Battle of Long-Held Wishes (11)

Apple Sea.

"Come!"

Splash... Answering Katakuri's challenge, Shanks landed upon the heaving sea with imposing Haki. His steady stance and the ripples spreading beneath his feet displayed his masterful use of Armament Haki.

"You're straightforward enough. I really want to share a drink with you..."

Thud, thud... Unlike Shanks, Katakuri curled his lips into a smile and stepped repeatedly into the air. The trident gripped in both hands turned a profound black beneath the surging, burning white mochi. Even the surrounding light was drawn toward it, plunging the space around him into sudden night.

"There'll be a chance someday..."

Holding his sword in both hands as well, Shanks angled it at his side and lightly touched the sea, stirring faint ripples... Not rings spreading outward, but ripples drawing inward.

The fierce winds that had swirled around him became restrained at that moment, gently smoothing the restless waves and forming an ever-expanding flat vortex beneath his feet.

Taking it all in, Katakuri tilted his body, diving headfirst with his trident poised before him. Within the darkness that continued to condense and seep outward, white flames symbolizing light began to burn. "No. Next year, I'll pour one out for you—Peerless Rice Cake: White Dragon!"

The instant a clear dragon's cry rang across the sky, light burst forth. A snow-white, lifelike white dragon condensed into being, bathed in intangible flames. Before it even approached the sea, its immense might pressed the entire vast surface downward.

At the very center of its pressure, the rippling waves gathering toward Shanks remained undisturbed. Instead, they converged beneath his feet at double their previous speed. From afar, they resembled a dazzling kaleidoscope... Boom!!

"Fly freely, Gryphon!!"

Once the ripples had gathered to a certain extent, a sudden eruption of waves propelled Shanks directly into the White Dragon's