Silence. A long silence.
The sound of Leviathan munching on potato chips kept ringing out, making everyone around unconsciously focus their gaze on her.
"What~? If you want some, there's none for you~"
The little glutton, seeing everyone looking at her, protectively hid the bag behind her back.
"Eat, eat, eat, all you know is eating! Aren't you even a little worried about Sakura-nee?"
Kuina, unable to hold back her anger, snatched the potato chips from Leviathan and poured them all into her mouth.
"Idiot, what is there to worry about?" Leviathan looked at the empty chip bag heartbroken, her tone unusually free of laziness. "Believing that Sakura can return victorious from every battle… isn't that the faith we should have as crew members?"
"Leviathan is right. Believe in her!"
Fisher Tiger reached out, pulling Kuina to sit back on the tree.
Center of the battlefield.
Two massive shadows emerged from the dust. Dorry and Brogy lowered their arms.
The two round shields that had been wrapped around them were now shattered, disintegrated fragments falling to the ground and being swallowed by the dust.
"Kababababa, I never thought even after using such strength, we still underestimated our new friend."
Brogy raised his hand to untie the strap of the shield; the leather armor underneath was also destroyed in the previous blow.
The back of his hand was dancing with lightning, blue-purple bruises accumulating under the skin.
"Gyagagagaga, then let's hold nothing back! We can't let our new friend look down on us!"
Dorry rotated his wrist, tearing away the leather armor that had turned to powder. His condition was equally bad.
The arm shattered by Haki was swollen and trembling violently, unable to grip the sword hilt.
"Charge!"
Brogy roared, gripping his giant axe with both hands as he charged towards Sakura.
"Understood!"
Dorry was the same. His will dominated his body, forcibly suppressing the pain. He raised his giant sword high, his speed not lagging behind Brogy's in the slightest.
The previous lesson was enough for both to recognize Sakura's strength. What followed would be an all-out, no-holds-barred fight to the death!
"Haaa!!!"
Brogy stomped, shattering the ground beneath him, leaping high and swinging his axe down with the force of his landing.
Dorry, arriving at a sprint on the ground, used his long arms to swing his giant sword in a powerful horizontal slash.
Despite their massive size, they could launch their attacks without interfering with each other's paths in the slightest.
"Great coordination!"
The path directly in front of and above Sakura was completely sealed off. The only apparent escape route was to retreat to avoid the giants' weapons.
But if she really retreated, the two leaders of the Giant Warrior Pirates would immediately make Sakura experience the Giant race's unarmed combat skills.
An attack range of over ten meters at the slightest move was the Giant Race's greatest advantage in battle.
"Natural talent, truly enviable."
[~]
'Piss off! Don't get in the way!'
Sakura knew the System's intentions all too well, but she had no extra Achievement Points to squander right now.
Scolding it away, Sakura pressed the button on Kumotsuna. The tsuba spewed more Iron Cloud, forming a greatsword over ten meters long.
Wrapped in Armament Haki, the white cloud turned black, lightning flashing within.
She swung it once towards the axe Brogy was bringing down from the sky.
"Wild Spirit-!"
The swordsmanship unleashed with the large-scale cloud sword erupted and spread, instantly colliding with Brogy's battle-axe.
Clang!
Blade met blade, sparks flying everywhere.
Brogy used all his strength to suppress Sakura, to buy time for Dorry behind him.
But he never expected Sakura to tilt her blade backward and, at the last possible moment, release the hilt of Kumotsuna.
"Not good!"
Brogy had no time to retract his force. His entire body, carried by momentum, charged into the distance.
On the ground, Sakura focused her spirit, her clenched fist drawn back to her abdomen, assuming a stance.
"That idiot Brogy... but never mind!"
Dorry, prepared for this, took advantage of the momentum and pushed his giant sword, changing the horizontal slash into a straight thrust.
Instantly covering the long distance between them, bringing the sword tip almost to Sakura's eyes.
'Aha, didn't expect that, did you!'
After witnessing Sakura use Haki to repel both their blades, Dorry had already begun thinking of countermeasures.
The best way to defeat Haki was to collide and cancel it out with equal Haki.
At this moment, he had condensed all his Haki into a small point at the tip of his sword. As long as she dared to clash with him head-on, her Haki armor would be shattered.
No one could block this move! He said so!
"Good method, but..."
In that instant, the hand Sakura had stretched backward slowly opened its five fingers.
She grabbed fiercely at the empty void and actually grasped the outline of something.
A tremendous force comparable to deep-sea pressure applied pressure into her palm, clutching a fierce hurricane in her hand.
Fish-Man Jujutsu: Stormfall!
With a throwing motion of both hands, Sakura hurled the massive storm towards Dorry.
The impact made the earth tremble. The huge storm's roar emitted a heart-palpitating boom, raging as if to merge heaven and earth.
Wham!
The two collided instantly. The giant sword imbued with Haki indeed cut through the storm unimpeded.
But the direction of the blade's edge was also deflected by that exaggerated reaction force, whistling past Sakura's side.
'What the...?'
Dorry's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Then, because his defenses were empty, Sakura punched him square in the chest, sending him crashing into Brogy, who had flown off earlier.
"Cough cough cough, Dorry, you're crushing me!"
Brogy pushed Dorry off with effort and sat up.
"She's so strong!"
Dorry straightened the helmet on his head and also got up.
"So... shall we use that move?"
Brogy picked up his axe, gripping this old friend that had accompanied him in battle for nearly a hundred years.
"How can we shame a warrior who has also staked her resolve?"
"Sparing no effort is the greatest respect we can show her!"
With reluctance, Dorry also picked up that worn and battered giant sword.
The two stood side by side. Their surging, boiling fighting spirit transformed into Haki, causing the sword and axe raised high behind them to resonate with a metallic ring.
"Wait, that stance is..."
Fisher Tiger, watching from afar, had a flash of rainbow light in his pupils. A chill spread from his spine to his limbs.
His memory returned to that night three years ago, when the young girl facing a powerful enemy on Mary Geoise was just like them now.
Kuina scratched her head in confusion, looking at Tiger. "Uncle Tiger, my Observation Haki is warning me, but I can't pinpoint the source of the danger. What's going on?"
'What's going on? What else could it be? This island might be sunk, that's what!'
"Run for your lives!"
Tiger scooped up Kuina, and the two hid together in Leviathan's mouth.
Then, the Night Sparrow flapped its wings, flying up into the air, finding a perfect spot to watch the outcome of this battle.
"Haha, hahaha! That's it! Let me experience your spirit!"
Amidst hearty, wild laughter, Sakura raised her fingers, forming the Ram hand seal.
After a puff of smoke exploded beside her, a second her walked out from within.
She raised her hand, a massive ice axe condensing and being gripped in her palm.
An unexpected surge of intense emotion burned in her chest, flushing the young girl's face, urging her forward.
To challenge the two powerful warriors from Elbaf before her.
The sky was covered by dark clouds. Lightning streaked across the cloud peaks. Icy rain sprinkled down from above.
On the ground, two legendary spears were poised to strike. Their galloping fighting spirit smashed through the falling raindrops like a hot knife through butter.
Boom!
A clap of thunder resounded across the island.
Taking this falling lightning as a trumpet, four roars erupted simultaneously-
"Spear of Elbaf: Hakoku Sovereignty!!!" (T/N: Changing Ikoku to Hakoku. From what I know, Hakoku is combined technique but Ikoku is not, but Sakura is actually using Hakoku all this time.)