But… although El had recently unlocked the Nine-Tails and gained access to the Tailed Beast Bomb's power,
he had never actually used it before.
Now, facing the Golden Lion, was the perfect chance to test its true might.
El slid his sword back into its sheath.
"Giving up already, El?"
Shiki raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised.
He had wanted to continue pushing the young man—
to draw out his final trump card.
El smiled faintly. "Not quite."
The next moment, he stretched out his hand.
In his palm, a purple-black sphere slowly began to form.
Instantly, the entire Rocks Pirates' ship was enveloped in a crushing aura of pressure.
The air itself seemed to shudder.
The sphere grew larger and larger, while El's aura climbed higher and higher,
until it felt as if a sleeping god-beast had awakened within him.
The raw power radiating from the orb made even veteran pirates' hearts tremble.
"W–What is that?"
"Such… pressure! What kind of ability is this kid unleashing?!"
"What kind of Devil Fruit could produce something like that!?"
"Back away! If that thing explodes, we'll all be vaporized!"
Crew members scattered, retreating several meters to safety.
Even before the attack was fired, the power emanating from the sphere
made it clear that being caught in the blast would be catastrophic.
"Gurararara… that's quite the Devil Fruit ability," Whitebeard chuckled,
his deep laugh rumbling like thunder.
"The pressure from that thing… not bad at all."
"To master such a power at that age…"
Charlotte Linlin crossed her arms, eyes narrowing in appraisal.
"He's far stronger than any other brat aboard this ship."
The Rocks Pirates were filled with monsters—
but among the younger generation, none could compare to El.
"Interesting," Wang Zhi said with a grin.
"A mere 100-million-berry rookie… yet even I can feel the pressure from here."
Even Rocks D. Xebec himself, usually silent and brooding,
couldn't help but smile faintly.
"Not bad. Seems our little voyage today brought in quite the promising one."
He knew that, for now, El's strength was still far below his own.
But at this level, at such a young age—
his potential was boundless.
A man like that joining his fleet was a true fortune.
"I suppose this is your strongest move, isn't it, El?"
Shiki asked lightly, both blades in hand.
"You guessed right, Mr. Shiki," El replied.
At present, El commanded several powers:
the Three Colors of Haki,
the Sage Body,
the power of one Nine-Tails tail,
and finally—the Tailed Beast Bomb.
The first three enhanced his physical abilities and combat prowess.
But the Tailed Beast Bomb…
that was his ultimate weapon.
His strongest trump card.
And this was the first time he would ever unleash it in a real battle.
He didn't yet know how powerful it truly was—
but he was about to find out.
The purple-black sphere in El's palm completed its fusion.
It had grown to about a meter in diameter,
dense and pulsing with ominous energy.
With a push of his palm,
El fired it straight toward the Golden Lion.
The projectile tore through the air at terrifying speed,
space seeming to warp around it.
In the original Naruto world, a full Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb
was more than ten meters wide—
a city-level weapon.
But with only one tail's power unlocked,
El's attack was far smaller in scale.
Even so, its power was monstrous.
This was, after all, the Nine-Tails' ultimate technique—
an S-Rank destructive art.
The orb howled through the air,
its dark light engulfing Shiki's vision.
The force pressing against him was enough
to make even a Great Swordsman feel a trace of pressure.
Wounding the Golden Lion, Officially Joining the Crew (Requesting Flowers)
"BOOM!!!"
The Tailed Beast Bomb slammed into Shiki's twin blades—
and in the next instant, it erupted like a nuclear explosion.
The blinding blast swallowed Shiki whole,
and a deafening roar tore through the sky.
The massive Rocks ship—
a floating fortress forged from the legendary Adam Wood,
known to withstand cannon fire—
shook violently under the impact.
A hurricane of energy exploded outward,
knocking countless crew members off their feet,
screams and curses lost in the thunderous roar.
The sheer force of the detonation
etched itself into the mind of every soul aboard.
As the smoke and dust gradually dispersed,
everyone's eyes widened.
Shiki's clothes were torn,
his body marked by visible wounds.
Beneath his feet, the deck for tens of meters around
was split apart, scarred and smoking—
as if a single step could make it collapse entirely.
"S–So strong!!!"
"That attack… what kind of monster is this guy?!"
"Don't joke around! Even while using dual blades, Captain Shiki still got hurt?!"
"And this ship—it's made of Treasure Tree Adam, the hardest wood in the world!
Cannonballs can't even scratch it,
but that kid's attack tore the deck open!"
"Good thing it wasn't aimed at us… we'd have been reduced to ash!"
"This kid… he's a real monster! Absolutely terrifying!"
The entire crew was in uproar.
Even as mere bystanders, they could feel the destructive might
of the Tailed Beast Bomb.
And there it was again—
Shiki, one of the strongest members of the Rocks Pirates,
now sporting fresh injuries.
It was unthinkable.
At the start of this duel,
everyone had assumed Shiki would crush El in five blows.
But now?
After all this time, El remained unscathed,
while Shiki had been wounded twice.
The outcome was absurd—
and terrifying.
"Impressive," Whitebeard said with a low chuckle.
"This brat's power… is far beyond what I expected."
He had sensed that the purple-black sphere wasn't simple,
but even he hadn't imagined that it could injure Shiki.
To harm a Great Swordsman of that level—
that was no small feat.
"Fufufu… he's even stronger than I thought."
Charlotte Linlin licked her lips greedily.
"If only he'd join me instead…"
"To think he actually hurt that bastard Shiki," Silver Axe said,
resting his massive axe on his shoulder.
"Guess we've got another monster aboard."
"Hmph. Still just a brat," John scoffed.
"Don't underestimate this brat, John," Wang Zhi replied firmly.
"When we were his age, we weren't even close to this level."
He was right.
When they'd been El's age,
they were still scrambling to survive on the seas.
But El—
he was already strong enough to injure the Golden Lion.
That potential was staggering.
"Not bad at all," El said with a satisfied nod,
admiring the destruction before him.
Even though he had only unlocked a fraction of the Nine-Tails' power—
just a single tail—
the Tailed Beast Bomb's might was already devastating.
If this was the result of just one tail,
then what would happen once he unlocked more?
He could easily imagine it—
when he eventually awakened the full might of the Nine-Tails,
a single Tailed Beast Bomb might be powerful enough
to annihilate an entire nation.