Starting with the Uchiha clan, they began cultivating demonic arts.

Chapter 290 Three vs. Three

The first to make a move was Momousagi, who had transformed into a pink dragon, and her target was obvious: the genuine Blue Dragon Fruit user, Kaido of the Beasts.

"Sorrow! What's wrong with you? How come you have the same Devil Fruit ability as me?"

Kaido roared and, without waiting for Momousagi's reply, charged forward, his body wreathed in terrifying tornadoes.

The pink dragon that Momousagi transformed into showed no fear and also crashed into Kaido of the Beasts. With a series of rumbling sounds, the two dragons stirred up endless storms and lightning in the sky.

Momousagi was already at the level of a near-Admiral. After being strengthened by Uchiha Tou and trained in various advanced martial arts, plus the artificial Blue Dragon Fruit that surpassed the awakening level, her overall strength can be considered the best among Uchiha Tou's current harem.

Even though Kaido of the Beasts is arguably the strongest among all pirates, even among the Four Emperors, he still doesn't have much of an advantage against Momousagi.

The difference in the three types of Haki between the two is not significant, and Kaido definitely has the advantage in terms of physique. However, due to the difference in the development ability of Devil Fruits, this advantage is pulled back by the artificial Blue Dragon Fruit, which is beyond the awakening level.

The greatest ability of Zoan-type Devil Fruits is to increase physical strength. Among them, the Azure Dragon Fruit, a fantasy type, provides an almost unimaginable boost to physical strength after being developed and awakened.

It was precisely because of this enhancement that Momousagi was able to fight Kaido to a standstill in her dragon form.

On the other hand, Princess Shirahoshi reached out and slapped the surface of the sea, and the water on the sea instantly condensed, turning into a spear-like object that pierced towards Charlotte Linlin in the sky.

After Princess Shirahoshi underwent enhancement by Uchiha Hiu and developed her own physique, she also worked hard to learn various advanced combat techniques inherited from Ryugu Island, such as Fishman Karate and Fishman Jujutsu.

Her physique was already imposing enough, and as a sea queen, her affinity with the ocean was also top-notch. In a very short time, she had already mastered these fish-man-specific skills to perfection.

Being in the middle of the ocean, one can easily shape seawater into swords, spears, and halberds with a slight exertion and hurl them at enemies in the sky.

Charlotte Lingling, piloting Zeus the Thundercloud, waved her hand, conjuring countless bolts of lightning in the sky. These lightning bolts sprouted eyes and mouths, and like elves, they crashed into the sea.

"The Great God of Heaven, Shiva!"

The bright lightning collided with the blue seawater, creating a deafening roar. However, neither Shirahoshi nor Charlotte Linlin were skilled in this kind of "elemental attack."

Charlotte Linlin, the steel balloon, and Shirahoshi, the sea king, both possess the ability to use their own physical bodies most effectively.

However, compared to Momousagi, who was able to fight Kaido of the Beasts to a standstill, Shirahoshi's strength was slightly inferior to Charlotte Linlin's. Her combat experience and the three types of Haki were also far inferior. Although she possessed a super move like summoning Sea Kings, the Sea Kings were powerless against Charlotte Linlin, who could fly.

Fortunately, Shirahoshi is currently hiding in the ocean, and Charlotte Linlin doesn't dare to jump down directly to fight her in close combat. Otherwise, if she were suppressed by the seawater and then surrounded by a group of sea kings, this monster queen would definitely not be able to withstand it.

The battle between the two became a series of ranged attacks, one in the sky and the other on the sea, but neither could truly pose a threat to the other.

On Shanks' side, Empress Hancock went to meet him. Compared to Kaido of the Beasts and Charlotte Linlin, Shanks was far inferior in physical ability and didn't even have any Devil Fruit abilities, but in terms of Haki, he was undoubtedly the number one among pirates.

At least in terms of the application of Conqueror's Haki, such as Observation Haki, Kaido of the Beasts simply doesn't know how, let alone Charlotte Linlin. Judging from their performance in One Piece, Shanks' ability to use Observation Haki to foresee the future is much stronger than that of the other Four Emperors.

