Lightning Release: Kirin!

Ice and a sea of flames collided, instantly generating vast amounts of water vapor. Within seconds, the area around the two of them had become hazy.

"Admiral Aokiji!"

The Marines stared excitedly into the distance. This one had appeared, which meant the enemy had absolutely no chance of surviving!

"That guy actually dared to fight Admiral Aokiji?" A Marine colonel said in disbelief. "Did he not know what an Admiral represented?"

That was Navy Headquarters' Greatest Battle Power, someone with the strength to battle figures on the level of the Four Emperors!!

"I don't know, but since the Admiral has already made his move, what comes next isn't something we need to worry about." A Marine glanced at the scene. "Let's hurry and rescue the Vice Admirals."

Because of the Thunder Force from earlier, quite a few people were now floating on the sea, waiting to be rescued.

The three Vice Admirals were currently lying on their backs atop the sea, silently staring at the sky, as though recalling the battle from moments ago.

After a while, the three of them regained their ability to move and silently began swimming. After casually rescuing several Marines and bringing them ashore, they sat down without saying a word.

This time, they had deployed ten warships, five Vice Admirals, and ten thousand Marine soldiers. Yet in the end... they still needed Admiral Aokiji to clean up the mess.

For a moment, the three of them found it hard to accept such an outcome.

"Vice Admirals, what should we do next?"

Momonga and Strawberry said nothing, merely staring grimly at the battlefield.

Seeing this, T-Bone could only speak up. "Go rescue our comrades from the sea and place them on the bridge. Leave the rest to the Admiral."

There was no problem accommodating so many Marines here.

At the same time, the two people battling atop the warship stopped attacking.

The water vapor surrounding them began to spread, though it did not dissipate.

"Aralala, you truly are a terrifying Ninja," Aokiji said.

"Stop saying things like that." Xi Yan said, "And... has anyone ever told you that you give off a lazy impression?"

"Yes, my teacher often said that about me." Aokiji spread his hands. "But there's nothing I can do about it. I'm already used to it."

Ever since the Ohara incident, his blood had no longer burned as fiercely as before.

"A side effect of your Devil Fruit ability?"

"You could understand it that way." Aokiji nodded. "All right, kid, let's not waste any more time. We still have wounded people who need treatment over here~"

His Observation Haki allowed him to sense Onigumo and Doberman's condition. Their auras were growing weaker and weaker.

If they did not receive treatment in time, they might truly die here.

This kid had taken down two Vice Admirals, so his strength was indeed formidable. But... against him, this was as far as Xi Yan would go!

"Hmm, that's true. My companions are waiting for me too." Xi Yan nodded in agreement. "So let's end this battle sooner rather than later."

"You won't get the chance to see him..."

"That isn't for you to decide!"

As Xi Yan's words fell, two figures suddenly shot out from the place where Luffy and Rob Lucci had once fought. They were the two Shadow Clones Xi Yan had deliberately left behind.

Aokiji noticed the change immediately. Clearly, ever since arriving here, his Observation Haki had remained activated.

"Some kind of clone ability..." Aokiji muttered.

The figure that had just been frozen near Onigumo, along with these two figures that had suddenly appeared, made it easy for Aokiji to identify one of his opponent's abilities.

Clones!

And naturally, that was one of a Ninja's abilities as well.

"So, you intend to win through numbers?" Aokiji asked.

"Not at all." Xi Yan clapped his hands together. "Against a strong person, numbers lost their meaning long ago."

"Next... let me show you something new!"

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!" X3

The three of them simultaneously spewed out massive flaming dragon heads, which rapidly soared into the sky!

The terrifying high temperature scorched the air until it began to distort, causing the temperature in this region to change rapidly.

Aokiji looked at Xi Yan in confusion, unable to understand what this guy was trying to accomplish.

If it was an attack, why not use those fire dragons to attack him?

"You didn't do all that just to show me fireworks, did you?" Aokiji asked.

"Fireworks..." Xi Yan said after finishing. "You could understand it that way, but these fireworks have rather different properties."

As his words fell, the two clones in the distance vanished with a bang.

This sudden development immediately put Aokiji on alert.

Something's wrong with this kid...

Though he did not know what the other side intended to do, his experience told him that something bad was definitely about to happen.

With that thought, Aokiji carefully searched the battlefield with his Observation Haki, trying to discover something. Yet after searching for a while, he found nothing unusual.

Just then, vast dark clouds appeared above Judicial Island, gradually swallowing the light.

This change immediately drew terrified cries from some of the Marines.

"Damn it, could it be a lightning attack?!" the Marine colonel cried in alarm.

During their earlier battle with the Straw Hat Pirates, one of the women had been able to use that strange object to launch lightning attacks.

And now... the entire sky had gone dark!!

"Honglonglong!!"

A terrifying clap of thunder rang out, as though the end of the world were approaching!

As lightning appeared in Xi Yan's hand, a terrifying figure vaguely emerged from within the dark clouds!

"Thunder..."

Aokiji completely shed his lazy demeanor and stared into the sky with an exceptionally serious gaze.

Now he understood what this kid was trying to do. Was Xi Yan planning to use the power of nature itself to attack him?

"Kid, you really are ruthless..." Aokiji said as he looked at Xi Yan. "Do you know how many people will die if that attack comes down?"

Even now, quite a few Marines were still floating in the sea and had not been rescued.

If that attack came down, anyone in the seawater would likely die!

"What does that have to do with me?" Xi Yan sneered. "When you took Robin away, you never cared about how we felt."

"Since that's the case... don't blame me for being merciless!"

"Enjoy it properly. This is my parting gift!"

"Lightning Release: Kirin!"

"Honglonglong!"

An enormous lightning Qilin extended its body from the clouds. Like a divine beast, it stared fixedly at Aokiji below.

"Roar!!"

"You've truly given me a difficult problem, but..." Aokiji instantly appeared beside Xi Yan and placed a hand on him. "I just won't let you release it."

"Ice Age Capsule!"

"Crack~"

In an instant, Xi Yan was frozen into a block of ice!

But before Aokiji could smile, he noticed a trace of mockery in the enemy's eyes within the ice, as though... this move had no meaning at all.

The next moment, Xi Yan inside the ice suddenly exploded, transforming into lightning!

This sudden development made Aokiji's expression change.

"This is a clone too??"

His Observation Haki covered the entire battlefield, but aside from the one before him, there were no other familiar auras.

Yet what Aokiji had not expected was that the one before him was a clone as well!

"Crackle~"

The power of lightning flowed along the ice, immediately triggering the Thunder Qilin that had already been drawn in!

The next moment, the terrifying Qilin beast suddenly leaped downward, charging straight at Aokiji!

"Roar!!"