With this thought in mind.
Buzz!
"Two-Sword Style..."
A clear ring suddenly sounded, a blinding cold gleam lit up, the fighting spirit in Nao's eyes blazed like a torch, both swords struck out simultaneously, and the terrifying sword intent he had long finished gathering suddenly erupted completely!
"Sealing Dust—Annihilation Slash!!"
As his shout rang out, all the winds of heaven and earth gathered into a vast, deathly wave of sword energy that surged downward toward Big Mom in unstoppable force!
Shh—shh—!
Wherever the sword energy passed, it was as if the end of the world had come — even the air itself was drawn away into nothingness.
Even those kilometers away felt their throats tighten, their lungs refusing to draw breath, as though the very atmosphere had frozen still.
"That's…!"
Far off in the distance, Momonga, who had just defeated Cracker and was leading Marines against the remaining pirates, turned pale. His eyes widened.
"That's the sword technique the Vice Admiral mastered only a year ago…"
Recalling the terrifying sight from a year ago—when he first saw Nao unleash that sword strike, wiping out thousands of pirates in an instant—Momonga couldn't help but breathe heavily. A rare look of excitement appeared on his usually calm face.
"The Vice Admiral… he's about to unleash his final thunderous strike!"
Meanwhile, at the southeast corner.
Smoothie, who had been blasted hundreds of meters away by the combined effort of Little Luo and Onigumo and was just struggling to her feet, had a drastically changed expression.
She staggered to her feet and screamed hoarsely toward the battlefield:
"Mama, dodge quickly, look behind you!"
Her warning was quick—
but it was already too late.
The deranged, half-conscious Big Mom, lost in madness, didn't seem to hear a thing.
Instead of dodging, she grinned savagely, raised her flame-wreathed fist, and launched herself upward like a cannonball, charging straight into the oncoming sword energy.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma!!!"
BOOOOM!
A thunderous explosion split the sky. In that instant, not only the northern forests but the very foundation of the island itself trembled violently—as if the end had come.
Countless birds shot up from the forest in terror, only to be caught in the raging shockwave. Before they could even escape the canopy, they fell like rain, crying out in despair.
In the sky above, storms raged. Big Mom was trapped within the maelstrom, struggling madly, but her efforts were in vain—her body was being shredded by countless blades of wind
Meanwhile—
Nao, using the special effect of his Sealing Dust Annihilation Slash, appeared silently dozens of meters behind Big Mom.
Now's my chance!
Looking back at Big Mom, who was momentarily frozen and unable to move in mid-air, a sharp light flashed in Nao's eyes. He unleashed his final attack without hesitation!
His black hair stood on end, whipping wildly in the wind. Electric arcs crackled through it, and his once ink-dark pupils suddenly turned into a brilliant azure blue.
In the next instant, a blinding surge of lightning erupted from Nao's body, bursting outward in all directions.
Buzz!!!
The entire forest became a field of thunder.
Lightning roared and surged, splitting and gathering as it raced across the land.
Within mere seconds, the storm condensed into nine colossal dragons of pure blue lightning, their bodies translucent, their eyes snapping open in unison as they roared toward the ground!
From below, one could see them descending — like ancient divine beasts peering down from the heavens, majestic and terrible beyond words.
"Thunder Summon—Nine Dragons Annihilation!"
With Nao's deafening roar, his twin swords— once pointed toward the sky—came slashing down.
At his command, the nine dragons converged, thundering from the heavens, bringing with them a torrent of unending lightning as they crashed upon the trapped Big Mom below.
"You… damn… little brat…"
At this moment, Big Mom, at the center of the thunder storm, had completely bloodshot eyes.
Under the massive impact coming from all directions, she could barely stand still, let alone punch.
Crossing her arms in front of her, Big Mom strained with all her might to resist the terrifying lightning storm outside. Her breathing became increasingly labored, and her heavily scarred chest violently rose and fell.
"If this is all you've got… if this is the best you can do…"
Her throat rasped, and a chilling whisper escaped her lips. From the center of her chest, a horrifying aura began to gather—
and in the next instant, it exploded outward with a thunderous roar!
"—You think you can defeat me?!"
As one of the Emperors of the Sea, one of the strongest beings standing atop the world itself—
how could she possibly be trapped, paralyzed in some storm like this?!
BOOM!
The apocalyptic thunder storm that had been raging so violently was suddenly, completely suppressed. Its terrifying power began to wane.
Crackle… crackle!
