Chapter 121 – [121] : [BONUS] – The Pinnacle of Hand-to-Hand Combat! A Battle to the Limit!

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Reflected in Aokiji’s constricting pupils was a terrifying figure, enveloped in a cloud of crimson-black lightning, appearing before him as if teleporting over a short distance.

That figure, completely wreathed in incredibly violent and tyrannical crimson-black lightning, wore a smile that sent a chill to the very core of one’s being—

—His eyes blazed with a ferocious crimson-black light that would make even Marine HQ Vice Admirals quail in fear.

On this Thunder-Ice Island, the roaring thunder, the howling blizzards of freezing air—all seemed to vanish.

The entire world fell silent…

THIS—was the terrifying oppressive aura of full-power Haōshoku Coating bearing down.

The world itself seemed to have only one focal point!

Sky Sovereign Rowen!

Aokiji’s pupils constricted sharply…

The terrifying speed granted by Haōshoku Coating amplification—even with his reaction time, he could only manage to bring his Ice Gloves up in a defensive posture.

BANG! BOOM!

Rowen’s right fist slammed violently into Aokiji’s Ice Gloves—

The incomparably violent and tyrannical energy of Haōshoku Coating was unleashed in its entirety in that single instant!

WHOOSH!

Aokiji’s body shot backwards like a terrifying cannonball, hurled at an incredible speed!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

In an instant, the countless blizzard currents in the Ice World were shredded.

Numerous icebergs were shattered by Aokiji’s impacting body, reduced to ice crystals, then completely pulverized by the terrifying atmospheric turbulence generated by the immense force!

Aokiji elementized his back, using the impacts to dissipate the terrifying force of Haōshoku Coating—If he tried to endure such violent power with his physical body alone, even his physique would suffer severe injuries.

As Aokiji crashed through countless icebergs and solid ice, dissipating the force, his eyes held a profound gravity.

Haōshoku Coating!

This—was fully mastered Haōshoku Coating!

That terrifying power, like that of an Emperor… Its speed and attack power were at the absolute pinnacle of these seas!

At this moment, Aokiji, while using the impacts to dissipate energy, also pushed his personal condition to its absolute peak. The usual lazy indifference in his eyes—HAD VANISHED COMPLETELY.

Facing this man—who already possessed power comparable to an Emperor. Even he, if careless, could genuinely be defeated and killed…

CRASH!

Aokiji’s body slammed into a massive iceberg, shattering it completely, sending innumerable ice crystals scattering through the atmosphere. This was already the outermost edge of Thunder-Ice Island.

A SINGLE BLOW—had sent Aokiji crashing through half the island’s icebergs!

The power of full-strength Haōshoku Coating—was terrifying beyond measure!

“Hm?” Rowen gazed towards the distant, crumbling iceberg, an extreme red light now glowing in his eyes.

Observation Haki – Future Sight——!

“ICE TIME CAPSULE——!”

WHOOSH!

A beam of extremely terrifying freezing aura, several meters wide, shot towards Rowen at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, instantly arriving before him!

CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

The surface of Rowen’s body instantly frosted over with countless layers of ice, radiating extreme cold!

But—

FZZZT! BANG!

Under the violent surge of the crimson-black lightning cloud enveloping Rowen, the ice instantly shattered into fragments!

“Using your Ice-Ice Fruit ability to disrupt my Observation Haki perception? The moment my future sight activated, your freezing aura was already almost upon me. In this situation, even if I used Haōshoku Coating-enhanced speed to dodge, the consumption wouldn’t be much less than tanking it with Haōshoku Coating. Good calculation, Aokiji!” Rowen laughed heartily, his eyes filled with exhilaration.

This kind of opponent—This was the opponent Rowen had truly longed for!

This was a battle—This was a true fight to the death!

CRACKLE! BOOM!

Rowen crossed his arms, the crimson-black light in his eyes flaring intensely.

The tyrannical crimson-black lightning coiling around his body also erupted, shattering the vast icy ground beneath him—Countless ice crystals danced powerlessly in the atmosphere.

And in that instant—Aokiji, utilizing Shave, had already appeared a short distance from Rowen—

—Aokiji, trained by Garp had learned more than just the Iron Fist…

The Six Powers, Aokiji had long since mastered them to perfection!

Aokiji looked at Rowen, his eyes flashing with extreme cold—against a powerhouse who had fully mastered Haōshoku Coating, simple freezing aura was useless. But what he needed—was an opportunity like this—To get close to this man!

WHOOSH!

His right fist—the Ice Glove, fusing all the freezing energy of his Ice-Ice Fruit, Armament Haki, and the Iron Fist technique honed over decades under Garp’s tutelage—shot violently towards Rowen!

