The Davy Back Fight climaxed with the Captain's Challenge, where Luffy finally defeated Foxy. As the Going Merry sailed away, the Foxy Pirates chased them desperately, firing their signature Noro Noro Beams (Slow-Slow Beams).
The crew scattered in panic as the slow-moving light beams approached.
"Kenji!" Nami screamed, terrified of being locked in a thirty-second time lapse.
"Relax," Kenji said, pulling Robin and Nami close to him. "Their power is light-based manipulation. I already duplicated it."
• Target: Noro Noro no Mi concept (Temporal/light manipulation).
• Copying...
• Apex Enhancement Active...
• Resulting Ability: [Apex: Chronal & Photonic Mastery] Acquired. (Full, absolute control over light speed and localized time dilation).
Kenji simply willed the Noro Noro Beams to stop. They halted inches from the Merry's deck, glittering harmlessly in the air.
He then decided to send a clear, final message to Foxy.
He turned toward the chasing ship, gathering a small amount of the plasma-level heat energy from his previously copied ability (Apex: Absolute Thermal Manipulation), and combined it with the kinetic potential of his Apex: Chronal & Photonic Mastery.
He didn't fire a beam or a slash. He snapped his fingers.
Krak-THOOM!
A sudden, contained explosion of super-compressed, ultra-hot plasma erupted several hundred meters in front of Foxy's ship. It wasn't aimed at the ship itself, but at the air before it.
The resulting shockwave—a localized Nova Bomb—was instantaneous. The pressure wave hit Foxy's ship, snapping its masts like twigs and instantly stopping it dead in the water, rocking it so violently that the entire crew was thrown overboard.
"That," Kenji stated, turning back to the dumbfounded Straw Hats, "is what happens when you combine two different Apex powers. A deterrent."
Luffy, now standing on the mast, stared back at the distant wreckage, his eyes sparkling with pure adventure. "HE IS SO COOL!"
Robin, nestled against Kenji, smiled beautifully. "He certainly is."
As the Merry sailed into the distance, heading directly toward the industrial skyline of Water 7, Kenji held Robin close. He had prepared the crew, strengthened their resolve, and provided an unforgettable demonstration of his overwhelming power.
The shadows of CP9 and the tragedy of the Merry were looming, but Kenji was ready to rewrite the destiny of the world.