For Fujitora to suddenly use this move at such a time was truly beyond everyone's expectations. Moreover, the target of this Hell's Journey was not Bellamy, nor the Golden Lion, but Fujitora himself.
With a single swing of his sword, a terrifying pressure immediately acted upon his own body. In an instant, the ground beneath him collapsed under the hundred-fold gravity, and Fujitora's body fell rapidly downwards.
BOOM!
The moment Fujitora dropped into the ground, the Lion's Threat: Ground Burial, which had swept up countless tons of sand, completely closed. A giant pillar of sand appeared on the once-empty beach. And Bellamy, who should have been buried within it, was gently carried out at the last moment by a floating rock.
The Golden Lion's mastery of his own ability was truly at its peak. Bellamy sighed in admiration as he lit a cigar.
"He actually escaped underground."
"How could we let him get away?"
If the two of them working together still let him escape, it would be too embarrassing. The Golden Lion was a man who cared deeply about his pride; how could he let Fujitora just run away?
"After a smoke, let's start round two."
Bellamy blew a smoke ring, relaxed his body for a moment, then launched a punch at the ground.
"Super Destruction Punch!"
This punch was just a crude discharge of energy, with little technique involved. But with the boost from Bellamy's ability, the entire island trembled for a moment. Then, the earth slowly cracked open.
Fujitora, who had escaped underground, was once again exposed.
"Running underground is useless."
Slashing Wave!
The Golden Lion crossed his swords, and a giant, X-shaped slash shot through the air. The underground space was too narrow. If Bellamy attacked now, he would likely obstruct Shiki's attack. In this situation, using ranged attacks to force Fujitora out was the best choice.
Bellamy slammed his hand on the ground, and countless fragments of rock leaped up, which he grabbed in his hand.
Fish-Man Karate: 5,000-Tile True Punch!
A full 5,000 pieces of rubble, like cannonballs, followed the Golden Lion's slash, hurtling down into the fissure.
Such an attack could not pose much of a threat to a user of the Gravity-Gravity Fruit. Both the Golden Lion and Bellamy knew this very well. Their goal was simply to force Fujitora out. If he didn't come out and just hid underground, similar attacks would not stop until his stamina was completely exhausted.
It was clear that from the very beginning of this battle, Fujitora was at a complete disadvantage. All the abilities of the Gravity-Gravity Fruit could be offset by the Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit. And Fujitora's pride, his swordsmanship and Observation Haki, could not forcibly suppress Bellamy. This increase on one side and decrease on the other led to a complete tilting of the battle's balance.
But Fujitora had one advantage that had to be mentioned: his age. He was currently around 50 years old, the absolute peak for a human male in the world of One Piece. The Golden Lion, on the other hand, was nearly 80. Compared to his peak, his stamina had declined to a pitiful state. In fact, the recent series of fierce attacks had already left him slightly out of breath. And the battle had been going on for less than half an hour.
In his prime, the Golden Lion could fight Garp and Sengoku for days and nights. The effect of aging on a powerhouse was simply too great. This was also an important reason why Bellamy was fighting so aggressively. He knew very well that with the Golden Lion's age, he couldn't sustain a prolonged battle. Bellamy had set a maximum time limit of one day and one night for this fight. But from the current situation, the Golden Lion might not be able to last that long.
Bellamy actually didn't need him to attack so fiercely. In this battle, the Golden Lion only needed to use his ability to offset the gravity acting on Bellamy, and Bellamy could wear Fujitora down to death. But with the Golden Lion's pride, he would never do that unless he was in a desperate situation. Even now, he still positioned himself as the main attacker.
This made Bellamy both happy and troubled. Happy because if this battle went smoothly, he would smash the Golden Lion's head with a single punch afterward. Troubled because Fujitora was not so easily dealt with. No matter what, an Admiral-level powerhouse at his peak was not an opponent that could be easily defeated. Although the situation seemed one-sided now, the moment the Golden Lion's stamina gave out, Fujitora would immediately launch a counterattack.
"Then let's fight even more aggressively."
Bellamy had to use his own stamina advantage to offset the Golden Lion's stamina disadvantage. Otherwise, if this battle dragged on, unpredictable changes might occur.
Once he made his decision, Bellamy immediately took action. He stomped on the ground, and his entire body turned into a bolt of lightning, shooting straight into the underground fissure.
"What is this kid doing?"
The Golden Lion, who was about to continue his sword slashes, had to stop his movements when he saw Bellamy's figure.
"What a hindrance."
He hadn't yet realized that Bellamy was doing this precisely to help him conserve some stamina. The Golden Lion's pride made him unwilling, and unable, to admit the fact that he was old.
The dark underground was no different from the surface for a blind man like Fujitora. Moreover, with this narrow environment, he could better defend against attacks from above. If Fujitora didn't care about his pride, he could completely use the terrain advantage to hide below and drag out the fight with Bellamy and the others for a long time.
But Fujitora was currently a lone wolf. He had not joined any faction, and no one would come to help him. Facing the combined forces of the Flying Pirates, the Bellamy Pirates, and the Heart Pirates, no matter how long he dragged it out, the final outcome would be the same. To put it bluntly, if Fujitora just hid underground and didn't come out, with so many of them, they could wear him down to death.
No one could guess what choice Fujitora would make. But Bellamy gave him no choice, forcibly launching an attack in the underground fissure.
Several ranged attacks were easily erased by Fujitora's Gravity Blade. Seeing Bellamy's rapidly approaching figure, Fujitora quickly sheathed his sword and locked his Observation Haki onto him.
"You won't even give me a moment to breathe?"
Bellamy's aggressive assault led Fujitora to a wrong conclusion. The narrow space of the underground fissure limited his abilities to some extent. If he applied gravity to Bellamy, Bellamy would just come at him even faster. At this moment, it seemed Fujitora only had one choice: to slash upwards.
Gravity Blade: Raging Tiger!
A phantom image of a raging tiger roared wildly as it charged toward the sky.