WHOOSH! BANG!

Rowen’s eyes blazed with an astonishing red light. His own right fist, meeting Aokiji’s all-out blow, slammed forward!

VMM! BOOOOOOM!!!

Crimson-black lightning representing Haōshoku Coating, and purplish-black lightning representing high-level Armament Haki—centered on Rowen’s and Aokiji’s clashing fists—violently tore at each other in the atmosphere!

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The ground beneath Rowen and Aokiji instantly disintegrated.

Countless fragments mixed with shattered ice crystals, were pulverized into dust by the rampaging energy tearing through the atmosphere.

The entire Thunder-Ice Island trembled violently under this terrifying collision!

Though the high-level Armament Haki clashing was incredibly dense, before the terrifying attack power of Haōshoku Coating—it was clearly at a disadvantage!

But Aokiji’s punch contained not only his high-level Armament Haki but also the full power of his Ice-Ice Fruit, and the Iron Fist technique honed for decades under Garp—

—Over those decades, without using Haki or his Ice-Ice Fruit, Aokiji had used countless decommissioned warships as punching bags!

His Iron Fists were in no way inferior to Garp’s!

“HYAAAAAAH!!!!!!”

Aokiji roared wantonly, channeling all his body’s energy, concentrating it entirely into his Ice Gloves, raining down punch after punch upon the man before him!

Rowen’s eyes blazed with an astonishing crimson-black light.

His fists, wreathed in the full power of Haōshoku Coating, became a blur of afterimages, perfectly meeting every single one of Aokiji’s punches!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Countless air currents in the atmosphere were torn apart, even creating terrifying sonic booms—

Innumerable fragments of earth, mixed with crimson-black lightning and ice crystals, vaporized into dust in the atmosphere.

The very air currents of the sky began to be violently ripped asunder by the collision of these incomparably violent powers!

The entire Thunder-Ice Island had now completely become—a forbidden zone for life—Any living being stepping into it would be torn to shreds by the terrifying energy!

WHOOSH!

“Thunder Gloves——!” Rowen found an opening in the exchange.

He elementized into a bolt of lightning, appearing in the atmosphere, and activated his Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

Previously, Rowen had only used the power of Haōshoku Coating, not relying on his Rumble-Rumble Fruit, to fight the full-power Aokiji.

Aokiji’s Ice Gloves were even more ridiculously powerful than Rowen initially anticipated…

Rowen had assumed the ‘Iron Fist’ was merely a supplementary technique, with Aokiji’s true strength lying in Haki and his Ice-Ice Fruit…

But upon clashing at close range, he discovered Aokiji’s Iron Fists—honed for decades using countless warships as punching bags—were incredibly horrifying!

In the One Piece power system, there were two main schools of combat: Swordsmanship, represented by swordsmen like Mihawk who used blades—and Martial Arts, represented by fighters like Garp who used their fists combined with Haki.

Rowen had previously believed Swordsmanship was far superior—after all, Great Swordsmen could launch flying slashes, cleave mountains, even cut elements like fire and lightning by hearing the ‘Breath Of All Things’.

But now—

Rowen realized it was because he had never truly encountered a user of Martial arts before…

His strongest opponents until now were, at best, Enel—who relied entirely on his Rumble-Rumble Fruit and knew nothing of Hand-to-Hand Combat.

Below him, Crocodile had even lost his Haki, relying solely on his Sand-Sand Fruit, even resorting to a poisoned hook in his final battle with Luffy in the original story—hardly a Martial artist.

Now, Rowen finally witnessed.

Aokiji was not just a powerful Logia user—he was a true Martial Artist!

Martial arts trained to their extreme—were in no way inferior to the swordsmanship of Great Swordsmen!

No wonder Aokiji, despite lacking Haōshoku Coating, and his Ice-Ice Fruit having inherent limitations in direct offensive power even when compressed into Ice Gloves—could still trade blows with Garp, who had fully mastered Haōshoku Coating!

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“My apologies, Aokiji… I completely underestimated your Hand-to-Hand Combat!” Rowen’s eyes blazed with fervor.

The pinnacle of Martial arts—was absolutely on par with the swordsmanship of Great Swordsmen!

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Accompanied by an ear-splitting roar of thunder, Rowen, bathed in a torrential downpour of lightning, unleashed his power!

The terrifying lightning from the thunderclouds above began to converge, along with the fully released power of Rowen’s own Rumble-Rumble Fruit within him—all of it—concentrated onto his fists, making them look as if he wore gloves made of pure lightning.

And upon these Thunder Gloves—crackled violent, tyrannical arcs of crimson-black Haki!

