"Is this the power of that world?" Reynold thought with a serious expression. "If so, then the world Pain is in must also be extraordinary, right?…"
Pain had already formulated this battle plan two days prior; once war with Crocodile began, he would strike first. Pain had a certain understanding of Crocodile. Throughout their voyage, Reynold, his tutor, had explained the weaknesses of these Ability Users quite clearly. So, as soon as the battle started, Pain immediately unleashed his moves according to the pre-established plan: weakening his opponent's abilities with Water Release, then paralyzing him with lightning, and finally, directly pulling him in to insert a Chakra-condensed rod into his heart to end the fight.
Crocodile, caught within the range of Pain's Ninjutsu attack, felt an overwhelming sense of danger the moment Pain's Ninjutsu was unleashed, beyond just a brief shock.
"What the hell is this?…"
"Seawater can appear out of nowhere…"
"And there's even seawater shaped like a Dragon chasing me!?… And the seawater has lightning in it?"
"What kind of Ability User is this guy calling himself Pain?… How can he have such bizarre attack methods?"
"Can this person control the ocean?…"
A series of questions flashed through Crocodile's mind in a second. Before he could think further, the sense of danger quickly pulled his thoughts back. His instinctive sense of crisis made Crocodile want to instantly turn into sand and fly into the sky, but it was too late. In a high-level duel on the battlefield, a single second of hesitation was enough to decide the initiative.
His sand-transformed body rapidly condensed back into Crocodile's form under a gravitational pull, and he was uncontrollably pulled towards Pain.
"What!?"
A hint of panic showed on Crocodile's terrified face. As he flew towards Pain, a series of attacks also struck him.
The "seawater" that rendered a Devil Fruit Ability User powerless, and the Pain of lightning coursing through his body, mingled with these sensations, and in an instant, Pain seized his throat.
In Crocodile's terrified eyes, Pain's left hand produced a black rod, seemingly ready to stab into his body.
Under the dominance of fear, Crocodile wanted to turn into sand again to escape, fearing that the black rod in Pain's hand was Sea Stone. If Pain stabbed him, he would surely lose all combat ability instantly and be completely unable to escape.
His body instantly turned into sand as he wished, fleeing to Pain's upper-left. Crocodile looked at Pain with a solemn expression. The successful sand transformation indicated that Pain's "seawater" attack was not actual seawater.
Otherwise, his body would have been very weak for a short period, definitely affecting his ability usage. Checking himself again, apart from some slight numbness from the lightning and stickiness from the water that made Crocodile uncomfortable, his body was not injured, merely a bit disheveled.
"What kind of Devil Fruit ability do you have?…"
"Why can you control so many elements!?…"
"I've been through many wars… but in all those wars, I've never seen such a bizarre attack from you…"
"Although the attack is strange…"
"It's useless against me. It seems you're nothing special after all…" Crocodile said, feigning composure in mid-air. He nonchalantly pulled out a lighter to relight the extinguished cigar in his mouth. After lighting the cigar, he gently stroked the golden hook on his left hand with his right. Inside the golden hook was a highly poisonous hook with Sasori venom and a blade, seemingly not preparing to counterattack. But those familiar with Crocodile knew this meant he had murderous intent.
Pain, meanwhile, looked up at the leisurely Crocodile in mid-air, feeling a touch of helplessness.
"Did it fail?… These Ability Users are indeed difficult to deal with… If my Ninjutsu is ineffective against Ability Users… then what follows might be a tough battle…"
"Do you want to know my ability?"
"Show me your full strength… I will show you what my ability is through my actions…"
Pain pulled back his thoughts and directly answered Crocodile's question.
"I'm very curious… We don't seem to have any previous grudge… Why did you show murderous intent towards me as soon as you appeared… wanting to kill me?…"
Crocodile asked his internal doubts but did not receive the desired answer. All he got was Pain's cold, murderous gaze.
At this moment, Crocodile completely understood: the other party seemed unwilling to answer any of his subsequent questions. It seemed today would only be a battle.
"Guhahahaha…"
"This is really interesting, isn't it?"
