Absolute Gap

"Cifer is indeed very strong!"

Luffy had used all his strength, but still hadn't gained any advantage in the battle.

"With such a huge leap in strength, how long can you hold out?"

Cifer unleashed his power again, defeating Luffy.

The latter then rammed into the lightning pillar, turning it into rubber, and used it as its own spring to bounce back and forth, launching attacks.

"Bakudō #61 - Rikujōkōrō".

Cifer stretched out his palm, and six stripes of light appeared out of thin air, then pierced Luffy's waist from all directions, imprisoning him in mid-air.

"What's this?!"

Luffy exerted all his strength, his cheeks turning bright red, and forcefully broke free of the light prison.

"Is abandoning the power of chanting truly insufficient...?"

Kido like this, which involves chanting, can only exert one-third of its power after being abandoned, which is clearly insufficient against Nika, who has the strength of Yonko.

"Bakudō #62: Hyapporankan: Hyapporankan".

With another wave of his hand, a flash of light shot out, then split into dozens of beams of light in the air, Luffy.

"Eh~"

He ran on the lightning, and beams of light kept piercing his path.

"Gomu Gomu Meteor Hammer!"

As he ran, Luffy his arms wide, gathering all the lightning in his palms. He swung them, and the lightning transformed into a giant hammer-shaped lightning bolt, which he then slammed down towards Cifer.

"I don't have time to play around with you here. Let's see the absolute difference in strength."

As soon as he finished speaking, demonic wings unfurled behind Cifer.

"The Moonlight Sword".

With a casual wave of his Moonlight Sword, he shattered the lightning, which was so powerful it could have shattered the entire Onigashima.

After Luffy narrowly dodged the attack, he was about to retaliate when he discovered that Cifer had disappeared from the ground.

Are you looking for me?

By the time he realized what was happening, Cifer had already spun around in the air and delivered a whip kick to his stomach.

"Pfft~"

After spitting out a mouthful of blood in mid-air, Luffy fell headfirst to the ground.

"Hadō #90: Black Coffin".

Before he could land, Cifer raised two fingers, and a large amount of unknown black energy began to extend upwards from the ground.

"What's this?!"

Just as Luffy landed on the ground and tried to take off using the elasticity of the rubber surface, energy gathered and enveloped him.

From the outside, it looks like a black coffin, engulfing everything inside.

"Looks like it's over. The last person to take that hit was Bullet."

Lucci spoke, putting everyone's hearts in their throats.

When the black coffin dissipated, Luffy was already kneeling on the ground, covered in wounds, panting heavily, and somewhat disoriented.

"That's too powerful..."

With his power severely depleted and the damage from the black coffin, Luffy could no longer maintain Gear Fifth.

His hair gradually turned gray, and his skin began to sag, making him look like an old and frail person.

"We've reached our limit, and it's time to recognize the gap between us."

Cifer stood in front of him, looking at Luffy who was so weak he could barely stand.

"The gap is indeed huge... but I want to try one more time. Can we fight from the sky?"

He didn't want to admit defeat; at the very least, he wanted to fight until he had exhausted every last bit of strength.

It's no longer a question of Wano Country's ownership; he just wants to see just how far he is from the man before him.

"As you wish."

Cifer knew what he was going to do, so he flapped his wings and flew high into the air, where he stood.

"Good!"

Luffy pounded his chest hard, producing a heavy drumbeat, and then transformed back into Nika.

"Take this, Cifer!"

As Luffy leaped high into the sky, his right fist swelled up until it was larger than the entire Onigashima, wreathed in Ryou and Conqueror's Haki.

"Sarujin Gun!"

He threw the punch with all his might, and what flashed through his mind was the song of his constant training to become stronger.

"Cifer, what are you doing? Make your move!"

To Luffy's surprise, his fist was about to hit Cifer, but the latter had not made any reaction.

He shouted, instinctively trying to pull back his strength, but he couldn't stop at all.

"Boom!"

