"Die!!!"
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds passed.
Yet… nothing happened.
Ryosuke glanced down at his perfectly intact body.
"…What are you doing?"
He tilted his head, looking at his opponent with a puzzled expression.
"Was that… a pose?"
Confused, Ryosuke studied the motionless figure across from him.
Buggy—once proud, now wide-eyed in disbelief—stared back, his mouth agape as if he had seen a ghost.
"H-How can this be?!!"
Buggy's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He looked down at his own hands, then back up at Ryosuke, then down again.
Nothing. No blood. No reaction. No pain. Nothing at all.
He stared harder. Were his abilities malfunctioning?
Frantically, he shouted, "Split!"
Crack!
Buggy's hand split apart on command.
The power was still there.
His devil fruit hadn't failed.
Everything was normal—except for one thing: Ryosuke was untouched.
"…So it's you."
Buggy's expression darkened as realization hit him like a cannonball.
He wasn't the problem. It was this guy in front of him.
"What the hell did you do?!" He demanded, furious.
Ryosuke raised both hands, looking innocent. "Me? I didn't do anything. Actually, I was going to ask you the same. Were you… doing a performance? Because it looked like you just broke your own hand. Acrobatics, maybe?"
"You bastard!! I'm not a damn clown!!!" Buggy screamed, his face redder than his nose.
"Don't know about that." Ryosuke muttered with a smirk.
"Damn it! I don't know what kind of trick you used, but don't think you've won! I'll make you pay!"
Fwoosh!
Buggy's figure vanished from sight.
In the next instant, he appeared right in front of Ryosuke, his saber already drawn.
A slash came down with blistering speed, coated in Armament Haki, roaring with destructive power.
Clang!
The tip of his blade struck Ryosuke's finger—just a single finger.
And it stopped there.
The sword, sharp enough to split iron, didn't even pierce Ryosuke's skin. It didn't even leave a mark on his outermost layer of oily skin.
"…What?"
Buggy stood frozen, eyes trembling. "H-How… how can this be?!"
He'd used full force. All of it. Every ounce of power behind that strike—and it had done nothing.
"I don't believe it!" Buggy howled.
He gritted his teeth and swung again.
And again.
Slash after slash rained down, each one a blur. The air filled with the sharp ring of steel on steel.
A curtain of light formed from the speed of his blade.
The stone beneath their feet cracked. The shockwaves howled.
But none of it mattered.
Ryosuke stood perfectly still, using only a single finger to block everything Buggy threw at him.
Calm.
Effortless.
"Didn't you say you were going to tear me apart? Try a little harder." Ryosuke said with a faint smile.
The words were like a slap to the face.
Buggy felt his pride crumbling. His rage turned to despair.
This wasn't a fight. This was a farce.
"…Why me?" Buggy thought, trembling. "Why did I draw this monster?!"
He wanted to weep. He was supposed to be lucky. That's what made him the Third Pirate King in his world.
But this?
This was the unluckiest day of his life!
"Hiss! Look at that physique!"
"He blocked everything with a finger?! This guy's built like a monster!"
"Kaido, you really jinxed it this time!"
Kaido groaned internally. "I was just talking trash earlier…"
But his eyes didn't lie. The boy in the arena—calm, relaxed, smiling—had just made Buggy's all-out attacks look like child's play.
Kaido's gaze sharpened.
This was no ordinary opponent.
"Buggy, hang in there! Don't give up!"
Luffy stood atop a distant sky-piercing pillar, shouting encouragement.
But…
Would that help?
Could cheering change the outcome?
Buggy had already given it everything.
His stamina.
His pride.
His sword.
All of it was useless.
The difference between them was colossal.
Meanwhile, on the Hokage World's side
A group of Kage-levels watched the scene with unsurprised expressions.
Everything was going exactly as expected.
Even if Buggy's strength rivaled Madara's, it didn't matter.
Not in front of Ryosuke.
Not when he had already stepped into invincible fifth-tier.
This wasn't a battle.
This was a beating.
And Ryosuke was even going easy on him.
He didn't feel the need to waste real energy.
Just standing there was enough to break Buggy's spirit.
Just like now.
The strongest attacks Buggy could manage didn't even scratch Ryosuke's skin.
There was no contest.
"This clown… really is unlucky." Tobirama chuckled, arms crossed.
Not far away, Madara nodded in agreement—surprisingly.
"Fitting, I suppose," he muttered. "So much for the Conqueror's Luck…"
Buggy, sually the embodiment of good fortune, had stumbled into the worst matchup possible.
"Honestly, if Buggy had drawn Sakura or Shikamaru, he might've won. Even if he didn't, it would've been a fight."
"But Ryosuke?"
"…No chance."
One ninja shook his head in sympathy.
It was widely known that Buggy had coasted on pure luck for most of his life. That luck had taken him from nothing to Pirate King.
But this time?
The pendulum had swung.
And Ryosuke was the one standing in the way.
Back in the arena
Buggy had used everything.
All his tricks.
Every strategy.
Even the shameless ones.
None of it worked.
Finally…
"…Screw it!"
Buggy dropped to the ground with a loud thud, plopping down like a sulking child.
"I give up! I can't win, and I won't let you toy with me anymore!"
He glared at Ryosuke with tear-brimmed eyes.
"…Are you about to cry?" Ryosuke asked, genuinely surprised.
"Of course not!" Buggy yelled back, flustered. "I'm a man! A Pirate King! Cry because I lost? What kind of joke is that?!"
"…Good. I hate it when people cry." Ryosuke nodded thoughtfully.
Hate seeing people cry?
Buggy's eyes lit up.
An idea sparked.
If he cried now… could he throw Ryosuke off? Land a hit? Just one?
Even if he lost, he could at least walk away with some pride intact.
Yes.
That was it.
Forget dignity.
Forget shame.
He just wanted to hit this guy once.
"That's it. Let's do it!"
Buggy took a deep breath.
Then—
"Waaahhhhhh!!!"
Tears exploded from his eyes as he rolled across the battlefield like a toddler denied candy.
"You're bullying me! You're mean! You're the worst!!!"
The sight stunned everyone.
Even the Pirate Kings in the chat group—who already knew Buggy was… well, Buggy—stared at their screens, speechless.
He was actually crying.
In the middle of a duel.
Like a child.
Even for Buggy the Clown, this was beyond expectations.
"Damn! Is he really crying?"
"What a shame! Luckily this guy isn't from our Hokage chat group!"
"By the way, is there such a person in our group? If there is, please stand up consciously."
"I'm not that kind of person!"
"Hiruzen, what are you in a hurry for? We didn't even say it was you!"
"It's so ugly! He's crying so ugly!"
Sakura covered her face.
It's just that the gap between her fingers a bit too big, and it didn't have any effect of blocking the line of sight.
"What! Is he here to be funny?"
Naruto felt that he was already embarrassing enough when he was young, but Buggy in front of him was even more embarrassing than when he was a child at such an old age.
It's so embarrassing!
On the field.
Ryosuke also felt his eyes burn.
"No, what I'm saying is, I don't want to see girls cry. Why are you, an old man, cryimg so much?!"
"It's so disgusting!"
"Shinra Tensei!"
Ryosuke, who was disgusted, blasted out a Shinra Tensei.
Before Buggy had time to react, he was instantly blasted into a rain of blood by this terrifying force.
Not everyone can survive Ryosuke's Shinra Tensei.
At least, Buggy can't!