Rumble-Rumble Fruit power. Plus full-strength Haōshoku Coating!

Rowen’s current—All out power!

“Your fists—AREN’T HARD ENOUGH!” Aokiji roared, leaping into the air, using Moonwalk to rapidly close the distance with Rowen!

“Watch me use my Rumble-Rumble Fruit and Haōshoku Coating to destroy your vaunted Iron Fists, and then—THEY WILL BE MINE!”

Rowen laughed with absolute power, no longer bothering to conceal his terrifying ambition and abilities.

Rowen—had earned that right!

Wantonly unleashing one’s ambition—only then could Haōshoku Coating, this manifestation of spiritual power, be pushed to its absolute limit!

Playing dumb to catch the lion? In a world ruled by Haki and Devil Fruits, playing dumb just makes you the prey—not the predator!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Rowen, enveloped in crimson-black lightning, shot forward like a meteor colliding with a planet, his right fist hurtling towards Aokiji who was rushing to meet him!

BAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

Aokiji, not dodging, not evading, met Rowen’s attack head-on with his own pair of Iron Fists!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Violent, tyrannical crimson-black lightning and incredibly dense purplish-black lightning clashed and flew.

The power of thunder and the power of ice annihilated each other in the atmosphere.

The terrifying air currents generated by their colliding power surged outwards in waves, centered on Rowen and Aokiji, spreading across the entirety of Thunder-Ice Island and the surrounding sea.

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This region of the sea, as if plunged into an apocalypse, left the crew on the Going Merry—who had retreated extremely far yet could still feel the terrifying energy—utterly dumbfounded!

The battle that raged from the island to the sky, then back down, shattering several regions of the island—once again redefined their understanding of power!

They had thought the previous clashes had reached the limit…

After all, that disaster-level power was already beyond their ability to resist—

Even Luffy, the Strongest among the Monster Trio, wouldn’t last a second, utterly defeated.

A battle like this—it wasn’t even a question of whether they were qualified to participate!

They weren’t even qualified to watch from this sea region… They could only retreat to an extreme distance to avoid being caught in those terrifying battle shockwaves!

Even having retreated so far, the Going Merry was still tossed about violently by the raging waves.

—Nami, Vivi, and Robin all clasped their hands over their hearts, their beautiful eyes fixed intently on Thunder-Ice Island, now appearing like a scene from a terrible apocalypse.

In such a horrifying battle—even they couldn’t help but silently pray for Rowen’s victory.

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At this moment, on Thunder-Ice Island!

Rowen and Aokiji—battled from the sky to the island, then from the island back to the sky. Several regions of Thunder-Ice Island were shattered by their terrifying power!

The entire island—if not for the lingering Awakened powers of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and Ice-Ice Fruit supporting its integrity—would likely have disintegrated into countless fragments, vanishing into the sea from their cataclysmic energy collisions!

Rowen’s eyes blazed with an astonishing red light!

Observation Haki—Future Sight—pushed to its absolute limit!

With his Thunder Gloves, combining Haōshoku Coating and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit—Rowen’s attack power surpassed Aokiji’s Ice Gloves!

Though superior, it wasn’t an absolute, dimension-crushing advantage.

Aokiji could utilize his immense Armament Haki and the properties of his Ice-Ice Fruit’s freezing energy to mitigate this difference.

The cost—Aokiji’s stamina consumption was now even greater than Rowen’s, despite Rowen wielding the incredibly draining Haōshoku Coating—

Using the sheer volume of Armament Haki and Ice-Ice Fruit power to compensate for the attack power gap against Haōshoku Coating—was incredibly taxing on both Haki and stamina!

But as an Awakened Logia user, someone who could battle Akainu for ten days and nights—Aokiji was like a blood-bulled behemoth, his stamina reserves seemingly bottomless…

Yet Aokiji—was clearly now trading injuries for attack opportunities.

Lacking Haōshoku Coating to protect his body, numerous scorched marks appeared on Aokiji.

These were traces left after Rowen’s Thunder Gloves energy, striking him, pierced through Aokiji’s defensive Armament Haki!

Meanwhile, Rowen, able to protect his body with Haōshoku Coating, could mitigate most of the damage from Aokiji’s Ice Gloves!

“The pinnacle of Martial Arts—So this is its power! Hahahaha!” Rowen laughed wildly, continuing his relentless assault on Aokiji…

Aokiji remained silent—because he had no time for words!

He had entrusted everything—to his Martial art’s combat instinct. Relying on instinct—to fight for his life!

But Rowen had no intention of wasting any more time with Aokiji!

Rowen—intended to end this battle—with his current, absolute strongest attack…

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