New World.
"Uncle Shanks, you're running out of strength, aren't you?" Yake said with a smile. There were also some wounds on his body that he had not had time to heal. Since he needed to conserve his stamina for a prolonged battle, Yake could not be bothered with insignificant injuries.
"Huff, huff... You're too shameless. Why won't you just stay down?" Shanks said between gasps. Fighting Yake was exhausting. Not only did he have to constantly guard against Yake's unpredictable attacks, but he also had to watch out for lightning suddenly striking down from above.
The key was that Yake simply could not be knocked down. He could get back up after falling, and once he did, the wounds on his body would be gone. Meanwhile, Shanks's injuries were still throbbing faintly.
"Because I have reasons I can't afford to stay down! Let's begin the second half, Uncle Shanks!" Yake said energetically. He felt that he had already touched the threshold. He only needed a little more, and he would be able to master Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
"Huff..." Shanks let out a breath. He was beginning to regret accepting Yake's challenge. Yake's fighting style was simply disgusting. Maybe that was why Kaido was called the strongest in a one-on-one fight.
Seeing the fighting spirit in Yake's eyes, Shanks could not help but be infected by it. Hadn't he once been just like Yake? As long as he still had a breath left, the battle would never stop!
"Let's raise some hell, Yake!" Shanks's bold aura shot into the sky. This was no longer a matter of winning or losing, but a clash of their fighting wills. Once fear entered his heart, he would definitely lose!
"Just what I wanted! Come on!" Yake shouted excitedly, his fighting spirit blazing.
"Thunder Susanoo!" Lightning around Yake's body began to Overload. A massive phantom of Thor appeared behind him, holding lightning in its hand as it automatically locked onto Shanks and hurled it down.
"Shanks, don't just watch the sky!" Yake charged at Shanks with a dazzling blade light.
On the sea, aboard the Red Force.
"How many days have they been fighting?" Lucky Roux asked weakly, with two dark circles under his eyes.
"A full seven days. It looks like the battle still isn't over." Benn Beckman was also struggling to hold on. Not only had they needed to watch the two men fight during the day, but the aftermath of the battle had made it impossible for them to sleep peacefully, while rolling thunder sounded from time to time.
"That kid is only three years older than my son, right? I never thought he'd become this strong." Yasopp might not have been a good father, but he was still Usopp's eternal idol.
Although Morgans had also watched the battle without sleeping for seven days and six nights, his eyes bloodshot, his spirits only grew more excited. He had a vague premonition that the battle was about to end!
"Yake, this is my final move. If you can take it, you win!" Shanks knew he could no longer drag this out with Yake. He would only grow weaker as his stamina drained away, yet Yake showed no signs of fatigue at all.
Yake remained silent. It seemed Shanks was finally getting serious. Yake closed his eyes and calmed himself.
"Thunder Hell: Azure Dragon Rebirth!"
There was no time to chant poetry. Yake activated his Rumble-Rumble Fruit awakening without hesitation. This would only be stronger than the one in Mock Town, because this time it was not an AOE attack.
Feeling the suffocating aura in the sky, Shanks tightly gripped Griffin. Haki so dense it had reached the extreme dyed the blade black, while black-purple Conqueror's Haki flowed endlessly around it.
In the sky darkened by storm clouds, an enormous dragon's head tore through the clouds, revealing the rest of its body. It was a thousand-meter-long Lightning Dragon, its head, tail, scales, and claws lifelike, as though it were truly alive. After roaring at Shanks, it plunged down like a meteor.
"Extreme: Delusion-Breaking Slash!"
An utterly ordinary white sword light swept out, silent and still, like waking from a dream...
Yet Yake's heart pounded wildly. He did nothing, allowing the blade light to slash toward him, because he believed his ability would not deceive him.
The Lightning Dragon roared as it charged toward the white sword light.
Boom!
Dazzling white light dispelled the darkness, and the island beneath their feet let out a mournful cry.
This was a collision between the very strongest powers on the sea!!!
The dragon's body continuously shrank, while the white sword radiance began to dim. Amid deafening explosions, both vanished into the air, as if they had never appeared.
Nameless Island: I'm fucking cracking apart!!!
The oncoming blast wave made it impossible to open their eyes. Yake's heart suddenly jolted. He grabbed Tensa Zangetsu, Conqueror's Haki already wrapped around its blade.
"Thunder Bagua!"
Yake blurted it out. There really was no time to think of a move name!!!
But that imposing slash came to an abrupt stop.
"I lost..."
"I lost..."
The two spoke in unison. Yake's sword had stopped at Shanks's neck, while Shanks's sword rested against Yake's heart.
"Hahahaha!" The two burst into laughter at the same time.
The only true loser was the nameless island. Their battle had shattered it into fragments, and it sank forever into the sea.
"Looks like they've decided the outcome. Let's go pick up the captain," Benn Beckman said in relief. He had nearly thought the captain had died just now.
Yake returned to the Red Force with the somewhat exhausted Shanks, their arms draped over each other's shoulders.
"Who won?"
"Yake, it had to be you who won! I bet ten chicken legs that the captain would lose!" Lucky Roux asked anxiously. He had truly staked everything on this.
"Hahaha, it was a draw," Yake said indifferently. Winning or losing did not matter at all.
The two had fought for seven days. Compared to Akainu and Aokiji's battle, they had expended even more. There was no need to mention Yake. Shanks had not only needed to keep Observation Haki active at all times to evade deadly lightning that could strike without warning, but every one of Yake's attacks had been potentially fatal, forcing him to resist with all his strength. On top of that, there had been the constant clashes of Conqueror's Haki. The expenditure had been enormous.
Lucky Roux looked at his captain, who was already snoring in exhaustion, then at the energetic Yake. No matter how he looked at it, it did not seem like a draw.
"Haha, Lucky Roux, you lost! Your chicken legs are gone!" Yasopp mocked with an arm around Lucky Roux's shoulders. He loved seeing Lucky Roux suffer.
"Bastard, you didn't win either!"
Morgans had already taken photos from the sky. With an excited expression, he hurried back to the newspaper office. Tomorrow's news would shake the world! Even if he died from overwork, he would write the report overnight.
"Brothers, let's throw a party to celebrate the captain and Yake fighting to a draw!"
"Oohhhhh!"
The sleeping Shanks immediately woke when he smelled meat. He grabbed some and began wolfing it down, not forgetting to drink as well. He had fought Yake for nearly seven days, and his stomach had been growling long ago. He swore he would never fight that monster Yake again. It was infuriating. Ganging up on Kaido was much more fun.
"Yake, what exactly is going on with your physique? You don't resemble a normal person at all!" Shanks still could not forget Yake's incredible regenerative ability. Otherwise, they would not have fought for so long.
"Ah, I only ate another Devil Fruit. It's nothing much," Yake said, beginning to show off modestly.
"Oh, I see. You ate two Devil Frui—pfft!" Shanks sprayed food scraps from his mouth at Yake. Yake hurriedly flickered to a safe spot. That was so unhygienic.
Lucky Roux, sitting behind Yake, was completely dumbfounded. For no reason at all, he had been sprayed all over by his captain.
A world where only Lucky Roux got hurt had been achieved!