"Cough!"
It seemed that the injury was too severe, as Shiki couldn't control himself and coughed up blood again.
After the rudder was pulled out from his skull, it seemed that some nerves were damaged.
At this moment, the images in front of Shiki's eyes began to double from time to time, and his thoughts became fragmented.
The figure before him kept shifting… sometimes it was that brat, Naruto Uzumaki, and other times, it was Roger.
The scenery around him warped along with his shattered memories.
For a moment, Shiki felt as if he had returned to that naval battle twenty years ago.
Except this time… he would die here.
"Come on!"
His roar was directed not just at Naruto… but perhaps also at the man who had defeated him in his memories.
"Shihahaha!"
The colossal lion head descended, completely blocking out the sunlight.
At that moment, it was as if the sky itself was collapsing.
Compared to this overwhelming force, Naruto, who is standing directly in its path, seemed as insignificant as a speck of dust.
This time, Naruto sheathed his sword and assumed a drawing stance midair.
At this moment, he poured all his focus into the next strike, his very being merging completely with the sword.
Meanwhile, inside Naruto, Kurama's eyes widened in shock.
In terms of sheer scale alone, the attack that Naruto faced was even greater than Hashirama's Wood Release from back in the day.
Though it lacked the concentrated energy density of Hashirama's Wood Human or Madara's Susano'o, the sheer spectacle of it was overwhelming.
After all, when an attack reaches a certain magnitude, precision and penetration become irrelevant.
In the current Ninja World, perhaps only Sage of Six Paths, the one who had created the moon, could produce something of this scale.
"Hey, brat! Can you handle this?!"
Kurama's voice echoed in Naruto's mind, but there was no response.
"Hey! Don't tell me you're-"
"Shut up."
Before Kurama could finish, Naruto had already unsheathed the Mushoukou from his waist.
There was no sound of steel, no clash of blades.
Not even the faintest trace of the sword's movement.
It was as if the sword had teleported… completing a horizontal slash from left to right in an instant.
This eerily silent slash stood in stark contrast to Shiki's earth-shattering attack.
Just as Kurama began to wonder if Naruto had made a mistake, a faint breeze appeared out of nowhere.
This breeze seemed intangible, appearing slow yet approaching the massive lion's head at an incredible speed.
This light, drifting slash was a far cry from the enormous slashes Naruto had casually unleashed earlier… it looked utterly powerless.
As the intangible wind swept past, a glob of magma the size of a ship happened to drip from the lion's fangs.
The scorching magma fell into the path of the 'breeze', only to instantly vaporize and dissipate into the air.
After 'vaporizing' the magma, the wind continued unimpeded toward the island-sized lion's head.
When the two made contact, the lion's head swiftly split apart along the corners of its mouth.
The fissure spread rapidly to both sides, as smoothly as a soft cake meeting a sharp blade… so smooth that the word 'silky' could describe it.
"What kind of swordsmanship is this?"
Even Kishi's eyes widened in shock.
He had never seen such a bizarre attack before.
At that moment, Naruto's voice calmly rang out, answering his question.
"Mushoukou: Empty Cicada."
After saying that, Naruto let out a long breath, and the entire arm holding the sword radiated an extremely high temperature.
This is Naruto's own swordsmanship, or it can be said that he created this sword-drawing technique after learning from the strengths and weaknesses of various strong people he has seen over the years.
Just like Mushoukou's transparent blade, this attack was formless yet lethally potent.
What appeared as a breeze was actually countless microscopic slashes, invisible to the naked eye.
Thus, even for Naruto, executing this technique was no small feat.
With the crisp sound of his sword sheathing, the 'gentle' slash suddenly accelerated, cleanly bisecting the lion's head.
If that were all, Shiki could have simply 'reassembled' the split rock.
However, after cleaving the lion's head, the slash continued unimpeded… aimed straight at the man himself.
This time, he didn't even have time to dodge.
The breeze passed by, and Shiki's right arm, along with half his shoulder, fell straight downward.
Naruto had held back, as this strike wasn't aimed at his head.
Because he knew that from the moment Shiki chose to remove the rudder embedded in his skull and fight him seriously, his life had already entered its final countdown.
"Beautiful swordsmanship-"
Shiki murmured, as if completely numb to the pain, staring at the severed stump of his arm.
By then, Naruto had already leaped across the falling island debris, closing in on him.
"For a finale… that was pretty spectacular."
As he said this, Naruto had already used Life Return again to restore himself to his 'normal' appearance.
His upper clothing was completely ruined, but fortunately, important items like scrolls were stored in the pouch on his hip, so they are not destroyed.
After hearing Naruto's words, Shiki, who had just been muttering with an expressionless face, suddenly raised his head.
The fervent battle spirit in his eyes hadn't dimmed in the slightest.
"Brat… what the hell are you talking about?!"
"I am the Golden Lion! The fight's only just begun!"
The severed hand still gripping the famed sword Oto floated beside him with the power of his Devil Fruit, reassuming a battle stance.
Shiki the Golden Lion's hair and beard bristled, his roar drowning out even the sound of collapsing rock.
With his furious shout, an even more overwhelming Conqueror's Haki erupted, crushing everything around him… as if declaring the final defiance of a legendary pirate.
But this time, Naruto didn't release his own Haki.
He didn't even glance at his opponent, but just lowered his head and groped for something in his pouch.
After a while, he pulled out a small metal flask.
Pulling out the stopper, he took a whiff, closing his eyes to savor the aroma.
Then, without hesitation, he tossed it toward Shiki.
The flask passed through the Haki, touched the man's body, and floated in midair.
"Your sake wasn't bad. As thanks, try some of my own stash."
The Haki abruptly faded.
Shiki's expression stilled as he silently stared at Naruto, then shifted his gaze to the flask.
The lid opened on its own, and the liquor poured into his mouth.
"...Not bad."
Shiki only uttered these two words in the end, and it was unclear whether he was referring to the taste of the sake or to Naruto.
His voice cut off abruptly, and with it, the tumultuous life of this legendary pirate came to an end.
One of the great rivals of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, the [Flying Pirate], Shiki the Golden Lion… was dead.