Luffy's figure appeared before Moria as if he had teleported. The sole of his foot, cloaked in blue-black shadow aura and white flame clouds, slammed into Moria's demonic face with overwhelming force!
The massive body went flying once again.
Pwuah!
Moria took a heavy blow, his entire face twisted and deformed.
His enormous frame crashed into the ruins further away, kicking up a blinding cloud of dust.
Luffy landed lightly and brushed some nonexistent dust off his pants.
"I thought you Warlords of the Sea would be stronger. Turns out you're nothing special." Luffy looked disappointed.
"Bastard!" From beneath the rubble, Moria let out a low growl.
"Hisan Kōmori!"
The rubble exploded outward as Moria's figure rose again, shrieking sharply.
The floating mass of shadow water split apart on command, transforming into countless small bat shadows. Like a black tide, they swarmed densely over Luffy, instantly wrapping his entire body into a writhing black sphere!
"I'm not done yet!"
"You're pretty tough, but that punch already let you feel it, didn't you?" Luffy said as he shuddered slightly, the shadows on his body dissolving into ink.
A vein bulged on Moria's forehead. "You're talking about Haki, aren't you?"
And incredibly powerful Haki at that.
Luffy grinned at Moria. "Since you know, then give back all the shadows."
Another vein bulged on Moria's temple. He shouted, "I should have known—you're the guy who fought Aokiji. Your Haki is that strong. But wanting my shadows? Not a chance!"
"I see."
Luffy grinned. "But nothing's impossible. If I beat you, all the shadows should go back, right?"
Moria let out a cold laugh. "Kishishishi! What an arrogant brat. You really think having Haki makes you invincible? Haki means nothing in the face of Devil Fruit powers!"
Beneath Moria's feet, an unnaturally dark layer of shadow appeared, rising from the floor like thick black liquid. It coalesced into a massive, writhing mass of shadow water, which quickly condensed into Moria's likeness.
Kagemusha!
That shadow was far faster than Moria himself—a nimble fat man. As it closed in on Luffy, a hand with sharp claws reached for Luffy's head.
POW!
Luffy punched it, and the shadow was instantly sent flying.
Luffy's strength now was immense. And with so many shadows inside him, his personality had been somewhat affected—he was utterly brash. He shot the shadow a sidelong glance. "Is that all you've got?"
In this state, he shifted into Gear Second Plus. His blue-cyan skin became marked with red and black Haki stripes.
The longsword remained strapped to his back. He extended one hand and threw a punch at the shadow. A terrifying shockwave erupted from his fist, and with a thunderous BOOM, the shadow was blown clean through.
But Moria's shadow didn't seem affected. It remained highly active, continuing its assault on Luffy.
"It's useless! The Kagemusha is a shadow—it ignores all damage. That's even better than a Logia-type Devil Fruit. It can ignore any and all damage!"
Moria threw his head back and laughed. "Straw Hat! Haki isn't invincible. A Devil Fruit user who develops their power to the limit can crush a Haki user! Since you've already defeated my Oars, then fine—give me your shadow instead!"
Luffy started to charge straight at Moria, but the shadow appeared before him like sticky taffy, attacking relentlessly. Whether the attacks were effective or not was another matter—but they were certainly annoying.
And they had a clear purpose: to drain his Haki.
"Haki isn't infinite. No matter how strong your Haki is, it still consumes stamina."
Moria seemed to recall some unpleasant memory, grinding his teeth as he spoke. "There are times when Haki is overwhelmed by even stronger Haki. Only zombies are invincible!"
"A hot-blooded fool like you can't possibly understand what I'm saying right now. Hmph, after I cut your shadow off, you can watch me claim the position of Pirate King—then you'll get it!"
This was the summary of Moria's life experience.
"Relying on external power is the weakest path. Only your own strength is true strength. Let me teach you that lesson."
Luffy gave a brash grin and charged.
CRACK!
The air exploded with a sonic boom. The ground instantly split open in a massive trench. The so-called Kagemusha that had been blocking Luffy was scattered on the spot, dissolving into ink droplets that rained down.
Devil Fruit powers?
Powers meant nothing in the face of absolute physical prowess and Haki.
In the blink of an eye, Luffy was right in front of Moria.
Just as Luffy's fist was about to land on Moria's body—
"Kagemusha!"
A mass of shadow replaced Moria's body. Their positions swapped.
"Hebi Ken!"
The fist aimed at Moria's shadow suddenly changed direction, shooting rapidly toward Moria's real body, which had swapped places with the shadow.
Moria, having just dodged Luffy's charge, was about to gloat when he turned his head and saw the Haki-infused fist flying straight at his face like it had a homing device. His instincts screamed—taking that hit would be bad.
