Oak was extremely wary of Tsuru's Wash-Wash Fruit. This type of rule-based Paramecia Devil Fruit ability was virtually unbeatable until Haki reached a certain level, so he absolutely dared not let her touch him at this stage.
The crane, having been thrown by him, was sent flying. Oak had an absolute advantage in strength.
Twisting her supple waist, Crane performed a somersault in mid-air before landing steadily. By then, she had finally calmed down a bit and was no longer letting Oak's appearance affect her emotions.
"Why are you in this area of the sea, and why did you clash with Bundy Wald?"
Crane tried to find out from Oak the purpose of his appearance in this area of water.
Logically speaking, the Rocks Pirates rarely act alone, especially not for an apprentice like Oak, who had previously clashed with Bundy World!
This made her suspect that the Rocks Pirates might have some ulterior motive towards the World Pirates. Could it be that Rocks wanted to recruit Bundy World and sent Oak to make contact, only to have the two fight because they couldn't reach an agreement?
Crane guessed, and the more she thought about it, the more reasonable her guess seemed. The vast majority of the Rocks Pirates' members were recruited by Rocks from various powerful forces or other pirate crews.
It's only natural that he's now eyeing the ambitious and destructive " World Breaker " Bundy Wald.
If that's the case, it would definitely not be a good thing for the Navy and the World Government. Although they may not have reached an agreement this time, if Rocks were to intervene next time, he might actually be able to recruit Bondi Walla into the Rocks Pirates. After all, judging from past experience, Rocks has never failed in recruiting crew members, except for the time with Harald.
This matter must be confirmed!
Thinking this, Tsuru looked at Oak with a hint of seriousness. She absolutely could not allow the Rocks Pirates to continue expanding. She needed to find out Oak's true purpose in coming to this area so that the Navy and the government could take targeted precautions.
If Oak knew what she was thinking at that moment, he would definitely say, "You're overthinking it!"
His purpose in coming here was not to target Bundy Wald at all, but to find a suitable place for the Rocks family to live in seclusion. The conflict with Bundy Wald was entirely accidental.
The fact that Rocks had a family was a completely confidential matter, so he couldn't possibly answer Tsuru's question. Therefore, he replied in a teasing tone...
"Want to know? I'll tell you when we become a family!"
Being teased again, He's hard-won composure crumbled once more.
"You can't expect anything good to come out of a dog's mouth. This time, I'm going to personally send you to Impel Down. Since you refuse to talk, then you can wait to be tortured in Impel Down!"
With a frosty expression, the crane initiated the attack.
"Shave~"
She appeared in front of Oak in a flash and struck him with her Oak.
However, although her shaving was fast, Oak was even faster. His Vampire wings unfurled, and just before she was about to be struck, he abruptly vanished from his spot, reappearing beside her and kicking her in the neck.
If that kick landed, with Oak's power, it would definitely incapacitate Tsuru instantly. However, Tsuru was no pushover either. Although she was inferior to him in strength and speed, her Observation Haki was extremely sharp, and she had already sensed his movements in advance.
So he quickly turned his hand and slapped at the long leg that was kicking at him.
"Whoosh~"
Oak's figure disappeared again.
"What a hassle!"
Appearing a dozen meters away, Oak frowned slightly as he looked at the crane's hand.
In terms of both strength and speed, he completely overwhelmed Tsuru, and his Armament Haki was in no way inferior. Logically speaking, defeating him should have been a piece of cake, without any difficulty whatsoever.
However, Tsuru's Observation Haki is superior to his, and she also possesses the troublesome Wash-Wash Fruit ability, which allows her to turn any object touched by her palm into washed clothes.
This greatly narrowed the gap in strength between the two sides, even forcing Oak to be wary of her powerful hands.
Those ordinary, seemingly light hands posed a greater threat to Oak than the cannonballs that Bondi Wald could destroy an island with a single shot.
After all, he has powerful enough moves to deal with the Bundy Wald cannonball, and if all else fails, he has his strong physique and the terrifying regenerative abilities of Vampire to tough it out.
However, he was completely unable to defend against the crane's hands, which possessed the power of the Wash-Wash Fruit.
I wonder when my Haki will become powerful enough to ignore these rule-based abilities!
Oak sighed,
Before acquiring top-tier Haki, he was at a significant disadvantage against these rule-based ability users.
However, once his Haki reaches a certain level, these abilities will become ineffective against him. At that point, those with these abilities will only be able to rely on their raw strength to fight him.
"Whoosh~"
Opposite him, using the "Shave" technique from the Six Powers, Tsuru's figure vanished once more. Oak snapped out of his reverie, quickly scanning his surroundings with Observation Haki, and then unleashed a sword strike into the empty space to his right.
"Whoosh~"
A powerful sword aura erupted from the Seven Star Sword, Flying Slash for a hundred meters enveloped the space in front of him. The crane was slashed by this sword and re-revealed its form, crossing its arms in front of it to block the power of the sword.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Oak appeared beside her and thrust the Seven Star Sword at her. However, Tsuru unleashed a powerful Haki that neutralized Oak's attack, and then slapped the Seven Star Sword with her palm. Oak was forced to withdraw his attack, fearing that the Seven Star Sword might turn into a piece of washed clothing.
The Crane's Wash-Wash Fruit can not only turn people into washed clothes, but also weapons and items like the Seven Star Sword.
In the ensuing battle, Tsuru used Observation Haki and the combined power of her palms to create a very tight defense around herself, preventing Oak from finding an opportunity to strike.
Since that's the case, then we'll have no choice but to wage a war of attrition.
Oak stopped and looked at the crane. In the current situation, ending the battle quickly was impossible. Therefore, they could only wage a war of attrition.
He refused to believe that Yihe, with her small physique, could outlast him. Sooner or later, he would be able to wear her down with sheer physical strength!
At that time...
Hehe~
His gaze swept over He from head to toe, and he had to admit that He's figure was truly amazing. Oak had been envious for a long time, and he was determined to have some meat with her today.
With that thought, he unleashed a sword strike, feeling even more energized.