BOOM!
Whitebeard stepped forward, his cloak billowing behind him.
With a roar, he brought down his massive naginata, slicing through the air with the weight of a mountain, aiming straight for the oncoming wave of Conqueror's Haki.
CRACK!
The blade struck an invisible wall.
The impact exploded like thunder, arcs of Haki crackling like fireworks across the deck.
The barrier of Haki shattered like glass, and the shockwave blasted everyone nearby backward.
Luoyu had known from the start—pure Haki wouldn't stop the strongest man of the old era.
As the attack loomed in his pupils, he exhaled slowly and raised his head.
The crowd's expressions shifted.
It had been a long time since anyone had faced a Yonko with such composure.
Was he frozen in fear?
But before that thought could settle, golden light erupted from Luoyu's body.
A towering golden Kannon, seven or eight meters tall, formed in an instant.
As the naginata tore through the air, the Kannon moved first.
Thousand Hands Catch the Blade!
Dozens of radiant hands reached out to intercept the strike.
The crowd gasped.
They thought Luoyu had finally been forced to act.
But he was still standing still, orchestrating the entire scene like a conductor.
"Hmph. Parlor tricks," Whitebeard scoffed.
His muscles bulged, and the power behind his naginata surged.
The golden hands shattered like paper.
The blade, gleaming with deadly light, tore through the Kannon and bore down on Luoyu.
"Rage."
Luoyu's lips parted, and with a single word, the Kannon turned crimson—its serene face twisting into a wrathful Vajra.
As the naginata closed in, a storm of golden fists rained down.
The sudden shift stunned everyone.
Whitebeard's attack was a privilege—an honor.
Most would panic, scramble to defend.
But Luoyu stood unmoved, calmly unleashing technique after technique.
BOOM!
The flurry of fists shattered under the naginata's might.
The explosion rocked the deck.
But Luoyu hadn't expected to stop Whitebeard.
All of it—every move—was a setup.
He was buying time.
He never intended to clash head-on.
If not for the ten-million-Berry bonus, he wouldn't be here at all.
"You've got tricks, brat," Whitebeard laughed. "But if you think that's enough to stop me, you're underestimating me!"
His naginata tore through the last of the blood-red light.
But just as it cleared, Luoyu moved.
If the Whirlwind Iron-Cutting Palm was his ultimate offense, then the Flowing Water Rock-Smashing Fist was his ultimate defense.
Flowing Water Formation!
Luoyu's right hand surged with Armament Haki, fingers curling into claws.
Wind swirled around him, merging with the black flow of Ryuo.
A river of black energy coiled around his arm.
And then—
BOOM!
The naginata met the black stream head-on.
Two waves of Conqueror's Haki collided again, the explosion blasting skyward.
The deck beneath them cracked like a spiderweb.
The pirates staggered back, choking on the pressure.
When the storm finally settled, all eyes turned to the center of the deck.
They were desperate to see the new Admiral humiliated.
But what they saw made their eyes bulge.
"He… he caught it. That brat caught Pops' strike with one hand!"
"No—look at the sky! The Haki clash… it split the heavens!"
"How? That last attack should've crushed him! How did he stop it?"
The deck erupted.
Even Gion and Chaton, watching from a mile away through a Den Den Mushi, were stunned.
Whitebeard's strike had been overwhelming.
And yet Luoyu had stopped it—barehanded.
They'd never seen him fight before.
They hadn't expected this.
"He's terrifying," Ben Beckman muttered, cigar clenched between his teeth.
"Not just his techniques and composure—his insight is monstrous."
"He knew Whitebeard wouldn't go all out. He used every move to chip away at the attack, until he could catch it."
"If he'd miscalculated even slightly, that arm would be gone."
The crowd was already stunned.
But Beckman's analysis made it worse.
They realized just how insane Luoyu's gamble had been.
And how perfectly he'd executed it.
Everyone instinctively glanced at Shanks' empty left sleeve.
Was this what happened when you failed to catch a Yonko's blade?