"Ace, Luffy! Move!"
At Drake's thunderous shout, Ace erupted into living fire and Luffy detonated into Gear 4.
Ace stepped forward, flames pouring from his eyes. He raised an open hand toward the sky, drawing the fiery barrier that had been protecting the Akazaya samurai back into his right palm.
This defensive shield was a direct extension of Ace's own physical stamina. During his grueling clash with Kaido, his strength had been severely depleted. Otherwise, injuring him would have been no easy feat for the Emperor.
Deprived of Ace's sustained energy, the fiery dome turned translucent, breaking into shimmering embers that scattered into the wind.
The figures of the Nine Red Scabbards were revealed to the battlefield. With Izo's return, the void left by the deceased Kanjuro had been filled. The Akazaya Nine were once again complete.
However, their current condition was abysmal. Their presence flickered weakly, hovering on the precipice of consciousness, yet their eyes remained open, silently tracing the chaotic struggle before them.
Evidently, they would survive.
"A doctor! We need a doctor, now!" the samurai scrambled frantically, shouting in panic.
The Akazaya Nine were the spiritual pillars of their rebellion. If they fell here, the future of Wano would be cast into absolute darkness.
"I'm a doctor!" Chopper cried out, rushing to Kin'emon's side.
"I'll go check on them too," Ann murmured to Locke, stepping toward the wounded samurai. Cradled tightly in her arms was Momonosuke, who was missing an arm and had slipped into a deep coma.
"Kenshin, go rest for a bit. The three of us will handle the rest," Drake called out to the members of the Dragon Flag Pirates. He then turned a warm smile toward Ace and Luffy.
The last time the brothers had waged war side-by-side was two years ago, during the Summit War of Marineford. With three of them reunited today, the familiar rush of fighting as one brought a wave of fierce nostalgia.
"Tra-guy! Spiky-hair! You two sit back and rest up. Leave this to us! Shishishi..." Luffy grinned broadly at Law and Kid.
The casual dismissal instantly rubbed both captains the wrong way.
"What?!" Kid snarled. He studied the explosive aura radiating from the brothers for a moment, and a sharp smirk played on his lips. "Fine by me. They came here to hunt you bastards down anyway."
Law remained silent for a beat before slowly stepping back.
"Let's go!"
Drake struck first. Restored to full health, he fought with absolute abandon, channeling a massive concentration of spatial tremors into his fist.
BOOM!
A single punch sent the earth tilting violently.
Lucci's reflexes were peerless; he executed a precise leap into the air, narrowly evading the localized shockwave. However, the four masked agents beneath him lacked his agility. The concussive displacement caught them completely off guard, forcing sprays of blood from their lips as they were thrown backward.
"Scatter!" Lucci barked, recognizing the danger.
Drake's destructive output was not only terrifyingly dense, but its area of effect was colossal. Bunching together left them as sitting ducks.
Mid-sentence, Lucci generated consecutive bursts of Moonwalk, plunging through the air directly toward Drake.
"Tempest Kick!"
A barrage of invisible flying slashes tore through the atmosphere, hurtling toward Drake with a succession of ear-splitting shrieks.
KABOOM!
Drake teleported repeatedly, weaving through the trajectories with effortless grace. Casual projectles of this caliber could not scratch him. Furthermore, his ability to blink across coordinates rendered his counters entirely unpredictable.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma... MA-MA!" Big Mom roared, swinging her chipped broadsword in a frenzy of sweeping slashes to lock Drake down.
CLANG!
Ace intercepted the descending blade with his spear, his feet planted firmly upon the empty air.
"BIG MOM! I won't let you lay a single finger on my brothers!"
Ace roared, pouring raw power into his weapon to deflect the Emperor's broadsword. White-hot flames erupted from his spear tip, compressing into a dense, solid mass of energy.
BOOM!
A single thrust fractured the surrounding atmosphere, unleashing a colossal torrent of concentrated thermal energy straight at Big Mom.
Big Mom threw up her arm, coating it in a dense layer of hardened Armament Haki to brace for the impact.
KABOOM!!
The sky fractured, the surrounding clouds blasting away in a spectacular shockwave. A clash of Emperor-caliber power was capable of sundering the world itself!
"Zoro! Sanji! Everyone! Protect Robin!" Luffy bellowed, lunging toward the four masked agents. His Future Sight had already shown him that two of them would break away to target her.
"Understood!"
The Straw Hat Pirates moved in perfect synchronization, locking into a tight defensive perimeter. Nami stood at the absolute center of the ring, remaining close to Robin. The rest of the crew stood with weapons drawn, eyes scanning for threats.
Robin! Don't worry. As long as we draw breath, no one will lay a finger on you!
Though no words were spoken among the crew, the silent oath bound them together.
The timeline unfolded exactly as Luffy had foreseen. The moment he charged the CP0 vanguard, two of the masked assassins stepped forward to engage him, locking him in a frantic melee.
The remaining two agents vanished using Shave, materializing right outside the Straw Hats' defensive circle in a fraction of a second.
The assassins' arrival and the completion of the crew's formation occurred almost simultaneously.
SHING!
Zoro's three blades cleared their sheaths, unleashing a flurry of flying slashes.
Sanji was the first to cross the boundary, putting his body in the line of fire to intercept the lead assassin.
Robin-chan! As long as I am standing, no one will hurt you! And no one is taking you away!
POW!
"Fish-Man Karate Ultimate Technique: Vagabond Drill!" Jinbe bellowed, thrusting his palm forward to project a high-pressure shockwave of water droplets.
A localized downpour filled the clearing.
The intercepted agent tried to maneuver for a secondary angle, but the watery barrage cut off his path. The rapid-fire droplets possessed immense piercing force, striking like a volley of gatling fire.
"Iron Body!" the two agents roared in unison.
Yet, the moment the tempestuous torrent of water slammed into their frames, the color drained from their faces.
"Nine Sword Style: Asura... Draw Sword: Silver Flame!"
An icy voice echoed through the clearing, and a chilling dread washed over the two agents. It felt as though they had been cast into the depths of hell, staring directly into the eyes of a demonic deity.
In the next microsecond, Zoro tore through the space, his entire frame radiating an indescribable, lethal aura as his blades cleaved down.
Without a single opportunity to react, the two masked assassins crashed heavily onto the stone floor. A massive, cross-shaped laceration gaped across their chests, blood pouring uncontrollably from the wounds.
The two agents moved no more.
Meanwhile, Luffy's combination of Gear 4 and Advanced Conqueror's Haki completely overwhelmed his opponents. The specialized Rokushiki techniques they took such immense pride in were entirely useless against him. A movement style like Shave could not bypass a man who could see the future.
Had it been Lucci, the outcome might have differed slightly. But against these two, Luffy dominated the exchange, leaving them without a single opening to mount a defense.
"It's over!"
Drake's eyes flashed with a lethal light as he targeted Lucci, compressing the space surrounding the assassin.
Just as Lucci prepared to launch his next sequence of attacks, his perception of the world warped. It felt as though the entirety of existence had been stripped away, leaving him entirely isolated within a vacuum that matched the exact dimensions of his physical body.
A surge of pure horror filled his eyes. This phenomenon defied his fundamental understanding of reality.
What kind of power is this?!
Simultaneously, his tactical mind registered the catastrophic failure of his subordinates. The puzzle pieces finally clicked together—how had these three pirates, who were on the absolute verge of physical collapse moments ago, suddenly returned to peak condition?
It was that bean!
Lucci finally recalled the three small beans Drake had produced before the battle lines were drawn. The three brothers had swallowed them in unison.
There was definitely something miraculous about those beans!