Shiki burst out of the golden streak midair and appeared right in front of Romu.
Oto and Kogarashi came down together in a brutal diving cut.
The force was obscene.
It felt like the air around the blades had been scooped out—everything turning hazy, unreal.
Two swords—
like a lion's fangs.
Romu could even smell the blood-soaked killing intent clinging to their edges.
"Kid!" Shiki bared his teeth. "Dying under my lion's blades should be an honor!"
He had absolute faith in his swordsmanship.
Then—
Romu moved.
Both arms, wrapped in that black-and-red sheen, snapped up.
Hands shaped like dragon claws.
And to everyone's shock—
he reached out and grabbed the incoming blades barehanded.
NNNG!
In a flash, Romu's Flowing Sakura-coated hands collided with Oto and Kogarashi. The impact screamed like steel grinding on steel.
Romu sank a fraction under the pressure.
His feet crushed into the rock, digging several centimeters deep.
But his hands weren't cut.
Shiki, supported by the Float-Float Fruit, stayed suspended in the air, still pressing down in the same cutting posture.
For a moment, the two were locked.
Then Shiki's arm muscles twitched—
and his stomach suddenly bulged outward like something punched him from the inside.
Pain flashed through him.
He didn't have time to think.
He yanked his blades free, flipped backward through the air, and retreated in a single smooth motion.
Breath held, mind focused—he worked to expel that strange force from inside his body.
What the hell was that? Shiki's eyes narrowed.
A weird power had traveled from Romu's hands… through the swords… and straight into Shiki's body.
"Armament Haki…?"
"No."
"That's not possible."
Armament strengthened hardness and durability.
It wasn't supposed to invade you like that.
"Devil Fruit…?"
But that didn't fit either.
The kid's ability was plant manipulation.
So what was it?
Shiki's mind raced.
The crowd reacts
The watching pirates stared as if reality had glitched.
"What?! Those are Supreme Grade blades!"
"That black-and-red layer—what is it?!"
Barehanded sword-catching was already insane.
Barehanded sword-catching against Shiki, with Supreme Grade swords, was unthinkable.
Even Wang Zhi, John, and Silver Axe were no longer relaxed.
Their brows knit.
"That kid stopped Shiki's blades with his hands…"
"That energy looks like Armament… but it's not quite the same."
"Is it a Devil Fruit effect?"
"It can't be—his fruit is plants!"
A heavy voice cut into their confusion.
"Not a Devil Fruit."
"It's Haki."
They snapped their heads around.
Newgate had stepped off the flower and walked over, eyes fixed on Romu with open delight.
"That's right," he said. "It's Armament Haki."
"But not ordinary Armament."
"It's a higher form."
"There's no official name…"
"But the warriors of Wano call it—"
"Ryūō."
Higher-level Armament…
Ryūō?
Wang Zhi and the others were still processing—
when the fight reignited.
Shiki's killing technique
Shiki stared at Romu now, his expression far more serious.
"Not bad, kid."
"But this ends here."
He kicked off the air with Float-Float support and shot upward—ten meters, then more.
Muscles tightened.
"Lion — Senkiri Valley!!"
With a roar, Shiki's long body twisted into a violently unnatural angle—
and began spinning at terrifying speed.
SHHHK! SHHHK! SHHHK!
Three golden crescent slashes blasted out at once—faster, sharper, heavier than his earlier flying slash.
And Shiki didn't stop.
His rotation accelerated.
In the pirates' eyes, Shiki and his twin swords became a single golden sphere, flashing nonstop.
Before you could blink—
dozens of crescent slashes poured out.
Each one carried power that could split a mountain.
Where the slashes passed, the wind screamed and the ground shattered.
Nothing survived longer than a heartbeat.
Wang Zhi's face tightened.
"That madman—he used Senkiri Valley?!"
"He'll wreck the whole island!"
John laughed harshly. "Let it wreck. I want to see if that 'Ryūō' can take this."
Silver Axe's armored head tilted slightly, eyes locked on Romu.
Romu's battle hunger
Romu narrowed his eyes.
So this is the Golden Lion…
His power is disgusting.
For the first time in a long time, he smelled true danger.
This wasn't a joke.
He might get hurt.
He might even—
The killing storm was about to hit.
And yet… his muscles trembled.
Not from fear.
From excitement.
Caution didn't mean cowardice.
He'd killed bandits.
Sailed out.
Stayed alive, grown stronger, step by step.
Hunted pirates.
Killed a branch Vice Admiral.
Clashed Conqueror's Haki with a young Whitebeard.
That wasn't "luck."
That was his blood.
And now—
Facing Shiki's ultimate technique, the heat inside him finally ignited fully.
The trembling in his muscles wasn't fear.
It was his body screaming—
Fight.
The slashes were here.
Romu didn't retreat.
He stepped forward.
His eyes sharpened like lightning.
The black-and-red Ryūō armor thickened around him.
"Then let's fight."
BOOM!
He drove a punch forward.
Power linked through his spine and exploded out through his right fist—
a piercing, penetrating force.
His black-red fist collided with the first crescent slash.
CRACK!
The slash shattered.
Wind detonated outward.
Rock beneath Romu fractured in spreading webs.
The shockwave shredded stone into bean-sized gravel.
Even the surrounding pirates—aside from Newgate and the commanders—could barely stay standing in that pressure.
But Romu, at the storm's center—
didn't move.
Like a giant rooted into the earth.
Far away, Shiki stopped spinning, hovering with arms crossed, laughing like a beast.
"Gya-ha-ha-ha…!"
"I won't come close."
"Let's see you push that weird force through from a distance!"
"Kid—"
"How long can you last?!"
Romu didn't hear him.
He only kept punching.
Again.
Again.
His fists blurred into afterimages.
In an instant, more than ten slashes were smashed apart by raw fists.
But then—
RIIIP!
One crescent slash tore through the Ryūō coating on Romu's right fist.
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