BAM!
A colossal iron fist suddenly crashed onto Usopp's skull. Nami stared down at him with an expressionless, frozen gaze, her eyes utterly motionless.
"Uh... Nami?" Usopp stammered, about to plead his case, only to be met with her cold, merciless glare—a stare radiating pure, silent menace.
"Whoa! They're moving!" Usopp yelled hastily, pointing toward the sea. "It's Zoro! Zoro's three blades have multiplied into nine! That technique is—"
Driven by pure survival instinct, Usopp instantly assumed the role of live ringside commentator.
"Kenshin blocked it!"
The moment the words left his mouth, a cataclysmic boom erupted across the water. The colossal concussive blast whipped up layer upon layer of ferocious shockwaves, slamming violently into the hulls of both the Demon Warder and the Thousand Sunny.
Even through the protective viewing screen, the terrifying force of that gale was palpable, rushing straight toward their eyes in a visible, distorted wall of air.
The raw visual spectacle defied all mortal description—it looked like the arrival of the apocalypse itself.
And it was detonating right on their doorstep!
"Did Zoro get even stronger again? This kind of sheer destructive power..." Usopp stammered, tongue-tied with shock.
"Admiral tier!"
Robin spoke up, her voice cutting through the din. "Both Zoro and Kenshin have reached the caliber of Marine Admirals. A destructive presence capable of reshaping the sea itself... there is no mistake!"
"Admiral?!" The crew cried out in astonishment.
"That guy's growth is absurd! With this level of terrifying strength, he could probably trade blows directly with the Four Emperors!"
"That damn marimo..." Sanji was even more stunned, a fierce competitive fire flaring within his chest.
He had long surpassed his past limits as well.
Though he rarely obsessed over raw power for its own sake—caring far more about culinary artistry as a chef—cooking exquisite feasts for his crewmates and safeguarding their nutritional health remained his highest priorities.
Even so, he needed enough strength to protect his family!
The air grew suffocatingly tense as an overwhelming, divine pressure descended upon the seascape.
A crimson glint flared within Luffy's eyes. In an instant, the Demon Warder and the Thousand Sunny, which had been pitching violently across the churning waves, locked into absolute stillness.
Drake twitched his fingers, weaving spatial authority around the Thousand Sunny to shield it from harm.
The Demon Warder possessed a unique, indestructible hull that shrugged off stray shockwaves without concern, but the Thousand Sunny was a different story.
Formidable as Treasure Tree Adam was, emerging completely unscathed from the concentrated fallout of this clash was an impossibility.
Violent ripples of energy continued to saturate the airspace.
Blood sprayed across the sea.
Everyone's faces tightened into grim solemnity.
As the blinding curtain of light dispersed, Kenshin and Zoro reappeared before the crowd. Crimson rivulets dripped continuously from both men, tinting the ocean swells beneath their boots.
A trickle of fresh blood seeped from the corner of Zoro's mouth. Veins bulged along his arms, his flesh lacerated and dripping red.
"Ah..." Nami and the others gasped, their eyes wide as saucers while their hands clamped tightly over their lips.
Could it be...
SPURT!
Across from Zoro, Kenshin suddenly coughed up a violent mouthful of blood. In the exact same breath, several deep gashes split open across his body, drenching his clothes in vivid crimson within seconds.
"I have lost! As expected of the man who struck down Hawkeye to claim the title of World's Greatest Swordsman!" Kenshin let out a faint, graceful smile, conceding defeat without bitterness.
He had thought he had deciphered Zoro's technique, pouring every ounce of his gathered sword intent into that ultimate Iai slash to unleash his entire reserve of physical power in one fell swoop.
Yet even that had failed to sever Zoro's onslaught.
"No, I was the one who lost. You held back your true strength!" Zoro shook his head, wiping the blood from his lips with the back of his hand.
In that final clash, Kenshin had clearly reserved a fraction of his power—Zoro was dead certain of his senses!
"Hahaha, you are mistaken. That Iai slash was the absolute peak of my swordsmanship. That is how a contest between true blade masters ought to be settled!"
He had chosen not to deploy his Devil Fruit abilities in that deciding exchange. Had he relied on fruit powers to secure victory, he could never rightfully call himself the world's supreme swordsman.
Even then, he had already been forced to rely on his Devil Fruit earlier just to withstand Zoro's Asura domain.
From every perspective of the blade, he had lost—and lost decisively.
"Still, though I have fallen, another formidable swordsman will cross your path to challenge your crown before long. You had better not slack off in your training," Kenshin added, chuckling softly.
"He is quite the troublesome adversary."
"Is that so?" Zoro sheathed his three blades, the corners of his lips curling into an eager, predatory grin. "Then I'll be looking forward to it!"
"Zoro! Kenshin!"
"You two went way too far! Even if this was a duel between swordsmen, pushing it to this extreme is ridiculous!" Chopper was the first to scramble across the deck, terrified by the sheer volume of blood.
Both men were battered and covered in gruesome wounds, a sight that made the little doctor's heart skip beats.
Rushing forward, Chopper immediately began triaging their injuries.
"Is Big Brother Kenshin going to be alright?" Bell asked anxiously, gazing at the blood-drenched swordsman.
"No need to fret. With this, he'll be right as rain." Drake retrieved two Senzu Beans, tossing one to each combatant.
Even though this wasn't their first time witnessing the miraculous properties of the beans, watching Zoro and Kenshin's wounds seal and vanish in seconds left the onlookers completely awestruck.
Chopper, in particular, was mesmerized. To a devoted physician, a panacea like the Senzu Bean held an irresistible, almost divine allure.
For a long time, he had dreamed of reverse-engineering such medicine. If he could produce it himself, whatever injuries Luffy and the crew suffered in the future would be resolved in a heartbeat.
Instantaneous, total recovery.
After wrestling with his nerves, Chopper finally plucked up the courage to voice his request to Drake.
He had assumed Drake would hesitate to part with such precious, legendary medicine. Instead, without a moment's hesitation, Drake produced ten whole Senzu Beans and placed them right into Chopper's hooves.
He even showered the little reindeer with warm words of encouragement.
Overcome with sheer emotion, Chopper threw his hooves around Drake, weeping joyful tears onto his coat.
He wiped his streaming face with his forearm, swearing repeatedly that he would never let Drake down.
Luffy's brother was absurdly generous!
He was truly, truly the best!
Drake nodded with solemn warmth. As for Chopper attempting to synthesize Senzu Beans, he was in full, unreserved agreement.
After all, purchasing these beans through the System cost an exorbitant fortune in points.
If Chopper actually managed to replicate them, it would bring Drake immense benefits without a single downside.
With the duel concluded, the gathering wound down. The following morning, the Straw Hat Pirates and the Dragon Flag Pirates parted ways once more, each charting their own course.
Not long after their separation, the Dragon Flag Pirates arrived before the towering cliffs of the Red Line.
This signified that they had circumnavigated half of the Grand Line—and traversed the entirety of the New World!
Their next objective was to venture into Paradise, the first half of the Grand Line. For other voyagers, that sea was the starting line of their journey.
For the Dragon Flag Pirates, their odyssey had begun in the New World.
With the formidable strength the crew now commanded, sailing through Paradise was no different from a leisurely cruise.
Yet they had anchored here with an additional purpose: to set foot upon the Holy Land.
After an entire year, they had returned to Mary Geoise—the seat that now served as the centralized headquarters of the New World Government.
Drake had come here for one specific purpose: to seek out Weitian!