One Piece: The Strongest Female Pirate Crews

"Katakuri, hang in there!!"

The cheers rose once again, but this time they lacked the strength of before. The members of the Big Mom Pirates were losing confidence, questioning everything they knew.

"I have a reason I must win," Katakuri's eyes shone with an intense red glow.

This was the most important battle of his life—a fight he simply could not lose.

"Aaaah!" He clenched his fists, roaring furiously.

From behind him erupted two massive fists made of hardened mochi, armed with strong Armament Haki—fists larger than a giant's—hurtling toward Gion.

"Clang!"

Gion drew her sword.

The blade slashed diagonally, deflecting the incoming mochi fists. The surrounding ground shattered into pieces, but Gion herself remained unmoved.

Katakuri roared as he funneled more strength into his attack. The mochi channels swelled visibly, delivering more power to his massive fists.

The fists grew larger.

The strength increased.

"Evenly matched?"

"There's a chance to win."

Big Mom and her crew widened their eyes, watching as the two figures stood locked in a contest of power. Neither retreated, neither gained the upper hand. For those who had grown accustomed to losing, this was already the best news—a stalemate meant a fifty-fifty chance.

A fifty percent chance was a monumental glimmer of hope.

"Your strength—not bad." Gion evaluated Katakuri's power, letting him continue to accumulate his strength.

But after a while, there was no more power.

"Is that your limit?"

"?"

Katakuri was stunned.

And then, he saw something that made his hair stand on end.

With a deft movement, Gion's sword flicked upwards, displacing the massive mochi-coated fists. He had lost control.

In the next instant, Gion swung her sword.

A burning flying slash cut through the mochi fists.

Katakuri's proud Armament Haki could not withstand the cut.

The slash followed the path of the mochi fists, heading straight for Katakuri as if slicing through butter.

In haste, Katakuri severed his connection with the mochi, transforming into a donut to roll away as quickly as he could.

He rolled across the ground several times before managing to lift his head, eyes wide with shock as he stared at the shattered remains of his mochi fists.

"This? This can't be real."

The disparity was staggering.

Katakuri felt like a child, facing an experienced adult, with an insurmountable gap between them.

"Flowing Mochi!"

He activated his Devil Fruit's awakened ability.

The ground turned into flowing mochi, surging towards Gion like a tidal wave.

Gion raised her sword.

One downward slash.

A crimson slash tore apart the mochi wave, and Gion's phoenix wings appeared, aflame, as she skimmed across the ground, leaving a blazing red trail. In an instant, she was in front of Katakuri.

One stroke of Phoenix Feather Sword Qi.

It set ablaze the earth around Katakuri.

Katakuri's body transformed into mochi, using Observation Haki to evade the attack that destroyed everything within several hundred meters.

By the time he had escaped, Katakuri's hair was singed black, and even his scarf had caught fire.

He hurried to extinguish it.

"She's just the vice-captain?"

Katakuri gritted his teeth.

After just a few exchanges, he was dazed.

Was this really just the second-in-command of the Sun and Moon Pirates?

He seriously doubted it. He felt like he was fighting an Admiral, being thoroughly overwhelmed.

If the vice-captain was this formidable, then what about Kuke...?

Katakuri had no time to ponder further. Gion shot upwards, transforming into a majestic phoenix. She ignited in brilliant flames, her wings fanning out.

Scorching wind blades blotted out the sky.

They carried the sharpness of wind and the searing power of fire.

Katakuri desperately activated his awakening ability, manipulating the ground into countless mochi fists, all of which were clad in strong Armament Haki.

"Rumble..."

The two large-scale attacks collided in midair, expanding violently.

Shockwaves burst out in every direction, wild gusts of wind sweeping across the battlefield.

Daifuku and the others retreated in panic, each one raising their defenses to fend off the surging waves.

Big Mom's face turned a dark shade of blue as she looked on.

Her large, plump face trembled.

