"Barrett, you should know better than anyone — I'm not the type to die that easily," Shirakawa said, facing him.
"True enough. You're like a cockroach that just won't stay dead no matter how many times you hit it. So what — is it my turn to be stopped by you now?"
Barrett shot the question right back at him. Running into Shirakawa had caught him off guard, but he had no intention of backing down.
"You could say that. This Adam tree — I'm taking it, no matter what."
Shirakawa wasn't certain he could beat Barrett right now, but he'd never know unless he tried.
"Oh? About two years since we last met, and you've gotten rather arrogant."
Barrett wore the same mocking expression as always.
"That's because I've earned the right to be arrogant now."
Shirakawa spoke with equal confidence. Barrett could be considered his savior, in a sense, but under these circumstances, he wasn't about to yield.
"Then show me the strength you've built up over these two years."
With those words, Barrett suddenly unleashed his Conqueror's Haki — just as domineering and dark as ever.
Sensing the force of it, Shirakawa let out a cold laugh. "Barrett, you seem to have forgotten — back on the ship I may have been inferior to you in every other respect, but when it comes to Conqueror's Haki, you could never match me."
With that, Shirakawa released his own Conqueror's Haki — equally overflowing with pride, authority, and overwhelming pressure.
Black and white — a stark contrast formed between the two.
As the two forces of will ground against each other, black-and-white lightning crackled into existence. The previously clear sky darkened in an instant under the impact of these two clashing auras.
A thick layer of storm clouds pressed down heavily over the island.
"Damn it." The squad captain, who had somehow managed not to pass out under the weight of this pressure, slammed his fist against the ground in frustration. He had never imagined that these two men possessed such monstrous power.
As expected, under the clash of Conqueror's Haki, Barrett was the first to falter. Both auras vanished simultaneously, and in the same instant, the two figures disappeared from where they stood, leaving behind only two deep footprints carved into the earth.
A series of percussive booms — bang, bang, bang — rang out in the air, but the captain, sprawled on the ground, could not even glimpse the shadows of their battle.
After fighting for some time, the two of them came to a stop by unspoken mutual agreement. Shirakawa was completely unscathed — not a single wound visible on his body. Barrett, however, was a different story. Several lacerations marked his frame.
His hands had taken the worst of it. Blood dripped steadily from the open wounds, pattering onto the ground.
Barrett glanced at his own fists. No anger or negativity surfaced in his expression — instead, a cold smirk crossed his face.
"Didn't think you'd actually be able to make me bleed. Not bad, Shirakawa."
Barrett offered him a word of praise. Yet as he spoke, the sheer intensity of his presence grew stronger and stronger.
"But now I'm going to get serious."
"Barrett, you seem to be forgetting — I haven't used my full strength yet either."
As Barrett activated his Devil Mode, the Sword of Damocles materialized in the sky above Shirakawa.
"Oh, I nearly forgot. That sword of yours only ever shows up when you're going all out."
The power of the Silver King and his Haki enveloped Murasaki, the purple blade now sheathed in a glow of white light.
Barrett's Devil Mode, meanwhile, was a fusion of demonic aura and Haki — his body taking on a purplish-black hue, his eyes blazing blood-red.
Both of their auras had turned utterly berserk.
This time, Shirakawa once again chose to meet force with force. Had Barrett resorted to his Devil Fruit Awakening, Shirakawa might have been forced to fight with finesse and technique. But right now? That wasn't necessary.
The range of their battle expanded relentlessly. Before long, the island alone could no longer contain them.
Every one of Shirakawa's attacks sent out a massive sword slash — cleaving sea and land alike in two wherever his blade-force passed.
Barrett's punches carried equally devastating power. Every direct hit that landed on Shirakawa felt like being rammed by a freight vehicle.
And the residual force of those punches, passing through Shirakawa's body and striking the sea beyond, erupted into towering explosions across the ocean's surface.
But Barrett was a Devil Fruit user without the ability to fly — he could only hang in the air for brief bursts.
After battling above the sea for a while, the two of them returned once more to the island, once more to stand before the Adam tree.
"Not bad at all, Shirakawa. Your strength genuinely exceeds my expectations."
Barrett offered praise again. He had assumed that Devil Mode would be enough to overwhelm Shirakawa, but he'd miscalculated. Shirakawa had grown far, far stronger since the last time they'd met.
"I'm not planning to keep playing with you."
At that moment, Shirakawa suddenly spoke up. If his guess was right, Barrett's next move would be to bring out his Devil Fruit abilities.
At that point, Shirakawa would inevitably be dragged into a grueling battle. And having the Sword of Damocles hanging so conspicuously in the sky was far too eye-catching — if the Marines spotted it, they would absolutely figure out that he was still alive.
So Shirakawa made the decision to end this fight for now.
"You planning to run, Shirakawa?"
Barrett said, fixing his eyes on him.
"Call it whatever you want. Either way, I'll be taking this Adam tree with me."
After saying this, Shirakawa drew his sword and swung it behind him in a single slash. The Adam tree split cleanly in two, severed at the base.
"Until we meet again, Barrett. I hope you're still the same when that time comes."
Shirakawa took direct control of the Adam tree, lifting it into the air. If his memory served him correctly, Barrett would be captured by the Marines and thrown into Impel Down before long.
"Don't even think about leaving, Shirakawa!"
With those words, Barrett launched himself into the air and gave chase.
But a single sword slash from Shirakawa sent him hurtling right back down. He crashed into the island, smashing a human-shaped crater deep into the ground.
By the time Barrett pulled himself out of the earth, Shirakawa's figure had long since vanished.
"Hahahaha — interesting."
Staring at the now-empty sky, Barrett let out a roaring laugh. How long had it been since someone had snatched something right out of his hands?
"I'll remember this, Shirakawa. The next time we meet, it won't be this simple."
High up in the sky, Shirakawa was seated on the trunk of the Adam tree. He spoke a single sentence, seemingly to the empty air:
"Come out."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a figure climbed up from below.
It was none other than the squad captain who had been guarding the Adam tree.
"You're persistent, I'll give you that. Still haven't given up even now."
"What exactly do you people intend to do with the Sacred Tree?" the man asked, his face grim. Every pirate who had come here recently had been after their Sacred Tree.
"Hmm. Let me put it this way — what you call the Sacred Tree is known to the outside world as the Treasure Tree Adam. It's the finest material in existence for building a ship's keel. Does that answer your question?"
"So you're also planning to use our Sacred Tree to build a ship?"
"Exactly."
"That's impossible."
"Whether it's impossible or not — that's no longer up to you."
If this man refused him one more time, Shirakawa had no problem shoving him off the trunk and letting him plummet from the sky right now.
Still, running into Barrett here had genuinely been unexpected. As far as Shirakawa knew, Barrett should have had no particular interest in the Adam tree.
Is he plotting something big right now?
/-\
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