While Hancock, as the Empress of Amazon Lily, possesses decent Haki, she is definitely no match for Shanks. Her limit is already achieving the ability to entwine with Conqueror's Haki; she cannot apply it at a higher level.

However, besides her domineering presence, Hancock also possesses two complementary Devil Fruit abilities: the Love-Love Fruit and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. As the most beautiful woman in the pirate world, she also embodies a great deal of faith.

Therefore, whether it's the Love-Love Fruit, which follows rules, or the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, which is based on fundamental strength, she has developed them to an extremely terrifying level. If it weren't for her own physical limitations, Hancock's Devil Fruit abilities would definitely be ten times more terrifying than Whitebeard's!

"Pirate Empress... I never expected my opponent to be you!"

Shanks wore a smile and appeared very polite. Behind him, the Red-Haired Pirates stood in a row, their immense aura soaring into the sky.

The Red-Haired Pirates were once known as the Iron Wall Pirates, the most balanced pirate crew in terms of strength. They were able to "balance" with Shanks, so you can imagine how strong the executives of the Red-Haired Pirates were.

It can be said that the strength of Shanks alone and his dozen or so pirates is enough to rival that of large pirate crews like the Whitebeard Pirates, the Beasts Pirates, and the Charlotte Pirates, which have tens of thousands of pirates.

"What, Shanks, are you all going to attack together?"

Hancock frowned slightly as she looked at the Red-Haired Pirates. Despite her pride, Hancock was actually quite self-aware—she didn't know if she could beat Shanks alone, let alone the entire Red-Haired Pirates.

"Of course not... How about we settle this one-on-one?"

Shanks stepped onto the bow of the ship, a smile playing on his lips, and said something that sounded quite bold.

In reality, while Shanks isn't exactly an irredeemable villain, as a pirate, he's clearly not a conservative or pedantic person. The fact that he's attending this pirate alliance shows that he's definitely not some fool who believes in one-on-one duels.

The reason he was willing to fight Hancock one-on-one in this battle was because he knew very well that when it came to numbers, they were not the ones who had the upper hand.

Don't forget Uchiha Tou and the others; they're still on the giant sea king in the back! With such a powerful figure backing them up, if they really break the rules, the Red-Haired Pirates will definitely be the ones who suffer.

In this situation, a one-on-one fight would actually be more advantageous for Shanks. If he could take the opportunity to defeat Hancock, it would greatly reduce the strength of Uchiha Tou's side.

"Hehe, since that's the case, let's go!"

Hancock leaped from the ship's deck onto the back of a several-hundred-meter-long sea king turtle, a haughty and provocative smile on her face, and beckoned to Shanks.

Shanks also leaped onto the Sea King's back, his smile genuine, showing no sign of being provoked.

"Pirate Empress, right? Did you just use Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit? I remember you used to be a Love-Love Fruit user, right?"

"Hehehe, want to gather information? Well, I'll tell you then. I am now a dual Devil Fruit user! Both the Love-Love Fruit and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit are now my powers!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Hancock kicked out, her beautiful leg, wrapped in a strong aura of dominance and pink and white light, aimed directly at Shanks' head.

The rapier, crackling with tiny black lightning bolts, blocked Hancock's kick, but the shockwave from Hancock's foot forced Shanks to retreat several steps.

"What terrifying attack power! My hand feels numb."

Shanks flicked his rapier, seemingly troubled, but actually remained quite relaxed:

"Looks like we'll have to get serious this time!"

Before she could finish speaking, the rapier unleashed a devastating flying slash that tore through the air, sending Hancock flying before she could react.

"Cough cough... Damn it, there's not a single sign of Observation Haki. Is this the power called Observation Kill?"

Falling onto the back of another Sea King, Hancock clutched her wound and got up, a hint of annoyance in her eyes. For the top warriors on the sea, they rarely use their eyes and ears in battle, relying more on their Observation Haki to predict attacks.

Shanks' Observation Haki effectively blocked the power of Observation Haki, which was no different from blocking the opponent's eyes before the battle. This caused great trouble for Hancock, who was fighting him for the first time.

