Moa Moa no Mi , Divine Punishment, Thunderous Giant Hand

After fighting for an hour, Aokiji and Sanders finally parted, gasping for breath.

"Haah... haah...!"

"This is exhilarating, Aokiji!" Sanders said excitedly between heavy breaths.

The "Thunder God Descent" form was exhausting, and each punch consumed a significant amount of lightning power, draining his stamina rapidly. But despite the exhaustion, Sanders was thrilled. This fight was far more enjoyable than the one with Magellan.

Though Magellan's Venom-Venom Fruit was formidable, it was somewhat countered by Sanders' Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Additionally, a guy who spends most of his day sitting on a toilet doesn't have much time to train. In a wide-open space, Magellan couldn't fight to this extent.

On the other hand, Aokiji was a much tougher opponent.

"You're not bad yourself," Aokiji replied, his chest heaving from the effort. His suit and vest were torn to shreds, revealing his solid muscles beneath.

"It's just that this battlefield isn't ideal. It'd be much better on solid land."

Sanders looked regretfully at the cracked and shattered ice beneath them.

"Yeah, this isn't as solid as real ground."

As he glanced up to check the sky, Sanders noticed the thick clouds overhead, making it impossible to tell what time it was.

"Let's wrap this up. I'm getting hungry," Sanders said with a grin, looking at Aokiji.

"You really think you can defeat me in such a short time?" Aokiji raised an eyebrow in surprise.

By this point in the fight, Aokiji was sure that Sanders had reached the level of an Admiral. However, for two fighters of Admiral strength to determine a winner, they would need to fight for days, if not nights. At that point, it wouldn't just be a matter of deciding victory but also a life-and-death struggle. A loss could mean broken limbs or worse—mutual destruction.

"Heh heh heh," Sanders chuckled, his grin making Aokiji feel uneasy.

In a flash, Sanders disappeared, moving ten times faster than before.

Aokiji's face tensed. He threw a punch in the direction he sensed Sanders, but Sanders vanished again.

Moa Moa no Mi Fruit: Tenfold Speed!

This power came from a Devil Fruit ability acquired in Impel Down, allowing Sanders to multiply his speed, strength, and other attributes by several times. This was the first time Sanders had unleashed this power in battle. Already fast due to his Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the Momo Fruit's boost now made Sanders' speed utterly unimaginable—even Kizaru would be left in awe.

Sanders appeared instantly behind Aokiji, his fist, carrying immense power, crashing down.

Moa Moa no Mi Fruit: Tenfold Strength!

The simple, unembellished punch slammed into Aokiji, who was caught completely off guard. His face twisted in shock.

How is this possible?!

He's been hiding his true strength?!

The unexpected force felt like being crushed by a mountain. Blood spurted from Aokiji's mouth as he was hurled into the distance.

Before Aokiji could even hit the ground, Sanders vanished and reappeared, following up with another punch.

Moa Moa no Mi Fruit: Tenfold Strength!

Boom!

Aokiji was slammed into the ice below with such force that spiderweb-like cracks spread across the frozen surface, embedding Aokiji into the ground.

Caught completely off guard by Sanders' sudden surge of power, Aokiji had no time to react. Sanders stomped toward him, aiming to crush him further. Aokiji barely managed to roll out of the way as Sanders' foot shattered the already cracked ice, causing seawater to surge up from below.

"What's going on with you?!" Aokiji asked in disbelief, clutching his chest.

Though the fight had been intense, Aokiji had been giving it his all. He had thought Sanders was near his limit, but now his speed and strength had suddenly multiplied.

This kind of power-up was beyond imagination!

Without answering, Sanders continued to press his attack. Each strike was more powerful than the last, forcing Aokiji to retreat again and again.

"Ice Wall!" Aokiji summoned an ice barrier, hoping to buy a moment to breathe.

Bang!

Sanders, like a savage beast, smashed through the ice with brute force and rushed forward. Within moments, Aokiji was hit several times and sent flying.

Not giving him a chance to recover, Sanders leapt into the air, gathering all the lightning around his body.

"800 Million Volts: Divine Punishment Descends!"

The clouds above crackled with electricity, and massive hands made of pure lightning formed from the sky. Under Sanders' control, the giant hands descended toward Aokiji.

"Ice Age!" Aokiji released an overwhelming surge of cold air to counter the thunderous hands.

The violent clash of energy created a massive shockwave, ripping through the surrounding area. A nearby ship belonging to the Celestial Dragons was completely destroyed by the force of the blast, debris scattering in all directions. Even Marine warships far from the battlefield were pushed back hundreds of meters by the waves of energy. Marines clung desperately to the ships to avoid being blown away.

"This is terrifying! Are those two even human?"

A Marine Rear Admiral clung to the mast, eyes wide in disbelief as he watched the battlefield.

From their distance, the two fighters appeared as tiny specks. Only through binoculars could they see any details of the battle, yet even from far away, the impact of the fight reached them.

Back on the battlefield, Aokiji was bent over, hands raised in front of his chest in a pushing motion, continuously releasing freezing energy to try to stop the giant thunderous hand. But the relentless lightning kept eroding his ice and freezing power, slowly closing in on him.

By the time the hand reached Aokiji, more than half of it had already been destroyed, leaving only a small portion intact. Yet even so, it smashed down with overwhelming force.

The terrifying lightning hand shattered the ice surface and sent Aokiji plunging into the sea.

The battle was over!

Staring at the massive hole in the ice, Sanders released his "Thunder God Descent" form and waved toward the distant Marine warship before heading back to his ship.

His small boat, shielded by the wreckage of the Celestial Dragons' ship, had been spared most of the damage from the shockwaves.

This was Sanders' first time defeating a Marine Admiral head-on, though he had taken advantage of the battlefield—once Aokiji fell into the sea, his Devil Fruit abilities became useless. On solid land or an island, it wouldn't have been so easy.

Even so, Sanders had sustained several frostbite injuries. The Ice-Ice Fruit's power was no joke.

Still, the battle had been fruitful.

He opened his system panel:

[You have fought a fierce battle with Aokiji. Ice-Ice Fruit Deduction time has been reduced by two years.]

In just two hours of combat, the deduction time for the Ice-Ice Fruit had been cut nearly in half. This was largely due to Sanders taking several of Aokiji's attacks head-on, allowing the pure freezing energy to inflict injuries that, in turn, aided in his deduction process.

However, this approach only worked against fruits with less direct offensive power like the Ice-Ice Fruit. Against stronger opponents, he wouldn't dare take such risks. He certainly wasn't about to tank a blast from Kaido's Fire Dragon Torch or Whitebeard's Quake-Quake powers just for deduction!

If necessary, he could always fight more battles to further his deduction. After all, at 19 years old, Sanders had plenty of time to grow stronger.

It was better to play it safe.

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T/N:

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