Dust filled the air, swirling in thick clouds that had yet to fully settle. Within the haze, flashes of lightning flickered incessantly, illuminating the battlefield.
This stalemate continued for over a minute. As the dust finally began to clear, Robin and Vivi were finally able to see the scene unfolding inside.
Sean remained standing, his clothes pristine and without a single speck of dust on them. It was surreal, considering he had been at the very center of that chaotic storm.
Enel, on the other hand, was covered in grime, his face twisted in an expression of utter disbelief, as if he were questioning his very existence.
In that single minute, he had unleashed nearly every technique in his arsenal—excluding his Thunder God mode—yet he hadn't managed to land a single blow on Sean. In fact, his lightning couldn't even get close to the man. It was as if the bolts of lightning themselves were terrified of him.
Enel simply could not comprehend this result.
"What on earth did you do?"
"I simply used the same energy to neutralize your attacks. That's all," Sean replied.
The essence of the power wielded by Sean and Enel was, in fact, the same: the power of lightning. Enel possessed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, a Logia-type Devil Fruit. Sean, however, possessed Hekireki, A lightning-type Zanpakutō, which might as well be the strongest lightening type Zanpakuto.
The process was simple. Every time Enel attacked, Sean used his precise control to release lightning of the exact same intensity, creating a clash that resulted in mutual cancellation. He had done nothing more than that.
However, in terms of stamina, even though they were releasing the same intensity of power, Sean's consumption was far lower than Enel's. It was exactly as Sean had noted when he first arrived on Angel Island and was targeted by Enel's remote God's Judgment.
Enel had focused far too much on the scale and raw intensity of his Devil Fruit powers. To put it simply, Enel was like a hulking brute who swung his fists with immense power but lacked any actual technique.
Sean, by contrast, was a complete technician. His precise control over his Reiatsu allowed him to condense the power of every strike, achieving maximum impact with minimum waste.
The result was clear: Sean looked as if he hadn't lifted a finger, while Enel was heaving for breath, completely spent.
"Don't get arrogant! I still have a greater power!" Enel roared. "Full Release: Two Hundred Million Volts! Thunder God!"
His entire body instantly shifted into a state of complete elementalization. His lightning power was fully unleashed, reaching the two-hundred-million-volt threshold he had only recently attained.
Enel was not yet proficient with the Thunder God form and could not maintain it for long. However, he was forced to gamble everything because his other attacks were utterly meaningless against Sean.
Slowly, a bloated figure of lightning emerged. It wasn't that Enel himself had become fat; rather, the sheer volume of lightning being released was so overwhelming that the massive energy enveloping his body created the illusion of a plump silhouette.
This was a direct result of what Sean had mentioned: Enel prioritized scale over condensation. Had he learned to compress his energy, he wouldn't look so bloated.
The Thunder God form had one massive advantage: it kept the user in a constant state of elementalization.
For Logia Devil Fruit users, elementalization is divided into active and passive forms. In most cases, the ability to ignore physical attacks comes from passive elementalization—where the body automatically transforms upon impact to evade damage. This is necessary because active control cannot always be fast enough to react to every single blow.
This was why Seastone weapons or Armament Haki could hit a Logia user. When they touched the user's body, the properties of the Haki or Seastone suppressed the Devil Fruit, preventing the body from triggering its passive elementalization.
So, how do you solve that?
Active elementalization is one viable solution, but it requires a terrifying level of baseline skill from the user. It is like facing a boxer throwing a flurry of punches and having to perfectly dodge every single one. It demands an impossible level of reaction speed and physical coordination.
The current Enel could not achieve this. Even the Enel from two years later in the original timeline lacked that level of mastery.
However, the development of the Thunder God form was a bold experiment. It allowed Enel to remain in a state of total elementalization for an extended period, removing the need to worry about whether his reaction was passive or active.
The only weakness was that any power capable of suppressing lightning would still be effective. Additionally, because the technique was newly developed, he could only maintain it for about two minutes.
"Thunder Dragon!"
Knowing he was on a clock, Enel immediately launched his assault. Previously, his Thunder Beasts were released with sixty million volts, but now... every single move was powered by two hundred million volts.
The destructive power had increased exponentially. A massive Eastern dragon composed entirely of lightning, its face twisted in a ferocious snarl, dove from the sky with its maw wide open, lunging straight for Sean.
He didn't stop there.
"Thunder Beast!"
With a swing of his trident, three colossal lightning beasts materialized, charging toward Sean from three different directions.
Finally!
"God's Judgment!"
Directly above Sean, a terrifying concentration of lightning began to coalesce. A moment later, a pillar of lightning over ten meters thick descended from the heavens, crashing down toward Sean's head.
Executing three enhanced attacks in the Thunder God mode consumed half of Enel's remaining energy. However, it also completely sealed off all of Sean's escape routes, leaving him with nowhere to run.
Enel had actually used his head...
But there was one thing Enel had failed to realize.
Up until this moment, Sean had only been using the absolute minimum amount of power necessary to deal with him.
What would happen if Sean decided to use the majority of his power—or better yet, went all out?
Sean looked up at the Thunder Beasts closing in in a triangular array, the Thunder Dragon weaving through the air toward him, and the crushing weight of God's Judgment falling from the sky.
"I can't use Dankū; it's always such a hassle."
"In that case..."
"Let's give this a try. Come to think of it, it's been a while since I've attempted this."
"The power of full Reiatsu release!"
BOOM!!!
Sean's eyes narrowed.
A massive sound reverberated through the entire space. It wasn't the sound of an explosion, nor was it a rumble; instead, it felt as if the very atmosphere was weeping in pity.
At that moment, whether it was the thunder beasts or the thunder dragons—even though these entities had no physical form and were composed purely of lightning energy—they were crushed like tangible objects by an immense force. They were slammed into the ground and completely dissipated, leaving only stray currents of electricity dancing where they had fallen.
As for the pillar of lightning in the sky, just as it was about to strike, barely a meter above Sean's head, it was as if someone had pressed a pause button. It could not move another inch.
The terrifying Reiatsu condensed into a visible, deep blue barrier directly above Sean.
In a single instant, Enel's seemingly foolproof combo had been completely dismantled.
Then, before anyone could react, Sean vanished.
Even relying on his Mantra, Enel could only barely capture the trajectory of Sean's movement. As for attacking him, it was impossible. Sean's speed was simply too great!
What Enel didn't understand, however, was why Sean was darting around. Was he simply showing off his speed?
Obviously, that was impossible.
A second later, though the eye could not follow Sean's movements, his voice rang out. It was an incantation!
"Chariots of Hekireki, gaps of the spinning wheel, gather light and divide into six!"
"Bakudō No. 61: Six Rods of Light!"