Chapter 75 - The rematch

As Luffy and the rest made it to the pre-planned negotiation point, they saw two silhouettes nearing them. "Why are there two? Wasn't Fujitora the only Admiral on duty in Sabaody?" Shanks asked. "It could be a subordinate of his," Whitebeard commented. "No, it's someone else," Luffy informed as he scanned the area with his Observation Haki.

"Who is it then?" Odin inquired. "It's Ryokugyu, and he looks different. Something changed about him, but I can't put my finger on it." Luffy said. "Whatever it is, it must be the reason he's here even though it's Fujitora's turn to be stationed in Sabaody," Whitebeard concluded. "Actually, I'm a little curious about what it is. I mean, even if the Admirals act carefree, they have a shit load of work. I wonder if fighting him would be more fun now," Luffy wondered.

"Gurarara! So that's what you were thinking. Don't worry, we'll continue according to plan with Fujitora, so go wild on that overgrown cow," Whitebeard chuckled. "If you insist," Luffy shrugged as he dashed forward.

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"Yo, Mr. Stake, how have you been doing?" Luffy appeared on one of the ruins near the running Admirals. "So, we 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐭 again, Straw Hat," Ryokugyu replied instantly with a smile. "...That was a horrible pun and you should feel ashamed," Luffy stated with a deadpan expression as Ryokugyu let out a burst of laughter.

"Anyway, you seem more energetic this time, you've been eating your greens?" Luffy chuckled. Now, when he could look at Ryokugyu up close, he could see his figure changed slightly. While he didn't look malnourished at the slightest when they fought, now he looked more comfortable and natural. "Yes, actually. After our fight Sengoku ordered me to hit the food stalls. I was kinda bummed out to ruin my three years record, but he's the boss so I couldn't really protest. Still, it's annoying that I ruined my streak without even a girl asking me to." Ryokugyu complained.

"Eh, at least you'll be able to give me a fight now, right? You gave me quite the blue balls last time," Luffy smirked. "Is that so? Then I guess I should make a good impression this time," Ryokugyu shifted into his minotaur form. With a loud, booming, sound Ryokugyu charged towards Luffy, leaving a giant creator full of cracks in his starting point. 'I better get going, else these two will completely ruin the Holy Land,' Fujitora thought as he picked up his pace.

*BOOM*

A thunderous sound was heard across the Holy Land as Ryokugyu's giant fist clashed against Luffy's. A giant shockwave destroyed everything around them as each one of them stood their ground. "Oh, this will be good," Luffy smirked as he launched a Haki-covered jab at Ryokugyu's face with his free hand. The jab found its target, resulting in another loud sound. Ryokugyu, however, didn't seem to even notice the punch as he grabbed Luffy's arm and pulled it to drag Luffy into his range. However, unlike Ryokugyu's expectations, the arm simply stretched and Luffy stayed in his place. "I'm a rubber man, remember?" Luffy smirked as he took advantage of the situation.

Luffy returned his arm to normal and used the momentum to pull the Greed Bull towards him in an ironic twist. Just before Ryokugyu reached Luffy, the latter launched a devastating punch in the former's gut, using Ryukugyu's momentum to his advantage. Ryokugyu flew backward hundreds of meters, destroying everything in his path. Luffy didn't let him rest, however, and even before Ryukugyu fully stopped, Luffy appeared above him with a giant fist at the ready.

As the fight went on, the surrounding became more and more unrecognizable. Each one of the two warriors landed numerous blows against the other, and they traveled kilometer just from the knockback from the punches they received. Punches, kicks, debris, everything was used as maniacal smiles could be seen on the two combatants' faces. They enjoyed themselves to the fullest as the power in their punches slowly rose up as time went by.

"Hahahaha!" Ryokugyu let out a mad laugh as he knocked Luffy back with a strong gut punch. "Ouch, aren't you supposed to be crazy with rage or something? What's this bullshit," Luffy complained as he tilted his head back just enough to dodge a devastating hook that Ryokugyu launched at him. "Oh, I'm mad, it's just that I can direct my anger better now. Who'd believe a fucking phycologist would give me a power boost! Now come here and let me punch you!" Ryokugyu sent another punch at Luffy's Liver.

"That was unexpected," Luffy chuckled as he sidestepped the punch, before delivering a high-kick to Ryokugyu's chin with his stretched leg, making him lose his balance for a second. Luffy didn't miss that chance as he instantly appeared near the giant Minotaur's face. Luffy grabbed Ryokugyu's face tightly, before harshly slamming him into the ground, making a rather large crater form around the point of impact.

Before Ryokugyu could recover, Luffy kicked his leg up, making it stretch towards the sky for some hundreds of meters in a second. Ryokugyu tried to escape, but Luffy still had his hand on his face, making him unable to move. In a flash, the kick descended down onto Ryokugyu's gut, making him fold in pain with his eyes turning white.

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Hey guys, sorry for the long break. I had a shit ton of stuff going on, like my country entering a war, my country being on the verge of a civil war, and finishing high school. Surprisingly, turning on the news to receive civilian casualty reports throughout the day really ruins your motivation. Plus, my country is really small, like you can drive from one edge to the other in about five hours, so the missiles can easily reach my home. Luckily, or unluckily, the ones bombarding us are focusing on different areas. Also, I really didn't know how to finish this story. I mean, when I started this I just wanted to try out writing and I didn't believe I'd get to this point. I've been stressing out about the ending, whether it'll be satisfactory or not, and I ended up just delaying it. Last but not least, in two days I have my final math exam and then I'm finished with that cursed thing up until uni. Anyway, I'm sorry for the delay and I'll try to release the next couple of chapters quickly since I think I'll wrap it up in the next two chaps or so.