Pirates: A Family Slaughtered, Every Celestial Dragon Must Die!

Thunder roared across the sky, and lightning split the air!

Within the clouds, it seemed a Thunder God was commanding the lightning and rain!

"Look! What's that?"

Zephyr suddenly shouted and pointed at the sky!

Kong, Garp, Sengoku, Tsuru, Kuzan, and the other Marines who weren't fighting all looked up!

Their eyes widened!

Beneath the thunderclouds, a thick bolt of lightning nearly ten meters across came crashing down!

BOOM!

The deafening roar spoke to the lightning's ferocity!

Every bit of it surged toward Rono!

No... It looked as though the lightning had swallowed him whole!

"What is he doing?!"

"Is he trying to use Nature Power?"

"If he can't control it, they'll both be destroyed!"

Garp, Sengoku, Zephyr, Kong, Tsuru, and the others stared in shock as the lightning fell!

Rono was drawing on the power of nature!

If he succeeded, the destructive force of his technique could increase tens or even hundreds of times over!

An ordinary punch might not seem particularly powerful.

But add lightning, magma, flames, or another force of nature to that fist...

And a single punch could kill!

If Rono could make proper use of Nature Power,

his already formidable swordsmanship, Haki, and strength would gain a boost of dozens of times their usual power!

The consequences were unimaginable!

But Nature Power was not so easily wielded.

That lightning carried at least a hundred million volts. One mistake, and it could blast him to pieces.

After half a minute, the lightning suddenly dissipated!

Only then did Rono reappear before everyone!

That was when they noticed the change in his Kotetsu!

Azure lightning raced across the blade, crackling fiercely!

Terrifying power lay within it!

Then Rono coated Kotetsu in his Haki, suppressing the violent lightning!

"He actually... controlled the lightning!"

"He suppressed it with Haki?!"

"Ordinary people could never manage that kind of precision!"

Kong, Garp, Sengoku, Zephyr, and the others could hardly believe Rono had succeeded!

"Wait. That looks like one of Silver Axe's techniques!"

"That's right! Silver Axe had an incredibly powerful move. Could it be that one?"

Garp's eyes widened as he recalled his battles against the Rocks Pirates!

But the lightning Silver Axe had summoned was nowhere near Rono's.

That was why it had taken them so long to recognize the move.

With Rono's talent, learning Silver Axe's technique would have been easy.

"So you're using Nature Power!"

Across from Rono, the Sword-Wielding Five Elder's pupils contracted sharply!

Danger!

Extreme danger!

With his Observation Haki spread out, he could sense the terrifying lightning clinging to Rono's Kotetsu!

It was like a Thunder God capable of burning everything in the world to ash!

But they had come too far to stop. The Sword-Wielding Five Elder had to attack, even knowing the danger!

His own move could not be halted so quickly, either!

"Aah!!"

The Sword-Wielding Five Elder roared and held nothing back!

He unleashed every ounce of his sword intent!

Behind him, the face of a demon grew clearer and clearer!

No, that face was no demon's!

It was Death itself!

[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully acquired Great Swordmaster-Level Swordsmanship. Current progress: 58.9%!]

What powerful sword intent!

Rono could feel the sword intent in the First Generation Kitetsu, honed almost to its limit.

"But swordsmanship is all you have going for you."

Rono spoke in a low voice as his own sword intent surged to its peak!

He was a Great Swordmaster too!

"Such arrogance!"

The Sword-Wielding Five Elder's eyes turned bloodshot!

He was determined to make this strike count!

"Kitetsu: Iaido Tenth Form!"

Gripping the First Generation Kitetsu with both hands, the Sword-Wielding Five Elder slashed through the air!

Whoosh!

Terrifying sword energy erupted from the ground and shot toward Rono!

In midair, it took the form of Death, claws bared and ghostly malice pouring from it!

"Kotetsu: Kirin!"

Rono did not panic in the face of the Sword-Wielding Five Elder's attack!

He closed his eyes and felt the sword's breathing.

Then he swung Kotetsu, its blade shining with azure lightning!

"Hiss—roar!"

In the next instant, sword energy infused with Conqueror's Haki Coating and lightning burst through the air!

It took the form of the ancient beast Kirin!

It hissed and roared, its presence overwhelming!

"Here it comes!"

Kong, Garp, Sengoku, Zephyr, Tsuru, and the other Marines held their breath!

Death versus Kirin!

Which would win?

The moment Kirin and Death met in midair,

Kirin opened its enormous jaws and lunged to tear Death apart!

Death swung the long scythe in its hands wildly at Kirin!

Crash! Rip! Boom!

As soon as they collided, the clash of sword energy unleashed a massive explosion that swept outward!

Sword energy tore through the air, and blinding white light hid the battlefield from view!

All anyone could do was listen to Kirin and Death tearing into each other in a savage struggle!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosions soon reached their peak!

Then the energy came pouring out!

Only after several minutes did everything fall still!

"Who won?!"

Once the explosion ended,

Kong, Garp, Zephyr, Sengoku, and the others immediately looked toward the center of the battlefield!

Rono and the Five Elder had drawn apart, and both were breathing hard!

Was it a draw?

As everyone wondered,

"What's that?!"

Sengoku's sharp eyes caught sight of something left in the middle of the battlefield!

"That's...!"

Kong, Zephyr, and Garp looked closer and saw it clearly!

At the spot where Rono and the Sword-Wielding Five Elder had clashed, a severed arm now lay on the ground!

Blood covered the stump!

And as if it had a will of its own, the severed hand still gripped a Famous Sword tightly!

The First Generation Kitetsu!

Rono... Had He Surpassed an Admiral-Level Fighter?! Everyone Was Stunned

The severed arm on the ground still clutched the First Generation Kitetsu!

"That's... the Five Elder's arm!"

"There's no mistake! That's the First Generation Kitetsu, one of the Supreme Grade Swords!"

"Rono cut off the Five Elder's arm?"

Once Kong, Garp, Zephyr, Sengoku, Tsuru, and the others understood what they were seeing, they drew sharp breaths!

How was that possible?!

Rono had cut off the Five Elder's arm!!

The Five Elder was an Admiral-level fighter, yet Rono had severed his arm!

Had Rono's strength already surpassed an Admiral's?

A chill gripped every heart!

Impossible. Absolutely impossible!

No matter how monstrous his talent, he had only recently reached the level of an Admiral.