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"..."
"HAH??" Oven was stunned, then burst out laughing. "You mean you're going to take on all three of us? By yourself? Are all you young people this arrogant these days?"
"What's the point of being young if you can't be a little reckless?" Jin retorted. "You three are getting on in years, after all."
Katakuri's face darkened, anger flaring in his eyes.
Daifuku's brow furrowed, his expression turning thunderous. "He's looking down on us," he growled. He leaned forward, his massive frame and slender limbs giving him a vicious, menacing appearance. As the eldest of the triplets, he would be the first to strike.
He took a step and rubbed the lamp-like buckle on his belt. A cloud of smoke erupted, coalescing into the form of a massive genie.
Daifuku snarled. "Go, my genie!"
He sent the genie charging forward, its massive halberd coated in Armament Haki, swinging down in a vicious arc.
The Paramecia Puff-Puff Fruit—it allowed its user to summon a smoke genie from their body to fight for them.
The slash tore through the air. Daifuku and his genie were incredibly fast, and the attack came without warning.
Jin tossed the satchel to Crocodile and simply reached out.
CLANG!
Sparks flew.
Daifuku, Oven, and Stussy were all stunned. He had caught the razor-sharp halberd in his bare hand—a hand that wasn't even coated in Haki.
The blade hadn't even scratched him.
Katakuri's eyes narrowed.
"Daifuku, look out!" he warned.
Without a second thought, Daifuku retreated, the genie dissipating into smoke and reforming by his side.
But Jin was already moving. He shot forward, his speed a blur, and in an instant, he was in front of Daifuku.
Daifuku's Observation Haki tracked his movement. He crossed his arms in front of him, coating them in Armament Haki. He was confident he could block the blow.
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
When the fist connected, Daifuku was speechless. He felt as if the fist had transformed into a blazing sun, unleashing an unimaginable, terrifying power that somehow bypassed his Haki and shattered his bones.
He heard the sickening crack of his own arms breaking. A wave of agony washed over him, and he screamed as he was sent flying backward, tumbling hundreds of meters before crashing into a sand dune.
The desert itself seemed to shake.
"BIG BRO!" Oven cried out in disbelief. He couldn't believe it. How could a king from Paradise be this powerful?
Jin landed on one foot and immediately shot forward again, appearing at Oven's side faster than lightning.
WHAM!
Another punch.
It slammed into Oven, who was still reeling from the shock of his brother's defeat. He barely had time to put up a defense before he was smashed to the ground, unconscious.
Katakuri was stunned, but his reaction was instantaneous. He "saw" the figure that had taken down Oven coming for him next.
He moved, dodging the punch by a hair's breadth. The mere wind from the blow was enough to leave a bloody gash on his cheek.
Stussy's eyes flashed with a strange light. This king... so strong, so confident... he had taken down Daifuku and Oven with such ease. The two of them were no slouches. Though they weren't Sweet Commanders, they were still among the top ten strongest fighters in the family.
Interesting.
His punch having missed, Jin landed lightly on the sand and looked at Katakuri. "Future Sight, is it?"
His speed had already surpassed the limits of ordinary thought, of ordinary instinct. Even with Observation Haki, it was impossible to react in time.
Unless... you could see it coming.
Katakuri's gaze was intense. He was a tall, powerfully built man with short, magenta hair and long, slender legs. He wore a white, flower-like scarf that covered the lower half of his face, black gloves, and a spiked bracelet on his left arm. He had on black jeans with a white kneepad on the left and a black one on the right, and a pair of spurred black leather boots. His overall look was a dark, heavy-metal aesthetic.
As the head of the Sweet Commanders, Katakuri was the core of the family's power. He had possessed monstrous strength since childhood. He was cold on the outside but deeply cared for his family, and he had cultivated a "perfect" image to protect them.
And to be perfect was to be strong. And to be strong... was to never let your back touch the ground.
Katakuri was silent, but his aura radiated power. His arm began to writhe and contort, transforming into a thick, sticky substance.
The Paramecia Mochi-Mochi Fruit.
It allowed him to turn his body into mochi, to change its shape and size at will, to create and store objects within it.
A trident, the "Mole," emerged from his arm, a weapon he kept hidden within his mochi body.
He lunged, his arm transforming into a drill of mochi around the trident.
"Mochi Thrust!"
The attack was as fast as lightning, the spinning trident a sharp drill that could pierce through rock and steel.
"Haki Spiral!"
Jin met the attack with his fist.
His Armament Haki formed a sharp, spiraling cone.
Fist and trident collided.
Sparks flew, and a series of metallic clangs echoed through the desert.
Katakuri was shocked. A numbing sensation shot up his arm. The force from his opponent's fist was like a tidal wave, relentless and unending.
His Armament Haki... couldn't block it?
Ryūō??
Given the relationship between Big Mom and the Beasts Pirates, Katakuri would have known about the existence of "Ryūō."
Seeing his attack blocked, Katakuri refused to be put on the defensive. He was always the aggressor in a fight.
His left arm transformed into a block of mochi, hardened with Armament Haki. His fist glowed with a black light as he threw a powerful punch that ripped through the air.
"Edged Mochi!"
It was a devastatingly powerful attack, one that had been able to injure Luffy even in his Gear Fourth Snakeman form.
But Jin was unafraid. He leaned back, his body like a drawn bowstring, and threw a punch of his own, his fist hardened with Haki.
Their fists met with a deafening clang, like steel crashing against steel.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
In the violent shockwave, Katakuri was sent flying backward. Jin's physical strength was even greater than his.
Jin closed the distance in an instant.
He seemed to teleport, disappearing and then reappearing behind Katakuri.
He raised his right leg and swept it out in a vicious kick, a steel whip that kicked up a cloud of sand and unleashed a terrifying force.
Katakuri had already foreseen it. His mochi body twisted and recoiled, and he spun around, bringing his trident down in a powerful chop.
CLANG!
Another deafening explosion. Katakuri was sent flying into the air by a massive, overwhelming force.
He was stunned. He couldn't believe it. He was always the one who overpowered his enemies with his monstrous strength. And now, the tables had been turned.
In strength, in speed, in reflexes... he was outmatched.
"This guy... is he a monster, like Mama or Kaido??"
It was unbelievable. But the facts were right in front of him.
"Even so..." A fire ignited in Katakuri's eyes.
"I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO HARM MY FAMILY!"
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