Chapter 334
The crossing attack crashed against Nozarashi with enough force to make the earth beneath Zaraki’s feet sink.
Haki, Electro, and sword pressure screamed across the chipped blade while dark-gold Reiatsu surged in the opposite direction.
The point of collision trembled violently, sending repeated shockwaves through the surrounding forest.
Zaraki stood at the center of it.
The ground beneath his sandals cracked apart.
His sleeves snapped in the gale.
Nozarashi never moved from the line where he had placed it.
Wanda dragged Carrot farther back while Shishilian ordered the other minks away from the clearing.
For a moment, hope surged through them.
Their rulers had finally put aside enough of their hatred to attack together, and the pressure generated by that rough imitation of Oden’s famous technique was far beyond anything either had produced alone.
Then the smoke shifted.
Zaraki was still standing in exactly the same place.
Released Nozarashi rested horizontally in one hand now, its brutal chipped edge holding the point where both attacks had converged.
He had stopped them.
“The shape isn’t bad.”
Zaraki tilted his head.
Dark-gold Reiatsu crawled along Nozarashi like lightning-shaped cracks of light.
“But the feeling is too thin.”
Inuarashi’s pupils contracted.
Zaraki pushed the crossed pressure aside.
“You remembered what Oden’s attack looked like.”
His golden eyes narrowed.
“But you’re still swinging while thinking about twenty years of failure.”
His voice became harder.
“When you try to kill somebody, stop thinking about losing.”
A savage grin appeared.
“Think about killing the bastard.”
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi were already breathing hard.
Their bodies had taken the earlier slash poorly, and forcing out the combined attack had worsened those injuries.
Zaraki drew one slow breath.
“My turn.”
He lowered Nozarashi.
The rhythm of his breathing changed.
Muscles tightened through his legs.
Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash.
The technique did not transform Zaraki into lightning and did not fill the forest with genuine electricity.
It did not need to.
He exploded forward through pure physical acceleration.
Dark-gold Reiatsu streamed behind him in jagged arcs that only resembled lightning, while the impact of his first step pulverized the ground beneath his sandals.
Inuarashi saw him.
Too late.
Nekomamushi saw him.
Also too late.
Nozarashi swept through their defenses in a broad, controlled arc.
BOOOOM—!!
The pressure released by the strike hit both rulers almost simultaneously.
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi were blasted backward and crashed through the wall of an old ruin at the edge of the clearing. Stone erupted around them as their bodies disappeared into the debris.
The gale alone threw several nearby minks off their feet.
Carrot rolled across the ground before Wanda caught her.
When the dust finally settled, Zaraki stood where he had stopped after the burst, Nozarashi lowered in one hand.
“That’s it?”
Disappointment crept into his voice.
He had expected more.
Then stone shifted inside the ruins.
Wanda forced herself upright against a tree.
“Don’t underestimate them.”
Zaraki looked over.
Blood ran from the corner of Wanda’s mouth, but her eyes remained hard.
The last light of sunset had disappeared during the battle.
Night had settled over Zou.
Above the treetops, the cloud cover began to break.
Wanda looked upward.
Then toward the ruins.
“If the full moon is out…”
Her voice tightened.
“Then this fight isn’t over.”
Silver light poured through the opening in the clouds.
Zaraki followed her gaze.
A full moon hung above Zunesha.
The rubble exploded.
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi emerged slowly.
Their bodies began changing the moment they looked directly at the moon.
Fur that had been stained dark with blood lengthened and turned brilliant white. Their manes expanded, their frames grew more feral, and their eyes became a vivid crimson.
Their Electro intensified at the same time, genuine electrical currents now snapping through the white fur of both rulers.
Sulong.
Zaraki’s disappointment vanished.
“Oh?”
His grin returned.
“So you had another form.”
Nekomamushi roared.
His transformed body vanished into motion.
He was dramatically faster now, Electro exploding through his movements as he tore across the ground.
Inuarashi moved almost simultaneously.
His sword flashed beneath the moonlight while his Sulong-enhanced body accelerated with a speed that would have overwhelmed most opponents before they understood what they were seeing.
For Oden.
For Zou.
For twenty years of humiliation.
They attacked together.
Zaraki closed his eyes for the briefest instant.
He listened to the wind and the footfalls cutting across the clearing, then opened them again as the future already forming through his Observation Haki settled into place.
His breathing changed once more.
This time he pushed Thunderclap and Flash beyond the previous burst.
Thunderclap and Flash: Godspeed.
Zaraki disappeared.
Carrot saw only a narrow dark-gold streak cross the clearing.
It cut past Nekomamushi first.
Zaraki pivoted before the cat mink had even completed his attack and crossed Inuarashi from the opposite angle.
A third burst carried him clear of both rulers before either could turn.
Then stillness returned.
Zaraki stood several dozen meters behind them with released Nozarashi lowered beside him.
Inuarashi froze.
Nekomamushi did the same.
Two controlled cuts opened across their chests.
Blood soaked into their white Sulong fur.
Neither wound was deep enough to kill, but both were severe enough to end the fight.
Their knees struck the earth.
The transformation began receding as their strength failed.
Within moments, the white fur shortened and returned to normal.
Zaraki looked over his shoulder.
“Better.”
That single word was far more complimentary than anything he had said earlier.
Nozarashi’s released form gradually settled.
The enormous chipped blade contracted until the familiar rough katana rested in Zaraki’s hand again.
Only then did he slide the sealed sword back into its sheath.
The two rulers remained conscious, though barely.
Zaraki turned toward them.
“Now that we’ve settled which one of us gets to talk without being interrupted…”
His mouth curved slightly.
