There was no denying it, Ryokugyu's abilities were annoyingly troublesome. It's everywhere, and unlike Pica, who simply merges into stone, his power seems almost unsolvable.
He was nearly impossible to kill, and the longer the fight dragged on, the more his endurance and adaptability became a problem.
At Mary Geoise, he had the capability to kill Morley, but the presence of the Celestial Dragons forced him to hold back.
This man was a perfect replacement for Akainu, a loyal attack dog for the World Government.
"But just because an ability is troublesome doesn't mean you're unkillable!"
Roy extended his hand, and Conqueror's Haki burst out from him.
Ryokugyu, whose body was one with nature, began to feel himself being forcibly compressed. His true body was being forced out.
"This guy's Haki... It's even stronger than Red-Haired Shanks'."
Fighting Ryokugyu head-on would be a nightmare; even ten days and nights wouldn't be enough. He'd just wear you down.
"Got you!"
At the moment Ryokugyu's real body emerged, Roy fired his gun.
The bullet tore through the sky. Before Ryokgu could react, it pierced his abdomen and exploded violently in the trees behind him.
Ryokugyugroaned in pain, clutching his bleeding stomach.
Roy hadn't aimed for his abdomen; he was aiming for his head. But Ryokugyu dodged at the last second. Still, Roy had anticipated that and subtly altered the bullet's trajectory, so it struck the larger target, Ryokugyu's torso, from hundreds of meters away.
"The next shot won't be so easy to dodge," Roy's voice echoed in Ryokugyu's ear.
"Tch! Thousand Forest Frenzy!"
The forest beneath Ryokugyusurged to life, countless vines and branches attacked Roy.
"Your true body is weak. You're not even a Devil Fruit user, and your weapon is just a gun. Let's see how much Haki you have left. Once I drain you dry, it won't matter if I can't capture Straw Hat, taking your head will be enough to satisfy the World Government."
Ryokugyuun unleashed a barrage of forest-based attacks. His giant form wasn't particularly creative, but the overwhelming number of plant attacks was enough to show his might.
"Atmos!"
While dodging, Roy called out.
From the sky, a massive gray dragon lowered its head.
"A dragon?! Kaido?!"
Ryokugyupanicked, but quickly noticed the dragon was gray.
"No… you're the water buffalo, Atmos!!"
"Boro Breath!"
Atmos unleashed a torrent of flames toward Ryokugyu. The intense flames ignited the forest below. Udon Prison was quickly engulfed in a sea of fire.
The heat from the dragon's breath was enough to melt a mountain, and trees were instantly incinerated.
Seeing the devastation below, Atmos smirked confidently.
"This is the extent of it? Fire counters you perfectly," he boasted.
Suddenly, a dandelion-like seed floated in front of Atmos. He looked around; he was surrounded by these seeds.
"Exploding seeds!"
Ryokugyu's voice rang in his ears. In the next second, all the dandelion seeds exploded like artillery shells. Their fibrous material instantly fueled a firestorm.
BOOM!
A massive explosion engulfed Atmos entirely. The flames were so intense that people in the Flower Capital could see the light.
The blast was so massive that the people of the Flower Capital mistook it for fireworks; fortunately, actual fireworks were already lighting up the sky, masking the truth.
But certain pirate crews knew this was a battle.
As the explosion faded, Atmos plummeted from the sky. Roy reached out with Haki to catch him.
"B-big bro… I'm sorry…" Atmos was charred black, completely out of commission.
"Get some rest. You were too careless," Roy said.
He wouldn't die, but the explosion had done serious damage. He'd need Deuce's healing.
"Fire won't work on me."
Ryokugyu hovered in the air, extending his hand. A sunflower bloomed in his palm, aimed directly at Roy.
Usopp had turned his weapon into plants, and Ryokugyu, with the Forest-Forest Fruit, had full mastery over all plant life. Every plant in the world was his weapon.
"Sunburst, Sunflower Seed Bomb!"
A massive sunflower spun like a Gatling gun, firing a hailstorm of seeds. These seeds, just like the exploding dandelions earlier, caused devastating explosions.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
Each seed that hit the ground created massive explosions.
Ryokugyu kept up the bombardment for two full minutes, relentlessly blasting the area. His destructive power as an Admiral was fully revealed.
Even the Buster Call's artillery shells might not match this.
Fujitora had his meteors, and now Ryokugyu had shown off his explosive seed arsenal.
"So this is the Marine's new Admiral,"
King and Queen watched from afar as the continuous blasts reduced Udon Prison to rubble. For two minutes, Ryokugyu didn't even pause to breathe.
"You've got nowhere left to run."
Ryokugyu retracted the smoking sunflower and looked at the smoke-shrouded ruins of Udon below. It was impossible to see anything clearly anymore.
Suddenly, something flashed in the smoke.
Ryokugyu flinched and dodged, but whatever it was had locked onto him. It shot straight through his chest. He froze in midair, blood spurting from his mouth.
Following the bullet's trajectory, he spotted Roy below, calmly pointing his gun at him.
"No way… how is he still standing after all that? Is he even human?" Ryokugyu's eyes widened.
"Huff..."
Roy exhaled, and the smoke cleared around him.
"Two minutes. I can maintain this form for that long."
After the blast, Roy's entire body was covered in Armament Haki, but not just superficially. His entire body, inside and out, was encased in Haki, with high-pressure air filling him from within.
That breath he just let out, he had been holding it the entire time. It created an internal and external shield, placing his body in a high-pressure state.
In this state, even the internal organs were protected by Haki, completely unaffected by the blast shockwaves.
This was the embodiment of Haki. Roy now stood on a completely different level than a year ago.
After the battle at Mary Geoise, he had mastered this application of Haki and his body's strength, and had become even more powerful.
...
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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