without any warning.
Shanks snorted coldly, raised his sword, pivoted and stepped forward while erupting with domineering power, delivering a tit-for-tat counterattack.
But in the next moment, Shanks' eyes widened in alarm.
Just before their attacks intersected, at the crucial instant, Jerry's wrist twisted slightly, causing their strikes—which should have collided directly—to become misaligned. Both attacks continued with unstoppable force toward their respective targets.
Blood splattered through the air as both fighters sustained fresh wounds across their chest and abdomen, then flew apart in opposite directions like arrows shot from a bow.
Jerry didn't even spare a glance for his new injury. Before his momentum dissipated completely, he forcibly twisted his body and launched himself toward Shanks at breathtaking speed.
"Don't underestimate me!" Shanks roared, sensing the powerful wind of Jerry's approach. "If we're fighting to the death, I won't lose to you!" He rolled sideways, narrowly avoiding a slashing attack before retaliating with his own blade strike aimed at his airborne opponent.
"Although I don't usually advocate self-destructive tactics, desperate times call for desperate measures," Jerry grinned with wild ferocity blazing in his eyes.
The sound of tearing cloth rang out again as both combatants sustained additional wounds.
Afterward, under Jerry's deliberate manipulation, their fighting styles transformed completely—shifting from normal exchanges of domineering techniques and skillful moves to a desperate situation of mutual destruction.
Initially, Shanks attempted a combination of evasion and counterattacking, but he quickly discovered the futility of this approach.
Jerry was absolutely committed to his strategy, willing to sacrifice a thousand of his own to inflict eight hundred damage on his enemy.
No matter how Shanks tried to dodge, as long as he drew his sword to attack, Jerry would actively meet him head-on, then make full use of the moment when he was struck to ensure that his own prepared techniques would land accurately on his target.
Although both fighters possessed defensive techniques like Armament Haki, it was obvious that their attacks enhanced with Conqueror's Haki carried far more devastating power.
Therefore, after exchanging dozens of mutual strikes, both combatants had become completely unrecognizable.
Jerry's body was covered with sword wounds of varying depths, his entire form stained crimson with blood.
Shanks was equally bloodied, but in addition to the clean cuts from blade work, he also bore various bruises, swelling, and other diverse injuries across his body—fully demonstrating the versatility of Jerry's attack methods.
"Hey, Red Hair, don't blame me for picking on the old, weak, and disabled," Jerry taunted while continuing his relentless assault. "You don't look like someone who's missing an arm could sit on a Four Emperor's throne."
"Stop with the jokes!" Shanks retorted, arriving late but striking first with a lightning-fast blade. "I've already bet that arm on the new era!" Jerry raised his arm to block, taking a shallow wound while simultaneously being blown back by a fishing rod strike.
"Oh wow, then you're in serious trouble," Jerry replied, lowering his arms and positioning his fishing rod behind his back. The moment his body stabilized, he applied explosive force with his feet. "As the saying goes, nine out of ten bets end in loss. In that case, you'll most likely be the one who loses today."
Crackling Haki lightning spread through the air as an enormous dragon suddenly materialized around Jerry. Fierce winds howled as he rushed toward Shanks with lightning speed.
Sensing the extraordinary momentum and the turbulent energy filling the surrounding atmosphere, Shanks immediately unleashed a shocking surge of his own domineering power.
In the next moment, a griffin more ferocious and massive than any he'd manifested before appeared in the world, carrying Shanks as it streaked through the sky like a meteor, heading directly toward the opposing dragon.