With Ozz making the first move—
The chaotic brawl erupted!
Thanks to Marco being the first to get knocked out, and Ozz—the wildcard crashing the party—the tide quickly tipped in favor of the Roger Pirates.
After all, the Whitebeard crew only had Oden as their true powerhouse.
Meanwhile, Rayleigh and the others had all mastered Advanced Conqueror's Haki. For them, this was less of a fight and more like sparring with kids. They could take down the opposition with a single finger.
So calling it a "battle" was a stretch. It was more of a friendly clash.
But Ozz? He was as stubborn as they come.
Despite not being quite on their level in terms of raw strength, his freakish physical power and endlessly honed dual Haki gave him the edge he needed.
He might've been at a disadvantage, but he still managed to hold his own against Oden.
It was in this clash that Ozz truly understood why, in the world of One Piece, so many fights somehow ended up looking like a "balanced standoff."
Sometimes, one side clearly had the upper hand—but as long as it wasn't overwhelmingly one-sided, they could fight for days on end like it was nothing.
Everyone in this world had tank-level endurance!
Compared to Roger and the other top-tier Conqueror's Haki users, Oden was clearly a notch lower. His Haki didn't quite reach the pinnacle.
Which made him the perfect practice dummy for Ozz.
Sure, it hurt—but it was worth it.
"One-Sword Style…"
Zzzzzt—!
Thick Armament Haki flooded his blade, streaked with crackling strands of Conqueror's Haki. With Ozz's monstrous strength and swordsmanship behind it, the strike tore through the air itself!
This was the first time Ozz had gone all out.
Eyes glowing with foreknowledge of the future—
"Extreme: Black Radiance!!"
Oden hadn't expected Ozz to open with a trump card, but he wasn't one to back down either.
His Armament Haki—more refined than Ozz's—coiled around both of his blades as he charged in to meet the strike head-on.
"Oden Two-Sword Style: Samurai Phantom Soul!"
In an instant, the two crossed paths.
The sheer force of the impact split the earth beneath them, sending sand and debris flying in a whirlwind. It didn't crack the heavens, but it might as well have.
The others, still trading punches and half-hearted slashes, stopped mid-brawl and stared, dumbfounded.
"Wait, what—? You two are actually going all out?!"
Then—after just one exchange—
Ozz's brow furrowed.
His eyes flared red.
What the hell?
I dodged that—didn't I?
A moment later—
Spurt!
A mouthful of blood burst from Ozz's lips.
From a distance, a battered Buggy and Shanks panicked at the sight.
Ozz didn't have a single visible wound—but he was clearly injured.
Ozz had seen it the moment their blades crossed, but only now did it truly hit him:
So this is Ryuo…
Thanks to Ozz's freakish physique, he didn't go down right away even after taking a hit from internal damage Haki. Most of the blow had been avoided thanks to his advanced Observation Haki predicting and dodging the brunt of it.
What was left behind was just a fraction of that internal shock.
But with a body on par with young Whitebeard's?
No way he was dropping from that.
"Ryuo, huh… Internal destructive flow…"
Ozz focused intently on the sensation still rippling through his body. Observation Haki scanned Oden behind him again and again as he tried to get his own Armament to "flow" the same way.
"That was a hell of a strike…"
But if Ozz suffered, Oden didn't walk away unscathed either.
Oden had tried to block—only to be read and countered perfectly.
Ozz's blade had cleaved right into his chest, leaving a deep gash and a river of blood.
Fighting someone who could predict the future was maddening. Unless you completely overwhelmed them, you'd better get used to being injured constantly—because every move, every block, every trick, was unraveled by the power of foresight.
The battle went on.
The pattern didn't change.
Oden had the stronger foundation, no doubt—but he just couldn't break through Ozz's absurd mix of precognition and brute strength.
In fact, in a pure test of physical strength, Oden suspected Ozz might even beat him.
To make matters worse, Ozz was growing in real-time.
As their Conqueror's Haki clashed again and again, Ozz continued to experiment—learning to control Ryuo and integrate it with his Haki.
The longer they fought, the stronger he got.
And the guy never seemed to run out of stamina.
It was the first time Oden had ever fought someone so frustrating.
Not even when Whitebeard or Roger had crushed him did he feel this stifled.
Even the Ryuo that had once pierced through Ozz's body… now barely scratched him.
The kid had figured out how to defend against it.
After two days of nonstop combat—
Ozz had wrung every last drop of value out of Oden.
There was nothing more to gain from fighting him.
In fact, now Oden had to go on the defensive, wary of Ozz's unpredictable strikes and sudden "black spears" that came out of nowhere.
"Uncle Jabba! Tag out!"
After another heavy clash, Ozz didn't follow up with a sneak attack. Instead, he called for backup.
"You really are a monster, Ozz."
Jabba had been toying with a bunch of underpowered rookies for hours now. He hadn't been allowed to kill them, so it was getting boring.
But the moment Ozz called him in, his eyes lit up with anticipation and a smile crept onto his face.
"Alright then. Leave this to me."