I, Uchiha Hikaru, have joined the chat group.

Chapter 316 Esdeath's Conqueror's Haki!

After a while.

The ice surface was spread out.

Starting from the port where the "Blue Planet" was docked, the seawater within a radius of several miles in front of it was completely frozen in just half a minute, turning into a continuous stretch of icebergs.

This scene was a replay of the moment when they first encountered the Whitebeard Gang not long ago.

Aside from Shanks, who had "seen" it beforehand using Observation Haki and therefore showed no surprise, the other crew members he brought, such as First Mate Ben Beckman, all showed varying degrees of surprise at this point, understanding why their captain had suddenly mentioned "Aokiji" earlier.

—The scale and intensity of his ability to manipulate ice and snow is something that, apart from Aokiji, it would be very difficult to find another person in the entire One Piece world who possesses.

"Well then... let's begin."

After a brief standoff.

Esdeath drew her sword, cleaved the air with a flick of her wrist, and then, with a burst of milky-white energy, stepped forward!

—Start with a sonic boom!

At the same time, the red-haired man also drew his "Griffin" from his waist and countered with the same swiftness!

……

Shanks' swordsmanship was learned from his adoptive father, Roger. Before losing his arm, he was a great swordsman on par with Hawkeye Mihawk. Although he has now lost an arm, his swordsmanship level has not declined much.

Esdeath's swordsmanship, too, had been honed through countless trials. Although she had reached the pinnacle of the Akame ga Kill! world early on and no longer had many opportunities to use these skills, the moment she unleashed them, they still displayed remarkable strength. This forced Shanks to be extremely vigilant and cautious in his response.

Within just a few minutes.

The swords in their hands clashed hundreds of times, and the sparks flew one after another.

Because the clash of swords was so fast, the two blades curved into crescent shapes as they were swung, becoming blurred in the air. The surrounding air itself began to distort, like ripples on water, making them difficult to see clearly.

Beneath their feet, chunks of ice and rock were torn apart by the sword energy, forming huge cracks that spread outwards. The icy seawater, mixed with ice shards, shot into jets of water dozens of meters into the air, instantly shrouding the sky and earth in a layer of white mist.

"...As expected of an opponent who can earn such high praise from Whitebeard, your strength is indeed formidable. Given time, you may very well become the fifth emperor of this great sea."

Amidst the intense exchange, the redhead managed to utter a single sentence.

Only after he spoke did he vaguely realize a problem—

Someone with Esdeath's strength is just an ordinary crew member in the "Dimensional Pirates," not even the vice-captain. That...

Captain Bulma, who also has blue hair; and the youngest vice-captain, Uchiha Hikaru, who possesses an aura of dominance and dominance... what kind of strength do they have? Why are such people unknown on this sea, only to suddenly appear today?

the other side.

Esdeath smiled. "The Emperor of the Sea... that sounds interesting. But if that's all the strength you have, it seems a bit unworthy of the title 'Emperor'."

"You probably also know that ability called 'Haki Entanglement.' And that swordsmanship you just displayed shouldn't be your limit, right? Let me see just how strong the strongest Haki on this sea truly is!"

"……good."

The redhead narrowed his eyes slightly, and after a brief silence, exhaled and spoke: "Then so be it!!"

The voice just fell.

An aura of terrifying power erupted from him, soaring hundreds of meters into the sky! In an instant, the space around him began to twist and warp, as if an invisible blade had suddenly formed, cleaving this world in two!

Conqueror's Haki!

Such a highly condensed Conqueror's Haki seemed to be a little difficult for even Esdeath to withstand. However, because she had been diligently training in the "Gravity Training Room" for some time, her movements had not been slowed down much and still appeared to be as fast as lightning.

next moment.

With a flick of her wrist, the red-haired man suddenly vibrated his longsword, deflecting Esdeath away, and then raised "Griffin" high.

With this movement, incredibly concentrated Conqueror's Haki gathered on the blade, seemingly dyeing the longsword a deep blackish-red, before being swung away by the red-haired man:

"...God avoid!!!"

In an instant.

The powerful shockwave rippled forward with overwhelming force, shattering everything in its path and grinding it into dust in mid-air!

Splash!

No sooner said than done.

From Uchiha Hikaru's perspective, all they saw was a red light rising from the sea, like a blazing sun slowly ascending into the sky, filling their entire field of vision!

"...There's some skill involved."

With a blink of an eye, Uchiha Hikaru's black kaleidoscope shape appeared in his pupils, allowing him to see the changes happening in the scene clearly.

The swordsmanship that Shanks had previously displayed was decent, but compared to her experience with sword masters from all over the world, she could only give it a "not bad" rating. However, this move, "Divine Evasion," inherited from Roger, was a high-level application that combined swordsmanship with Haki, which impressed even her.

Under the blazing sun.

Large swaths of ice and snow form, are crushed, and then form again.

—Some of this ice and snow was created by Esdeath using "Demon's Essence," and some was left over from when she froze the sea to create a battlefield. Now, she hastily mobilized it to counter the red-haired woman's Conqueror's Haki. During this process, fine snowflakes spread outwards, instantly enveloping the entire harbor!

Snow in June!

at last.

"God's Retreat" arrived in front of Esdeath and swallowed her figure.

……

"Hikaru, Ace..."

Bulma glanced at Uchiha Hikaru with a hint of worry.

"Don't worry, it's okay."

Uchiha Hikaru smiled slightly.

Shanks' sword strike was indeed powerful, but it was roughly on par with Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit. He could probably break through Esdeath's ice armor and "ki," injuring her physical form, but killing her would be much more difficult.

Even if Esdeath were to be cut in half at the waist, with the Senzu Beans, Hikaru Uchiha was confident he could bring her back to life.

And in fact...

boom--!!!

Just as Esdeath was about to be engulfed by the sword energy.

A subtle power suddenly rippled from her location, and within a fraction of a second, it erupted into a towering wave of energy!

—Conqueror's Haki!!

(End of this chapter)