The fist landed about an inch in front of Cifer, but encountered tremendous resistance and could not advance an inch.

Black and red lightning continuously coiled, attempting to break through the thick Spiritual Pressure wall in front of Cifer.

The Spiritual Pressure of the Sarujin Gun and the Cifer remained locked in a stalemate for several dozen seconds. Then, exhausted, Luffy fell from the sky.

"Luffy!"

Zoro reacted quickly, leaping onto Sanji's shoulder and catching the unconscious captain.

"Marguerite! Please!"

Sanji, unusually, did not blame the Moss Head at this moment, but instead turned to ask the ship's doctor for help.

"Learn!"

The Straw Hat Pirates surrounded the captain, watching nervously as the doctor examined him.

"It's really ironic that they've pulled so far ahead of me in such a short time."

Looking at Cifer had returned to normal, Lucci felt a little self-deprecating.

Right before his eyes, someone whose strength was almost equal to his own suddenly became someone who could exchange a few blows with his captain, which made him very resentful.

"Don't worry about it. Victory and defeat are not absolute. Overworking your body to improve your combat power is not a skill to be proud of."

Cifer patted him on the shoulder and comforted him softly.

Thus, the Wano Country campaign came to an end.

A few days later, on Onigashima.

"Hey~ Cifer, are you guys leaving?"

At the upcoming banquet, watching Cifer and the others prepare to leave, Luffy stuffed meat into his mouth and exclaimed in surprise, as if the battle a few days ago had never happened.

"Pretty much. We came here to kill Kaido, not to govern a country."

Cifer ate the fragrant and delicious dumplings in his bowl and answered casually.

"Speaking of which, Cifer! I need your help with something, and you absolutely have to help me!"

"My Old Man wouldn't let me have a single song before..."

Ace seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly his whole body began to tremble.

"It's too late."

"Ha?"

Just as Ace was about to ask Cifer, not understanding what he meant, a heavy knife hilt slammed into his head.

"Ouch, ouch! Who dared to hit me...?"

He turned around, looked at the tall figure and the iconic crescent-shaped mustache, and unconsciously swallowed back the words he was about to say.

"Old Man... what a coincidence..."

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A moment later.

"I know I was wrong~"

With his face covered in swollen bumps, Ace raised his hand to sincerely express his apology, even though he didn't know what he had done wrong.

"Cifer brat, I'm really sorry to trouble you to take care of my stupid son this time."

After beating him up to vent his anger, Whitebeard looked at the other man and casually took Ace's drink and poured it into his mouth, making Marco behind him visibly furious.

"Just something I did."

With the two Sea Emperor toasting, the nationwide banquet officially began.

Marineford, Fleet Admiral's Office.

"Old man! Quickly send someone to Amazon Lily to capture that Pirate Empress! She petrified many marines!"

A girl with blonde hair tied in a ponytail was slamming her fist on Sakazuki's table and shouting.

"I heard she's gone to the New World to guard Black Winged Great Demon's territory. Ryokugyu just sacrificed himself, and the Navy doesn't have enough manpower to do that kind of thing right now."

Sakazuki crushed the cigar in his hand and did not grant her request.

"You... I'll find someone else!"

The girl turned around angrily, and slammed the door shut behind her as she left, making a loud noise.

"You really don't hold back, Sakazuki ~"

A man named Kizaru, who was hiding on the balcony enjoying the breeze, scratched his brow and walked in, teasing the woman.

"I always said that being promoted to lieutenant colonel at such a young age is not a good thing. She has no idea what kind of man she's going to be dealing with!"

"And what about that Koby? All she did was save some civilians at Rocky Port, and she's been sticking to him like glue. What's she thinking? Saving civilians is a Marine's duty!"

The dignified Fleet Admiral was so angry that he was practically smoking.

"Don't act like a complaining woman, Sakazuki!"

Kizaru calmly sat down on a chair to the side, then took out a nail clipper and began trimming his already neat nails.

"Speaking of which, it seems like that little girl Elegia is up to something, isn't she?"