"Boom!"
Whitebeard planted his naginata firmly into the ground.
Then, raising both hands, he clawed forward with all ten fingers.
"Rip—!"
The invisible white barrier in the air tore open with deep scratch-like cracks.
In the next instant, the ground beneath Is split apart.
"Whoosh!"
Flames burst from his wings as Is shot into the air.
"Almost forgot—you can fly."
Seeing his attack fail, Whitebeard grabbed his naginata again and charged forward.
The long blade spun rapidly in his hands.
"Swish! Swish! Swish—!"
"Bang!"
Their weapons clashed once more, sending a powerful gust crashing downward.
Whitebeard moved with astonishing speed. He pulled back his naginata instantly—
his other hand clenched into a fist.
"Bzzz—!"
A white shockwave sphere enveloped his fist as he punched straight at Is.
Instinctively, Is raised his weapon to block.
"Clang!"
The invisible barrier in front of his blade cracked under the force of the punch, and a terrifying shockwave blasted into him.
Is was sent flying backward, but with the support of his wings, he quickly regained balance midair.
The next moment, he casually tossed aside the paper blade in his hand.
As it hit the ground, it dissolved into nothingness.
"What? You giving up?"
Whitebeard asked, slightly puzzled.
Is landed on the ground and let out a cold laugh.
"Give up? Not quite."
As he spoke—
from beneath his feet, the ground began transforming into paper at a visible speed.
The range wasn't vast, but it was enough.
Of course, if Is wanted, he could expand it further—but that would consume far more energy.
There was no need for that right now.
This—
was the power of the Paper-Paper Fruit after awakening.
Whitebeard looked down at the paperized ground beneath him, momentarily stunned.
His instincts screamed at him—
leave this area immediately.
But the moment he started running, the paper ground surged and shifted.
Even after taking dozens of steps, he realized—
he hadn't moved at all.
"So everything within this paper domain is under his control… In that case, let's try this."
Without hesitation, Whitebeard raised his free fist, the white shockwave sphere forming again—
and slammed it into the ground.
"Crack!"
A massive crater formed in the paperized terrain—
but in the very next second, it began restoring itself at a visible speed.
"Boom boom boom—!"
Suddenly—
around Whitebeard, paper erupted like geysers.
Dozens of gigantic fists formed in an instant.
And then—
they all smashed toward him.
Whitebeard swung his naginata, leaping into the air and running across the massive fists themselves.
As he moved, he struck them down one after another.
His physical combat and Devil Fruit power worked in perfect harmony.
Some fists were shattered.
Some were sliced apart.
Yet—
no matter how many he destroyed, they reformed again and attacked once more, as if they possessed endless life.
To reinforce the assault, Is infused the constructs with Armament Haki.
The effect was immediate.
Now—
Whitebeard could no longer cut through them, nor shatter them completely.
At best, he could only hold them off temporarily.
Meanwhile—
due to the scale of the battle and its proximity to Whitebeard's ship, members of the Rocks Pirates had already arrived.
"It's… it's Captain Edward!!!"
"He's fighting… fighting…!"
"That guy—he's the Celestial Dragon from the newspapers… Aurelius D. Virel Is!"
"It's really him… but… he's actually pushing Captain Edward this far?! Was the Mariejois incident really just propaganda?!"
"Keep your voice down! If you want to stay alive, don't bring that up!"
"Yeah, Captain Edward already warned us—offending three executives at once is basically suicide."
"Forget the truth. It has nothing to do with us."
"Shouldn't we go help Captain Edward?" someone suggested.
"Help? Are you insane? This level of battle—if we step in, we'll just be throwing our lives away."
"Exactly. The best thing we can do is stay out of it and not cause trouble."
…
Back on Is's side—
the battle had already dragged on for nearly half an hour.
Without a doubt—
this was the most serious fight he had faced since transmigrating.
He was going all out, not daring to relax for even a moment.
Both Devil Fruit abilities were being used in tandem.
The battlefield had been completely devastated—
craters covered the ground, scorched earth smoked faintly, and the surrounding forest had been stripped bare.
Finally—
Whitebeard seized an opening and broke free from the paper domain.
Is had intended to pursue—
but realized his stamina was nearly depleted.
He stopped.
"I'll admit it—you're exceptional."
Whitebeard spoke with rare sincerity.
"At such a young age, to develop your Devil Fruits to this level… it's truly impressive."
There was no doubt—
Is was the most outstanding opponent Whitebeard had encountered in a long time.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Whitebeard's grin returned.
"Gurararara…!"
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