Chapter 56: Another one down

However, ordinary cannonballs had no effect on Shiryu.

With one hand holding Blackbeard and the other drawing his sword, he slashed through the air, cutting down all the incoming cannonballs.

"[Thunder Trial]!"

At this moment, Yami activated his Mangekyo Sharingan technique.

A thunderbolt descended from the sky, rushing toward Shiryu in an instant.

However, Shiryu reacted quickly and immediately threw Blackbeard overhead as a shield.

"Damn it."

Blackbeard realized the attack was coming from above.

‘Tsk, it had to be lightning again.’

At the same time, he felt deeply dissatisfied with Shiryu for throwing him overhead as a human shield.

But he could only resist because if he didn't block the attack, he'd be the one taking the hit.

With so little time available, he had no other choice.

The Dark Fruit's ability completely absorbed the meter-thick lightning bolt.

However, since it was pure elemental energy without a physical form, Blackbeard couldn't throw this lightning back to attack his enemy.

Then, more thunder continued to fall, with each arc becoming thicker and more intense.

However, Blackbeard resisted them all.

Shiryu kept Blackbeard upward, then moved around in a deadly relay game.

"Observation Haki is indeed quite troublesome."

"But the Dark Fruit's ability is also incredibly powerful. It can absorb everything, unless Blackbeard can't withstand the strain."

Yami made a rough assessment of the situation.

Except for Blackbeard, the others were probably around the same strength level as the Supernovas, but they had basically mastered the common two types of Haki.

They were among the old pirates who couldn't reach the peak. Or even close to it.

They were still far behind Doflamingo among the Shichibukai and hadn't even achieved their Devil Fruit Awakening yet.

There was a significant gap between them and an Emperor's right-hand, and they were probably at a relatively weak level among Big Mom's Sweet Commanders.

In close combat, relying on the Sharingan's ultra-high dynamic vision, Yami was very confident he could hit them.

But with this kind of long-range attack, it proved extremely difficult to land a hit.

"There are still so many monsters in this world…"

Shiryu kept dodging, being chased and beaten by the Thunder, making it impossible for him to remain stationary.

However, he wasn't dissatisfied with the current situation.

It was better than being a prisoner in Impel Down.

Fugaku and the others ceased their bombardment.

They hadn't revealed their identities but instead locked onto the members of Blackbeard's crew, ensuring the enemy had no intention of leaving before discontinuing their attack.

"BOOM!"

At the same time, in the plaza, Whitebeard was using his abilities with wild abandon.

With one punch, the shockwave sent hundreds of Marines flying, clearing a path for his sons to reach the execution platform and rescue Ace.

****

Yami took advantage of Blackbeard's group being separated and used his ability to interfere with the two fighting forces of Blackbeard and Shiryu, then chose to deal with the other members of Blackbeard's crew.

His true target, however, was Catarina Devon.

At this moment, Catarina Devon used her armament-hardened tail to pierce the iron wall and keep her body stable.

She had already decided to give up.

An unknown Shichibukai had forced them into this predicament, and Blackbeard still wanted to deal with the strongest man in the world?

It felt like a death wish.

This was also the Navy's home base. After this incident concluded, escaping would prove extremely troublesome.

Catarina Devon didn't want to stay here and die with them.

Her nine tails moved like spider legs, climbing quickly along the iron wall. She was ready to seize a warship and escape from this troublesome place.

"You bastard, why did you come after me? Is it because you think I'm the weakest?!"

But immediately, Catarina Devon became frustrated and angry because as soon as she climbed the iron wall, Yami stepped onto the metal surface, blocking her path.

She felt deeply insulted upon seeing Yami.

She was completely underestimated.

Two tails remained fixed to stabilize her body while the remaining seven all hardened and stabbed toward Yami.

"Too slow."

Electric arcs flashed across Yami's body, activating his Lightning Release cellular enhancement.

The moment the seven tails rushed over like cannonballs, Yami disappeared from his position.

The combined attack of the seven tails passed through his afterimage and struck the iron wall, directly creating a hole two meters deep.

Yami reappeared, already positioned at Catarina Devon's left side.

Catarina Devon couldn't move along the iron wall at the same level as Yami. When he appeared next to her, she wanted to dodge but had no time to react.

"[Big Ball Rasengan]"

Yami had already formed a big Rasengan in his hand and struck Catarina Devon directly in her torso.

However, she still managed to apply Armament Haki hardening to the area where she was attacked.

But she could no longer maintain her position on the iron wall.

She was completely knocked away by the spiraling force, spinning rapidly through the air for about fifty meters before hitting another iron wall and finally stopping.

"You've pissed me off, kid!"

Catarina Devon yelled.

Then she directly entered her beast form, pressing her hands against the iron wall as they gradually transformed into claws.

Her face extended forward into a fox-like muzzle, finally taking on a complete fox appearance.

At the same time, her body grew larger, including her tail.

Her sharp claws could penetrate directly into the iron wall, allowing her to truly walk on flat surfaces.

"Too much talking."

But as soon as she entered her beast form, Yami appeared at her side.

"[Lightning Release: Chidori Current]!"

Chidori was released directly through Yami's body, spreading outward rapidly like fireworks.

Catarina Devon, positioned so close, couldn't escape the attack and was fully affected.

However, she discovered that the electrical attack's intensity wasn't fatal; it only made her body feel numb and her limbs somewhat stiff.

But before joy could show through her fox features, it was quickly covered by liquid.

"[Water Release: Water Prison Technique]."

When Catarina Devon had been knocked away earlier, Yami had used his shadow clone to pursue her.

At this moment, with Catarina Devon's body paralyzed and unable to avoid the shadow clone's slower-forming Water Prison Technique, the jutsu directly absorbed seawater from the bay and covered her massive form.

A Water Prison Technique was formed.

Catarina Devon's body instantly lost strength, her beast form quickly disappeared, and she returned to her original appearance.

"[Chidori Sharp Spear]!"

Yami's main body raised his hand and directly pierced Catarina Devon's head with the shape-changed Chidori.

The shadow clone automatically released itself, and the Water Prison Technique disappeared.

[5/10]

Seeing the prompt, Yami didn’t even bat an eye.

Yami remained fully prepared for any surprise attacks from supposedly dead enemies.

Instead of aiming for the heart, he targeted the head to ensure his opponent lost all fighting capability.

After all, who knew whether these people's hearts were positioned on the left or right side? Or maybe then could even move it around…

The head provided a better target since it was easier to hit accurately.

"Damn that guy!"

At the same time, the nine-strike Thunder Trial sequence also ended.

Blackbeard discovered that another one of the subordinates he had painstakingly brought out from Impel Down had actually died.

In truth, the others had considered attempting a rescue, but they simply hadn't expected Catarina Devon to die so quickly.

The total time had been less than two minutes.

This man made them feel genuine fear.