On Is's side, Uchiha Madara and Rayleigh were locked in an intense battle.
Although Rayleigh possessed rich combat experience and formidable overall strength, he was still a step behind Madara.
After all, Madara had lived on the edge of death since childhood, fighting constantly from a young age. His battle experience far surpassed Rayleigh's, and his overall strength was greater as well.
Even though he wasn't at his peak right now, against a Rayleigh who also hadn't reached his prime, Madara still held the upper hand.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Massive sword slashes crashed into Susanoo, instantly shrouding everything in thick smoke.
Crack.
At that very moment, cracks actually began to appear on the surface of Susanoo.
Madara stared at the fractures, slightly surprised—but even more excited.
"Interesting… Aside from Hashirama, it's been a long time since I've felt this fired up."
The moment his words fell, a blade shot through the smoke, striking directly at the cracked section of Susanoo.
"Ha!"
Rayleigh roared, forcing Susanoo open. Adjusting his stance midair, he followed up with a powerful slash aimed straight at Madara.
"Whoosh!"
Madara was sent flying backward, crashing into the sea.
Rayleigh had expected him to sink beneath the waves—but instead, his eyes widened in shock.
Madara stood atop the water, gliding across its surface.
"Th-This guy… he's standing on the sea?!"
In the world of Naruto, walking on water was nothing remarkable—but in the world of pirates, it was an incredibly valuable ability, especially against Devil Fruit users.
"Looks like I underestimated him…"
Madara muttered as he steadied himself on the sea.
Rayleigh quickly snapped out of it and launched another attack.
He condensed Armament Haki onto his blade, leaped high into the air, and brought it down with crushing force.
"Channeling some kind of power into his weapon…"
Madara observed calmly.
With his Sharingan, he could perceive Armament Haki more clearly than ordinary people. However, since Is had never explained Haki to him, Madara didn't fully understand the concept yet.
From his perspective, it was simply a method of gathering energy to enhance both attack and defense.
This time, Madara didn't use his scythe to block. Instead, he switched to the war fan on his back and raised it in defense.
"Boom!"
The instant the blade struck the fan, the sea roiled violently. Both the World Government ship and the Marine warship ahead were shaken violently by the impact.
"What… was that absorbed?!"
Rayleigh's shock deepened. The Armament Haki coating on his blade had actually been nullified.
Madara's lips curled slightly.
"Uchiha Reflection."
"Boom!"
A massive shockwave erupted from the war fan, catching Rayleigh completely off guard. He was blasted backward, slamming into the Marine warship and smashing a huge hole into it.
Smoke billowed everywhere.
"Rayleigh!!"
From the stern of the ship, members of the Roger Pirates shouted in alarm.
"Cough—!"
Rayleigh spat out blood.
This battle had completely overturned everything he thought he knew. These strange techniques and weapons… he had never encountered anything like them in all his years at sea.
"To have such a powerful guard… that Celestial Dragon is clearly not like the others."
Before he could finish speaking, Madara had already rushed in, scythe in hand.
"Boom!"
The interior of the ship exploded as Madara crashed through. The stern of the Marine vessel tilted sharply and plunged into the sea.
Water rushed in instantly.
Rayleigh grabbed hold of Madara's scythe with one hand, blood pouring down.
"It's over, Devil Fruit user. I wanted to finish this myself, but it seems you've sunk the ship for me."
He grinned, as if victory was already within reach.
Madara looked at him in confusion.
"…What are you even talking about?"
By now, the seawater had risen almost to their necks.
"It should be kicking in about now…"
Rayleigh tried to yank the scythe free—but Madara's grip didn't budge.
Then Rayleigh's expression changed.
"…What's going on? You should be weakened by now!"
"Weakened? Ah, I've heard Is mention that Devil Fruit users lose their strength in seawater."
Madara smirked slightly.
"But who told you I'm a Devil Fruit user?"
With that, he pulled sharply, breaking free, and followed up with a slash.
The scythe cut across Rayleigh's body, blood instantly staining the seawater red.
Above—
Roger and Scopper Gaban had already arrived.
They had initially assumed the World Government ship had already been taken.
But seeing the current situation, both of them were stunned.
"R-Roger… Roger! You're finally here!" one of the trainees shouted, nearly in tears.
Roger frowned.
"What happened here?"
"Rayleigh told us not to interfere. But now he's being heavily suppressed by someone from the World Government!"
"Where is he?"
"Below—in the ship's interior!"
Not far away, Is's expression wasn't looking too good either.
He had expected the Marine vice admirals to hold out longer—but they had all been taken down in no time.
"…Looks like today really will be a tough fight."
He was already preparing himself for battle.
After hearing everything, Roger wasted no time drawing his sword, his gaze locking onto Is.
"A Celestial Dragon, huh? I'll take you on myself."
He was just about to move—
"BOOM!"
The ship beneath his feet suddenly exploded.
Two figures shot into the sky—one landing on Is's ship, the other dropping in front of Roger.
"Rayleigh!"
The crew breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing him alive.
But Roger immediately noticed—
What dripped from Rayleigh wasn't just seawater.
It was blood.
"Ra… Rayleigh!"
Roger stepped forward.
Rayleigh turned his head, a faint smile on his face.
"Roger… you're here."
"Sorry… I still haven't managed to take down their ship."
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