The battle in the sky was nothing short of fierce. From the very start, Doflamingo unleashed one of his signature moves — the Five Color Strings of his String-String Fruit — striking directly at Bucky, who had just entered the fray.
With his Observation Haki, Bucky detected the nearly invisible thread-like strings. He didn't bother dodging. Instead, he swung his blade forward, sending a slash of sword energy straight toward the attack. The sword aura collided with the strings, and to Bucky's surprise, the flexible threads weren't cut instantly — they clashed with the slash for a brief moment before finally snapping apart.
The failed opening strike made Doflamingo's expression turn serious. He had noticed the quality of Bucky's sword aura — the unmistakable sign of a swordsman who had reached the rank of Sword Master. This meant his opponent was no ordinary foe.
But Doflamingo didn't relent. With a flick of his fingers, he fired dozens of string bullets in rapid succession, each one as fast as a gunshot.
Bucky swung his blade in a blur, slicing every single string projectile apart.
In the next instant, Doflamingo used Sky Path to propel himself at high speed toward Bucky.
The moment Bucky cut down the string bullets, Doflamingo closed the distance. From the tip of his foot extended eight nearly invisible threads, whistling through the air with a cutting screech as they swept toward Bucky.
Bucky countered by using Soru, vanishing from sight and reappearing instantly behind his foe. His blade ignited as he unleashed Thousand Flame Slash — dozens of fiery sword arcs shooting toward Doflamingo's back.
But Doflamingo's reactions were just as fast. He shot upward with Sky Path, narrowly avoiding the fiery barrage.
Bucky didn't let up. He used Soru again, appearing once more behind Doflamingo — this time unleashing Flame Moon Slash, a crescent-shaped blade of fire spinning rapidly toward him.
Hearing the sound behind him, Doflamingo spun out a massive spiderweb of hundreds — no, thousands — of threads in an instant, placing one web, then a second, just to be safe.
The spinning crescent of flame ripped into the first web, slicing through it in moments. But that brief delay was enough — Doflamingo darted away, escaping the attack's range.
When the fiery slash dissipated, both webs had been obliterated, and even the clouds in the sky had been torn apart.
Face still grim, Doflamingo counterattacked from range. He conjured a massive buzzsaw of threads, spinning at high speed and screaming through the air toward Bucky. Bucky sidestepped with ease, avoiding any harm.
But that was when danger fell from above — countless white threads rained down, surrounding Bucky from all sides. In a heartbeat, they converged below him, forming a massive Birdcage.
Satisfied his trap had closed, Doflamingo unleashed hundreds of strings from all directions, lancing through the cage toward Bucky.
Bucky recognized the move instantly — Doflamingo's ultimate Birdcage. In later years, this technique could slaughter an entire city, but to Bucky, it was little more than an inconvenience.
His body split apart into multiple pieces, darting through one of the cage's gaps. In seconds, he was outside, slicing apart every incoming string with a single slash.
Seeing Bucky escape so easily, Doflamingo's momentary smirk vanished. He hadn't expected his opponent to be a Devil Fruit user as well.
Then — from the distant sky — a massive firework burst into the air.
Doflamingo's expression shifted sharply. Without hesitation, he made his decision.
Countless threads fell from above once more, forming a second Birdcage. Again, strings shot inward from all directions toward Bucky.
This time, Bucky didn't use his Devil Fruit. Instead, he unleashed his strongest technique — Flame Tempest. A tornado of fire roared forth, tearing a massive hole through the Birdcage. Every string in its path was burned to ash, and the attack surged onward, unimpeded, toward Doflamingo himself.
Yet the man didn't move. He simply stood there as the blazing vortex approached.
Bucky knew something was off. The moment Flame Tempest struck, Doflamingo's body unraveled into countless strings, scattering into the air — a decoy.
It was his Puppet String Clone.
Realizing the trick, Bucky's gaze snapped downward — only to see that the battle below was already over. Weevil and the others had returned to the Glory. Doflamingo's ship was retreating at full speed, pulling far away from them.
This caught Bucky off guard. He had assumed Doflamingo would use his clone to strike at his crew. Instead, the warlord had abandoned the fight entirely, even recalling all his men regardless of whether they'd been winning or losing.
Sensing something wrong, Bucky used Soru to return to the Glory and confirmed the situation with his crew.
The story was the same from everyone — the moment that the firework had gone up, Doflamingo's subordinates had stopped fighting and made a beeline for their ship. Within moments, they'd all withdrawn, and Doflamingo himself had descended to join them, not sparing a single glance at Bucky's crew before they sailed away at full speed.
The synchronized retreat made Bucky even more suspicious. His mind returned to that firework, and he shot into the sky once more, scanning the horizon.
With his keen eyesight and sharp hearing, he soon understood exactly what the firework signaled — and why Doflamingo had fled.
He heard a rough, booming voice. He saw a familiar silhouette. And behind that figure, several Marine ships flying the Navy flag were bearing down on them at full speed.
Bucky's face hardened. For the first time that day, he realized — they might truly be in danger.