Chapter Eighty: Shukaku vs. Sand Emperor [Second Update]

[Heartbroken, I want to win her back! After some thought, I decided to add another chapter. This one took a long time to write. As for a third update, that depends on my mood. My condition isn’t great today, please forgive me. Thank you all so much for your support.]

“Chirp, chirp…”

Seeing that the bothersome foe had been dealt with, Shukaku hopped about, as if expecting praise from Shu Mingyuan. Its colossal body, a hundred yards tall, danced and pranced, shaking the desert like an earthquake.

Shukaku, though powerful now, still possessed the mind of a newborn. It relied solely on the blood bond with Shu Mingyuan to distinguish friend from foe.

“Good job, little one.”

Shu Mingyuan praised it, but his gaze remained fixed on the desert below. Crocodile was a Logia Devil Fruit user, capable of turning his body into sand at will. Given that his true form was sand, Shu Mingyuan wasn’t sure whether that earth-shattering sand wave had truly harmed him.

With Crocodile’s treacherous nature, it was highly possible he had already dispersed himself into a storm of sand, drifting through every corner of the desert.

He would have to stay on guard…

At last, the sea of sand stirred. A figure burst from beneath the desert, surrounded by swirling grains. His lower body had already turned to sand, but the upper half looked utterly wretched.

Crocodile was covered in blood, his body scraped raw in many places. Although the bleeding had stopped, this sorry state was a far cry from his previous arrogance.

Shu Mingyuan was astonished—he hadn’t expected to actually injure him. But how could it be? They were both sand. Unless… His gaze grew contemplative.

Crocodile glared at the massive beast before him, fists clenched tight. That monster’s abilities had managed to wound him—something he had never anticipated.

“Nine, keep pounding him! Don’t let up! Beat him until he can’t put on airs anymore!”

With a roar, Shukaku summoned countless grains of sand to float in the air, rapidly condensing them into thousands of shuriken. Under its control, a barrage of sand shuriken hurtled toward Crocodile.

Shu Mingyuan activated his Sharingan, intent on seeing whether Shukaku’s power could truly harm a Logia user!

The sky-darkening shuriken whistled forth. Crocodile’s expression turned grim. He spread his palm, conjuring a miniature sandstorm tornado, and hurled it forward with force.

“Desert Storm!” Crocodile growled.

The sandy tornado swelled in the wind, growing dozens of meters wide in an instant, shredding every incoming shuriken into a cloud of yellow dust.

“Sand Burial Spear!”

Shukaku bellowed, swinging its massive arm. The desert sands swiftly gathered before it, coalescing into a gigantic spear, dozens of meters long, radiating a piercing aura even greater than the shuriken before.

The sand spear, fully formed, surged forward with irresistible force, like a celestial lance descending from the heavens. Even the enormous sandstorm tornado could not easily shatter it.

The colossal spear pierced through, its momentum undiminished as it shot fiercely at Crocodile.

The sand spear rapidly filled Crocodile’s vision. He hadn’t expected an attack to penetrate even after the sandstorm’s barrier. He tried to sandify and evade, but the spear was too swift, stabbing through the flesh beneath his ribs.

Under the gaze of the Sharingan, Shu Mingyuan clearly saw blood welling from the torn flesh.

“So… the power of a Tailed Beast really can harm a Logia Devil Fruit user. Is it a unique chakra property of the Tailed Beasts?” Shu Mingyuan mused, stroking his chin.

The sandstorm towered, drawing in endless desert sand. Wherever it passed, a massive crater was left behind, and anything within a hundred meters was sucked in and pulverized by the raging force.

Before such a tempest, even a mountain-sized Shukaku appeared diminutive. This power transcended human limits—it was a natural disaster in itself. Even Crocodile couldn’t control the sandstorm’s rampage; he could only let it run wild.

Sensing the threat from the sandstorm, Shukaku swept its tail, drawing in sand from all around to rapidly form a massive sphere that enveloped it.

“That’s Shukaku’s Shield!”

Shu Mingyuan, protected within the sphere, was plunged into darkness. Yet he could still feel the sandstorm raging madly outside. The tearing force of the sandstorm had reached an indescribable level—even boulders within would be ground to dust in an instant.

Shukaku’s Shield began to tremble slightly, and as time passed, the shaking grew ever more intense. At last, with a cracking sound, the shield shattered completely.

Though the sandstorm had weakened, it still raged on. To keep Shu Mingyuan safe, Shukaku cradled him in its arms, using its own body to withstand the tornado’s fury.

It threw back its head and roared, letting the storm ravage its enormous body, unmoved by the pain.

“What a terrifying beast king—to stand against the force of nature with its own flesh. But it seems this monster can’t turn into sand…” Crocodile’s sharp eyes quickly discerned the difference between them.

Though both could control sand, at their core, they were distinct. He could manipulate quicksand thanks to his Sand-Sand Fruit, granting him the ability to become sand himself. The monster, by contrast, seemed only able to command sand, not become it. The reason it could harm him must be that mysterious power it possessed.

Having figured this out, Crocodile finally relaxed. He’d feared there were two sand-type Logia Fruits in the world, with one even restraining him in its abilities.

Fortunately…

“Hmph. If you’re not a Devil Fruit user, then whatever you are, today you die here! Only I am the true god of this desert!”

Crocodile’s face twisted into a cold sneer. His arm morphed into a gigantic sand blade, denser than before.

With a fierce shout, he used his fruit’s power to leave a sandy afterimage in the desert, moving with a speed nearly akin to teleportation. In a flash, he closed the distance to Shukaku, then leapt high and brought the sand blade down in a furious slash!

“Desert Greatsword!”

The strike split Shukaku’s back from top to bottom, leaving a massive wound, though no blood flowed from its body. With a howl of pain, Shukaku swept its tail, forcing Crocodile to retreat.

The sandstorm ceased. Shu Mingyuan leapt from Shukaku’s palm to the sand below. He glanced at the gaping wound on Shukaku’s back, anger rising steadily in his eyes.

He fixed his gaze on Crocodile, his voice turning cold.

“Little one, you’ve done well. Now… leave the rest to me.”