The Final Struggle Before Exhaustion!

Luffy forced a hoarse, strange cry from his throat.

The voice no longer carried Nika's absurd, teasing playfulness.

It was more like the final roar squeezed from the chest of a wild beast driven to the edge of a cliff.

He clenched his back teeth so tightly that blood seeped from his gums, forcibly urging the last scraps of Sun God power within him.

His body once again became a golden streak of light and shot toward Imu.

The giant sword rose.

Platinum swordlight illuminated half the sky.

Yet this time.

It was different.

High in the sky, Chen Ye's pupils suddenly contracted.

Along Luffy's charging path, an extremely subtle hitch appeared.

It lasted less than half a breath.

Ordinary people could not see it at all.

But in Chen Ye's eyes, that flaw was like a drop of black paint on a white wall.

Blinding.

Disturbing.

Luffy had slowed down.

His charge was no longer pure light. Instead, it had a stuttering quality, like a rusted gear being forced to turn.

Before, his figure and golden radiance had been indistinguishable, moving so fast that even Haki could not keep up.

Now.

His body would suddenly freeze for an instant during the charge.

Like a golden fish leaping from a shallow pool, rising to its highest point before helplessly falling back down.

The swordlight had changed as well.

Before, his swordplay had been airtight, every strike connecting flawlessly and trapping Imu within a platinum curtain of light.

But this time, gaps had appeared between the swordlight he unleashed.

Gaps visible to the naked eye.

So subtle that even Zoro could not seize upon them.

But they were there now.

A flawless bolt of silk had been pulled loose, leaving stray threads.

Luffy's brows knotted into a deadlock.

For the first