Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 271 Thunder Swordsman Zoro VS Perfect Man Katakuri!

Of course, no one answered Katakuri's question.

After a brief moment of stiffness, Peng En displayed the qualities of an elite naval vice admiral, shoving aside the subordinate who was bandaging his wounds, and then slashing at Katakuri with a backhand.

Perhaps it was because Peng En chose to push his subordinates away immediately, or perhaps the difference in strength was indeed too great.

In short, his straight cut had no effect whatsoever.

Katakuri, his hand wreathed in Haki, easily gripped Penn's blade, his eyes coldly fixed on Penn as he said, "You..."

Before Katakuri could speak, white smoke erupted from beneath Smoker's feet as he charged forward with incredible speed, shouting, "White Fist!"

Katakuri didn't dodge at all, standing there without moving, while Smoker's Smoke Fist pierced straight through his chest.

"Elementalization!?" Smoker, being a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, immediately thought of this, but the problem was... he was using Haki!?

At the same time, Peng En loosened his grip on the hilt of his sword, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. With Haki swirling around his hand, he threw another punch at Katakuri.

Like Smoker, neither of them managed to hit Katakuri's physical form.

"Too slow," Katakuri said coldly.

The moment he finished speaking, Tashigi, who was far away, didn't even see his movements clearly. She saw Smoker and Lieutenant General Penn being knocked away at the same time, their blood blooming in the air.

The two crashed to the ground almost simultaneously. Smoker was surrounded by white smoke; besides the reopened wound on his arm, there was also a bloody gash on his chest, resembling a slash. Ignoring his injuries, he immediately got up and looked at Penn, who was embedded in the ground beside him, asking, "Are you alright?"

Upon closer inspection, Peng En's left arm was now broken, twisted unnaturally, with the jagged fracture piercing through his flesh and exposing it to the air, dripping with blood.

"Tashigi, take Penn away, signal to evacuate immediately!" Smoker ordered without hesitation.

In just one exchange, he already felt the absolute difference in strength between himself and Katakuri. Similarly, in an instant, Penn was severely injured and had obviously lost his fighting ability.

But at this moment, Smoothie is still on the island, and Dol is working with some other naval officers to entangle her. Originally, according to the plan, after he and Penn rested, they would go to support Vice Admiral Dol.

But now, there's probably no other way. If I stay behind to cover the rear, maybe I can still let Dor, Penn, and more marines escape!

No sooner said than done, Katakuri raised his hand and several lumps of mochi flew over, instantly smearing Lieutenant General Poon's body.

Tashigi rushed over to take Penn away, but when she reached out and grabbed the seemingly soft and sticky mochi, she got stuck. The next second, several more mochi flew over and hit Tashigi, sticking her and Penn to the ground, unable to break free.

"None of you are leaving," Katakuri said softly, his gaze fixed on Smoker.

"Damn it." Smoker cursed under his breath, white smoke erupted from his body, and he pulled out the Seastone Jitte from behind him, charging towards Katakuri once again.

Katakuri's expression remained completely unchanged; perhaps, aside from his family, he was nothing more than a cold-blooded killing machine!

With a light step, Katakuri's more than five-meter-tall body instantly disappeared from Smoker's sight.

Before Smoker could detect Katakuri's movements with his Observation Haki, his pupils suddenly dilated. Katakuri's figure appeared to his left in an instant. At the same time, Katakuri's arm had swelled to an enormous size, shaped like mochi, with the forearm resembling a mace, covered with ferocious spikes, and faintly covered with Armament Haki!

"Chop...slice...mochi!" Katakuri shouted.

Smoker has the physique of a normal person, while Katakuri's arm is bigger than his whole body.

At the same time, the Smoke-Smoke Fruit doesn't offer any advantage in terms of speed, making it impossible to keep up with Katakuri's ghostly figure; dodging is simply not an option.

"Iron Body!" Smoker growled, activating both his Haki and Iron Body simultaneously to protect his entire body.

But in the next instant, he was completely covered by Katakuri's attack and was slammed away. His figure rolled dozens of times on the ground, leaving a ditch in his wake, and his whole body was covered in blood.

Even though he protected himself with his domineering aura and iron blocks at the first moment, Smoker still felt as if all the bones in his body were broken. Every part of his body was in pain, especially his chest, where his ribs had collapsed and there was a bloody hole. He could vaguely see his lungs that had been damaged by the shock, which made it difficult for him to breathe.

With a single, seemingly casual strike, Katakuri, now slightly more serious, inflicted severe damage upon him!

This filled Smoker with immense regret. Why had he wasted his time in the East Blue all those years? If he had persevered back then, perhaps things would have turned around for him today!

Feeling his strength rapidly draining away along with the blood in his body, Smoker's eyes gradually became hazy.

Then, he felt another wave of pain on his body. He struggled to open his eyes and saw that Katakuri had stepped on his chest.

"Where is Roronoa Zoro?" Katakuri repeated his initial question, looking down at Smoker with a cold gaze.

Although Smoker knew he couldn't make any more of a struggle, he still laughed. The blood at the corner of his mouth made his face look somewhat ferocious.

