Divine Void Strike

The harpoon had already left his hand; there was no time to pull out another one in that situation.

There was nothing he could do about it. Given chakra's destructive power, he would probably be stronger empty-handed than wielding a lousy harpoon.

The Lord of the Coast was simply too massive. Gato estimated that even if the entire harpoon sank into its body, it would not do much damage unless it struck a vital spot.

The worst part was that the harpoon had barely hurt it and instead stirred up even more of its ferocity. Having failed to land its attack, the Lord of the Coast launched an even more relentless assault.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Enhancement."

This technique had become completely useless once he truly mastered the Roaring Thunder Armor—it had only ever been a prerequisite ninjutsu for the Roaring Thunder Armor. Once his body fully adapted to lightning, no amount of stimulation would have any effect.

But at his current stage, it was still an extremely useful technique, instantly raising his combat ability by several levels.

After activating Lightning Enhancement, Gato entered a whole new world. The Lord of the Coast's movements seemed to be playing out in slow motion.

Whenever the Lord of the Coast swept its tail, snapped its bloodied jaws, or slashed with its dorsal fin, Gato easily dodged and counterattacked with his fists.

Unfortunately, his counterattacks had little effect. The Lord of the Coast's scales were abnormally thick. Even with his strength greatly enhanced by Lightning Enhancement, Gato could only beat it until it screamed in pain; he could not truly injure it.

If it had been that spineless one Luffy encountered, it would have wailed and fled after Gato's first hard blow hurt it.

But this one truly deserved its title as the Lord of the Coast that had risen above the cruel sea. Not only was it immensely powerful and incredibly durable, it remained savage even after being battered bloody. That was what made it terrifying.

Gato estimated that if any of the so-called top pirates of the Four Seas fought this Lord of the Coast, defeat would be their only outcome.

Against an opponent like this, simply using chakra was no longer enough. Lightning Enhancement also seemed lacking; at its core, it was merely a support ninjutsu.

Lightning Enhancement greatly improved physical ability, but its consumption was also enormous, and it did not grant Gato more terrifying destructive power. If he had to beat this thing to death one punch at a time, he would probably starve to death first.

He could only fight violence with violence. Those flashy attacks could barely even break through its defenses.

If it had been yesterday, Gato might have had no way to deal with it. But after arriving at the Baratie and stuffing himself full, the energy he had replenished was enough to use that terrifying ninjutsu.

"My first time using a combat ninjutsu. I hope you don't disappoint me."

"Lightning Release: Divine Void Strike!" Gato gathered lightning-nature chakra in his hand and threw a punch through the air at the Lord of the Coast.

At a glance, this technique resembled Jinbe's Fish-Man Karate. However, the shockwave produced by Fish-Man Karate was invisible, while Lightning Release: Divine Void Strike created a pale blue phantom fist that extended forward until it struck its target.

The phantom was thin, but the Lord of the Coast sensed danger from it. This was an instinct it had honed through countless life-and-death struggles in the brutal sea.

Gato's previous attacks had hurt it badly, but they had been far from fatal. That was why it had only grown fiercer as it fought, refusing to retreat even while bleeding.

That did not mean it was mindless or unafraid of death. It had once cautiously grown stronger when it was weak. Feeling a threat of death it had not experienced in a long time, even this fearsome beast began to panic.

Naturally, the mighty Lord of the Coast prepared to flee.

How could Gato let it have its way? Just as the Lord of the Coast was about to evade the blow and dive beneath the water, the phantom fist suddenly curved and struck straight at its forehead.

Bang!

The massive head of the Lord of the Coast caved in, leaving behind a huge crater from the fist shadow.

Other than its teeth, its skull was the hardest part of its body. Yet now, it collapsed as though it were made of paper.

It was also as if it had been struck by a powerful current. Its entire body convulsed without stop, while countless fine arcs of electricity crawled over its scales.

Who am I? Where am I? Who's hitting me?

Those were probably the Lord of the Coast's final thoughts before it lost consciousness.

"It really is reliable. To think this kind of power is mine to use now—burp, hahaha!"

Princess Kaguya had taught him only one taijutsu: Divine Void Strike.

Divine Void Strike was a simplified version of Eighty Divine Void Strikes. As a Bloodline Snare-level taijutsu, Eighty Divine Void Strikes was absolutely more terrifying than the Eight Gates at full release.

The Eight Gates was the ultimate taijutsu that had nearly kicked Naruto out of his own ending. It could be said to represent the greatest power a "human" could unleash, except its opponent had been a god.

Eighty Divine Void Strikes was a taijutsu similar to the Hyuga Clan's Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. It unified chakra of all different natures, condensed it in the hands, and used the White Eye as support. However, its power was far beyond anything Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm could compare to.

Lightning Release: Divine Void Strike was a Lightning Release ninjutsu, but in reality, it was still a taijutsu. It was only named this way because it condensed lightning-nature chakra.

If he condensed chakra of another nature, the name and properties of the technique would change as well—for example, Fire Release: Divine Void Strike.

It began as a B-rank ninjutsu. Once Gato fused chakra of different natures, this taijutsu would automatically advance into a Bloodline Limit or Bloodline Elimination-level technique. For example, Lava Release: Divine Void Strike or Dust Release: Divine Void Strike.

At that point, it would directly advance into an A-rank or even S-rank forbidden technique.

But even if Gato eventually stepped into the Six Paths and became a godlike figure, he would still be unable to master the complete Eighty Divine Void Strikes. That was a technique only Princess Kaguya, known as the White Eye Princess, could use. He did not have the White Eye.

This was already powerful enough for him. Bloodline Limits, and even Bloodline Elimination, were already exceptionally high-level powers.

Although fusing chakra was not easy either—otherwise there would not be so few bloodline ninjas—there was hope, at least.

Back to the point, this battle finally ended with Gato's victory, though he was also at the end of his rope.

B-rank ninjutsu was usually something only jonin could master. Using this technique meant he had exceeded his level by far.

Fortunately, it was a taijutsu and placed greater emphasis on physical condition. Gato had also eaten his fill beforehand and stored enough energy, allowing him to barely use this incomplete Divine Void Strike.

The complete Divine Void Strike, like Eighty Divine Void Strikes, could unleash countless phantom fists in a single blow as long as the user was powerful enough. They would blanket the sky and earth, sending gods and ghosts alike fleeing in terror.

The commotion Gato caused was too great, and the Baratie in the distance had noticed it long ago.

Seeing that the Lord of the Coast seemed far larger than the Baratie itself, the Baratie's fighting chefs decided they wanted no part of it. They had no experience fighting monsters like that.

Zeff remained fairly calm. After all, he was a great pirate who had returned from the Grand Line and made a formidable name for himself there. Naturally, he did not care much about a bit of trouble in the Four Seas.