Paper Paper Fruit In One Piece

Gear Fifth?? 

Not just Teach, but even Roman, who was possessing Nami, and the rest of the Straw Hat Crew all turned their heads in shock! After all, every time Luffy "geared up," his strength would increase dramatically. So this time— 

How much stronger would he get? 

Roman was looking forward to it too. 

"Gear Fourth gives me a lot of power and a huge body, but it's not always good when fighting strong opponents..." 

As Luffy pumped air into his bones and transformed into Gear Fourth's Boundman form, he gained immense strength and a tough body. But in high-level battles, if you can't hit your opponent, it's useless! Just like when he fought Katakuri. 

And also— 

"The bigger my body, the more Armament Haki I need to defend myself, and that leaves more openings for my enemy." 

Whoosh— 

A powerful burst of Haki exploded from Luffy's body! But just half a meter out, his overwhelming willpower pulled it back in with force. 

"Double Haki compression?!" 

Roman, still possessing Nami, was stunned. That was something he only learned after getting beaten up by Garp for a whole year! 

"Hehehe~ I saw you do it so many times, and before I knew it, I figured it out." 

Hearing Luffy's cheerful explanation, Nami (Roman) nodded expressionlessly. Inside, though, he didn't even know how to react. "You just watched a few times and figured it out? What are you, some kind of cheat?!" 

But then again... Luffy did get beaten up by his grandpa for years as a kid. Yeah, that makes things feel more fair. 

Crackling! Crackling!! 

Luffy's Armament Haki suddenly compressed, shrinking his massive Gear Fourth Boundman form back to his normal size! He looked similar to his Snakeman form, but back then, he didn't have Conqueror's Haki infused into his attacks. 

Besides— 

Snakeman was actually just the prototype of Gear Fifth. 

Snap. 

"Watch out." 

"Tch, isn't this just like Super Saiyan?" 

As Luffy stood up, black markings spread across his body, reaching up to his neck. It made him look both mysterious and imposing! Even scarier were the black lightning bolts crackling around him, like the explosive energy of Super Saiyan 3! 

Roman, still possessing Nami, narrowed his eyes. 

"Luffy compressed his Armament Haki after releasing it. That lets him keep Gear Fourth's strength and durability while making himself much faster. And with the double-layered Haki forming an armor, he's immune to all Devil Fruit powers." 

"On top of that, with Conqueror's Haki infused into his attacks, he can tear through space itself..." 

And if you add in Luffy's ability to "see the future" with Observation Haki— 

It's like he's got 'Epitaph,' 'Time Erasure,' 'The World Over Heaven,' and 'Made in Heaven' all in one... 

Invincible. Truly invincible! 

"Ten seconds." 

Hearing Luffy's words after his transformation, Teach froze. 

"Teach, I can only maintain this form for ten seconds, so—" 

I'll finish this in ten seconds!? "After—" 

 The moment the warning came from behind, an unimaginable force surged up from below! 

In the next instant— 

Teach's back went numb, his eyeballs twitched, and he realized—he was floating in midair! He turned his head slightly. Below him was a tiny island, and nearby, warships looked like scattered ants on the vast ocean... 

Warships? An island? 

Wait— 

Swish. 

A figure surrounded by crackling black lightning appeared beside Teach. 

Before he could even react— 

A pitch-black fist slammed into his massive chest! 

Crack! 

Amid the crisp sound of ribs breaking, Teach's body was instantly engulfed in dark smoke, riddled with wounds. The dual-colored Haki, one bright and one dark, broke through his defenses effortlessly, seeping into every inch of his body, even penetrating deep into his muscles, bones, and internal organs! 

In the next moment, the overwhelming force of Conqueror's Haki and the unstoppable penetration of Armament Haki exploded inside and out. Teach's vision swam with stars, his blood churned wildly in his chest, and a sharp pain shot through his organs. Every bone in his body twisted and ground against each other with loud cracks, while faint sounds of shattering echoed within. His muscles spasmed uncontrollably, convulsing and twitching as if his entire body was being violently pulled and shaken by forces tearing him apart from all directions. 

"I got attacked… by Straw Hat?!" 

Spurt— 

Before Teach could even process what had happened, blood spewed from his mouth! His body was still frozen under the impact of Luffy's Haki. Even though his mind had finally caught up, and he desperately wanted to move— 

Not even a single finger— 

Crack! 

In an instant, Luffy's next attack followed right on the heels of the first, sending Teach flying sideways through the air! 

"This is really…" 

Watching Teach get completely overwhelmed in midair, taking hit after hit with no chance to fight back, and seeing Luffy moving so fast that only streaks of black lightning were visible in the sky, Roman instinctively rubbed his chin. The smooth touch brought him back to reality— 

It was Nami's body. 

"Pretty interesting, isn't it?" 

On the other side, Zoro, leaning on his sword, looked excited. To him, as long as there was a strong opponent ahead, he had a reason to keep getting stronger. 

Watching Luffy unleash the unstoppable power of Gear Fifth, the Straw Hat Crew finally let out a breath of relief. 

But as for Teach… 

In an instant, the tide of battle had completely "flipped!" 

Unfortunately for him, it was the exact opposite of what he had planned. The sharp pain coursing through his entire body was proof of just how terrifying Luffy's attacks were. Even his Armament Haki and Darkness powers couldn't block them. 

If this keeps up— 

Teach had no idea how many more hits he could take. One punch? Two punches? Maybe three? 

