A Slash That Cleaved the World

"Too damn loud... Shut up!"

A roar laced with boundless Haki burst from the depths of Zoro's throat!

At the very last moment before his body was completely devoured, he made the most direct—and most insane—decision. He abandoned all defense and poured every last bit of his will, strength, and Haki into the three swords in his hands without reservation.

Armament Haki made the blades harder than diamonds, while Conqueror's Haki transformed into black lightning that danced wildly along their edges. Enma in his right hand, in particular, seemed to sense its master's resolve. It let out an excited hum, like a greedy bottomless pit, madly drawing upon the vast, ocean-like Haki within Zoro. Visible blackish-purple hellfire ignited across its blade!

This was the strongest strike he could unleash at this moment!

As he slid toward the Chaos Gate, he twisted his body into an unbelievable position and stomped hard through the air, as though he had stepped on an invisible stair. Borrowing that recoil, his body became a green comet surging against the current. Facing the suction force that could tear apart everything, he unleashed his ultimate technique infused with Conqueror's Haki Infusion!

"Three-Sword Style Secret Technique: Six Paths Crossroads—Sky Splitter!"

Three slashes wrapped in blackish-purple lightning and flames merged into one in an instant, becoming a pure "slash mark" beyond description!

It was so fast that it seemed to surpass time itself.

It was so sharp that it seemed capable of severing cause and effect.

As the slash mark passed through, the captain whose body was collapsing—and even his final mad laughter—were annihilated in an instant, leaving behind no trace. Then, that ultimate slash crashed heavily into the core of the Space-Time Gate!

There was no earth-shaking explosion, only an instant of dead silence so piercing it hurt the eardrums.

It was as though the entire world had been muted.

Then, the Space-Time Gate that had been struck shattered like a broken mirror. Countless cracks spread outward madly from its center. The next second, the out-of-control space-time energy violently collapsed inward, forming a point deeper than a black hole. Immediately afterward came a soundless but violent explosion that swept across the entire spatial dimension!

Zoro bore the brunt of it. Before he could even react, he was completely swallowed by that irresistible torrent of energy, powerful enough to flatten everything.

In the final instant before his consciousness sank completely into darkness, he seemed to hear Luffy's panicked shout and Sanji's furious curse coming from beyond the sea.

"Zoro—!"

With the last of his strength, he gripped the three swords in his hands tightly. They were his final dignity and support as a swordsman.

Then, endless darkness completely engulfed him.

The scene returned to Nameless Summer Island.

The raucous celebration came to an abrupt halt. Everyone in the Straw Hat Crew stared in shock toward the depths of the forest. A burst of Haki and sword intent that made all their hearts tremble flashed by, and then everything fell silent.

"Was that... Zoro?" Nami asked, her face pale.

"What the hell did that moss-head bastard do now?!" Sanji threw down his spatula, his expression grave.

Luffy's smile vanished, and his gaze turned sharp. "Go find him!"

When they rushed into the forest, everyone was stunned by the sight before them.

At the center of the forest was a massive slash mark hundreds of meters long and bottomless in depth. Its edges were as smooth as a mirror, as though a god had drawn it with a ruler, neatly splitting the earth in two.

But Zoro had already vanished without a trace. Only a faint spatial ripple that did not belong to this world lingered in the air.