Chapter 249: Luffy's Conqueror's Haki, Kuma's Acknowledgment!
"BOOM—!!!"
The battlefield erupted once more with a world-shaking shockwave!
Flames and dragon breath intertwined, the air thick with scorching heatwaves. The ground cracked and curled from the heat, and even the sea breeze seemed distorted by the high temperature.
Luffy and Ace stood side by side, brothers radiating Haki, battle intent burning like a raging fire!
"Dragon Bone: AERIAL SCALES!!!"
Luffy transformed into his hybrid dragon-human form. Armament Haki covered his dragon claws, pink scales standing up like sharp blades, tearing through the air, aiming straight for Kuma's throat!
"BANG!!!"
Kuma remained expressionless. He blocked horizontally with his paw-padded palm, casually deflecting the claw strike.
But Luffy was prepared. His dragon tail whipped violently, sweeping diagonally with the sound of breaking wind!
"Dragon Bone: IRON TAIL!!!"
"SWISH!!!"
The dragon tail swept across with the power to tear the earth apart. Kuma glanced coldly and raised one hand.
"PAW-PAW STRIKE: MICRO!"
"BOOM!!!"
The air exploded like a thunderclap. The shockwave kicked up giant rocks, knocking Luffy back dozens of meters. Yet the corner of his mouth lifted in a wild grin, battle intent dancing like fire in his eyes.
"FLAME FENCE!!!"
Ace roared low, flames spewing from his arms. A wall of scorching fire rose abruptly from the ground, tongues of flame coiling like evil dragons, sealing off Kuma's retreat!
"Hmph."
Kuma stomped his foot. The ground cracked, and a shockwave spread like a tide, shattering the wall of fire directly.
But in that instant, Ace had already pounced close. The flame on his right fist was compressed to the limit, burning like a blazing white star!
"FLAME COMMANDMENT: FIRE FIST!!!"
"BANG!!!"
The Fire Fist slammed into Kuma's palm. The elasticity of the paw pad rebounded the flame, but the recoil force still made Ace lean back sharply.
Ace changed moves with the flow, the flames in his hand turning into a burning spear!
"FLAME SPEAR: SHIRANUI (PHOSPHORESCENT FIRE)!!!"
"SWISH!!!"
The long spear pierced through the air, blindingly bright! Kuma flashed sideways, but the flame grazed his shoulder. His sleeve turned to ash, revealing steel-like muscles, the skin reddened by the burn.
Kuma's pupils contracted slightly, revealing a grave expression for the first time. "Such fast adaptability... the battle sense of these two brothers..."
—The current Bartholomew Kuma had not yet been modified by the World Government.
Under Roy's guidance, he understood that "to protect important people, one must possess overwhelming power."
Since then, he had traveled the seas as a Royal Shichibukai, honing his Haki and developing the abilities of the Paw-Paw Fruit, now capable of utilizing them to the extreme.
Kuma suddenly assumed a sumo stance, fully activating his Paw-Paw Fruit ability!
"THRUST PAD CANNON!!!"
Both palms slapped the air simultaneously. Dozens of compressed air cannonballs whistled out, pouring down like a meteor shower!
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!!!"
The ground was blasted into craters by the cannonballs, shockwaves seemingly tearing the earth apart!
Luffy flipped in mid-air with his half-dragon body, turning into an afterimage to dodge the barrage!
Ace jetted flames on the ground, sliding rapidly to avoid the chain explosions!
One high, one low, they launched a counterattack!
"BORO BREATH!!!"
In the air, Luffy roared. Scorching pink flames poured down, melting the ground into magma instantly!
"GREAT FLAME COMMANDMENT: FLAME EMPEROR!!!"
Ace compressed the flames in his body to the limit. A massive fireball fell like a star, blasting toward Kuma with destructive might!
"RUMBLE-RUMBLE—!!!"
Dragon breath and fireball converged, turning into a devastating torrent of flames, swallowing Kuma's massive figure. The explosion shockwave swept the surroundings, as if setting the entire island ablaze!
Amidst the flames, Kuma crossed his arms, fully activating the Paw-Paw Fruit ability in his palms to form a semi-transparent elastic barrier, isolating the destructive flames!
The high temperature caused the air to oscillate, even scorching the surface of Kuma's muscles red, but he remained as steady as a mountain, not retreating half an inch!
"No wonder Roy told me not to underestimate these brothers..."
