The Might of the Tyrannosaurus

Clang!

Gato swung his blade and blocked Drake's claws.

Even though Gato had sent him flying with a punch earlier, Drake did not think much of it. He did not underestimate Gato, but neither did he believe Gato possessed greater strength than him.

So after Gato blocked him, he did not change his move and simply held the deadlock, intending to crush Gato with brute force before defeating him in one go.

The ideal was full, but Gato was no helpless victim. His strength was indeed inferior to Drake's, but he was far from incapable of resisting.

The instant their attacks met, Gato knew that he could never win against this savage beast in a contest of strength. He could not use his weakness to contend against someone else's greatest advantage.

Fortunately, Gato was more agile. Rather than continuing to resist, he immediately shifted the direction of his force, guiding Drake's claws to swing toward the other side.

At the same time, he flashed away. Drake was no fool; he would certainly react and continue attacking him.

Sure enough, the moment Drake sensed something was wrong, he immediately reacted and attacked Gato's position again.

Drake's movements were incredibly fast. Even though Gato's sequence of movements had been smooth and flawless, Drake's claws still grazed him as he dodged.

He felt nothing at first, but after a while, Gato was suddenly struck by piercing pain.

Drake's claws were far too sharp. After Gato was cut, there was not even a trace of a wound at first. Only after some time did it suddenly split open, warm blood flowing out.

That amount of blood posed no real problem for Gato, but it meant that he had fallen into a disadvantage in his first exchange with Drake. Rarely, he felt somewhat angry.

His judgment had been wrong.

He had thought he could directly sever this tyrannosaur's claws. Instead, he had been forced to change his move and retreat, even suffering a minor loss.

Now he realized it—Drake must have mastered Armament Haki as well. Otherwise, no matter how tough his claws were, they would only be cut apart by the Bright Light blade enhanced with Lightning Enhancement.

Fortunately, Drake had only grasped it at a basic level and had not reached the level of Armament Hardening. Otherwise, it would not have been as simple as suffering a minor loss.

Armament Haki Hardening was a technique generally mastered only by vice admirals. He did not remember what rank Drake had held before leaving the Navy, but he definitely had not climbed to the position of vice admiral.

Fortunately, he had gained the powerful aid of Bright Light. Though he was at a slight disadvantage on the surface, he could actually fight Drake on equal footing. Otherwise, he would have returned to the awkward situation he had faced against the Lord of the Coast.

When fighting the Lord of the Coast, Gato's attack power had been insufficient. He had relied on his agility to repeatedly pummel it, but with little effect, leaving him no choice but to use Divine Void Strike to determine the victor.

Though Drake was smaller than the Lord of the Coast, his defense could only be stronger. After all, one of the Navy's Six Powers was a technique called Iron Body, which suited Drake's Tyrannosaurus Fruit perfectly.

This only further ignited Gato's fighting spirit. With the Bright Light blade in hand, as long as he struck the right spot, he had a great chance of winning.

Right now, he was like a nimble, drifting assassin, constantly circling and searching for a chance to kill with a single blow.

Of course, a battle could not be won just by throwing out ultimate moves. Gato also wanted to send Drake flying with a single Divine Void Strike, but Drake's subordinates were no pushovers. He had to retain enough strength even after defeating Drake; he absolutely could not use a technique that would leave him at others' mercy after one use.

Gato held his blade in one hand. This was the grip he had chosen after careful consideration. While holding a blade with both hands allowed him to exert more strength, he was first and foremost a ninja.

His free hand was needed for hand seals, so he had to grow accustomed to wielding a blade one-handed from the start.

Seeing Gato fight like this, Drake thought Gato was looking down on him, and at last, a measure of anger rose in his heart. He put even more force into some of his attacks.

He swung his thick dragon tail at Gato, who had flashed to the side. This strike was faster and more powerful than his claw attacks. Gato could almost hear the sonic boom produced by the tail's swing.

If he were hit by such a terrifying attack, Gato would lose a layer of skin even if it did not kill him. Fortunately, his reactions were his strong suit, and he swiftly swung his blade at the dragon tail.

This time, Gato was the one sent flying. If he took that explosive force head-on, it would likely inflict even greater damage on his body. So he simply let himself be knocked away, shedding much of the force.

Out of control, he smashed through a mast. His momentum did not fade as he crashed through the ship's railing and plunged headfirst into the sea.

Gato looked miserable, but Drake was no better off. His tail was also a weapon, yet it was far less tough than his claws, and the sharpness of the Bright Light blade was no joke.

A deep gash could clearly be seen carved into Drake's tail by Bright Light. The tailbone seemed nearly visible, and dragon blood flowed ceaselessly, pooling into a stream.

That blood proved Gato's strength. If Gato had not been wary of Drake's power and chosen not to meet it head-on, Drake's tail might already have been severed.

But in that case, Gato's hand would probably have been ruined from bearing too much pressure.

Drake's brows were now tightly furrowed.

Thanks to his formidable vitality, the bleeding had already stopped, but his dragon tail still sent waves of intense pain through him at every moment, making him deeply uncomfortable. The tail's function would certainly be affected for a while.

The dragon tail was not only his weapon; it was also an important tool for maintaining his balance. With such a massive body, he felt that even standing was difficult without the tail's support.

"Roar!!! Gato, are you just going to hide in the water and refuse to come out?"

Sengoku had given him all the intelligence on Gato's abilities, so he knew that Gato was not afraid of seawater. However, he had not yet learned about the Bright Light blade, so he had suffered a huge loss.

That was also why he had not felt much when his claws clashed with Bright Light and had somewhat overlooked it.

Gato slowly rose from the sea at that moment, standing steadily atop the water. Hearing Drake's words, he burst into laughter.

"Gahahaha, of course not. My turn now!"

Boom!!!

Gato gathered his strength and leaped, sending up a vast spray of water, as though igniting a burst of fireworks to proclaim his power.

Having learned how formidable Gato's blade was, Drake decided to meet it only with the hardest parts of his body.

Bright Light's blade had always emitted an incessant hum, but now it became even more urgent, as though it too had become battle-hungry and filled with fighting spirit alongside its master.

This was a clash between the strongest spear and the strongest spear. Gato chose neither to dodge nor evade, once again facing Drake's claws head-on.

It was not that he had failed to learn his lesson. Though his strength was inferior to Drake's, he was currently the one charging forward and held the advantage, so he might not necessarily suffer a loss. Besides, while dashing through the air, it was not easy to change direction.