The winds died down, the clouds dispersed—and in that brief silence, Big Mom shot out like a cannonball, appearing right before Nao.
With a savage grin, she smashed her fist straight into his chest!
THUD!
The impact landed like an explosion.
Nao was blasted backward dozens of meters before managing to regain his footing—his chest caved inward, ribs crushed and bent grotesquely.
"Truly worthy of being an Emperor..."
Nao coughed up a mouthful of blood and broke into a violent cough, but after just one glance at his wound, he looked back up—
his gaze fixed on the blood-soaked figure before him, a demonic Big Mom who looked like she had crawled straight out of hell.
"Even in that state… you broke free from the storm and managed to strike back, huh."
His hands, however, never stopped moving. With a flick of his wrist, he tightened his grip on the hilts of Yone's twin swords, and slashed.
"But in the end… it's nothing more than the final struggle of a dying beast!"
At the edge of death, anyone could erupt in one last desperate flash of strength—but it wouldn't last long. Not even for Big Mom.
In Nao's eyes, the battle's outcome was already sealed.
No dying counterattack could change it now.
As his pupils blazed with fierce light, the twin swords fell—
The gathered sword energy at their tips exploded into a towering column of lightning, roaring straight down.
"Take my final strike—Charlotte Linlin!"
"Two-Sword Style: Endless Thunder!
His stamina was nearly gone; there was no way he could unleash devastating technique like Nine Dragons' Annihilation or Doomsday Annihilation again.
But the power of this sword—was more than enough to serve as the final straw that would break the beast.
RUMBLE!!!
The lightning pillar engulfed Big Mom completely.
Deafening explosions echoed one after another as endless thunder pressure crashed down upon her, tearing at every part of her body.
She felt an overwhelming force—like a raging flood—crashing down on her, slamming into her insides over and over again.
Her bones cracked loudly beneath the assault; she could no longer resist.
Finally—
As the lightning pressure built to its peak, even the woman known as the "Iron Balloon" reached her limit.
The Armament Haki coating her body shattered completely.
"Pfft!"
She spat out a mouthful of blood. Her eyes dulled, her arms fell limp, and her massive, mountain-like body plummeted from the sky—
crashing down toward the distant sea like a fallen meteor.
Two thousand meters… one thousand… five hundred…
Her enormous body drew an arc through the air—and passed right over the head of a pirate captain who had transformed into a massive black rhinoceros.
CRASH!
The rhino's horn—harder than steel—was pierced through in an instant.
The captain, who had been roaring and charging at nearby marines, froze for several seconds before the pain from his shattered horn finally reached his brain.
"ROAAAR!"
He bellowed in fury, turning to see who dared to strike him—
only to be struck dumb by what he saw.
The Emperor of the Sea he had sworn allegiance to—Big Mom—was crashing to the ground like a meteor, smashing through boulders, kicking up clouds of dust, and sending dozens of pirates flying,
their bodies mangled into unrecognizable pulp in her wake.
And just like that—
After being blasted backward across the ground for hundreds of meters, carving a deep, bottomless trench in her wake, Big Mom finally crashed into the sea, erupting a towering column of water over a hundred meters high.
SPLASH!
As the waves gradually calmed, a thin stream of blood surfaced, dyeing the nearby waters red.
"B–Big Mom… Lady Big Mom…"
Almost every pirate stood frozen in place, their jaws dropped in disbelief.
Their captain—their Emperor of the Sea—had been defeated.
"Mama…"
Even Smoothie, who was lying helpless on the ground, bit her lip and clenched her fists with all her strength—but in the end, her hands fell weakly to her sides, powerless.
After a brief moment of stunned disbelief, panic began to spread across the entire island like wildfire.
A sense of despair engulfed every pirate present.
On the other side, however, the Marines erupted in cheers.
Their spirits soared after witnessing the fall of an Emperor of the Sea.
Under Momonga and Onigumo's command, the MArines launched its final assault against the already broken remnants of the Big Mom Pirates!
In less than an hour—
The war was over.
The two Sweet Commanders, Smoothie and Cracker, were both captured and taken prisoner.
Over ten thousand pirates were wiped out almost entirely, marking the decisive end of this seven-day, seven-night battle—
a complete and overwhelming victory for the Marine!
...
In the following two days, news of the North Blue Battle spread across the world like wildfire.
Countless newspaper editors were shaken awake in the middle of the night by their frantic presidents, rushing to their presses, working overtime without rest to print extra editions and increase circulation.