"You mere pirates, you think you can get information out of me?" Smoker sneered.

"Is that so?" Katakuri's eyes flashed with murderous intent. "If you don't want to talk, then die."

As he finished speaking, he gradually increased the pressure on his foot, as if he wanted to crush Smoker to death.

The air crackled with the grating sound of bones being forged, but Smoker gritted his teeth like a tough guy, enduring the pain without uttering a sound.

Just as Katakuri was about to lose patience and actually kill Smoker, he suddenly stopped.

At the same time, a change in expression appeared on that face that had been so indifferent as to be completely expressionless; there seemed to be a hint of surprise in its eyes.

Then, Roronoa Zoro's voice came from behind him.

"I'll only say this once: get your dirty feet off my friend." Zoro, draped in a cloak of justice, appeared not far behind Katakuri at some point, one hand on the hilt of his sword, and said calmly, "Otherwise, I'll cut it down."

There was no threat involved. The arrogant Katakuri naturally disdained to threaten anything in this way. He immediately withdrew his foot from Smoker, calmly turned around, and said with a slightly puzzled tone, "I didn't even notice your arrival. Snack's defeat was not unjust."

Meanwhile, Smoker, lying on the ground with a vacant look in his eyes, said intermittently, "Support... is that you? It's up to you. Just so you know, I can't hold out for long."

Zoro glanced at Smoker and said confidently, "Don't worry, it won't be long."

The moment he finished speaking, a slight arc of electricity flashed across Zoro's green hair, and the next second, his figure vanished from Katakuri's sight.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

Katakuri's pupils also contracted sharply, realizing that he hadn't been careless or negligent just now!

Even though his Observation Haki had reached the level of foreseeing the future, he still couldn't catch Roronoa Zoro's figure!

Katakuri had encountered this phenomenon before, and the only explanation was that this highly renowned vice admiral possessed Observation Haki strength that was in no way inferior to his own!

My mind is filled with countless thoughts, but reality is but a fleeting moment.

Even though Katakuri couldn't predict Zoro's actions, his fighting instincts and skills were still quite superb. With a flick of his arm, as the mochi paste splashed, a trident emerged directly from his arm, was neatly grabbed, and used to block forward!

The air was filled with the sharp, piercing aura of blades, and then Zoro's Wado Ichimonji slammed into Katakuri's trident handle.

The high-voltage current burst forth with lightning, spreading up and down the trident, quickly reaching Katakuri's palm, where it collided with the Haki in Katakuri's hand and dissipated.

Feeling the force in his hand, Katakuri became increasingly wary.

In a clash between masters, it often only takes a moment to judge the opponent's strength.

At this moment, Katakuri no longer underestimated Zoro at all, and regarded him as a powerful opponent who was comparable to himself!

Therefore, Katakuri no longer held back. His power surged, and he instantly entered an awakened state. The ground softened, and donuts appeared, which then transformed into two arms formed by his power. He clenched his fists and, imbued with Haki, smashed them down towards Zoro.

As lightning crackled around him once more, Zoro instantly created a two-meter distance between himself and Katakuri, neither too close nor too far. In the meantime, the Wado Ichimonji sword he had just slashed at Katakuri was sheathed.

The next moment, Katakuri's mochi arm came hurtling towards Zoro, and a flash of lightning emanated from the edge of Zoro's eye socket, while the hand holding the hilt of his sword also shone with the brilliance of thunder!

"The sun, a riot of colors."

Katakuri only heard the sound, and then, in an instant, a dazzling light seemed to burst forth before his eyes. This light seemed to be composed of countless fine slashes that were almost woven into a dense grid, which instinctively made him feel threatened.

He never underestimated his instincts, so instead of seizing the opportunity to attack, Katakuri's feet sank and he sank directly into the rice on the ground, disappearing as if he were diving.

In the next instant, countless blades of light sliced ​​Katakuri's two mochi arms, which remained suspended in the air, into countless pieces, which fell like raindrops.

Without any emotional change, Zoro transformed into lightning and soared into the sky as his attack missed.

As expected, as his figure soared into the sky, fireworks of glutinous rice paste exploded on the ground, instantly covering the area where he had just been. If he were to get his hands on this highly viscous glutinous rice, even if he were a user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, it would definitely have some impact.

Spinning halfway through the air on lightning, Zoro stepped out with Moonwalk, a move that, combined with lightning, exploded into a streak of indigo light in the air.

"One-Sword Style: Three Hundred and Sixty Troublesome Winds!!!" As he performed Moon Walk, Zoro roared and unleashed a powerful slash from above.

As the sword was drawn, it transformed into a gale, which also carried a piercing thunderous sound!

From beneath the ground, Katakuri's figure emerged from the rice porridge, his power flashing as he shouted, "Rain of Rice Cakes!!!"

The ground erupted like a fountain, or rather, like a volcanic eruption, with countless streams of glutinous rice paste gushing forth and shooting into the sky. Then, it collided with the slash, exploding into a rain of glutinous rice paste that filled the sky.

(End of this chapter)