Katakuri also began his counterattack while Jhin was analyzing the situation. His Mole, combined with his mochi-like limb attacks, continuously stabbed Jhin's vitals from tricky angles.
The Mole stabbed at Jhin's knee joint, forcing Jhin to adjust his stance.
The rice cake-shaped fist slammed into the base of Jin's wing from the side, the most vulnerable spot for a flight ability user.
Occasionally, the ground will deform after the Mochi Devil Fruit Awakening.
The ice suddenly turned into rice cakes, sticking to Jin's ankles and rendering him immobile.
Katakuri's Observation Haki encounters the future, and the troublesome awakening of his Devil Fruit Awakening...
This forced Jhin to focus his energy on defense, even though his Lunarians physique provided extremely high defensive capabilities, and ordinary attacks couldn't even scratch his skin.
However, Katakuri's Armament Haki is equally formidable.
Even he would be injured if the Mole pierced his joints and the base of his wing with all its might.
The key is not in causing damage, but in limiting it.
Katakuri uses his ability to Future Sight to always manage to stop Jhin from going to support other battlefields just in time.
As Jhin tried to turn away to help the port side, Katakuri's Mole pierced his path beforehand.
As Jin tried to take off to intercept Perospero's Candy Slide, Katakuri's mochi arms wrapped around his ankles.
Jin frowned.
This was the first time he had encountered this type of opponent. Despite being weaker than him, the opponent used their precognitive abilities and the agility of their Mochi-Mochi Fruit to keep him pinned down.
Every time he tried to disengage from the battle to support other battlefields, Katakuri's attacks would precisely appear in his path, forcing him to return to defend.
"You're stalling for time," Jhin said.
"That's right."
Katakuri readily admitted it, a slight smile playing on his lips beneath his scarf.
"As long as I can keep you occupied, my younger siblings won't have to face you."
Without you, the Beasts Pirates' overall strength will decrease by at least 30%. I've done the math very clearly."
While King was being held back by Katakuri, the Tobiroppo were also engaged in fierce combat.
Who's-Who vs. Smoothie.
The Model: Saber Tiger clashed with the Longleg Tribe juicer; both were speed-type Zoan-type Zoan users, and their movements on the ice were so fast it was dazzling.
Who's-Who's Model: Saber Tiger possesses astonishing explosive power; each pounce is accompanied by claw-like winds that tear through the air.
However, Smoothie's Longleg Tribe physique allows her attack range to far exceed that of ordinary people, and the Juice Squeezer constantly compresses Who's-Who's space to move.
The two men were locked in a tug-of-war on the ice, neither able to gain the upper hand.
Sasaki and Cracker clashed.
The Triceratops-like tank-like charge overwhelmed the Biscuit Army's human wave tactics, leaving broken biscuits and impact craters scattered across the ice.
Sasaki's charge in her Model: Triceratops is powerful enough to crush a small mountain; Cracker's Biscuit Soldiers are like paper in front of her.
But Cracker kept creating new Biscuit Soldiers, using their numerical advantage to wear down Sasaki's stamina.
The ice surface was covered with cookie crunchy bits, which crunched underfoot.
Black Maria's spider webs continued to entangle the warriors of the Totto Land, dragging them across the ice.
Ulti's swollen-headed dragon rampaged through the crowd, knocking away one enemy after another while cursing incessantly.
Page One blocked Perospero's candy attacks from the flank, using Armament Haki Hardening and withstand the syrup sprayed by the Candy Manatee.
Although they were in a sorry state, they didn't allow the opponent to break through their defenses.
Amidst the chaotic battle, a clear trend gradually emerged.
Members of the Beasts Pirates who have undergone Bloodline Transplantation are significantly stronger than their opponents of the same level.
Those guys who were just ordinary combatants a few years ago have had their strength, speed, and endurance multiply several times after receiving the Bloodline Impulse Transplantation provided by Hachinosu.
An ordinary member of the Numbers can now hold his own against the core members of Big Mom's forces for more than a dozen rounds.
Not to mention the mechanical soldiers brought back from the lunar ruins.
These steel warriors feel no pain, possess immense strength, and can get up and continue fighting even after being cut down, firing lasers and shells everywhere.
Jhin manipulated them to fill the gaps in the defenses, stuffing them into wherever a breach appeared.
Queen was on the gun emplacement, saw everything clearly and grinned broadly.
" The Bloodline Transplantation technology on Hachinosu is really useful!"
After this battle is over, I'm going to go to Hachinosu for some serious training!
I heard they recently developed a new porting solution with a performance ceiling several times higher than the base version!
The numerical advantage of Totto Land Island and the Flying Pirates is being gradually offset by the qualitative advantage of the Beasts Pirates.
The initially unstoppable momentum of the advance was abruptly halted, and the battle transformed from mobile warfare into a war of attrition.
On the direction of Onigashima Port, Jack led the Numbers Unit to hold the entrance tightly.
He swung his twin scythes in front of him, and any enemy who tried to break into the harbor was cleaved back by the scythes.