Before long—
As dawn broke, flocks of News Coo birds took to the skies, delivering freshly inked papers to every corner of the globe.
Such a world-shaking headline—
caused the World Economic News Paper to sell out completely for the first time in years.
From taverns in remote East Blue villages to pirate ships sailing across the New World—
everywhere people were buzzing with excitement and disbelief over the news.
And who could blame them?
The report was simply too shocking to believe.
Big Mom, who had traveled thousands of miles to lay an ambush—
not only failed to kill her target, but after seven days and nights of fierce battle, was instead defeated head-on and knocked into the sea!
Two years ago, during the Battle for the Poneglyphs, when Nao fought the Beasts Pirates' Kaido to a draw, many had dismissed it as luck—
claiming his true power still fell short of that of the Sea Emperors.
But this time—
Even the most arrogant and self-assured pirate legends were left utterly speechless upon reading the headlines.
No one dared underestimate this twenty-five-year-old newcomer any longer.
"White Dragon" Nao—
After two years of quiet restraint, his name once again thundered across the seas—
and in the eyes of countless people, he had truly ascended to the top of the world, inheriting the mantle of Marine heroes like Zephyr and Garp, becoming the brightest star in the entire Marine.
...
"The balance of this Great Pirate Era… is about to collapse."
A man standing on the deck of a pirate ship gazed solemnly at the dark, stormy sky above, his expression heavy with thought.
"The Marine's already been pushing deeper into the New World each year…
And now, even a Candidate Admiral can defeat an Emperor of the Sea.
At this rate, the Marine's only going to grow stronger—and the New World… is headed for another great upheaval."
...
"Heh! The Big Mom Pirates really lost face this time!"
He slapped his knee and cackled.
"The mighty Emperor of the Sea—fifty-something years old—
taken down by a kid in his twenties! Hah! What a joke!"
Another joined in, laughing uproariously.
"Shilalala! Guess the so-called Emperors of the New World aren't that impressive after all! Not as strong as the legends say, huh?"
"Set sail! We're heading for the New World, boys! Before we find the ONE PIECE, I'm gonna make a name for us first! We'll wipe out what's left of the Big Mom Pirates and make the Giant Axe Pirates famous across the seas!"
"OOOOHHHHHH!!!"
...
Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
It was noon.
Inside the upper office of the World Government, warm sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The Five Elders sat gathered once again after a long time apart—each with faint smiles that they couldn't quite hide.
"Last time, he fought Kaido to a draw… and now he's outright defeated Big Mom."
The bald-headed Elder with the birthmark on his forehead and twin mustaches stroked his beard, chuckling.
"Marine Headquarters is in an uproar. That boy… he's far more remarkable than we anticipated."
"It seems our decision to promote him early to Admiral Candidate two years ago was the right call,"
added the long-bearded Elder with a calm tone.
"Give him a few more years, and I truly believe that the Great Pirate Era, which Roger started, will come to its end—by his hand."
"Should we report this incident to Imu-sama?"
The bald Elder spoke up again.
"It's been years since we last disturbed the Lord, but this event is… different. Perhaps it should be reported."
At that, silence fell over the room.
The light breeze through the open window was the only sound.
After a pause, the Elder wearing a kimono and carrying the sword Shodai Kitetsu rose slowly to his feet.
"I'll go myself," he said quietly.
"For most matters, it doesn't concern the Lord—but regarding that boy, White Dragon, Imu-sama has shown… particular interest.
A report about him is necessary."
...
Roughly half an hour later—
After walking through the long, winding halls of Pangaea Castle, the kimono-clad Elder arrived at the most secretive chamber within—the place known as 'Room of Flowers.'
This was the residence of Imu, the hidden ruler behind the World Government.
Inside the vast, mist-shrouded hall, a faint fragrance lingered in the air.
The Empty Throne stood tall and imposing, and behind its shadows, one could faintly see a figure sitting upon it—its presence immeasurable and mysterious.
"Imu-sama, this is the report."
The Elder knelt deeply, holding up the compiled intelligence without daring to raise his head.
The figure upon the throne accepted the papers and began to flip through them leisurely.
For several long minutes, silence reigned—
then a soft, almost amused voice broke it.
"I see. You may leave."
"Yes, Imu-sama."
The Elder bowed low, his heart finally easing after a long, tense wait.
He carefully rose, bowed again, and quietly withdrew from the chamber.
In an instant, the great hall fell silent once more—
leaving only that solitary figure seated upon the Empty Throne.