She watched as the mochi fists were shredded by the wind blades and the blades rained down indiscriminately, leaving the ground beneath riddled with countless, vicious scars.

Hundreds of meters of land sank at least a dozen meters, the rocky layers beneath stripped away.

A land of scorched earth.

"Screech!"

The piercing cry of a phoenix rang out—a harbinger of Gion's next attack.

Gion appeared in her most powerful hybrid form, swooping down.

The twisted air could not keep up with her flight.

"Boom!"

Under the terrified gazes of Daifuku and the others, the phoenix plunged into the dust-choked battlefield, a massive explosion following.

Then,

A figure was sent flying from the cloud of dust.

It was Katakuri.

Katakuri's trembling hands still gripped his trident.

His back was about to slam heavily into the ground.

Katakuri gritted his teeth, planting his feet into the earth, bracing himself, enduring the impact.

With his body bent backward, he continued to slide across the ground for several hundred meters before he managed to steady himself, panting heavily.

Slowly straightening up,

Katakuri looked at his still-trembling hands.

"I won't lose."

Katakuri's eyes turned wild.

A terrifying Conqueror's Haki burst forth.

It surged forth like a tidal wave.

Gion, standing within the shockwave of the Conqueror's Haki, furrowed her brows slightly.

She didn't possess Conqueror's Haki.

"It seems like there's no other choice. This level of Conqueror's Haki won't make much of a difference—at least not against Gion," Shakky commented. She didn't have Conqueror's Haki either, but like Gion, she wasn't intimidated by those who did.

Naturally, Gion was even less concerned.

"Conqueror's Haki," Gion muttered, feeling the pressure bearing down on her spirit and will.

A faint smile tugged at her lips.

For the first time in the battle, Kuke focused his gaze on Gion, his eyes fixed as she stood beneath the crushing weight of Katakuri's Haki.

Slowly, his lips curved upwards.

Gion's eyes sharpened.

A pink aura exploded out from her.

It was... Conqueror's Haki!

Awakened.

"Gion has Conqueror's Haki too?" Shakky's mouth dropped open in shock.

None of them had ever underestimated Gion for not having Conqueror's Haki.

Most of the sea's strongest didn't possess it, after all.

It was normal.

Not having Conqueror's Haki didn't matter that much.

It was said to be a power only for those chosen by the heavens.

"Gion was in the Navy, she shouldn't have the qualifications of a king. In the last century, only Sengoku among the Navy had it," Shakky couldn't understand it.

Why had Gion suddenly awakened Conqueror's Haki?

Big Mom also found it difficult to comprehend.

"Conqueror's Haki, born of willpower, might not necessarily be innate," Kuke said with a soft laugh.

"?"

Shakky and the others stared blankly at Kuke, not understanding.

Kuke smiled again.

He did not explain.

From a young age, Kuke had been subtly guiding Gion, shifting her will to be more like that of a king.

The reason?

First, he had wanted to see if a shift in mindset could lead Gion to awaken Conqueror's Haki.

Back then, Kuke had no system, and his own talent was lacking, so he had put all his effort into cultivating Gion, helping her grow stronger.

Second, he wanted to prevent Gion from being brainwashed by the Navy's sense of justice.

For so long, Gion hadn't awakened Conqueror's Haki, and Kuke had lost hope.

He hadn't expected her to awaken it today in her fight with Katakuri.

"Was it because a weaker opponent used Conqueror's Haki? Or perhaps the pressure from Yamato and Hancock, who both have Conqueror's Haki? Or maybe it was these past two years of experiences? Or my guidance since she was young?"

Kuke wasn't sure of the exact reason.

Maybe Gion was born with the potential all along.

"Did the captain know all along that Gion would awaken Conqueror's Haki?"

Having witnessed so much already, Shakky thought that nothing could surprise her when it came to Kuke.

But in this moment, her heart still felt a powerful shock.

"The enigmatic captain..."

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DONT FORGET POWER STONE 

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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up 40+ chapters at patreon.com/Emik01.

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