Chapter 263: Respective Opponents
"Thirteen hundred million Berries, that's higher than the Moss-head."
The giant rock pressed down like a mountain, and the invisible air rippled outwards in circles.
Bang!
Immense force suddenly erupted from the ship, causing the Merry on the sea to rock.
A black figure, trailing a fiery red tail flame, shot up into the sky to meet the falling giant rock!
"Sky Walk!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Flames burned fiercely, enveloping Sanji. He stomped his feet in the air, and with a sonic boom, waves of air blasted out!
In the air, compared to the falling behemoth, his figure seemed incredibly small.
"A mountain of this size... I don't know how many I've kicked to pieces in the past two years!"
"Diable Jambe!"
Sanji's eyes hardened. He gathered all his strength and Haki into his right leg, and with an all-out strike, he furiously smashed it into the giant rock!
"Hell Memories!!"
Bang!!
The dull impact sounded like a clap of thunder, and a terrifying shockwave erupted and spread out from under his foot!
The falling mountain's downward momentum was halted. Sanji's foot shattered the rock and dug into it. A dense web of cracks spread out from that center, covering the surface of the giant rock in the blink of an eye!
Boom!!!
The pirates who had been waiting for a good show were now all looking up, dumbfounded.
"He kicked a mountain to pieces with his foot!?"
"Is that even human!!"
"It's only been two years, hey!"
Before their disbelieving eyes, the great mountain exploded with a roar, and countless giant rocks, along with dust, scattered into the sea.
"He's grown to this extent," Jozu said, looking at Sanji with great interest.
Compared to their time at Marineford, the performance of the Straw Hat crew now couldn't help but amaze them.
From the large number of falling rocks in the sky, Sanji flipped in a circle and slowly landed. He took out the cigarette in his mouth and blew a ring of smoke, saying, "I'd quite like the challenge of leaving a footprint on a diamond."
With that, he took off his cigarette and stomped it out.
Then, wind gathered at his feet. With his scorching right foot, he burst forward at extreme speed, arriving in front of Jozu!
"Collier Strike!"
Bang!
Sanji lifted his leg and chopped down from above, but was steadily blocked by a sparkling, brilliant arm.
"Black Leg Sanji?" Jozu grinned wildly. "If you can do it, by all means, give it a try!"
Jozu ignored the scorching flames and, with a backhand, grabbed Sanji's leg. His feet pivoted, and his body began to spin, swinging him around like a windmill several times before fiercely flinging him away.
Bang!
Sanji was sent flying backward with a whistling airflow, crashing through a rugged stone pillar. His feet scraped along the ground for dozens of meters before he came to a stop.
"Tch, it seems he's not so easy to cook," Sanji's brow furrowed, becoming a bit more serious.
Not only was his defense formidable, but his strength was also ridiculously great.
On the other side.
Jinbe took off the cloak from his shoulders, his expression solemn as he said to the tall figure standing before him, "Although I am reluctant to fight you, in this position, I must do my best. As a member of the Whitebeard Pirates..."
He stepped forward in his wooden clogs, and Jinbe assumed a Fish-Man Karate fighting stance. His eyes were serious as he said:
"I can only accept your challenge with a guilty heart."
"That's what a man should do. It's better to be defeated fair and square than to be shown mercy. Don't look down on us, Jinbe."
Franky grinned, revealing a mouthful of large white teeth. He clenched his fists, and the cannons that popped out from his shoulders were all ready to fire.
Facing a former Warlord with a bounty of 1.1 billion Berries, Franky was on high alert, not daring to be careless in the slightest.
At the same time, a figure jumped out from the Whitebeard camp.
The man wore a pink kimono and a black cape, his face was beautiful, and his lips were painted with heart-shaped lipstick, an androgynous getup of a geisha.
"Hey, Long Nose over there!"
Izo, holding dual pistols, smiled and called out to the Merry, "I remember you use guns too, right? I'll be your opponent."
"Eh! Wait a minute, I haven't picked an opponent yet!"
Hearing the voice, Usopp, who had been hiding behind a wooden barrel, observing which persimmon was softer to pinch, took a few steps back in panic.
