Akainu was covered in blood, his breathing ragged and unsteady.
Surrounded by thousands upon thousands of blades, even as a Logia user he had still suffered grievous injuries. After all, Senbonzakura was a Kidō-type Zanpakutō—its attacks could still cut into Akainu's body even through elementalization.
Not far away—
"Admiral Sakazuki looks like he's about to go down!"
"No way… who is that guy? He almost killed Admiral Sakazuki!"
"This is terrifying… if even an Admiral is on the verge of falling, do we have any chance of surviving?"
The Marines on the other warships were so shocked their eyes nearly bulged out of their heads.
This had only been going on for a short while—
and Akainu was already critically wounded?
What kind of nightmare was this?
"Damn you… you almost killed me!" Akainu gasped heavily, his eyes fixed on Byakuya with naked wariness.
As much as he hated to admit it—
he really had come within a hair's breadth of death.
"…Still standing?"
Byakuya's face remained cold and still. "Then I underestimated your will."
He looked down at Akainu as if the outcome had already been decided.
"But your resistance is meaningless. The result of this battle will not change."
There was unmistakable disdain in his voice.
As head of the Kuchiki Clan, the noble blood flowing through Byakuya's veins gave him a pride that allowed him to look down on all things.
Because—
this was the pride of the Kuchiki nobility.
"…Bastard!"
Already burning with humiliation, Akainu's anger detonated the moment he heard those words.
"Don't get carried away!" he roared. "I'm a Marine Admiral!"
This battle had become the greatest disgrace of his life since joining the Marines.
For the honor of the Navy.
For the sake of justice.
He knew one thing with absolute certainty—
he could not fall here.
"…Your will is strong."
Byakuya's reply was icy.
"But…"
"I truly do not understand what this so-called 'justice' of yours is meant to be."
The moment those words fell, his figure appeared behind Akainu like a ghost.
A slash wrapped in Armament Haki carved downward.
Even with Akainu's powerful Observation Haki, he could not react to Byakuya's perfected Shunpo.
Slash—
A deep wound tore open across Akainu's abdomen.
"AAARGH—!"
He let out a ragged scream.
As the user of the Magma-Magma Fruit, Akainu's greatest strength was overwhelming destructive power. But Byakuya was famous for speed.
And that difference decided everything.
No matter how terrifying Akainu's magma was—
it meant nothing if he could not land a hit.
"Haah… haah…"
Akainu's breath turned harsher.
He was now teetering on the edge of collapse, forcing his body upright through sheer will alone.
For a Marine Admiral—
this was humiliation that could never be erased.
"So I've really been cornered…"
A trace of madness flashed across Akainu's eyes as he clenched his fist. The magma running along his arm burned brighter than ever.
If he had to die in disgrace—
then he would rather stake everything on one final strike.
Live or die.
All of it—
for justice.
Akainu shut his eyes.
The blood in his body boiled and churned. Both his arms tensed, thick veins writhing across his skin.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
With every pulse, a fresh wave of destructive force spread from him.
As time passed, his aura climbed higher and higher—
like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
And when that destructive pressure reached its limit—
Akainu opened his eyes.
They burned.
His entire body was wrapped in blazing magma.
"Ryūsei Kazan!"
With a savage roar, Akainu unleashed every ounce of power he had left.
Magma gathered above him into one gigantic fist after another and blasted into the sky like fiery meteors.
Molten fire surged upward.
The heavens lit up instantly.
In that moment, all of Tasman Island turned into a living hell. The moisture in the air evaporated at once, and even the seawater around the island began to steam away.
"What is that?!"
On the decks of the warships, the Marines stared up in horror.
In their eyes, enormous magma fists were now falling from the heavens like meteors.
BOOM—!
Each one crashed down with enough force to split the earth.
And there were not just a few—
there were hundreds.
Even more terrifying—
every single one was aimed at Byakuya.
"Companion of Death…"
Akainu's roar tore through the battlefield, murderous and feverish, like a devil standing in a sea of magma.
"This battle isn't over yet!"
"Criminals will always be erased by justice!"
He had been consumed by his fury.
"Marine Admiral…"
Byakuya's voice remained calm.
"You, who cling so desperately to the divide between justice and evil, are ultimately out of step with this world."
His Reiatsu swelled again.
"I will use Senbonzakura to strip away every trace of your pride."
"Senkei — Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
The heavens changed.
Petals spun through the air, and the space around Byakuya was overtaken by cherry blossoms.
As his spiritual pressure spread outward, the countless petal-blades transformed into full swords, lining up one after another in perfect order around him like an impenetrable wall.
A thousand blades.
Ten thousand blades.
An endless ring of death.
And when the rain of magma fists came crashing down—
they were cut apart in an instant by the countless blades.
The attack that had seemed apocalyptic accomplished almost nothing against Byakuya himself.
Instead—
it was the Marines on the surrounding warships who paid the price.
"AAAH—! Admiral Sakazuki, save us!"
The Marines screamed in despair.
Each magma fist that crashed down brought another dozen bodies with it.
Akainu's final move—
looked less like a weapon against the enemy…
and more like the arrival of judgment upon his own men.
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