Several key officers of the Totto Land Fleet attempted to flank the port from the side, but were spotted by Jack just as they reached the side of the harbor.
Jack stomped on the ice, shattering it beneath his feet. As the ice shards and water splashed up, he charged towards the officers.
With a slash of the twin scythes, the leading cadre was sent flying, weapon and all.
His face was expressionless, and his rigid, unyielding eyes held only pure killing intent.
"If you want to get past me—defeat me first!" Jack's roar echoed across the icy plains.
An officer of a Flying Pirates planned to launch a sneak attack by drilling a hole beneath the ice.
He drilled a hole in the ice and submerged himself in the seawater beneath, attempting to sneak into the harbor from below.
Jack sensed his location using his Observation Haki and stomped hard on the ice.
The ice surface began to crack from that hole, and people were thrown into the icy water along with the ice, with ice shards and seawater spraying up more than ten meters high.
Jack pulled his foot out, glanced at the struggling figure in the ice hole, and expressionlessly delivered another blow.
Casualties are increasing on all three sides.
Wounded people from all sides lay scattered on the ice, their blood staining the white ice with large patches of dark red.
The screams of the pirates mingled with the clanging of weapons, and the air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and blood.
Although Katakuri held King back among the children of the Totto Land Cake Island Fleet, the other officers of the Beasts Pirates were equally powerful.
The Flying Pirates even worse.
He only submitted to the Golden Lion out of respect for its reputation; how could such a person be considered a strongman?
Several core officers fell in Jhin's first wave of attacks. Although the remaining ordinary combatants were numerous, they lacked effective command and could only charge forward with sheer grit.
Each charge was suppressed and repelled by the Beasts Pirates ' firepower, leaving behind a large number of corpses on the ice.
The battle on the ice became a stalemate, with neither side able to achieve a decisive breakthrough.
The numerical advantage of Totto Land Island and the Flying Pirates was offset by the qualitative advantage of the Beasts Pirates, coupled with Katakuri's restraint on King.
Neither side had the resources to launch a decisive offensive.
Katakuri's condition is also deteriorating.
His battle with Jhin continues, but the situation is becoming increasingly unfavorable for him.
Although his Future Sight allow him to foresee Jhin's attacks, his own attacks deal almost no real damage to Jhin.
The pterosaur's skin was already tough, and with the addition of Armament Haki Hardening, the Mole could only leave a shallow white mark when it pierced it.
Katakuri tried every angle—joints, wing roots, neck—but each time Jin easily blocked with his sword or wings.
Even more fatal is the physical exhaustion.
Maintaining Observation Haki to foresee the Future Sight is extremely taxing, and Jin's attack frequency forces him to make predictions continuously, without even a chance to catch his breath.
Katakuri's breathing became rapid, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his exhaled breath turned into large puffs of white mist in the cold air.
The Armament Haki Hardening showed subtle fluctuations, a sign that his stamina was about to give out.
Jhin noticed this detail.
His blade paused for a moment before Katakuri, his tone as calm as if stating a fact.
"You can't hold on much longer, can you?"
Katakuri gritted his teeth and didn't answer. His face beneath the scarf was taut, and sweat dripped from his chin, freezing into beads on the ice.
But his gaze remained unwavering—that determination wasn't bestowed by Observation Haki, but by his own will.
Even if I fall here, I'll hold on until the very last moment. I can't back down; my younger siblings are behind me.
From a bird's-eye view, the entire Onigashima battlefield is divided into two large areas.
On the main battlefield of the icy plains, the Four Emperors and the five top-tier Marine forces were still locked in fierce combat, with the aftershocks of their earth-shattering attacks constantly reverberating. Flames and frost, magma and dragon breath, slashing waves and shockwaves—various forces intertwined and collided, blasting the icy plains beyond recognition.
The pirates' underhanded dealings never stopped; Linlin was still secretly moving towards Onigashima, occasionally sneaking a dart at Kaido.
The Golden Lion's floating rock is still battling Roy's Telekinesis.
On the edge of Onigashima, the fleet's offensive and defensive battle remained deadlocked.
King was held back by Katakuri in front of Pluton and unable to break free, while the Tobiroppo and the Totto Land Children were locked in a stalemate around the ship.
Jack held the port firmly, refusing to yield an inch, while Queen's suppressive fire inflicted heavy losses on any enemy attempting to approach Pluton.
The numerical advantage of the two pirate groups was offset by the qualitative advantage of the Beasts Pirates, and the battlefield fell into a complete stalemate.
During a break from the main battle, Roy used his Observation Haki to scan the direction of Onigashima.
He saw that King was being held back by Katakuri, but he also saw that Pluton was temporarily safe. Although the Beasts Pirates ' defenses were under pressure in many places, none of them had been breached.
A slight smile played on his lips, and a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.
Jhin may not say it, but he's reliable when it comes to getting things done.
Now it's a matter of which side will give out first.
Or, which side's reinforcements arrive first.
Roy's gaze drifted towards the distant sky, towards Hachinosu.
Bullet and the others should be arriving soon.