It was the first time in his long journey at sea that he had been called out by an enemy. And his opponent was one of the commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates. He couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
"Izo, captain of the 16th division of the Whitebeard Pirates. He excels at powerful shots combining dual pistols with Armament Haki. His bounty is 510,000,000 Berries."
Robin timely provided Usopp with the intel, smiling charmingly. "He's a very strong opponent. Be careful, Usopp."
Wuwuwu, I don't want to!
You think too highly of me! To face this kind of enemy right after entering the New World.
Usopp was on the verge of tears, his face a big "NO."
Izo, nicknamed Marco Polo, in the original work's Wano Country great war, had single-handedly fought two CP0 agents in a heavily injured state, one of whom was Guernica, known as the strongest agent.
In the end, Izo died in Wano Country in a one-for-one exchange. His strength was undoubtedly formidable.
Reiner walked over, grabbed Usopp by the back of his collar, and lifted him up. "He's already called you out. Get on with it, you idiot."
"Wait a minute!"
"I'm not ready yet!"
"Oh right! I think I just got a strange disease. As long as I..."
Bang!
"Uwaah!!"
Before Usopp could finish, the speechless Reiner kicked him out.
"Nooo~, Reiner, you're not human~~"
Bang!
With a wail, Usopp traced an arc in the sky, a large number of seeds of unknown effect seeming to fall from his body, and then he landed face-first in front of Izo.
Looking at Usopp, who was on the ground with his butt in the air, Izo spoke with great interest, "Stop pretending, Long Nose. If you were really that weak, I wouldn't be interested in you."
He had seen the performance of the Straw Hat crew two years ago, and Usopp's stunning marksmanship had left an impression on him.
Now, two years had passed. Even if he couldn't compare to Roronoa and Black Leg Sanji, his improvement definitely wouldn't be small.
"Let me see what tricks you have."
Izo flipped the two flintlock pistols in his hands a few times, gripped them, and took a step back, at the same time firing a probing shot at Usopp.
Bang!
"Hey! Are we starting already!"
Usopp cried out in alarm and quickly drew his gun. At a speed that was difficult to capture with the naked eye, he raised his hand and fired, without any aiming motion.
Bang!
The moment the bullet was fired from Izo's gun, another gunshot sounded.
The two bullets collided in mid-air, creating a flash of sparks that was gone in an instant. They ricocheted at a speed invisible to the naked eye, leaving two smoking bullet holes in the ground.
"Wh-what did that Long Nose just do?"
Faced with Usopp standing straight with his gun raised, the onlooking pirates were bewildered.
"It seems he shot down Captain Izo's bullet?"
"Is such a thing really possible?"
That long-nosed man who was panicking just now is actually a master?
"Heh, so he was just pretending," a corner of Izo's mouth lifted slightly, as if he had expected this.
Although he appeared calm, he was actually extremely surprised inside.
As long as one knew Observation Haki, it was not difficult to track a fired bullet. But to shoot down a high-speed flying bullet...
...just this one move was enough to prove that Usopp's mastery of shooting was not weak, or even stronger than his. Izo's expression couldn't help but become a bit more serious.
The Straw Hat crew really had no pushovers.
"Since you've seen through me, it can't be helped. But unfortunately,"
Two uniquely shaped revolvers, one long and one short, were held in his hands. Usopp grinned. "My goal has already been achieved, hehe."
Just as he finished speaking.
Rustle—Rustle—Rustle!
Countless green vines broke through the ground in the area, as if imbued with consciousness. As they grew at an extremely fast speed, they frantically coiled around every living thing in the vicinity.
"A fruit ability?"
Izo, surprised, tapped the ground with his toes and continuously leaped between the tall, rugged stone pillars, using the complex terrain here to constantly dodge the relentlessly pursuing vines.
"What the hell is this? Let me go!"
"Help, hey!"
"Quick, cut them!"
Several pirates, caught off guard, were directly bound by the tough vines and lifted into the air.
Some pirates reacted faster, immediately swinging their swords at the base of the thick vines, trying to free their bound comrades.
However, the moment the thick, tough plants were cut, new vines had already grown rapidly, continuing to grab them one by one and lift them into the sky.
The originally bare ground in the vicinity had, in the blink of an eye, become a surging ocean of green. The pirates, wrapped up, with only their heads showing, struggled.
