Conqueror's Haki Infusion

"Thump, thump~"

Hovering in the air with Geppo, Tsuru watched the Marines sent flying by the shattered warship splash into the sea like dumplings dropped into a pot. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Oak.

She had not expected that, aside from a physique comparable to steel and iron, he possessed such terrifying brute strength. He had shattered an entire large warship with a single punch—something even ordinary Giants found difficult to accomplish.

"No wonder they call him the Terminator of the Battlefield!"

Tsuru recalled Oak's title in the West Blue. With both defense and strength in one body, a monster like him was a terrifying presence on any battlefield. No army could withstand his charge, and no matter how heavy the formation, he could tear it apart with ease. He was the ultimate weapon capable of ending any battlefield.

That only strengthened her resolve to keep him here today.

Judging by the talent Oak had displayed, it would not be long before he grew into something truly terrifying. If someone like him joined Rocks and ravaged the world alongside that band of criminals, the losses and consequences would be impossible to estimate.

It was not just Oak. Tsuru looked toward Shiki, who was confronting the golden Buddha above the sea. He was another target she intended to leave behind today.

It was naturally impossible for her alone to keep someone as strong as Shiki, whose strength was no less than that of an Admiral. Even Sengoku, fighting at full power, would have little hope of doing so. That was why Tsuru had secretly called for reinforcements from the very beginning. She had absolute faith in the person she had summoned—they would certainly capture both criminals.

"Whoosh~"

Over the sea, a slash of sword light swept past, splitting the entire surface of the ocean in two. The enormous flying slash struck Sengoku's golden Buddha head-on.

"Clang~"

The Buddha rang sharply, yet suffered no damage at all. Shiki had already attacked an unknown number of times, but none of them had managed to shake the giant Buddha.

"Looks like I underestimated you before. Zehahahahahaha! I never thought that, besides Kong and Garp, the Marines had someone like you.

"Strategist Sengoku—the people of the sea have all been misled by that title. Compared to your wisdom, your strength deserves far more attention!"

Shiki laughed wildly, completely unaffected by the failure of his earlier attacks. For a powerhouse of his level, the stronger his opponent, the better. Only then could the hot blood in his veins be stirred.

At that moment, he wore the bloodthirsty fervor of a ferocious beast that had discovered delicious prey.

"Lion's Might: Imperial Earth Roll!"

Since swordsmanship was ineffective against this Buddha, Shiki simply changed tactics. With a sweep of his blade, sword energy shot toward the sea below.

"Whooshhh~"

Under the control of his Float-Float Fruit, the sea within his sight surged upward, forming a gigantic mountain of water that swept toward the golden Buddha.

"Zehahahahahaha!"

"Seawater is the nemesis of all Devil Fruit users. Let's see what you do now."

Watching the water mountain, large enough to drown the golden Buddha hundreds or thousands of times over, Shiki eagerly awaited Sengoku's response.

"Hmph!"

The majestic golden Buddha let out a cold snort through his nose.

Such a vast amount of seawater, capable of restraining Devil Fruit users, was indeed troublesome, but it was not enough to stump him.

"Don't underestimate the power of a Mythical Zoan, bastard."

He raised his enormous Buddha Palm, and a golden light wave blossomed from Sengoku's hand. It formed a semicircular barrier and rapidly expanded, reaching the same size as the water mountain in mere moments.

"Buddha Shockwave!"

The barrier shattered, and a violent shockwave spread in every direction.

"Rumble!"

The massive explosion swallowed everything. A huge Sea King, dragged up from the depths by the seawater controlled by Shiki, had only just surfaced when it was reduced to ashes in the blast. That alone showed the terrifying power of the explosion.

The blast wave caught Shiki, who had been floating high in the air, completely off guard. He had no choice but to fly backward for at least a hundred meters.

Despite its enormous and seemingly cumbersome body, the golden Buddha used Geppo with astonishing agility. In several flashes, it caught up to Shiki, and its Buddha Palm—large enough to clutch Shiki's entire body—came crashing down on him like Mount Tai.

"It seems I still have a long way to go before I can stand alongside these real monsters!"

Oak was also struck by the blast wave. He tumbled through the air several times before barely managing to steady himself atop a broken piece of shipwreckage. Watching Shiki and Sengoku clash, he could not help but lament the vast gap between himself and them.

He could only destroy a warship with one punch, yet these men could overturn mountains and seas with the slightest movement. The power they displayed could easily wipe out an entire island. His strength, enough to destroy a nation alone, was completely insignificant in their eyes.

Under Oak's gaze, Shiki's figure was entirely covered by the Buddha Palm. Just as he thought Shiki was about to suffer, a streak of black lightning suddenly burst from beneath the palm.

"Crackle, crackle~"

The black lightning contained an overwhelming kingly will, making every living creature nearby tremble and prostrate themselves beneath its pressure.

"Conqueror's Haki!"

As Oak watched the Marines around him, who had fallen into the sea, roll their eyes back and sink beneath the waves one after another, black lightning also flickered around his body. This was the effect of releasing Conqueror's Haki.

"Lion King: Chop Wave!"

An angry roar came from beneath the Buddha Palm. Oak then saw all the black lightning converge at a single point before being released in the form of sword energy.

The sword energy, golden and laced with black lightning, shot toward the Buddha Palm overhead. Before the two attacks even formally collided, Sengoku's golden Buddha was sent flying backward uncontrollably.

"Pfft!"

As it flew back, the Buddha Palm split open with a gash nearly spanning its entire surface, and large amounts of golden blood poured from it.

"It broke through his defense!"

Oak's eyes narrowed. For the first time today, Sengoku's Buddha had had its defense breached.

This was Conqueror's Haki Infusion!

He looked at Shiki, unable to conceal the fervor in his eyes. The technique Shiki had used to break through the Buddha's defense was precisely the Conqueror's Haki Infusion he had longed for and dreamed of ever since awakening Conqueror's Haki.

When Shiki had beaten him up before, he had regretted not getting to witness this technique. He had not expected it to appear before him so soon.

Although awakening Conqueror's Haki meant possessing the kingly aptitude found in only one person out of a million, aptitude was still only aptitude. It did not make one a true king.

In the New World, the latter half of the Grand Line, people with such aptitude were as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river. Only by mastering Conqueror's Haki Infusion could one stand out among them and obtain that pass to the throne of a true king.

Moreover, this power represented the pinnacle of offensive might. Shiki's sword energy had been unable to break the Buddha's sturdy defense before, but the instant Conqueror's Haki Infusion appeared, that seemingly indestructible defense immediately cracked.