"It seems that in the past few years I've been gone, this country has completely forgotten its fear of me…"
"In that case, let you nobodies witness what a true Sand Crocodile is!…"
Crocodile felt miserable. He had originally chosen to "lie low," endure, bide his time, and leave this wretched place after researching the ancient weapons. But this country actually dared to provoke him, hiring assassins to kill him. Crocodile couldn't help but ask himself.
"Am I really as weak as you imagine?"
At this moment, Crocodile had automatically assumed that these two people were assassins hired by the King of Alabasta with a hefty sum to kill him.
"Since you want to kill me, I will eliminate these two assassins and then destroy this country, using your blood to commemorate my Grand Line!"
Thinking this, Crocodile stopped wasting words and made the first move. It was a killing blow from the start, without any probing attacks.
"Desert Sunflower!…"
Crocodile roared, and a massive sand Uzumaki appeared beneath Pain and Reynold's feet, powerfully sucking in the sand from the desert. The sand beneath Pain and Reynold's feet spun madly and sank.
Pain easily leaped, Chakra adhering to his feet, jumping to escape the sand with its suction. Reynold flashed, his figure already far from the Uzumaki and gone. When he reappeared, he was at the far end of the battlefield.
After unleashing "Desert Sunflower," Crocodile didn't stop. His body instantly turned into sand, and when it reformed, he was already behind Pain, his left hand's hook poised to stab into Pain's body.
Suddenly, a powerful repulsive force emanated from Pain. Before the hook could pierce Pain's body, Crocodile, hook and all, was repelled, flying backward. In mid-flight, his body turned into sand again, using the repulsive force to reappear in the distance.
"Guh… hahahaha…"
"Is this your ability?… Gravity, repulsion?… That's a very interesting ability…"
"Guh… hahahaha…"
"Sandstorm!…"
Crocodile let out a light shout with a wild laugh, and a sand Dragon formed from sand appeared out of nowhere at Pain's feet. It continuously grew by absorbing surrounding sand. Pain leaped several meters horizontally, using his movement technique to directly distance himself from the sand Dragon. Crocodile also hastily flew into the air to catch up, intending to get close and use the extreme poison of his golden hook or his right hand to control Pain and unleash "Sand Prison," directly draining the water from Pain's body.
The battlefield changed in an instant. From Crocodile's attack to Pain's counterattack, their exchange lasted only about ten seconds, but these brief ten seconds were filled with life and death.
Crocodile wanted to get close to Pain to unleash "Sand Prison," but Pain actually also hoped Crocodile would approach him. Although Pain was in a passive defensive stance, he had already prepared a big gift for Crocodile, waiting for him to approach voluntarily. Otherwise, the opponent's ability to turn into sand and fly would always be a big problem.
Crocodile successfully got close to Pain. Just as he was about to solidify his body to deliver a fatal blow to Pain, Pain also moved.
"Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu!…"
Pain had completely anticipated Crocodile's appearance location. The moment Crocodile appeared, he fell into the Water Prison. This was the "big gift" Pain had prepared for Crocodile, waiting for him to willingly enter it.
Crocodile was startled when he was controlled, regretting his reckless attack without understanding the enemy's abilities. He secretly thought he had been careless and underestimated the opponent's water control ability.
With the appearance of the Water Prison, Pain did not stop his attack. After confirming Crocodile had fallen into the Water Prison, he immediately unleashed the strongest Ninjutsu he could currently use.
"Chibaku Tensei!…"
A Chakra ball with suction in Pain's hand drilled into the Water Prison, and a huge gravitational force appeared around the Water Prison. This suction, growing from small to large, pulled everything around it into the Water Prison, slowly forming a gradually enlarging earthen ball. As the earthen ball grew, it also slowly ascended into the sky.
Crocodile, trapped in the water sphere, struggled with all his might but found no way to escape the suction and the prison. His sand-transformed body solidified upon contact with water, making it impossible to leave the Water Prison.
Crocodile watched as this situation unfolded due to his carelessness, and sadness welled up in his heart, filled with endless regret.
"It seems I was careless after all!… Why do I always underestimate my opponents because of my overconfidence?…"
"If I hadn't underestimated Straw Hat Luffy back then…"
"If I hadn't underestimated this stranger now…"
"If only…"
Crocodile thought with sadness in his heart…