"Sea of Verdure!"
Usopp smiled proudly and shouted, "This is my home ground now."
Bang! Bang!
Izo fired rapidly, one Haki-infused bullet after another flying out!
"Dangan Gan!"
The bullets, with power comparable to cannons, shattered the pursuing vines and then burst out with a sharp air vortex, high-speed cutting through the tide of strange plants that surged up after them.
"Hissatsu: Kamakiri Ryuseigun!"
Usopp would not miss such a good opportunity. He continuously fired powerful, specially made gunpowder bullets with his right hand, while at the same time, his left hand continuously pulled the trigger.
One after another, seeds wrapped in special shell casings flew out in bizarre arcs, and then burst out with even more bizarre, various magical plants.
"Hissatsu Midori Boshi: Shuriken Leaf Sword!"
"Exploding Pinecone!"
"Raging Heavenly Dragon Star!"
The strange and varied Green Stars left Izo overwhelmed. At the same time, he had to be wary of the powerful cannonballs. For a moment, he was actually a bit suppressed.
Usopp poured out bullets as if they were free, not giving the other a chance to breathe. To a bystander, it seemed he had already firmly gained the upper hand.
However, only Usopp himself knew the difficulty. In terms of raw strength, he knew he couldn't compare to Izo. Whether it was strength, Haki, or combat experience.
The other was strong in all aspects. Once he adapted to the characteristics of the various Green Stars, he would surely be in for a bitter fight. Therefore, he had to pour out a large amount of firepower to prevent the other from catching his breath.
A long defense is bound to have a breach. Using this opportunity, he might be able to defeat the other in one fell swoop, or at least heavily wound him.
At the same time that Izo was facing off against Usopp, Yamato had also locked onto her target. Her gaze crossed a great distance, firmly fixed on the orange-haired figure on the Merry.
"The possessor of one of the powers most feared by humanity, the user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit! Come and be my opponent!"
Yamato's face was excited. She picked up her spiked club and charged over, her long, smooth white hair, which faded to blue-green at the tips, flying.
On the Merry.
Nami took a step back in panic. Looking at Yamato, who was charging forward in a white, sleeveless kimono, her face was filled with reluctance.
"This is going to be tough..."
Reiner laughed in spite of himself. He knew Nami's true strength better than anyone. She was very strong.
But facing Yamato, an awakened Mythical Zoan user who had mastered all three types of Haki, to be honest, she was still not enough.
"In that case..."
Just as Reiner was preparing to intercept her, Robin stepped forward first. She smiled at Nami and said, "If you don't mind, let me help you."
"Really!"
Nami's eyes lit up as if she had grabbed a lifeline. She quickly grabbed Robin's hand, her eyes filled with emotion. "Of course, I don't mind! You're really too good, Robin~"
"You're welcome. Then we'll leave her to us."
Robin smiled charmingly and crossed her hands in front of her chest. Behind her, countless slender arms transformed into a pair of wings, which flapped up a gust of wind and carried her towards Yamato.
Nami gave Reiner a resentful glare, then also transformed into lightning, catching up to Robin with a burst of speed.
Thus, besides Luffy, who would inevitably duel Ace, and Reiner, who had taken on all the remaining opponents, all the members of the Straw Hat crew had begun their respective battles.
"Um, Reiner-san..."
Brook poked his afro-ed skull out from the side and raised his hand. "Excuse me, do Chopper and I have any arrangements?"
"Ah, right. And you two."
Reiner rubbed his chin and thought for a while, then glanced at the opponents on the other side who still didn't have a match. Besides Marco, he hardly knew any of the others by name.
"Ahem..."
Reiner cast a dead-fish-eyed glance over and picked his nose. "Why don't you just pick a few grunts to fight? It's not like anyone cares about you anyway."
"Hey, you bastard!"
Chopper immediately bared his sharp teeth, his eyes fierce as he pointed at his nose and roared, "What do you mean! Are you looking down on us? I can fight too, you bastard!"
"Mm!" Reiner gave him a thumbs-up with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Go for it. I'm optimistic about you."
"That was so half-hearted, you bastard!"
(End of chapter)
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