Just as Gato had expected, Wind Release: Divine Void Strike could not do much against the cannonball, but it still slowed its flight enough that it was no longer too fast for Gato to see.
In a flash of thought, Gato knew what to do.
Earlier, he had deliberately made some of the fist shadows fly more slowly. The moment he spotted the cannonball Garp had thrown, he controlled those fist shadows to continuously obstruct its path.
The cannonball cut through the fist shadows like bamboo, breaking through their blockade and steadily closing in on Gato's ship. However, its speed inevitably slowed.
"Now!"
At last, Gato felt that the fist shadows could keep up with the cannonball's speed. He sent another fist shadow flying toward its side.
He did not continue confronting the cannonball head-on. He had a powerful premonition that if he did, he would die. So he attacked its side, hoping to knock it off course.
"Get the hell out of here!"
His estimate had been correct. Divine Void Strike could indeed catch up to the cannonball after it had been slowed to this extent. As though swinging his own fist, Gato viciously smashed the Divine Void Strike fist shadow into the cannonball and successfully knocked it aside.
The cannonball should have struck its target head-on, but now it slipped to one side, grazing the hull before plunging into the sea. The spray it kicked up in that instant nearly made Gato think the Knock Up Stream had arrived.
"Old Sand, get back here!"
Gato calling Crocodile back did not mean he intended to give up resisting. It was because the Knock Up Stream truly was about to erupt.
Having just "admired" the spectacular sight of the cannonball hitting the water, he noticed a huge mass of bubbles