Chapter 101: Myriad Paths: Nuclear Blast! You Call This a Spar?!

Under normal circumstances, Armament Haki could indeed block all kinds of attacks. That was a fact acknowledged throughout the seas.

But that was based on one condition: your Haki had to be stronger than your opponent’s, or at least stronger than the attack itself.

However—

Jozu’s Hundredfold Focus shattered that convention.

On the surface, it looked no different from before, but the quality of the attack had undergone a fundamental transformation.

That change rendered their Armament Haki completely incapable of defending against Jozu’s attacks.

They were afraid.

Truly afraid.

Never in their lives had they encountered such a monstrous attack.

A single strike carried the equivalent force of a hundred Admiral Kizaru attacks unleashed simultaneously—

No, perhaps even stronger.

After all, one plus one didn’t always equal two.

For the Division Commanders, the feeling of helplessness had never been this overwhelming.

They knew that if Jozu launched another attack, they would have no chance of escaping unscathed.

Yet Jozu was clearly not satisfied.

What he’d just done was merely a warm-up.

It hadn’t even begun to scratch the itch.

"Hey! Don’t stop now!" Jozu shouted. "I still haven’t used Thousandfold Focus, Ten-Thousandfold Focus, and a bunch of other moves!"

Seeing everyone revert to their human forms and descend from the sky, obviously unwilling to continue fighting, Jozu couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

Looking at the eager, battle-hungry Jozu, Blenheim couldn’t summon even the slightest desire to fight.

He quietly took a few steps farther away.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

"Fight my ass. I’m genuinely worried you’ll accidentally kill me."

His tone carried both helplessness and self-mockery.

"Go find a Logia User to fight. We’re flesh and blood—we can’t take that kind of punishment!"

Another commander quickly agreed, his eyes full of lingering fear.

"Exactly! Go find a Logia User!"

Blenheim nodded repeatedly.

"Yeah, go find Enel. Ever since he came back from that trip, he’s become a lot more energetic."

Without hesitation, he sold Enel out.

Enel: "..."

I was just passing by...

At this moment, Jozu was filled with regret.

If he had known things would turn out like this, he would have kept a lower profile from the start.

He should’ve hidden his strength and pretended to be weaker.

That way, more people might have challenged him.

Now it was too late.

Everyone had been intimidated by his overwhelming power.

No one dared fight him anymore.

"How can this be? Come on, fight me!" Jozu said anxiously. "I still have tons of ultimate moves I haven’t used yet! Well... maybe not that many..."

At the same time, beams of light surged rapidly through his arms, racing through prism-like pathways.

As energy continued to accumulate, his palms grew brighter and brighter.

It was as though he were holding two blazing suns in his hands.

"Come on! All of you, attack me together!"

Jozu tried desperately to reignite everyone’s fighting spirit.

The only response he received was silence.

And retreat.

Blenheim shook his head helplessly.

"Forget it, Commander Jozu. You’re simply too strong. My Haki is meaningless against you. Continuing would just be humiliating myself."

Another commander beside him nodded.

"Exactly. Besides, I’d rather save my strength for Kaido."

"He’s our real enemy."

"We’ll admit defeat this time."

Faced with everyone’s change in attitude, Jozu felt both regretful and disappointed.

He wanted to use battle to showcase his newfound strength.

But he also understood that showing off too much would only put pressure on his comrades and possibly create distance between them.

Seeing that no one was willing to fight him, Jozu grew bored.

He raised a hand.

The "sun" in his palm shot outward.

Everyone saw only a dazzling flash.

Then—

BOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted in the distance.

The world itself seemed to tremble.

Moments later, a gigantic mushroom cloud rose into the sky.

Fire blazed within rolling black smoke.

Vast amounts of sea water instantly vaporized, creating a massive curtain of white mist.

Countless unique creatures living in the White-White Sea were blasted into the air and instantly cooked alive.

They literally became roasted seafood.

Before anyone could recover from the shock, a terrifying shockwave crashed toward them.

The force nearly knocked everyone off their feet.

Only after barely stabilizing themselves and enduring the blast did they turn back toward Jozu.

Their eyes were filled with fear and disbelief.

As if silently asking:

Wait... was that attack originally meant for us?

"Damn it..."

One commander couldn’t help cursing.

"Wasn’t this supposed to be a friendly spar?"

"That looked like a straight-up execution!"

The other commanders immediately echoed his complaints.

They had thought this was simply a friendly exchange.

Who could’ve imagined that Jozu would unleash something so absurdly destructive?

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

Everyone stared at Jozu cautiously, afraid he might fire off another attack at any moment.

"Jozu, you call that a spar?"

"That wasn’t sparring—that was sending people to the afterlife!"

"Damn it! We’ve always gotten along, haven’t we? And you were planning to kill your own s?"

"That scared the hell out of me. Good thing I didn’t fight. I just got my Dragon form and would’ve died before I even got used to it."

"..."

Jozu scratched his head awkwardly.

"Hehe... Sorry, everyone."

"It’s my first time using it."

"I honestly didn’t expect it to be this powerful."

Everyone:

"..."

Jozu then nodded thoughtfully.

"But ’sending people to the afterlife’ sounds pretty good."

"This move doesn’t have a name yet."

"I’ll use that."

He raised a fist dramatically.

"Myriad Paths: Nuclear Blast!"

"Purify everything!"

"Amazing, Jozu!"

Ace looked at him with unconcealed admiration.

"Your strength has probably surpassed an Admiral already!"

Ron nodded in agreement.

"Judging by the power of that attack alone, you’ve definitely reached Admiral-level combat power."

His words were brief, but the recognition behind them was unmistakable.

"Gurararara!"

Whitebeard laughed loudly.

"Well done, Jozu."

He was clearly pleased.

Then he added:

"As for whether you’ve truly reached Admiral level..."

"Wouldn’t fighting an Admiral answer that question?"

Faced with so much praise, Jozu looked slightly embarrassed.

Scratching his head, he smiled sheepishly.

"Got it, Pops."

"So when are we going to pick a fight with an Admiral?"

Everyone:

"..."

Wasn’t this causing enough trouble already?

They still hadn’t settled the matter with Kaido.

Provoking the Marines now was hardly a wise move.

Although their strength had increased dramatically, they still preferred to advance step by step, just as they always had.

After thinking for a moment, Ron interrupted.

" Jozu, there’ll be plenty of opportunities to fight in the future."

"But before that..."

"I think we should first test your limits."

Jozu froze for a moment.

Then he thoughtfully repeated:

"My limits..."

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