Kuma muttered to himself, battle intent appearing in his eyes for the first time:
"Despite having just gone through that earth-shaking battle... they can still ignite such intense flames."
"Looks like I need to get serious."
The aftershocks of the flames had yet to dissipate; the battlefield was like purgatory.
Luffy and Ace stood side by side, shoulders heaving, sweat sliding down their temples.
"Huff... huff..." Ace panted low, flames flickering at his fingertips.
"This guy... acts like a moving war fortress..."
Luffy's dragon pupils constricted, sweat mixing with blood. He gritted his teeth and roared, "I don't believe I can't send him flying!!!"
In the flames, Kuma slowly raised his head, not a single wound on his body.
His face remained calm, but the air around him seemed compressed layer by layer by some force.
"Your combat power..."
"Is enough to shock Marines and pirates in any sea."
He murmured low, then pressed his left hand to his chest.
The next second, the entire battlefield suddenly distorted—
"PAW-PAW: REPEL FIELD!!!"
"BOOM—!!!"
An invisible elastic shockwave erupted, tearing and twisting the space within a hundred meters around Kuma. A semi-transparent hemispherical barrier expanded outward!
Ace's flames and Luffy's air-scorching dragon breath were all reflected the moment they touched the barrier!
Flames rolled back, shockwaves sweeping the battlefield, sending gravel flying, and even slicing and collapsing steel-hard mangrove trunks.
"Wh-What?!!" Ace retreated in horror.
"All attacks... were bounced back?!"
Kuma didn't stop. He simply tapped himself lightly with a paw pad and vanished instantly.
The next second, Kuma appeared silently behind Luffy. One palm descended, launching Luffy directly into the sky!
"BANG!!!"
Luffy's tall half-dragon body shot up like a missile, only stopping after smashing through an entire mangrove building.
"This speed... Observation Haki can't catch it at all," Luffy struggled to get up, heart pounding wildly, a trace of shock flashing in his eyes.
"It's like light-speed teleportation!!!"
Ace just raised his hand, flames turning into a blazing white spear, but Kuma's figure swept before him in the blink of an eye, palm tapping lightly on his waist—
"BANG!!!"
Ace was sent flying like a cannonball, trailing a long tail of scorching flames in the air, crashing heavily into the dust, rubble falling like rain.
The brothers' breathing was chaotic, stamina pushed to exhaustion.
The consumption from defeating Vista and Jozu had brought their bodies close to the limit. Facing Kuma, who had truly unleashed his power, they couldn't even get close.
Kuma looked down at his palm, Roy's voice echoing in his mind: "Give them some real 'tempering'."
Gaze flickering slightly, Kuma slowly raised his head, locking onto Nami at the edge of the battlefield.
"SWISH!!!"
The massive figure suddenly disappeared, reappearing the next second in front of Nami and Usopp, a giant shadow completely enveloping them.
"KYAA—!!!"
Nami turned pale, the Clima-Tact in her hand trembling slightly, instinctively assuming a defensive stance.
Usopp held his breath, finger pulling the trigger, but the bullet was bounced away the moment it was fired.
Kuma slowly raised that paw-padded palm larger than their heads, but didn't strike immediately. Instead, he waved it slightly, as if ready to slap down at any moment.
"NAMI—!!!"
Seeing this in the distance, Luffy's breath stopped abruptly.
In that moment, his heartbeat seemed to turn into thunder, exploding in his ears!
"DON'T TOUCH HER—!!!"
Luffy stomped the ground to pieces. Blood roared in his body, pink dragon tail whipping up a gale, eyes turning into crimson dragon pupils.
"BOOM—!!!"
An invisible force erupted from his body. Blood-colored Conqueror's Haki exploded like a volcano, sweeping the entire battlefield!
Invisible shockwaves swept the surroundings. Buildings cracked, the ground fractured, and even the air emitted a roaring sound of being crushed!
Ace held his breath in this instant, pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
"Luffy, this aura... Conqueror's Haki?!!"
Nami and Usopp were blown over by the shockwave. Nami stared blankly at Luffy, hands gripping her Clima-Tact tightly:
"Th-This is... Luffy?!"
Kuma's raised palm paused in mid-air, silently bearing the impact of this Conqueror's Haki. The air seemed to resonate with the low growl of ten thousand beasts bowing their heads.
The next moment, a trace of emotion flashed in the depths of the "Tyrant's" eyes—relief and acknowledgment.
"As expected of... Dragon's son."
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