"That technique from back then... I remember he couldn't keep it up for long."
Katakuri's expression grew grave as he watched the terrifyingly powerful figure. He was instantly reminded of their clash during the Battle of Whole Cake Island.
Incredible speed! Overwhelming offense! Impregnable defense!
However, he recalled that after Enel unleashed this "Takemikazuchi" form, he was gasping for air within mere minutes. Clearly, it was an immense drain on his stamina. It was obvious that even for someone like Enel, maintaining such a state was not sustainable for long.
Katakuri's assessment was correct. Enel's "Takemikazuchi" was a compact version of his "True Amaru" mode. By condensing his plasma-like lightning onto the surface of his body, he created a formidable suit of armor that pushed his physical speed, power, and defense to the absolute limit.
However, such concentrated electrical energy held terrifying power. If his control wavered for even a second, the solidified lightning armor would instantly collapse back into raw, volatile plasma.
In this "Takemikazuchi" state, every sprint Enel made was fueled by the lightning itself, granting him blinding speed. He had to exert constant effort to maintain the integrity of his armor, preventing the energy from dissipating. Only by doing so could he maintain the speed of lightning while retaining that superior defense.
This differed significantly from his "True Amaru" mode. At the very least, in that state, Enel lacked this extreme speed, which gave him plenty of time to focus on control and maintenance, and allowed him to draw on the ambient lightning of nature to sustain his massive form. Back then, it was Borsalino (Kizaru) who had exploited the lack of speed in the "True Amaru" form to evade Enel's attacks, before using a single concentrated blow to shatter his armor and leave him heavily wounded.
"This time… I'm going to beat you for sure!"
Enel took a step forward, pointing his lightning spear at Katakuri, his voice reverberating with a dull, thrumming sound.
Before the last syllable could fade, Enel vanished in a brilliant flash of light, leaving behind only the shattered ground and faint, crackling arcs of electricity dancing in the air. A powerful gust of wind roared in his wake.
"That speed again…!"
Katakuri's face tightened. His red eyes flared as he scanned his surroundings, left, right, front, and back. "Left? Or right? Where is he?"
BOOM— BOOM—
The ground around him continued to fracture. A flicker of lightning was faintly visible as it circled Katakuri.
Suddenly, several giant wolves made of pure thunder seemed to charge out from the very air itself, roaring as they lunged at Katakuri from all directions.
Instantly, the ground beneath Katakuri's feet turned into mochi. Globes of the substance rose up and transformed into a ring of white-and-yellow donuts in mid-air. From each donut, a massive, square-shaped blue arm shot out, fists clenched and ready to strike.
"Nine-Headed Mochi!!!"
With a fierce roar, the nine giant arms lashed out in unison, slamming into the incoming lightning wolves with a thunderous impact.
The explosive force of the collision shattered the thunder wolves, causing them to dissipate into harmless arcs of electricity.
BANG—
Suddenly, a flash of lightning streaked by at impossible speeds, instantly piercing through the defense of the nine arms and slamming into Katakuri.
A shockwave erupted. Katakuri was caught off-guard and sent flying, coughing up blood as he transformed into a dark blur. With a deafening CRASH, he slammed into the ruins of a skyscraper over a hundred meters away.
Rumble, rumble—
Katakuri didn't stop there. He punched clean through the ruins of the building and, with his momentum barely checked, smashed through dozens more houses and structures in the span of a few heartbeats. Bricks and masonry showered the air as the earth shook, churning up a towering cloud of dust and debris.
"He actually managed to react..."
Enel reappeared at the spot where Katakuri had been standing, looking down at his lightning spear.
That strike had sent his opponent flying hundreds of meters, but he had aimed to skewer him through the chest. Katakuri had blocked it at the last second with Armament Haki.
Without hesitation, Enel transformed back into a bolt of lightning and vanished, leaving behind only deep fissures in the ground where he had pushed off.
Crocodile watched the scene in silence. He knew he couldn't interfere in a clash of this caliber, and Zephyr felt the same.
Zephyr glanced at Crocodile. "Crocodile, I'll stay here to back Enel up. Go take care of the others!"
"Hmph, don't come crying to me if he dies!"
Crocodile scowled, pulled a high-quality cigar from his coat, lit it, and blew out a cloud of smoke before turning into a whirlwind of sand and taking his leave.
Because of the sheer speed of the battle, any clumsy intervention would only disrupt Enel's rhythm and potentially give Katakuri an opening to exploit. Zephyr remained to ensure that if Enel failed to finish the fight quickly, he wouldn't be left vulnerable to a counter-attack once his stamina hit its limit.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM...
Enel had become a streak of lightning, nearly invisible to the naked eye, unleashing a flurry of high-speed, savage attacks against the now-passive Katakuri.
Rocks flew, and the roaring thunder never ceased. The battle had reached a fever pitch. The blinding flashes of lightning and the undulating, mochi-fied earth tore the surroundings apart, pulverizing buildings that had already been reduced to rubble.
"Grilled Mochi!!!"
Katakuri roared, his fists moving so fast they became a blur, clashing head-on with the barrage of punches Enel unleashed.
Dull, rhythmic thuds echoed relentlessly as the raw power of their collision sent shockwaves rippling through the air, whipping up walls of dust and debris that swirled outward into the city.
The ground beneath them could no longer withstand their escalating power; it cracked, splintered, and crumbled to dust, forcing both combatants to retreat simultaneously.
"Takemikazuchi: Raijin Slash!!!"
In an instant, Enel turned into a blur of lightning, teleporting directly in front of Katakuri. His lightning spear sliced through the air with terrifying velocity, and seemingly through Katakuri's body.
The momentum didn't falter. A sharp, invisible edge of pressure tore through the earth, carving a jagged, thousand-meter-long trench, three to five meters wide, straight through the center of the city like an impassable abyss.
However, Katakuri's body had turned to mochi just in time, leaving him unharmed. The two halves of his torso quickly knit back together.
From the ground, a massive donut hardened with Armament Haki rose up. Its surface bristled with countless sharp spikes, which fired off in all directions like a storm of steel needles.
"Nani…!"
Enel crossed his arms, letting the dense volley of spikes rain down upon him.
But his lightning armor possessed an impenetrable defense. Aside from a dense, rhythmic patter, like rain hitting a lute, not a single spike could pierce his armor to inflict even the slightest scratch.
"RAAAAGH—!"
Enel let out a savage roar and thrust his arms outward, unleashing a hurricane-like blast of chaotic air.
At that very moment, his lightning spear bloomed with a blinding, dazzling radiance…
"Takemikazuchi: Futsu-no-Mitama Slash!!!"
…
Note: Takemikazuchi is a prominent deity in Japanese mythology, primarily revered as the god of thunder, martial arts, and swords. Futsu-no-Mitama, on the other hand, is a legendary, divine sword in Japanese mythology. Associated with the lightning deity Takemikazuchi, it was gifted to Emperor Jimmu to defeat evil deities and pacify the land during his eastern campaign.