“Let’s talk about Kaido.”
…
Zaraki released a long breath as the tension left his shoulders.
He had pushed his speed and strength harder than he initially expected to during the final exchange, and the cheap wooden sandals he had picked up long ago had paid the price.
Fine cracks ran across both soles, with one nearly split through the middle.
“Tch.”
He scraped one sandal against the ground.
“Should’ve bought better ones.”
The clearing around him looked considerably worse than the footwear.
Trees had been uprooted, stone walls shattered, and several deep trenches crossed the ground where sword pressure and bodies had torn through the landscape.
The air still carried the smells of blood, scorched fur, torn earth, and the ozone-like tang produced by the Minks’ Electro.
“Carrot…”
Wanda forced herself upright.
“Get back toward the city and tell everyone the fighting is over.”
Carrot looked toward the fallen rulers.
“But—”
“Go.”
Wanda’s voice softened slightly.
“And send the doctors.”
That finally got Carrot moving.
She disappeared into the forest.
Zaraki glanced toward the Musketeers and Guardians gradually emerging from cover. Most still looked at him with a mixture of anger, fear, and disbelief.
He found the reaction mildly amusing.
A weak voice came from the rubble.
“Don’t… come any closer.”
Inuarashi pushed himself upright.
His fur was soaked with blood, and his sword had cracked badly enough along the edge that it would need serious repair before another battle.
Nekomamushi was in even worse condition. The enormous cat mink remained seated against a broken wall, breathing heavily through bloodied teeth.
“Duke!”
Wanda moved toward them.
Nekomamushi lifted his remaining paw.
“Stay back, meow.”
He spat blood aside.
“This brat isn’t somebody we can beat right now.”
For once, there was no bravado in his voice.
Inuarashi looked toward Zaraki.
Anger and humiliation still lived in his expression, but they were no longer the strongest emotions there.
“We underestimated the outside world.”
He gave a bitter laugh.
“A man like you appears on the sea, and Zou hears about him only through newspapers arriving late.”
His gaze lowered.
“That is a failure on our part.”
Zaraki shrugged.
“You live on a walking elephant in the middle of the New World.”
He scratched one cheek.
“Being hard to reach is kind of the point.”
Nekomamushi actually barked out a short laugh before immediately regretting it when the movement pulled at his wounds.
Inuarashi breathed carefully.
“You invoked Oden-sama’s name.”
His gaze hardened again.
“You said you were going to face Kaido.”
“Yeah.”
“If that is true…”
Inuarashi forced himself to one knee.
“Then for the assault on Wano, my sword is yours.”
He lowered his head.
“Not as your servant.”
Zaraki’s brow lifted.
Inuarashi continued.
“As an ally who owes Kaido a debt that can only be paid in blood.”
“That works.”
Nekomamushi shoved himself upright enough to sit straighter.
“Same here, meow.”
His remaining fist tightened.
“If you’re really walking into Kaido’s home and planning to put that horned bastard in the ground, I’m coming.”
Law’s voice arrived from near the Polar Tang.
“Assuming either of you can still walk by then.”
Everyone looked toward him.
The captain of the Heart Pirates approached with Kikoku at his side, his expression caught somewhere between irritation and professional concern.
He examined the two rulers from a distance.
“If Zaraki wants you fighting again in three days, you’re getting treated first.”
Nekomamushi frowned.
“You’re Trafalgar Law.”
“Unfortunately.”
Law’s gaze shifted toward Zaraki.
“And before anyone gets confused again, the Heart Pirates are traveling with him. We are not his subordinates.”
Zaraki waved lazily.
“You really like repeating that.”
“Because people around you keep forgetting.”
Law looked back toward the rulers.
“Our destination is Onigashima in Wano Country.”
The two minks became completely still.
Law continued.
“Kaido and Big Mom announced their alliance banquet there.”
He gestured toward Zaraki.
“This idiot intends to attend.”
“Attend?”
Wanda stared.
Zaraki grinned.
“Crash.”
Law sighed.
“That is a more accurate word.”
He turned back toward Inuarashi and Nekomamushi.
“He killed Doflamingo, severed one of Kaido’s most important connections in the New World, and later fought Charlotte Linlin badly enough to take her right arm.”
Nekomamushi forgot his injuries for a second.
“You cut off Big Mom’s arm?”
“Yeah.”
Zaraki sounded bored.
“She got better at using one hand afterward.”
Law ignored him.
Inuarashi stared at Zaraki for a long moment.
The hopelessness that had lived behind his anger began changing into something far more dangerous.
Vengeance with somewhere to go.
“If Kaido will truly be on Onigashima…”
His voice hardened.
“Then I will fight.”
Nekomamushi grinned through bloodied teeth.
“So will I, meow.”
The two rulers exchanged a glance.
Their feud had not magically disappeared.
Twenty years could not be repaired by one shared enemy.
But both understood that Zou could not be abandoned without leadership while they chased revenge.
“Pedro and the Guardians can maintain the Whale Forest,” Nekomamushi said.
Inuarashi nodded reluctantly.
“Shishilian and Wanda can coordinate the Musketeers and the dukedom while we are away.”
The cat mink snorted.
“Look at that. We agreed on something.”
“Do not make me reconsider.”
For the first time since Zaraki arrived, several nearby minks almost smiled.
Law crouched beside the rulers.
“Enough politics.”
A blue sphere began expanding from his hand.
“ROOM.”
He looked toward Zaraki.
“If you want these two standing in three days, stop provoking them for ten minutes.”
Zaraki turned away.
“No promises.”