He instinctively used Kagemusha again, returning to his previous position.
"I've been waiting for you." Luffy grewled.
His fist slammed into Moria's face.
BOOM!
A shockwave exploded in mid-air. The ground instantly caved in, forming a deep crater.
Moria spat out a mouthful of blood and struggled to his feet in the crater. He looked up to see Luffy standing at the edge of the pit, staring down at him.
That terrifying figure reminded Moria of the fearsome man who had defeated him all those years ago.
It was like going back decades, to the peak of Moria's power—the man who had smashed him back to reality with a single iron club.
"KAIDO!"
Moria let out a piercing shriek. "I won't fail this time!"
He spread his arms wide, allowing his own shadow to split apart and spread outward. "I found the answer through my own experience!"
"Why did I lose all those famous and capable subordinates? The reason I lost my comrades is because they were alive!"
"If they had been zombies from the start, there would have been nothing to lose! Zombies are immortal. Even if they get purified, they can be reused as infinite soldiers! I will lead this army of the dead and set my sights on the Pirate King's throne once again!"
The surrounding zombies cried out in panic.
Because the shadow tendrils spreading from Moria's body were stealing their shadows.
"You should feel honored that your shadows can provide me with power! The reason I created you was for this very day."
Luffy had given him the idea.
If Straw Hat could use his shadows like that, why couldn't he?
He could have more shadows!
Some shadow tendrils tried to steal the shadows from Luffy's body, but Luffy scattered them with Haki-infused punches.
Moria laughed maniacally. "Straw Hat! You've got about a hundred shadows inside you, don't you? Then I'll have more!"
"I'm not done yet!"
Gasping for breath, Moria slammed his massive palm against his own shadow. "KAGE SHŪGŌCHI!"
He suddenly looked up, raising both hands. The branching shadow tendrils began absorbing the shadows of every zombie throughout Thriller Bark.
He was reclaiming all the shadows scattered across his zombies, staking everything on one final gamble!
Even if it meant his precious zombie army would become completely useless, he didn't care—not if it meant gaining the power to defeat this monstrous rookie standing before him!
Luffy instinctively looked around.
More black shadows came flying in from every corner of Thriller Bark, like a black torrent flooding into Moria's enormous body.
Moria's body began to swell further. Muscles ballooned like air being pumped into a balloon. His aura grew more violent and chaotic.
"One hundred... two hundred... five hundred... ONE THOUSAND!"
Under the terrified gazes of Nami, Lola, and the others, Moria's body swelled to insane proportions!
"Kishishishi! Straw Hat! Witness true despair!"
Having absorbed every shadow, Moria's body was now even larger than Oars had been moments ago. He stood like a pitch-black demon god, his head scraping the heavens, radiating suffocating pressure.
Luffy hovered in mid-air, watching Moria's power surge once again.
"Kishishishi! Power... limitless power!"
The monstrous Moria let out a manic laugh, a cacophony of countless voices mixed together. His giant claws swung casually.
CRASH! BOOM!
The ground shattered like brittle crackers. Massive fissures spread in every direction. The entire Thriller Bark groaned under the strain, as if it could break apart at any moment!
"Has he gone insane?" Nami couldn't help but shout. "Didn't they say that absorbing too many shadows makes you lose consciousness?"
Moria had absorbed all the shadows into his body.
"Maybe it's because he's the ability user." Lola was also sweating profusely.
She never imagined Moria would go this crazy.
If one hundred shadows made Luffy this strong, how strong was Moriah with one thousand shadows?
"DIE, STRAW HAT!"
Moria roared and swung his fist down. The ground split apart.
Luffy's eyes moved. His body turned into a blur as he withdrew from the spot.
"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!"
The island was about to crack apart.
"Luffy!" Nami's heart leapt into her throat.
"Not laughing anymore? KEEP LAUGHING!"
Moria brought his enormous, twisted claw down toward Luffy in a vicious smash.
Even before the attack landed, the sheer wind pressure had already crushed the ground beneath!
Luffy's eyes flashed. His body blurred again and vanished from the spot.
CRASH!!
Moria's mad attacks rained down relentlessly, turning everything around him into powder. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't lay a finger on Luffy.
His attacks were terrifyingly powerful, but his oversized, chaotic body made his movements clumsy and sluggish.
"ALL YOU CAN DO IS RUN, STRAW HAT?!"
Moria roared in frustration, his giant claw sweeping sideways once more!
But just as he swung, his enormous eyes
freeze.
In the reflection of those massive pupils, the tiny figure cloaked in blue-black shadow aura and white flame clouds suddenly began an astonishing transformation.
***
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