Holding His Own?

In terms of Armament Haki, although Navy Vice Admiral Borsalino held the upper hand, he was not stronger by much. The effects of his earlier breakthrough in Armament Haki, inspired by the concept of Hard Mochi, were beginning to show. Moreover, during the battle, he vaguely sensed that his opponent's Armament Haki was continuing to grow stronger.

On top of that, Katakuri was huge and exceptionally gifted. In terms of raw strength, he was only stronger than Borsalino, never weaker. After clashing head-on for a while, Borsalino found it difficult to gain the upper hand.

What gave Kizaru an even bigger headache was that even when he luckily landed a hit, the hardened mochi was unbelievably tough. With that extra layer of armor protecting vital areas—full-body hardening would leave him unable to move and fight, so he could only harden specific parts as needed, much like Diamond Jozu at the Summit War—Borsalino's punches and kicks could only inflict minor injuries on Katakuri.

Katakuri's punches and kicks, enhanced by his abilities, could make Borsalino cough up blood. This fight was far too disadvantageous for him.

"Young people these days are monsters, aren't they? Then I'd better get serious too." After losing out in their exchange of fists and feet, Borsalino, his face dark with frustration, could only draw the light sword created by his Devil Fruit ability, Ama no Murakumo, intending to win with the swordsmanship he was more skilled at.

Katakuri followed suit and drew his trident, Mochi Thrust.

Navy Vice Admiral Borsalino then discovered that his enemy was even more troublesome than he had expected. Even his superb swordsmanship, learned from a famous master, could not gain much of an advantage against Katakuri's rough, self-taught combat techniques forged through years of practice.

More importantly, both sides' attacks became stronger once weapons were involved, while the area of impact was much smaller than with fists and feet. Since both could also transform their bodies into elements to evade attacks, Observation Haki became even more significant, which naturally favored Katakuri.

If Kizaru had not benefited from the extreme lightness of his light sword, which gave him faster attack speed and largely offset that advantage, the weapon fight might have been decided even faster than their earlier brawl.

"Brother Katakuri is actually this strong now? Monkey can't gain the upper hand at all?" Watching from afar, Mousse was deeply surprised by the highest-level battle he had seen since arriving in this world.

Kizaru was one of the future Three Admirals. Katakuri was ten years younger than him, yet he could fight him to a draw?

Had Navy Generals simply come into their own late?

Or were Marine Admirals not actually as powerful as most readers believed?

Or had the influence of his Brick Mochi idea been far greater than he had imagined?

Or was Katakuri's future growth in the original story simply limited?

After analyzing each possibility, Mousse reached a conclusion that made him frown. No. Even if Marine Admirals are slightly weaker than the Yonko, they can't be so weak that they can't even defeat Brother Katakuri. If that were the case, the balance of this world would have collapsed long ago. Could powerful Navy fighters mature late? That's possible, but no matter how late they bloom, Second Brother is only twenty-three. He's already fighting a future Marine Admiral in his thirties to a draw at such a young age. Under normal development, his potential shouldn't be lower than the other man's! Hard Mochi? It certainly had a huge impact, but it only increased hardness, not strength. That would only be effective against blunt strikes from fists and feet, right? This is a weapon fight now. Perhaps only the improvement to Armament Haki has an effect? Then the conclusion is obvious.

"Second Brother has always worked so hard. It's hard to believe that he'll stagnate in the near future, but thinking about it carefully, I remember that when he first appeared in the Whole Cake Island arc, his Observation Haki was described as the result of 'excessive training.' The only reason he would overtrain his Observation Haki is because his Body Techniques and Armament Haki had already reached a bottleneck and could no longer improve, right?" Having just reached that conclusion, Mousse naturally found it astonishing.

But after thinking it over, Mousse realized it made perfect sense. Haki can only rapidly break through in brutal battles against powerful enemies. Yet Second Brother never lost in the original story, and when he fought Luffy, he called him the strongest opponent he had ever faced. In other words, he had never fought an enemy stronger than himself, or even one merely equal to him? Then it's no surprise that his strength stagnated early.

Katakuri avoided fighting powerful opponents not because he was cowardly or afraid of battle, but because, with Mama being powerful yet unreliable, he had to protect his younger brothers and sisters. He could not afford to fall.

Once he understood that, Mousse had another reason to grow stronger. Only if we younger siblings grow stronger more quickly will you be able to set down that burden and become your true self again, Second Brother.

That said, his Body Techniques and Armament Haki stagnating were matters for the future. At this point in time, Katakuri had not yet been left far behind by the Navy's several Admiral Candidates.

Furthermore, due to the effects of the Hard Mochi idea, Katakuri's strength was already not far from the peak he would reach in the original story, aside from his Observation Haki not yet reaching its highest level.

So what was strange about him fighting Kizaru, the weakest of the future Three Admirals in a direct confrontation, to a standstill?

In fact, it was more than an even match. Unlike Kizaru, who was more skilled with a sword, Katakuri, who came from a rough-and-ready background, was no weaker with his fists and feet than with weapons. The properties of the Mochi Mochi Fruit also granted him astonishing flexibility.

As Katakuri swung Mochi Thrust and clashed with Kizaru, he split off a new arm and unexpectedly unleashed Horn Mochi, striking Kizaru squarely in the upper abdomen!

Thanks to the enhancement brought by the Hard Mochi idea, Katakuri's fists and feet were now no weaker than weapons—the only remaining inherent flaw was that blunt strikes were less likely to inflict fatal wounds. The stomach was also one of the more vulnerable parts of the human body. Even though Horn Mochi was not his most powerful move, the blow still sent Borsalino spraying blood.

Had Borsalino not reacted quickly enough to immediately pull away and fly back over a hundred meters, temporarily leaving Katakuri's attack range, Katakuri might have seized the opportunity to strike him down with a string of killing blows.

Even so, Katakuri had once again gained the upper hand. Seeing him chase after and attack Borsalino, the famed Navy Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters, deafening cheers erupted from the Queen Mama Chanter.

However, Amande, the calm third daughter of the Charlotte Family, sharply noticed that her younger brother Mousse, who had been different from the others since childhood, showed no joy on his face. Instead, he looked deeply worried.

"Mousse, what's wrong?" Amande bent down and grabbed Mousse's hand, about to demand an explanation. But she stopped halfway through her question, because the battle in the sky had suddenly taken a dramatic turn!

It had not been apparent when the two were fighting at close range, but now that one was pursuing and the other retreating, Katakuri's disadvantage in speed was immediately exposed. The situation reversed in an instant. He could only let Borsalino fire laser beams at him from afar, completely unable to retaliate.

Thus, Katakuri, who had held the upper hand just moments ago, suddenly fell into an extremely passive position.