The sudden appearance of Roy caused both Sengoku and Fujitora's expressions to change simultaneously.
A rare look of astonishment appeared on the wrinkled face of the Sengoku period.
He had just scanned the entire plaza with his Observation Haki and hadn't sensed Roy's presence at all.
This person appeared on the battlefield as if out of thin air, without any warning, without any energy fluctuations, and without leaving even the slightest trace.
" Roy --!!!"
With a Sengoku, golden Buddhist light exploded from his body.
His original Buddha Form body, which was over ten meters tall, rapidly shrank, and with a single palm strike, he deflected Jin's flaming blade, revealing a small Buddha statue over three meters tall before everyone's eyes.
The miniature Buddha turned and unleashed a Buddha Palm: Shockwave towards Roy.
A golden shockwave exploded from the Buddha's palm, sending stone slabs flying and compressing the air into a visible white wave.
Roy didn't even turn his head.
He pulled out Shusui from Ryokugyu's body and slashed out with a backhand slash.
A pale green Flying Slash out from the blade, precisely striking the center of the Buddha Palm: Shockwave, slicing the golden shockwave in two.
The two forces exploded in mid-air, and the shockwave spread in all directions, overturning several stone slabs.
Roy himself used the recoil from the blow to land lightly on a stone pillar a dozen meters away.
Ryokugyu's body was flung off the knife and rolled several times on the ground like a tattered sack before coming to a stop.
The wound on his chest, inflicted by Shusui, was still bleeding. The residual energy from Conqueror's Haki caused his entire body to convulse, rendering him unable to move even a finger.
Fujitora, who was standing nearby, reacted the moment Roy appeared.
He pushed the power of the Press-Press Fruit to its limit, and purple gravity ripples spread wildly around him.
He had been tightly entangled by Jack and Queen, but at this moment, he risked taking a heavy punch from Jack and managed to break free from their encirclement.
The blind man's cane slammed heavily on the ground.
Gravity Field Suppression!
Purple ripples of gravity spread toward Roy, crushing the stone slabs in their path and causing the air to vibrate with a buzzing sound due to the distortion caused by gravity.
The stone pillar beneath Roy's feet was crushed into powder the instant the gravitational field pressed down on it.
However, he himself had already disappeared from the spot before the stone pillar shattered, and reappeared on the ruins at the other end of the square the next second.
Jin seized the opportunity and led his officers to press forward again.
The flaming blade traced a scorching arc in the moonlight, aiming straight for Fujitora's back.
Jack transformed into his Mammoth Form and charged forward with his head down. Queen's Gatling gun swept from the side, and the other members of the Flying Six also attacked simultaneously from different directions.
Fujitora was forced to retreat repeatedly by this wave of attacks.
While his gravitational field could deflect most attacks, it was still too much for him to handle being surrounded by so many people at the same time.
The gravitational ripples on the blind man's cane kept expanding and contracting, and each release made his breathing more rapid.
In the air.
Roy stood on the platform formed by his Telekinesis, looking down at the battle in the square.
Fujitora and the heavily wounded Ryokugyu were forced into retreat by the combined attack of King and his subordinates.
While Fujitora's Press-Press Fruit is troublesome, the Beasts Pirates ' executives are no pushovers either.
They would rather take a hit from a Gravity Blade than not counterattack Fujitora.
Moreover, he now has to protect the Ryokugyu who is lying on the ground unable to move, which further restricts his movements.
Sengoku, however, was stopped in mid-air by Roy himself.
The former Fleet Admiral's golden aura was more refined than before, and the form of a miniature Buddha allowed him to maintain his offensive and defensive capabilities while also enhancing his agility.
Each strike of his Buddha's Palm carried overwhelming power, but Roy's blade always precisely cleaved through his attack path, neutralizing the golden shockwaves one by one.
The two fought fiercely in mid-air, evenly matched.
Golden light and black light collided fiercely in mid-air, each collision creating a ring-shaped shockwave.
To be honest, Roy felt a bit emotional.
There's an unwritten rule in the world of One Piece --
Pirates' strength begins to decline rapidly as they age.
Whitebeard is a prime example. In his youth, he could sink an island with a single punch, but in his old age, he needed IV drips just to maintain his Haki.
Even if Roger hadn't died, he probably wouldn't have escaped this pattern.
But the navy does the opposite.
The older they get, the more monstrous they become; the older they get, the stronger they become.
Let's leave aside Garp, whose strength remains a mystery.
The Warring Sengoku is a living example.
After retiring Fleet Admiral, this old man should have been enjoying his retirement, but instead of being idle, he further developed his Devil Fruit ability.
The original Buddha Form was a colossal creature tens of meters tall, possessing astonishing power but lacking flexibility.
Now compressed into a smaller version of the Buddha, it not only retains the attack and defense capabilities of the Buddha Form, but also improves speed and reaction time.
Roy cleaved through Sengoku's Buddha Palm: Shockwave with a single slash, already plotting something else in his mind.
Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Buddha Form.
The rarity of this fruit in the world of One Piece goes without saying; the mere mention of "Mythical Zoan " is enough to make any Devil Fruit user envious.
Moreover, the Sengoku had developed this fruit to an extremely terrifying level. If they could obtain it, Hachinosu would have another top-tier fruit available.
Conquer the Sengoku.
The thought flashed through Roy's mind.
But he quickly calmed down— the Sengoku was not some insignificant force that could be easily conquered.
Even though his current strength has firmly surpassed Sengoku's, capturing this former Fleet Admiral alive will not be an easy task.
" Roy --!!!"
The roar of the Sengoku interrupted Roy's thoughts.
The golden Buddha swung his palm, compressing the surrounding air into a tangible white wave of energy.
Roy raised his knife to block.
The Shusui collided with the Buddha's palm, producing a deafening clang of metal against metal.
The shockwave exploded from the point of impact, shattering the surrounding clouds.
"Mr. Sengoku, you've become even stronger since you stepped down than when Fleet Admiral."
Roy's voice was unhurried, as if he were chatting with an old friend.
Sengoku did not respond.
His face was terribly grim, and golden Buddhist light surged wildly around him, each palm strike more ferocious than the last.
He only wants to do one thing right now—take care of Roy as soon as possible, and then go support Fujitora and Ryokugyu.
But Roy's blade remained firmly in place, blocking all his attacks.
The Black Blade Shusui, seemed to have a life of its own in Roy's hands; every swing precisely struck the weakest point of the Buddha's palm's power.
It's not about brute force, but about using skill to overcome strength.
The fiercer Sengoku's attacks, the more he was led by Roy's swordplay.
The battle situation in the plaza below is becoming increasingly unfavorable for the navy.
Fujitora's gravitational field is shrinking at a visible rate.
It wasn't that he was exhausted, but rather that he had to devote more energy to protecting the Ryokugyu.
Ember's flaming blades kept slicing in from tricky angles, Jack and Queen's frontal assaults grew more ferocious with each one, and the Flying Six took turns launching sneak attacks from the sides and behind.
Fujitora had to withstand so many attacks and protect a seriously wounded soldier all by himself; even a body of iron couldn't withstand that.
Ryokugyu lay on the ground behind Fujitora, blood still seeping from the wound in his chest.
He finally managed to dissipate most of the Conqueror's Haki's Haki energy, but the injuries to his body were far from easy to heal.
He gritted his teeth, trying to stand up, but his legs wouldn't obey him at all.
" Fujitora... leave me alone..." Ryokugyu squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth.