Crimson Observation Haki surged through Uchiha Madara's vision, imbuing his eyes with heightened perceptive acuity.
A colossal, dark-flamed Susanoo stood tall upon the open sea. The moment its six floating Magatama beads descended, they detonated into a blinding flash of destruction.
Facing the second-in-command of the Sunagakure Pirates, Sakazuki hesitated for not a single second. Molten magma burst violently from his body, expanding into roaring shockwaves that swept outward across the water like a solid wall.
Across the ocean surface, countless tongues of magma ignited simultaneously, shooting up into fiery red waves!
"Great Eruption!"(Ryuusei Kazan / Meteor Volcano)
A surging geyser of liquid rock blasted high into the heavens before raining down from above, illuminating the dark horizon and showcasing the terrifying, absolute dominance of Sakazuki's Magma-Magma Fruit attacks.
Behind Madara, the colossal Susanoo raised a massive fist, driving a heavy blow straight into the empty air.
Years of refining and harmonizing the powers of the Mythical Zoan Dark Nine-Tails Fruit had continually elevated Madara's strength to its absolute zenith. The titan's fist struck forward like a guided missile, producing a deafening sonic boom that shattered the air barrier.
Sakazuki stood his ground. As his meteor volcano clashed against Madara's onslaught, molten flames completely enveloped his body in an instant, rapidly expanding until he resembled a living, walking volcano atop the ocean.
Imbuing and hardening his attacks with Armament Haki while seamlessly integrating his Logia powers, Sakazuki pressed forward. Watching him advance, Madara raised an eyebrow in cold interest.
According to Shiraishi, this Sakazuki fellow was destined to become the next Fleet Admiral of the Navy. Looking at him now, the sheer force and overwhelming presence he demonstrated indeed made him worthy of that future title.
Madara shifted his stance slightly as dark fireballs coalesced around his form. With every fluid motion of his techniques, the fiery orbs merged together, shrinking down into a dense, concentrated core within the palm of his hand.
Utilizing advanced Armament Haki hardening, Madara projected a peerless, commanding posture. As his majestic fist descended, Sakazuki's magma surged upward in a violent counter-charge.
Sakazuki would never yield to a pirate—not even a world-renowned monster like Uchiha Madara.
BOOM!
Waves of fire erupted outward as a localized mushroom cloud billowed into the sky. Madara and Sakazuki traded direct punches, sending shockwaves of dark flames and molten lava crashing across the water.
The collision between these two monsters left the battlefield in utter awe. Many young Marines witnessing a battle of this scale for the first time felt genuine terror taking root in their hearts.
Meanwhile, Nico Olvia and the surviving members of her archaeological expedition were safely picked up by a Sunagakure Pirate squad, gradually escorted away from the battle zone.
Now entirely unencumbered, Madara allowed his Observation Haki to shine with an even more terrifying light, reflecting a predatory gleam that seemed ready to devour everything in its path. Sensing the sudden shift, Sakazuki amplified his magma output even further.
"What an extraordinarily stubborn Marine."
"Evil pirates must be thoroughly eradicated!"
Sakazuki was not a man who ever compromised. From the day he joined the Navy, he had sworn an oath to extinguish every single seed of evil—a conviction he held with brutal, uncompromising fervor.
Having served as part of the Marine vanguard since the dawn of the Great Pirate Era, his brand of "Absolute Justice" showed zero mercy toward crime, demanding total extermination. Because of this, even his own subordinates feared him deeply.
Faced with Sakazuki's near-berserk hostility, Madara merely grinned. It had been a long time since he had encountered someone so thoroughly entertaining.
Sakazuki's temperament reminded Madara of the First Tsuchikage back in Iwagakure—that stubborn old man who preached the so-called "Will of Stone." Unyielding, stubborn to a fault, and impossibly thick-headed.
Amused by the thought, Madara reached out with one hand, kicking up a massive sea storm. As Sakazuki shattered the violent ocean waves with a single magma fist, Madara executed his final strike.
Under Madara's precise control, a massive boulder enveloped in black flames blazed across the sky, raining down toward the Marine warship below at blinding speed.
The Dark Nine-Tails Fruit possessed the innate ability to manipulate gravity and repulsive forces. After years of refinement, Madara had successfully replicated the mechanics of his legendary Tengai Shinsei (Heaven Unearthing Star)—though compared to summoning a true planetary meteor, the scale of this fiery sky-rock still had room to grow.
"Great Eruption!"(Dai Funka)
Sakazuki drove a fierce, magma-infused fist upward to intercept the dark flame meteor. As another towering mushroom cloud engulfed the sky, Madara's Susanoo silently materialized across the water, completely enveloping Sakazuki within its structure.
Evidently, Susanoo was not merely a tool for defense—it served equally well as an unbreakable cage.
Enclosed within the towering giant of dark flames, Sakazuki's expression flickered subtly. Before he could break free, a second colossal dark meteor plummeted from the sky, detonating directly atop Susanoo.
In the blinding flash, Madara's staff-blade slashed through the smoke, leaving a bloody, deep cross-scar across Sakazuki's chest.
A violent explosion raged across the sea, reducing the Marine warship to splintered debris. Drenched and bleeding, Sakazuki floated among the ocean wreckage, staring dark-faced at Madara's receding figure with a glare of pure fury.
Damn those Sunagakure Pirates...!
This small-scale clash between the Sunagakure Pirates and the Marines served as a miniature microcosm of the turbulent Great Pirate Era over the past year. Marine presence across the Grand Line had intensified significantly compared to the past, yet the rampant activity of the Supernovas kept naval command perpetually stretched thin.
During this same year, Sengoku officially assumed the position of Fleet Admiral, shouldering the immense burden of steering the Navy through these chaotic, treacherous seas.
Weatheria Base No. 2...
Shiraishi held a specialized Den Den Mushi linked directly to Donquixote Doflamingo.
"Fuffuffuffuffu... Just as you requested, the Logia-type Snow-Snow Fruit (Yuki Yuki no Mi) has been secured. Furthermore, we located the specific gemstone you mentioned at an auction in the Sabaody Archipelago."
Doflamingo sounded slightly hesitant, as the bidding price for the gem had been driven abnormally high. By his estimation, such a rare gemstone should have been capped at 100 million Berries at most, yet bidding at the auction house had already surged past 300 million Berries.
At that price point, he felt compelled to check with Shiraishi to confirm whether to continue bidding.
"500 million Berries is my absolute limit."
Although Shiraishi possessed plenty of capital to win the auction, recklessly pursuing an item at an exorbitant cost would only arouse the suspicion of sharp players like Doflamingo.
Setting a clear limit signaled that while the item was desirable, it was not an absolute necessity. Having played that subtle mind game, Doflamingo nodded on the other end and resumed bidding at the auction house.
Ultimately, the gemstone was secured for 350 million Berries. Together with the newly acquired Snow-Snow Fruit, it was dispatched directly to Weatheria Base No. 2.
Doflamingo didn't place particularly high value on the Snow-Snow Fruit. After all, the Marines already fielded Kuzan (Aokiji) with his Ice-Ice Fruit, while the Sunagakure Pirates boasted Shiraishi himself. With top-tier Logia and Mythical Zoan users setting the gold standard, the Snow-Snow Fruit naturally appeared somewhat secondary.
The Snow-Snow Fruit was a Logia-type Devil Fruit that allowed its user to transform any part of their body into snow. Even if shattered by physical strikes without Haki, the user's body could instantaneously reassemble using snow.
The volume, range, and density of the snow created scaled directly with the user's personal strength.
Because it generated snow, Shiraishi deduced its capabilities could hold their own against certain ice-based powers.
However, when matched against fire or magma powers—such as the Flame-Flame Fruit or Magma-Magma Fruit—the Snow-Snow Fruit naturally sat at an elemental disadvantage.
Yet a Devil Fruit's true worth ultimately depended on its wielder; an elemental hierarchy alone meant very little in real combat.
Reflecting on its original manifestations, the Snow-Snow Fruit could generate delicate flurries from anywhere on the body, manipulated freely according to the user's will.
The wielder could whip up blinding blizzards with a flap of their wings or exhale sub-zero breath to freeze the surrounding air.
Furthermore, snow could be compacted over the skin to fire high-impact snow artillery rounds, or used to melt into snowdrifts for rapid, high-speed movement across frozen terrain.
All in all, Shiraishi was far from dismissing the Snow-Snow Fruit as inferior. On the contrary, with proper, rigorous training, it could easily become a formidable ace in the hole.