Three Admiral-level combatants plus a fleet of over a dozen Navy warships—the Navy was truly sparing no expense. This lineup would be enough to take on a Four Emperor's pirate crew.
If it were just Drake and Stella, they might have had to find a way to escape. But with the main force of Fairy Tail present, even with this lineup, the Navy couldn't claim a guaranteed victory!
The Navy Vice Admirals also landed and engaged in battle with the others.
Fujitora swung his sword, effortlessly blocking Kagura's attack.
Swordsmanship in the pirate world is a major system of strength. In terms of swordsmanship, it surpasses the magic-centric world of Fairy Tail by a lot.
Kagura first learned breathing techniques and accompanying swordsmanship, and then, through training with several captains of Whitebeard's Pirate Crew, she learned the swordsmanship of this world.
Combined with gravity magic, Kagura's swordsmanship had reached a proficient level, but unfortunately, her opponent, Fujitora, was a stronger swordsman.
Slashed backward, Kagura twisted her body in mid-air and unleashed a slash from her blade.
But Fujitora simply rotated his blade and parried the slash with a backhand.
"Hell Journey!"
A circular gravity field landed on Kagura, who had just touched the ground. Although Kagura quickly activated her gravity magic to counter the field, she was still pinned down, unable to move.
Fujitora swung his staff sword to pursue, but a thick iron rod suddenly extended, striking the blade Fujitora had drawn from his scabbard.
The one lending a hand was naturally Gajeel, who had already defeated his opponent, Vergo, in the wildest way possible.
Gajeel had been focusing on Armament Haki training during this time. The Iron Dragon's power had excellent synergy with Armament Haki.
Vergo's proud Armament Haki was shattered by Gajeel's sword strikes, and his bamboo staff was also cut. Vergo himself fell at Gajeel's feet. Thus, Gajeel was able to assist Kagura in time.
Gajeel lunged at Fujitora. The moment he raised his leg, it transformed into a serrated blade, still covered in black Armament Haki.
Fujitora's staff sword was drawn further, its blade also wrapped in Armament Haki.
As the blades clashed, Fujitora was forced to take half a step back.
At this moment, Kagura, having broken free from the gravity field, also caught up. All the gravity was concentrated on her blade, and she struck Fujitora's blocking staff sword.
With a thunderous roar, the ground beneath Fujitora cracked open, revealing the immense power of this blow!
"Gravity Blade: Fierce Tiger!"
A blade similarly imbued with gravity tore through the air with a tiger-like roar, even blowing away the dust with the shockwave.
Gajeel lunged beside Kagura, raising his Iron Dragon Sword to meet Fujitora's attack along with Kagura's slash.
The coast of the G5 Branch, once a neat and orderly port, had now transformed into a forest.
"Flame of the Dragon's Brilliance!"
Natsu, leaping high, held a giant fireball and threw it directly into the forest.
The fireball exploded, but despite being a forest, the flames extinguished themselves before they could spread much.
Ryokugyu, in his giant tree-man form, said smugly: "This is my fire-resistant forest! Plants rich in moisture, plants that secrete non-flammable substances—there are countless fire-resistant plants in nature.
This is the power of nature, and nature is my power!"
With that, the giant tree-man swung its fist at Natsu.
Just then, a giant ninja sword was thrust forward, piercing the tree-man's fist. Natsu landed precisely on the back of the ninja sword.
Sasuke also understood why the Whitebeard Pirates considered Logia-type Devil Fruits to be top-tier—this ability was indeed troublesome.
The experience Sasuke gained from Uchiha Madara's memories regarding dealing with Wood Style was useless against Ryokugyu.
Even the First Hokage's Wood Style ninjutsu was powerful, but at least his original body was tangible. Ryokugyu, however, had merged with the entire forest, making him incredibly difficult to deal with.
And Ryokugyu's Mori Mori no Mi was special even among Logia types. While other Logia users' elemental forms could only be physically harmed by Armament Haki, this entire forest was Ryokugyu's true body.
To defeat Ryokugyu, one would have to destroy the entire forest, but this forest could sprout new plants at any time, even if it was destroyed.
This made fighting Ryokugyu a battle of attrition, either by having one's nutrients and moisture drained by his plants, or by getting bogged down in a grueling test of endurance.
Vines grew along the ninja sword, about to entangle Natsu as he charged forward.
Natsu punched into the vines, and the explosive flames instantly shattered them. Then, Natsu lunged forward and kicked the tree-man's chest, creating a large hole.
But the hole, large enough for someone to crawl through, was instantly restored. Meanwhile, the tree-man's other arm had already been raised.
Just then, white frost rapidly spread along the tree-man's body, freezing a large portion of it in an instant. Ice shards extended outwards, refracting light in the sunlight.
The tree-man's arm continued to fall, but it became brittle due to the ice, and snapped off.
Gray knelt down, his palm pressed against the ground, the frost spreading from beneath it.
Gray smiled and said, "Your forest might not fear fire, but it seems it can't handle ice!"
The tree-man's face contorted in displeasure. As Susanoo drew its ninja sword, it snapped the frozen vines and then cleaved the tree-man into pieces.
"ICE MAKE: Silver World!"
Gray clenched one fist into the palm of his other hand, a hand seal he learned from his master when he first began practicing Ice-Make magic, which stabilized his magic.
And now, he was unleashing a large-scale freezing spell.
The white mist was composed of fine ice crystals condensed from freezing air, and the ice layer instantly encased the forest.
Sasuke followed closely behind, sweeping away all the frozen plants with his giant ninja sword.
However, the three did not relax their vigilance. They knew that defeating a strong opponent like Ryokugyu wouldn't be so easy.
As expected, under their watchful eyes, a sapling broke through the ground amidst the shattered ice and quickly grew into a coniferous tree. The tree then transformed into Ryokugyu's likeness.
"Don't you know that many plants can survive winter!"
Ryokugyu said this, but his expression clearly showed he was getting serious.
Sasuke also deactivated Susanoo, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Natsu and Gray, facing Ryokugyu.
Ryokugyu looked at the three and said, "Although I dislike trouble, it's a mission assigned by Brother Akainu.
Besides, you who openly oppose the World Government have no right to exist."
Ryokugyu also had his own justice philosophy, which, unlike his aversion to trouble, was called "Desperate Justice."
He considered himself to be nature itself, thus endorsing the law of the jungle, believing that humans are meant to trample on the weak, and that discrimination can bring stability.
And the World Government is the strongest in this world; those not under its rule are not worthy of being treated as humans.
In essence, he was the type of person Fairy Tail hated the most.
"The meaning of our existence is not for you to decide!"
This was Natsu's final response before making his move.
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