However, Hancock was not without her advantages. Her Love-Love Fruit, which was beyond the awakening level, was activated instantly. The Sea Kings beneath her feet and the endless sea turned grayish-white in an instant, and rocky islands appeared on the endless sea—the result of being completely petrified by the Love-Love Fruit.

A strange petrifying power spread out, creating rocky islands directly in the sea. The pink light reached all the way to Shanks' feet before being blocked by the dark Haki.

"This is the power of the Love-Love Fruit..."

Shanks' relaxed expression gradually faded. He realized that he had underestimated this Pirate Empress. She was not just a lucky person who had barely stepped into the top tier of the sea with Conqueror's Haki and two Devil Fruit abilities, but a sea monster who had developed her Devil Fruit abilities to an incredible degree!

The Sweet-Sweet Fruit is usually only good for crushing weaklings, but in the hands of the opponent, it has become a massive petrification ability. Even I have to take it seriously—rule-based abilities are never reasonable, and no matter what level of strength an opponent is, once they are hit, they may be instantly killed.

While a large amount of Haki can interfere with Devil Fruit abilities, developing a Devil Fruit ability to this level requires a significant drain on Haki to counteract it. Even Shanks, who is known among the Four Emperors for his mastery of all three types of Haki, found it somewhat difficult to counteract the petrification ability.

However, an even more terrifying attack followed. A white ball of light, radiating terrifying vibrational power, bombarded the island and the sea in an instant, causing them to tremble violently as if being shaken by a giant.

The mere leakage of vibrations possessed such terrifying power; it was unimaginable how terrifying the actual ball of vibrations must be. Shanks's expression tightened, and his rapier, Gelfin, was instantly wrapped in black lightning, colliding directly with the ball of light.

With a devastating tremor, waves hundreds of meters high surged across the ocean once more. The sea kings that had been floating on the surface of the ocean fled frantically, but some sea kings that had gotten too close were still affected by the shockwave and turned into a cloud of blood mist.

The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit is not like that of the Love-Love Fruit, which is a rule-based Devil Fruit. However, while it loses the bizarre ability to kill with a single blow, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's vibrational power cannot be forcibly negated or annihilated by Haki. It can only be withstood head-on by Haki.

With a deafening roar, Shanks was sent flying backward. Even with his strength, he couldn't escape unscathed from such a powerful vibration – being able to fly backward was already quite an achievement, and the real damage caused by the vibration was not something that could be easily dissipated.

If he had stood still like a stake and taken the full brunt of the impact, even with Shanks's constitution, he would have coughed up blood and been seriously injured.

As for now, Shanks got up and wiped his mouth:

"An attack power even more terrifying than that white-bearded elder... This is really difficult to deal with! This Pirate Empress has actually developed the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to this extent; isn't that a bit too unreasonable?!"

"This level surpasses even the Devil Fruit ability of that white-bearded old man. How did she develop her Devil Fruit to this level in such a short time?"

Although Shanks was completely baffled, as a pirate with a big heart, he didn't think too much about it. Instead, he swung his rapier without hesitation, and countless crescent-shaped flying slashes instantly struck Hancock.

Whether it's Hancock or Shanks, both of them possess offensive capabilities far exceeding their defensive capabilities, which makes their battles even more entertaining.

Shanks doesn't have Kaido's immortality or Charlotte Linlin's steel balloon physique. In terms of physical strength, he is far inferior to Whitebeard—even if there was an element of deliberate intent in having an arm bitten off by the Lord of the Coast, his physical abilities are still far inferior to the other Four Emperors.

If it were any of the other four emperors, even without any defense, they could easily crush the teeth of the Lord of the Coast.

As for Hancock, her physique is just average. Even if Uchiha Tou enhanced her, she would still be no match for Charlotte Linlin and Kaido, and certainly much stronger than Shanks. However, in a battle of this level, this slight enhancement in physical defense is simply no match for Shanks' Armament Haki.

Therefore, when facing attacks, both of them mainly rely on dodging. Shanks has the ability to use his perception skill, while Hancock's Devil Fruit has a wide-range attack capability. Their battle is basically a contest between an assassin and a mage.

(End of this chapter)