"Hakoku Sovereignty!"
Aokiji had just finished sighing when the fog on the other side, which had not yet completely dissipated, was suddenly blown away by a tremendous force.
Like a beam of light, but instead of white, it was a mix of orange-red and bluish-white, it instantly engulfed Aokiji.
This time, Aokiji's face changed drastically. Seeing the space-distorting beam containing terrifying heat and electricity, he dared not use elementalization to dodge.
With no time to evade, he raised his hand and struck the space before him without hesitation. An equally terrifying shockwave, infused with cold air, collided with the oncoming beam.
BOOM!
Just as El and Rayleigh had escalated from an ordinary sword fight to a battle that seemed to exist in a different dimension, the conflict here followed a similar pattern.
A thunderous blast echoed through the air above, spreading across the small island.
Kuina, who had unleashed the modified Hakoku Sovereignty, and Aokiji, employing advanced Armament Haki, now launched a confrontation of natural elements in the empty space.
The two battlefields were both fiercely contested, yet it seemed nearly impossible for either side to injure the other or decide a victor in a short time.
This was especially true for the natural element confrontation between Carina in her Asura Form and Aokiji.
With Carina—the supercharging station—as their foundation, and the combined physiques of Kuina and Nami, which were dozens of times greater than that of ordinary pirates, their power was immense.
If not for Aokiji being at his peak, and the three girls having only Observation and Armament Haki—along with physical skills and a physique that surpassed the norm—he might have felt overwhelming pressure. Even so, his current pressure was not insignificant. Bolstered by Carina's physique, Nami's Flame-Flame Fruit was as if boosted by a power-increasing buff of tenfold, and combined with the electric heat of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, her flames were no longer inferior to Akainu's Magma-Magma Fruit.
Aokiji didn't dare to use elementalization freely, fearing the three girls' mutually restraining flames would sear him ruthlessly.
In addition to the flames, there was also the speed and destructive power of lightning.
If not for Aokiji's astonishing Observation Haki and advanced Armament Haki, he would not have been able to so easily deflect the offensive of the three girls, who were still in their growth stage.
Now, Aokiji grew more and more serious, with not a trace of his usual laziness on his face.
After a brief fight, he had gradually discerned the nature of the Asura Form. If these three girls were separated, aside from Kuina—the Rumble-Rumble Fruit user—the other two, the Flame-Flame Fruit user and the unknown Devil Fruit user, would be far from his match. He wouldn't even need to act; a Vice-Admiral could easily handle them.
However, once the three girls combined, their strength underwent an earth-shaking change. He even felt considerable pressure, because upon merging, their abilities and physiques were also integrated.
That purple-haired girl named Carina, in addition to her unknown Devil Fruit abilities, possessed an astonishing physique that even he might not be able to match.
It was this monster-level physique that enabled the originally weaker orange-haired girl, who couldn't previously exert her Devil Fruit's maximum power, to wield flames capable of countering his own Devil Fruit ability.
Moreover, Aokiji discovered something even more astounding: after merging, they could still use each other's abilities.
The Flame-Flame Fruit could be used in tandem with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, making the flames contain shocking electric heat and certain lightning attributes.
In other words, Aokiji wasn't fighting a Flame-Flame Fruit user and a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user separately; he was facing a combined force of two high-level elemental powers.
Even as one of the Navy Headquarters' highest combat powers, facing the combination of two high-level elements forced Aokiji into a passive position.
Injuring them was even more difficult. Only Kizaru could match the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's speed, and it was impossible to freeze a Devil Fruit user whose power mutually restrained his own.
To defeat the three girls before him, there was no other way than to exhaust their stamina while ensuring they didn't use teleportation to escape.
The key point was that his own stamina couldn't compare to that of the three girls in Asura Form.
If he couldn't drain their stamina, they might instead drain his. This was the helplessness of mutually restraining Logia fruits, and it was also the reason El had chosen not to eat the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was certainly among the strongest Logia Devil Fruits, but when faced with the Glint-Glint Fruit, which shared a similar nature, no matter how strong the user, Kizaru could easily drag the battle out for ten days and ten nights.
The battlefield with the three girls remained at a stalemate. The same was true for the battlefield on El's side. Rayleigh, like Aokiji, grew more serious as he fought.
At first, he thought El was merely a once-in-a-century genius swordsman who had mastered flying slashes and all three types of Haki at an age even younger than Shanks.
But as the battle progressed, El's future sight and physique shocked him.
However, this wasn't the extent of El's trump cards. He turned out to be similar to Douglas Bullet—that monstrous kid once imprisoned in Impel Down, and a successor of Shura.
The advanced Armament Haki fused with "Shura" made Rayleigh see in El a reflection of Douglas Bullet, who, before mastering the three Haki types, had already been a main combatant on the Oro Jackson. Coming back to his senses, Rayleigh could no longer regard El as a mere junior.
Excellent swordsmanship, future sight, advanced Armament Haki fused with Shura, Conqueror's Haki, and a physique that didn't match his age…
With the exception of the advanced application of Conqueror's Haki, El was no less than himself in all aspects. If he wanted to avenge that child, he would have to go all out.
Thinking this, Rayleigh's eyes suddenly grew sharper. In the next moment, El's face changed dramatically, his eyes widening.
After deflecting El's sword slash, Rayleigh unleashed a different kind of flying slash toward El.
"Divine Departure!"
A dark red flying slash, reminiscent of Shiki's technique yet incomparable in scale to Shiki's final blow, was unleashed by Rayleigh.
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