The Final Ripple?

Although the ship wasn't far from the harbor and the female Marines were all capable of swimming there, the Donquixote Family officers, who had been holding in their anger after being bombarded so mercilessly, weren't going to let them reach shore so easily.

Seeing what was happening below, Tsuru knew she couldn't keep Gray and Doflamingo occupied any longer.

"Fuffuffuffu..." Doflamingo finally let out a hearty laugh. "Tsuru~ what are you going to do now?"

"I've heard that when Marines go on missions, they're prepared to make sacrifices. But~ as their commander, can you really watch them die here?"

"They're wives, mothers, and children, too!" Doflamingo's grin twisted into a snarl. "Fuffuffuffu..."

"Will you abandon them, or keep trying to capture us?"

Without letting Doflamingo blather on any longer, Tsuru decided she couldn't afford to wait until she was closer to surprise Gray with her planned technique.

She couldn't afford to let Gray and Doflamingo waste any more of her time. Even though they were some distance away, she had no choice.

"Tempest Kick: Chaos!" She swung her legs rapidly, sending a barrage of sharp slash waves toward Gray and Doflamingo.

"Just slash waves?" Gray had his Observation Haki covering the area, so they posed no threat to him.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

Another Sky Crystal Flying Wheel rose from behind him on the wheelchair. Guided by his Devil Fruit power, the electrified wheel shot straight toward them.

"Eight-Fold Light Wheel!"

The speeding wheel, carrying immense cutting force and momentum, easily sliced through one of the slash waves hurtling toward Gray.

As for the rest, Gray simply shifted position and dodged them.

While Gray dodged and attacked, Tsuru was already rushing toward the Marines on the ground.

"Old hag, where do you think you're going?" Doflamingo's lung fragments had finished stitching themselves together, and he was able to move again. He immediately flew toward Tsuru.

"Brat, if you come any closer~ I won't hold back!"

"Mm!" Tsuru turned her head, and the ferocity in her eyes froze Doflamingo for an instant.

But in the very next moment, whether out of anger or for some other reason, Doflamingo lost control of his emotions.

"Won't hold back? Then tell me~ just how are you going to do that?!"

Boom!!!

A black-and-red ring of light spread outward as Doflamingo unleashed his Conqueror's Haki.

"Conqueror's Haki!" Tsuru paused and considered turning back to take Doflamingo down, but after seeing the female Marines below, she continued rushing toward them.

The female Marines had been in relatively good shape moments ago, but Doflamingo's Conqueror's Haki had knocked half of them unconscious. The rest were diving into the sea to pull out their companions.

That left the Donquixote Family officers on shore free to attack the Marines at will.

If she didn't go help them, the Marines she'd brought with her would be wiped out.

She'd felt great while chasing Gray. Now, she cursed the distance between them.

Fighting more than two thousand meters above the ground meant she couldn't use Shave, one of the Rokushiki, to make the most of her speed. The return journey felt unbearably long.

As a dove-faction Marine, she couldn't stand by and let her subordinates die in vain. If she were an hawk like Sakazuki, she might have cared only about Doflamingo and his crew, and not at all about the Marines' losses.

"Five-Colored Strings!" Armament Haki coated the strings, turning them pitch-black.

Having been caught off guard once, Doflamingo no longer dared to fight at close range. He could only burn through his Haki to counter the effects of Tsuru's Devil Fruit and slow her return.

"Get out of my way, brat!" Tsuru casually punched the strings aside, which had already lost most of their strength. She had no intention of wasting time trading blows with Doflamingo.

Behind them, Gray saw that Doflamingo could move again and no longer needed to worry about saving his strength.

The Sky Crystal Flying Wheel spun, cutting through the air in an arc of electricity. It was already at his limit, but that limit could be broken.

Magnetic Field Rotation had no limit. Gray's stamina was the only limit!

He'd never seen what it could do when he didn't have to worry about exhausting himself and could truly go all out.

And now~ the time had come!

"Eight-Fold Light Wheel~ Full power!" The Sky Crystal Flying Wheel spun at maximum speed, while Magnetic Field Rotation whirled faster and faster, consuming his stamina at an alarming rate.

The wheel spun faster and faster, the electricity growing denser across its surface. By the time it was completely enveloped in lightning, Gray had only enough strength left to reach the ground.

"This~ is my final..."

He raised the Sky Crystal Flying Wheel, his Observation Haki locked onto Tsuru.

"Break the Limit! Meteor Form Two!"

The Sky Crystal Flying Wheel streaked through the air like a meteor, its speed finally breaking the sound barrier.

"Danger!" Even with her back to her enemy, Tsuru's Observation Haki kept her from being caught off guard. She wanted to interrupt Gray's attack, but she was tied up.

The Marines below needed her help, and Doflamingo was clinging to her like a dog-skin plaster. She couldn't shake him off.

"Iron Body: Steel!" She used an Iron Body technique to coat her right arm in a thick layer of Armament Haki. Gathering all her strength, she swung.

The moment the Sky Crystal Flying Wheel entered the range of her Devil Fruit ability, Tsuru had already washed away its power as thoroughly as she could. At the last moment, she used Haki Emission and combined it with the strength of her right arm.

Boom!

A visible shock wave swept through the air, making Doflamingo's coat flap wildly beside them.

"Fuffuffuffu... well done, Gray!"

"I'll take care of the rest!" Even behind his sunglasses, Doflamingo's intense malice was unmistakable to Tsuru.

"Is that all?" Even his full-strength attack hadn't given Tsuru any trouble. Gray knew he still had a long way to go.

"Can't be helped! I'll have to train twice as hard from now on!" Though he was frustrated, Gray could only descend to the island and head for the family's retreating ship.

With barely any stamina left, he was out of the fight.

After Gray left, he didn't know that Tsuru, who had caught his attack, was also starting to breathe heavily.

There was no helping it. She was old, and when she first attacked Doflamingo, she hadn't been thinking about conserving her stamina.

She'd planned to take Doflamingo down with overwhelming force. If Gray hadn't been there with Shark Chili, she would have captured him already.

Then, while chasing Gray, the three of them had climbed more than two thousand meters into the air. The stamina she'd spent using Geppo couldn't possibly compete with Gray's Rotation Field in an aerial battle.

After facing attacks from both Gray and Doflamingo, using her Devil Fruit ability at full strength several times, and then stopping Gray's attack after he'd broken his limit, all she had to show for it was labored breathing.

That really was why she was the Marine Grand Staff Officer!

Even though she looked thoroughly exhausted, Doflamingo still didn't dare get too close and provoke the tiger. He only watched from a safe distance.