"Big words for a rookie!"
Sentomaru's brows arched upward, clearly unimpressed after hearing Bai Yu boldly claim that his Haki was superior.
Boom!
Without another word, Sentomaru yanked his massive battle axe from the ground, a tremor echoing underfoot, then charged straight at Bai Yu like a launched cannonball.
Fwoosh!
Bai Yu showed no fear. With the Dragon Flame Blade already in hand, he burst forward to meet the attack head-on.
Clang!
Steel screamed against steel the moment their weapons collided, sword versus axe in a thunderous crash that lit the battlefield ablaze with tension.
Boom!
Both weapons were clad in Busoshoku Haki—Armament Haki—turning the clash into a brutal test of spiritual strength. As they collided, the invisible yet palpable force exploded outward.
The sheer impact shattered the ground beneath their feet, spiderwebbing deep cracks outward in all directions like a quake rippling across the coast.
BOOM!
The deadlock only lasted a heartbeat.
With a shattering blast, blade and axe were thrown apart, the repelled Haki surging into the sky like a roaring shockwave, piercing through the clouds above and tearing them apart in a radiant burst.
"Come again!"
Snarling, Sentomaru surged forward with reckless might, swinging his battle axe in another devastating arc.
"I'm not afraid of you!" Bai Yu laughed.
He charged again, the Dragon Flame Blade howling through the air.
Bang! Boom! BOOM!
Their figures danced across the battlefield in a blur of motion, slashing and dodging with each pass.
They clashed, separated, then clashed again, steel ringing like war drums with every blow.
The force of each exchange cracked the ground and sent debris flying. Trees snapped, rocks split, and shockwaves flattened everything within the blast radius.
"What monsters!"
"Sentomaru's strength is incredible—he can fight Colonel Bai Yu on even footing!"
"But Colonel Bai Yu is clearly superior! His Haki's sharper, faster!"
"Yeah! Our Colonel is the real deal!"
From a safe distance, the marines of Branch 188 murmured in awe. Every one of them knew Sentomaru well, but this duel revealed something frightening: Bai Yu might actually be stronger.
Clang!
Another intense impact sent both combatants skidding back across the shattered coast.
This time, Sentomaru no longer wore the smug grin from earlier. His face had turned grim.
The deeper they fought, the more clearly he realized—Bai Yu wasn't bluffing.
Just as Bai Yu had claimed, his Busoshoku Haki was steadily overpowering Sentomaru's.
More than that, Bai Yu's stamina and control were simply abnormal. Despite using full-power Haki repeatedly, Bai Yu showed no signs of fatigue.
"His Haki… it's overwhelming mine?"
Sentomaru's thoughts grew more anxious.
If this battle became a war of attrition, he had no doubt—he would lose.
"I need to finish this in one blow!"
Resolving his plan, Sentomaru planted his feet and gripped his axe with both hands.
Huff… Huff…
Muscles bulged. Veins popped. His whole body trembled with raw energy.
Then—OMMMMM—his Armament Haki surged outward, thick and menacing, enveloping the axe like molten black steel.
His Haki began to condense, concentrating into the weapon like a raging storm sealed within steel.
The axe darkened to a deep obsidian sheen—pure, compressed Haki coating every inch.
The air quivered. The ground split from the pressure alone.
Even reality itself seemed to distort around him.
Sensing the shift, Bai Yu narrowed his eyes.
Sentomaru was preparing a final attack.
Hoo…
Taking a long breath, Bai Yu calmed the rapid pulse in his chest from their previous exchanges.
His body, already honed to the peak, began to channel its strength into one singular point—his arms.
Boom! Boom!
With the sound of his muscles contracting like gunshots, Bai Yu's arms swelled, veins surging with energy.
Power surged into his grip.
This… was it.
"This will be the finishing move."
At that moment—
Boom!
Sentomaru roared and launched forward, his foot cracking the ground beneath it. He became a blur, his afterimage streaking behind him as he tore through the air.
"Raaaah!!"
With a hurricane swirling in his wake, he raised the axe high and brought it down like a divine hammer from the heavens.
Even before it landed, the oppressive force crashed into Bai Yu's body like a mountain.
The impact crater formed before the blade even touched the ground.
"Sixfold Strike!"
Bai Yu's eyes flared with light.
He met the descending axe with an upward slash from his Dragon Flame Blade.
Haki surged from the sword's edge, fused with the roaring spirit of the Azure Dragon's will, intensified to its utmost.
CLAAAAANG!
A thunderous explosion erupted as sword met axe.
The air exploded. The world split.
For a moment, the space between them distorted—then blew apart.
Power rippled outward in every direction.
Sentomaru grinned. That slash wasn't enough to stop him.
He had channeled everything—Haki, strength, acceleration, gravity—into that single blow.
His axe continued its descent.
But—
"Second strike!"
Bai Yu's blade slid upward along the axe's edge, riding the pressure. When he reached the apex, he flipped his grip—
And slashed down again!
CLANG!
SKREEEEEE!
The second strike met the axe with another jarring impact.
But it wasn't over.
"Third strike!"
"Fourth strike!"
"Fifth strike!"
Bai Yu's hands became a blur. In rapid succession, he delivered blow after blow, each imbued with explosive might, each striking from a different angle.
Slash down. Sweep across. Uppercut the blade.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Each strike faster. Each one heavier.
By the fifth, cracks had spread across the axe's surface. The Armament Haki coating it shattered like broken glass.
Then—
BOOM!
The axe split apart with a deafening blast.
Head and handle snapped in two.
The giant weapon spun through the air, flung away by the force of Bai Yu's relentless onslaught.