In the firmament above, the resonant hum and sharp clangs of clashing blades rang out incessantly.
Light as scorching red as burning charcoal surged through the clouds and snow, splitting the entire mass of dark clouds in two.
Flowing Haki surged and churned, forming golden waves of sword energy that sliced through everything in their path, cleanly severing streaks of lightning.
Snowstorms shattered, the scorching red light advanced. Retracting her broken blade, Sakura raised a fist and threw a powerful punch at the Shiki before her.
Unexpectedly, the old man facing her refused to be outdone. Red, flowing Haki gathered around his arms as he returned the punch in kind.
Boom!
A terrifying shockwave erupted between them, howling winds rising up.
Simultaneously, Sakura was sent flying backward like a cannonball, while Shiki also drifted backward from the force.
Only after flying a great distance did the girl stabilize herself.
"Tch, that hurts! Haki just like that old man Garp's!"
Sakura shook out her hands, unconcerned with appearances. "It bypassed my Haki armor and damaged me directly from the inside!"
Sakura's fists were red and swollen, blood oozing from skin stretched to its limit and ruptured. It looked quite alarming.
Internal Destruction Armament Haki naturally possessed such power.
"Shihahaha, so you've been chased by that bastard Garp too?"
Shiki laughed uproariously as he closed the distance, showing no mercy. A sweeping kick unleashed a massive wave of sword energy.
"At least I got away, instead of being locked up in Impel Down!"
When it came to getting under people's skin, Sakura's mouth was always online.
She spun Kumotsuna, coating its blade with frost to enhance its toughness, and met Shiki's incoming slash head-on.
Clang!
Relying on her own terrifying strength, Sakura shattered the sword wave once again. However, Shiki's peculiar Haki still clung like a stubborn parasite, seeping through and causing damage.
The blade disintegrated. Sakura quickly healed herself while rapidly closing the distance between her and Shiki.
It was well known that the best way to deal with a master swordsman was close-quarters combat, exploiting the difficulty of wielding a blade effectively at extremely close range to create openings.
Otherwise, one could only pray the opponent exhausted their stamina or that their swordsmanship wasn't refined enough to finish you off with flying slashes.
"Hmph! Once I capture you, I'll make you sing my praises ten times a day, you brat!"
An irritated Shiki let an invisible presence leak from his body. He actively gave up the swordsman's advantage, diving towards Sakura below, seemingly intending to confront this disrespectful junior head-on.
Seeing his movement, Sakura's lips curled into a smile.
Under the cover of Haki, the muscles and tendons in her arms trembled. Blade light condensed into a single line as she met Shiki's Haki with her own in a direct contest.
Shiki seemed to sense Sakura's intention. His smile grew wilder as he gathered even more Haki, unleashing an even sharper slash.
Haki, as a product of coalesced spirit, killing intent, fighting spirit... and other intangible things, was honed fastest through life-and-death battles, strengthening one's will and presence to make it grow stronger.
In the continuous exchange of blows with Shiki, Sakura's presence grew increasingly fierce and violent.
Under her fearless assaults, the sword wounds and fractures on her body multiplied.
Yet, the killing intent condensed within those emerald eyes grew increasingly ferocious.
Until finally, forgetting everything else, she used her own Haki to swing her sword, shake the air, and unleash rumbling thunder.
Sakura frowned. "What exactly am I missing?"
Making Haki flow, forming armor, or repelling enemies… such techniques still belonged to the stage of the user holding the weapon that was their will.
But Internal Destruction? It required the weapon named Haki to be released from the body, yet the user could still freely manipulate it. How was such a technique achieved?
"Heh, still not enough training, Higanbana brat!"
Shiki revealed a smug smile, the cigar in his mouth bobbing up and down. "Want to know the secret of Internal Destruction? Join me, and I'll teach you. How about it?"
"Not necessary!"
Sakura gritted her teeth, pushing Shiki's sword aside.
There was no reason these old-timers on the sea could comprehend something from one or two battles, and she couldn't figure it out!
She raised Kumotsuna and swung it to meet Shiki's famous blade.
Boom!
Amidst the reverberating sword clash, Sakura closed her eyes, sensing Shiki's Haki.
Relying on the sheer volume of her Haki to offset his, this clash only pushed her back slightly.
Immediately after, Shiki swiftly closed in with another sword wave.
And Sakura swung her sword in response.
Within mere seconds, Sakura and Shiki exchanged an uncountable number of blows.
Stopping the Chakra Burst, reining in the monstrous giant's strength, the Haki that had been constantly crumbling at first, as Sakura placed greater reliance on it, actually began to steadily climb. It gradually withstood Shiki's assaults and slowly began to mount counterattacks.
"You...?!" Shiki was utterly astonished.
But the movements of his feet didn't stop. Instead, they grew even more ruthless.
The clash of swords grew increasingly intense, the clear, ringing echoes resounding throughout the firmament.
Finally, another powerful blade-to-blade collision.
Amidst the shattering, sharp hum, Shiki and Sakura were both sent flying backward simultaneously.
"This... this is learned already?"
Shiki, who had stabilized himself by pressing down with his ability, looked up, his face filled with disbelief.
"Ha, haha! How could the answer be so simple?"
In the distance, Sakura laughed, covering her forehead. Her arms were now sheathed in a layer of flowing, sakura-pink Haki.
That was unmistakably the advanced application of Armament Haki… Internal Destruction.
To achieve the conditions of releasing Haki externally, penetrating an object's surface, and directly damaging its interior, there were two requirements.
First, gather Haki from all over the body, raising its concentration to a level where it could autonomously permeate. Second, trust… believe that Haki, even after leaving the body, can still be controlled.
As an incredible power derived from one's own will, placing trust in Haki meant this miraculous power would surely respond.
"Now then, old lion, it's time to settle this!"
Sakura raised Kumotsuna. The black blade now had an additional layer of intangible, swirling fluctuation wrapped around its exterior.
"You've just barely grasped the basics! Don't get too carried away!"
Shiki roared, sweeping with the sharp sword attached to his right foot.
Clang-!
This time, the clash of blades produced no sound of shattering. Dark lightning erupted where their sword edges met.
Shiki's charging speed visibly slowed, until finally he halted in mid-air, finding it difficult to advance.
Steam surged from Sakura's arm. With a flick of her wrist, she sent him flying. "Shiki, this is the final blow. If you can't withstand it, then obediently become my stepping stone!"
The girl raised her sword.
The dark cloud blade surged with storm and thunder. Flowing Haki seeped into the blade itself, causing the surrounding air to tremble.
[Ikoku: Thunder Flame!]
"Our era isn't over yet! Don't look down on people, you damn brat!"
In mid-air, Shiki spread his fingers wide and made a fierce grasping motion at the clouds and lightning in the air.
The blizzard formed into shapes of tiny lions, flowing together with his Armament Haki onto the Great Grade Swords attached to his feet.
[Lion's Roar: Palace Thousand-Split Valley!]
Multiple snowflake-like sword energies, each capable of sundering mountains and splitting seas, collided with the massive storm wreathed in silver lightning.
From within the unprecedented upheaval, the overcast clouds blanketing the sky were driven away.
Clear moonlight cascaded down, allowing even the people in the palace below to see the two combatants clashing in the sky.
The storm-like impact relentlessly pushed forward. The snowflake-like slashes shattered inch by inch, until finally, it charged towards the man with long, flowing golden hair.
"Urk!"
Shiki's expression changed.
The lightning illuminated his eyes. A brilliant, overwhelming impact covered everything.
"Am I going to fail again.... Roger-!!!"