With Aos making the first move,
the free-for-all began!
But with Marco the Phoenix the first to go down, and Aos jumping in like a last-minute spoiler, the Roger Pirates held the overall edge,
not to mention that on Whitebeard's side only Oden counted as real top combat power,
while Rayleigh and the others all had Conqueror's coating—one finger was plenty to toy with their matchups.
So rather than a battle, it felt more like sparring.
Aos, thick-skulled as ever, wasn't quite strong enough yet, but with monstrous brute force and two well-tempered colors of Haki,
he still managed to trade evenly with Oden for a while from the back foot.
Now Aos understood why, in One Piece, so many fights can be forced fifty-fifty,
one side may be weaker, but as long as it's not an overwhelming gap, going at it for days is easy,
everyone's a walking health bar!
And compared with Captain Roger's crew and their absurd coating, Kozuki Oden was a step down, and his Conqueror's wasn't world-top tier,
Aos might not beat him, but he made fine practice,
at worst, it hurt a bit.
"One-Sword Style—"
Tzz tzz tzz...
Dense Busoshoku flooded the blade, threads of Haoshoku winding over it. Backed by Aos's brute strength and swordcraft, the strike's power all but tore the air!!!
It was Aos's first time pushing to the absolute limit, eyes peering into the future without pause,
"Ultimate: Black Flash!!"
Oden hadn't expected him to open with a finisher, but he wouldn't be outdone,
his Busoshoku mastery, even above Aos's, wrapped both swords as he charged with a slash!
"Oden Two-Sword Style: Samurai Great Spirit!!"
In a blink, the two crossed. The force cracked the ground inch by inch; it didn't split heaven and earth, but sand skirled and stones flew—spectacular.
The nearby brawlers still trading basic swings stared, dumbstruck,
Wait—you two are going that hard for real?
After that single exchange, Aos's brows knit, red light bursting in his eyes,
How?
I clearly dodged.
The next second,
blood spurted from Aos's mouth,
which scared the bedraggled Buggy and Shanks half to death!
No cuts on him, yet he still vomited blood—Aos had "seen" this the instant they clashed,
and then he understood at once,
So this is Ryuo?
Thanks to his freakish body, even eating one Ryuo hit didn't drop him; he'd pre-seen and slipped past most of it with Kenbunshoku,
his body only took the part of the internal damage he hadn't reacted to,
with a frame rivaling Whitebeard's youth, he wasn't going down easy.
"Ryuo, huh? Flowing outward to wreck the inside…"
Aos savored the sensation, Kenbunshoku sweeping over Oden behind him again and again as he tried to set his own Armament in motion.
"Now that was a nasty slash."
Truth is, Oden didn't come out well either. Because Aos had read his guard completely,
that blade bit straight into his chest, carving a long gash that bled freely,
and that's the pain of facing someone with Future Sight—unless you crush them, be ready to keep taking hits,
whatever defense you choose, time gives you away.
What followed stayed much the same. Oden's raw stats topped Aos's, but he still couldn't handle that obscene Kenbunshoku and brute force,
Oden even felt that in pure grappling he might actually lose,
and as their Conqueror's clashed, Aos kept working at Ryuo and Conqueror's coating. One waned as the other waxed,
he grew stronger the longer he fought, with absurd stamina,
Oden had never felt so stifled!
Not even when Whitebeard and Roger one-tapped him had he felt like this.
Bit by bit, the Ryuo-armored hits that could hurt this kid were getting figured out and guarded,
after two days of such fighting,
Aos had squeezed Oden for every last drop of value.
Once adapted, Oden couldn't help Aos grow anymore,
and instead had to watch for Aos's uncanny slashes and the occasional potshot.
"Uncle Gaban! Trade with me!"
After one more clash with Oden, Aos didn't turn back to sniping—he straight up tagged someone in,
"You really are a monster, Aos." Gaban had been bored bullying half-baked rookies—couldn't kill them for real—and when Aos called, he perked up, a grin spreading across his face,
"Leave this to me."
Before Oden could speak, Aos stamped a Soru step and vanished; in his place a burly axman came cleaving in,
finally, a matched opponent; the two began trading heavy blows.
Aos wasn't about to idle. Seeing Shanks and Buggy struggling, he drove off his back foot and flashed to their side,
the Whitebeard division commander facing them felt a chill at his nape and a bad hunch surged up,
he whipped his chain and slung a massive jawed iron ball behind him,
only the expected crunch never came,
through the smoke, with footsteps sounding, a tall, lean figure walked out slowly, one hand gripping the huge iron ball,
"H-how is that possible—he caught it bare-handed!!!"
He turned to Buggy and Shanks, whose faces lit up with delight,
"Great—it's Aos!"
The two found their backbone, blades in hand as they eased back to Aos's side,
"Watch yourselves, Buggy. You too, Shanks."
Seeing both of them cut up, Aos frowned; scarlet light burst from his eyes as he swept the Whitebeard crew converging on them,
at the same time, his longsword and rifle took on a coat of Armament—but the hue was different from before,
it drifted lightly,
a crimson-tinted Armament Haki!
"There is no victory in your future."
Aos moved. His rifle spat bullets at a speed beyond imagining, fanning out in all directions; each round streamed with red, flowing Haki,
No way to dodge!!!
That was the shared feeling among the targets with keen Kenbunshoku. Helpless, they could only layer on Armament to defend,
if seasoned hands struggled, the trainees stood no chance—nearly all took wounds; losing the use of a limb was getting off easy,
one stocky dark-skinned kid was hit worst; the shot skimmed his neck to punch his shoulder, and he lay bleeding and screaming.
Ryuo is hard to block completely; if you can't evade, your insides still get wrecked—its lethality is huge,
even Aos's monster body coughed blood from a glancing hit.
A few thick-skinned ones tried to grit their teeth and charge,
but Aos wasn't some squishy backliner—none who dared close the distance got anything out of it,
Bro, with Future Sight + brute force + Ryuo, if I get in your face and go full send—how are you not exploding?