But one thing was clear— 

If he didn't do something now, Straw Hat was going to beat him like a ragdoll until his bones shattered, his muscles tore apart, and he ended up as nothing more than a grotesque, broken corpse! 

No way! I'm the man who's going to be Pirate King! I've worked for decades for this day! 

Could it be that *we* really have no chance against this Straw Hat kid? 

For a moment, despair flooded Teach's heart. 

But while he was being pounded like a sandbag, Luffy wasn't exactly having an easy time either. 

Predicting the future to control the battlefield, using Armament Haki to block Teach's Darkness abilities, wrapping Conqueror's Haki around his attacks to break through defenses— 

That was the only reason Luffy was able to dominate Teach. Even one of those elements missing would have changed everything. 

And yet, despite being covered in wounds, blood spraying from his body, and looking like a complete mess, Teach still held on, gritting his teeth through the pain! 

Now it was just a matter of who would last longer— 

"Stay down already—!" 

Crackle— 

High above Teach, Luffy suddenly appeared, his fist drawn back and charged with power! 

In that instant, his rubbery body, wrapped in all three types of Haki, vibrated at an incredibly high frequency, creating ripples in the very space around his fist! 

Against this punch, abilities like the Door-Door Fruit, the Warp-Warp Fruit, or even the Castle-Castle Fruit— 

Were all useless! 

Because Luffy's fist had become so powerful, it could interfere with the very *fabric* of space itself. 

This punch— 

Was unavoidable! 

As Luffy's fist came crashing down, the space around Teach completely locked in place! 

Even if he wasn't already paralyzed from the impact, even if he was in his best condition— 

There was no way to dodge. 

It's over! 

Under Luffy's descending fist, the only thing left in Teach's eyes— 

Was despair.

"Let me handle this." 

As soon as the whisper faded, a figure in a dress suddenly broke away from Blackbeard Teach's body and shot upward to meet Luffy's fist. 

?! "Move—" 

Before Luffy could pull back his punch, Anne had already stepped in front of Blackbeard. Surrounding her were four "Homies" infused with the souls of top-tier fighters—lightning, fire, ice, and earth. As Luffy's devastating punch closed in, the long-haired girl calmly pressed the four elemental spirits into her palm. 

In the world of pirates, the winner takes all, and the loser gets nothing. 

No point in complaining. 

"Elemental Annihilation." 

Muttering to herself, the four elements suddenly merged, compressing into a pitch-black "singularity"! This was the ultimate clash of opposing forces, forcibly fused by their master's command—a final, violent harmony of contradictions! 

"Come." 

The long-haired girl gently lifted the black sphere in her hand to meet Luffy's earth-shattering punch. As their terrifying powers collided, space itself twisted and folded into a massive sphere, layered with countless distortions. Each ripple in space carried the force to tear through diamonds—or even any metal in the world. 

But this was only the aftermath of their ultimate moves... 

"Not good!" 

At that instant, those who had reached the pinnacle of strength—Roman, Zoro, and Katakuri, as well as Momousagi and Chaton out at sea—all sensed an overwhelming, terrifying force about to erupt. 

"Awakening: Shield of Seven Seraphic Rings!" 

Roman raised his hands, conjuring a massive number of paper sheets out of thin air. They stacked into seven layers of protective shields, far surpassing even the legendary Ajax's shield from the Trojan War. 

At the same moment, Zoro gathered all three swords in an instant, not even having time to chant his usual incantation: 

"Three Thousand Worlds!" 

A massive flying slash tore through the sky, the sea, and the island! 

On the other side, Katakuri swung both hands, transforming the ground into rolling mochi waves that surged up like a tsunami, shielding the Charlotte family members. His Armament Haki spread over the mochi fortress, turning it pitch-black. 

"Awakening: Castle Mochi!" 

BOOM— 

A true cataclysm! The sky shattered, the earth quaked! 

In midair, a black sphere of light rapidly expanded from a tiny point to a massive "eclipse" spanning hundreds of meters in diameter. Then, in an instant, it collapsed inward—only to explode outward with an unrestrained force! 

A colossal shockwave and searing heat radiated in all directions. A towering mushroom cloud, crackling with black lightning, shot thousands of meters into the sky, making every powerful figure across the New World snap their heads toward it! 

Even though they couldn't see it, their Observation Haki told them: 

"Unbelievable..." 

"What kind of monsters are fighting?!" 

"With power this terrifying, even the Four Emperors...!" 

Unless Whitebeard and Roger had come back to life, such an apocalyptic clash shouldn't even exist in this world— 

Because the explosion happened in midair and spread outward, the surface of Whole Cake Island remained mostly intact. However, the sheer pressure crushed the entire island as if a god had stomped down from above! The ground violently trembled before suddenly collapsing nearly a hundred meters downward! 

The island now sat far below sea level. Normally, it would have sunk completely into the ocean. But the overwhelming energy and heat from the explosion had either vaporized the seawater or pushed it away, creating a massive basin in the middle of the sea. 

In just a few minutes, however, an enormous tsunami would surge back from all directions, swallowing the area entirely. Meanwhile, the shockwave from the clash was still spreading, triggering natural disasters hundreds of kilometers away! 

There was no doubt—Whole Cake Island was finished. 

If there was one silver lining, it was that after Blackbeard's rampage, the place was already a ghost town. Perhaps, in that sense, this disaster was just the final nail in the coffin. 

(End of Chapter)