Chapter 63: Vs Blackbeard

With Blackbeard as a target and seeing Whitebeard's defenseless state, Shiryu felt the urge to kill him.

‘By killing the strongest man in the world, I should make the entire world fear our crew…’

Shiryu was extremely excited.

Raising his own sword, he rushed toward Whitebeard's back again, ready to begin his terrifying performance.

But as soon as he drew closer, he saw a massive red skeletal arm suddenly appear and strike toward him.

His sword struck directly against the bone, causing slight cracks, but the fissures quickly disappeared.

The towering flames dissipated rapidly.

Although Blackbeard suffered from the pain of high temperature, he was uninjured.

"Anyone who stands in my way will die."

At this moment, Blackbeard would eliminate anyone who blocked his path without hesitation.

He no longer concealed himself and rushed directly toward Yami.

It definitely wasn't easy to possess the strength of the Fourth Division Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates without Devil Fruit powers initially.

Even for a sneak attack, one needed the strength to handle an opponent silently.

Moreover, his ability to recover from Whitebeard's explosive blow just now without lasting impact was enough to prove his formidable physical conditioning.

His entire body rushed toward Yami like a cannonball.

The black mist continuously swirling on his fist seemed ready to swallow everything before it.

Yami still used the [Susanoo] to fight, his skeletal arm directly forming a fist to meet Blackbeard's strike.

"Crack!"

Susanoo's skeleton was shattered by Blackbeard's punch, looking as if it might collapse at any moment.

‘Can the [Susanoo's] power also be absorbed?’

‘Just now, [Gōka Mekkyaku] was swallowed up. It seems energy, such as chakra, can be absorbed. It appears the [Yami-Yami no Mi] is no joke.’

Still, this level wasn't enough to make Yami panic.

While Blackbeard continued rushing forward, Yami drew a dozen shuriken directly from his ninja pouch, enhanced them with lightning, and threw them, attacking Blackbeard from all directions.

With the added benefit of [Raiton], the shuriken's speed nearly broke the sound barrier; ordinary people could only see afterimages.

Blackbeard didn't dare catch these shuriken, abandoning the direct route to Yami and beginning to dodge, while Yami threw shuriken leisurely, like a humanoid machine gun.

"Stop looking down on me!"

Blackbeard was annoyed.

Being restrained by such an attack made him feel suffocated.

As he yelled, black mist quickly dispersed from his body.

However, the black mist didn't float in the air like normal vapor, but instead clung to the ground like gas formed from dry ice.

At the same time, the shuriken that had been flying through mid-air instantly changed direction and slowly fell into the black mist on the ground, disappearing as if gravity's direction had been altered.

The closer to Blackbeard, the stronger the gravitational force.

Several shuriken were less than three meters from Blackbeard, but they suddenly turned downward and were swallowed by the black mist.

At this moment, the surrounding area of hundreds of meters was covered by the black mist.

The gravel debris on the ground was constantly being absorbed by the black mist like metal attracted to a magnet.

‘This guy might be more dangerous than Whitebeard in the future. After Whitebeard dies, we need to eliminate him!’

Sengoku's eyes were fixed on the battlefield around Whitebeard.

Seeing the commotion caused by Blackbeard, he now realized how truly dangerous this man was.

If they killed Whitebeard and let such a person roam the seas freely, it would be far too dangerous.

"I got you!"

After Blackbeard released the black mist, he could emit a powerful suction force.

He directly opened his hand toward Yami.

Black mist swirled in his palm, and intense suction instantly pulled Yami until his feet nearly left the ground.

"I suppose I should be a bit more serious."

"[Susanoo]!"

Yami did a hand seal.

The dark red Susanoo instantly grew larger and taller, muscles and armor appearing one after another, attaching to the bones as the Susanoo's true power manifested.

The nearly thirty-meter-tall Susanoo enveloped Yami, and the suction force released by Blackbeard couldn't attract this massive Susanoo.

His suction force was greater the closer one came to his body.

At too great a distance, it couldn't be exerted at all.

"What kind of ability is this?"

Many people on the battlefield were thoroughly confused.

It was impossible to determine what type of Devil Fruit ability this was.

"I haven't been this excited in a long time, how interesting…"

Doflamingo was thrilled, but his eyes were filled with wariness.

He sensed the beginning of changes in the era.

"Die."

Shiryu didn't abandon his idea and launched another sneak attack on Whitebeard.

"Get out of the way!"

However, Crocodile appeared and directly forced Shiryu back.

His golden hook directly struck Shiryu's sword, and the two were locked in a stalemate.

On the main battlefield, Blackbeard's expression was grim, his plan disrupted by Yami as an unexpected variable; otherwise, he felt he would have succeeded.

However, he had no way back.

"Die in the darkness, Shichibukai!"

Blackbeard's face was fierce as he swung his right hand forward violently.

The black mist on the ground was controlled by him, like a massive wave rushing straight toward Yami, as if to swallow the enormous Susanoo and everything before it with darkness.

At the same time, black mist continuously overflowed from Blackbeard's body as he produced it endlessly.

Originally, due to the collision between Whitebeard and Sengoku, the dark clouds had been pushed away to reveal blue sky, but now it became gray again.

"[Yasaka no Magatama]"

Yami controlled Susanoo and unleashed a long-range attack.

This power was comparable to the [Rasenshuriken].

Dark red energy rotated rapidly, and the three magatama formed by chakra rushed directly into the massive waves formed by darkness.

It directly moved through the black mist. And seeing that, Blackbeard's pupils contracted as he raised his hands.

An enormous suction force emerged from his palms as he caught the [Yasaka no Magatama] and was pushed back.

Although two deep furrows were left beneath his feet, he still managed to absorb this power; the [Yasaka no Magatama] disappeared in less than three seconds within his palm.

"Heh, is that all?!"

Blackbeard grinned.

He felt he had gauged the limit of his opponent's strength, but in that case, this person wasn't qualified to block his path to becoming king.

‘The black mist is corrosive, but it does not have the devouring power of Blackbeard himself.’

‘It seems only he can release that kind of power. The black mist cannot do it; it only draws objects into his body. He himself is the black hole.’

At the same time, the darkness rushed before Yami.

The Susanoo directly raised its shield to block the black mist, but small holes appeared one after another on the shield's surface.

Yami observed through his [Mangekyō Sharingan] and quickly figured out the situation.

This black mist only possessed corrosion and certain suction power.

The only one who could truly absorb everything was Blackbeard himself.