11: Stopping the Tailed Beast Bomb

Doflamingo and King launched a coordinated assault on Shukaku. The beast's massive size and sluggish movements made him an easy target for their relentless attacks.

"Overheat Whip!" Doflamingo activated his powers, sending strings lashing out to trip Shukaku. The immense beast stumbled and fell with a thunderous crash. King, a master of close combat, seized the opportunity, charging in with immense speed. His flaming body slammed into Shukaku's chest, sending the colossal creature hurtling several hundred meters through the air. The impact left a large, charred scar on Shukaku's sandy torso.

"Damn it, that hurt!" Shukaku roared furiously, his booming voice shaking the ground. Being repeatedly knocked down by humans—especially in front of that smug Nine-Tails—was an unforgivable humiliation.

"Is this monster's entire body made of sand?" King muttered, his sharp eyes fixed on the spot he had just burned. The damaged area on Shukaku's chest was already regenerating, grains of sand flowing together to seal the wound. His brow furrowed as he realized how difficult it would be to cause lasting damage.

Doflamingo, on the other hand, cackled with twisted amusement. "Fufufufu! And that's exactly why it's a monster!"

Though they seemed to be toying with Shukaku, it was clear that their advantage came solely from the beast's lack of speed. While Shukaku's destructive power was undeniable, as long as he couldn't land a hit, he posed little immediate threat.

From the sidelines, Kaido observed the battle with a hint of disappointment. The Tailed Beast didn't seem as powerful as he had imagined. Watching King and Doflamingo dominate Shukaku so easily felt underwhelming.

But Kaido quickly shook off this notion. After all, this world lacked the advanced techniques of eye-based abilities or sealing jutsu. A creature like Shukaku, with immense chakra reserves and a regenerative body, still held an overwhelming advantage in the Pirate World. Even if Shukaku appeared to be losing now, unless King or Doflamingo possessed the means to deliver a decisive killing blow, they would struggle in a prolonged fight. No matter how resilient the bodies of those in the Pirate World were, their stamina couldn't compare to the near-infinite endurance of a Tailed Beast.

Shukaku, however, had reached his breaking point. After being repeatedly mocked and outmaneuvered by King and Doflamingo, his fury boiled over. "Enough! Enough, you filthy humans! I'm done playing with you! It's time for you all to disappear!"

The ground trembled as Shukaku's massive body quivered with rage. Suddenly, countless blue and red orbs of energy began leaking from his body, floating around him like glowing bubbles. The orbs hovered ominously in midair, their radiance intensifying with each passing second.

Before Doflamingo and King could react, Shukaku opened his colossal mouth wide. The scattered orbs of red and blue energy started converging toward him, compressing into a dense, dark purple sphere of pulsating power.

"Oi, oi, oi! What the hell is that?!" Doflamingo's voice betrayed an uncharacteristic note of panic. Using his Observation Haki, he could sense the immense energy concentrated within the sphere. It was far beyond anything he had encountered before.

"So this is what Kaido-sama called a Tailed Beast Bomb, huh?" King muttered, his usually calm demeanor shaken. As an awakened user of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, King's heightened animal instincts screamed at him, warning of the catastrophic danger this attack posed. If they were hit by that monstrosity, there would be no chance of survival.

The dark sphere continued to condense, its surface swirling with chaotic energy. The atmosphere grew heavy, and even the distant airships seemed to shudder under the weight of the impending attack. Both Doflamingo and King prepared themselves, their minds racing to devise a strategy to counter what seemed to be an inevitable doom.

And yet, amidst the rising tension, Shukaku's laughter echoed across the battlefield, filled with malice and triumph. "Die, insects! Behold the power of a true beast!"

As King soared high into the sky to evade the impending catastrophe, Doflamingo attempted to use his strings to escape as well. However, he quickly realized something was wrong.

"What is this…?" Doflamingo muttered, his eyes narrowing as he glanced at his strings. A thin layer of sand had settled over them, making the strings heavier and harder to control. The grains clung stubbornly, adding weight and restricting his movements.

'The earlier attacks… he was scattering sand onto my strings bit by bit, wasn't he? Damn it! At this rate, I won't be able to move fast enough to dodge!' Doflamingo thought, a rare trace of panic crossing his face.

Meanwhile, the massive Tailed Beast Bomb Shukaku was forming had grown even larger. The compressed sphere of energy radiated a terrifying aura, its density visibly distorting the air around it. Doflamingo clenched his fists as he realized the gravity of the situation. Being struck by that attack meant certain death.

"No other choice… If I can't dodge it, I'll have to face it head-on," Doflamingo declared, his voice laced with defiance. Landing on the ground, he pressed his palms firmly against the earth. "Don't underestimate me, you sand-filled freak! Ever-White Threads!"

The ground beneath him shimmered and shifted, transforming into countless white threads that spread out like waves. The threads rose in towering walls, surging forward in undulating patterns.

Shukaku unleashed the Tailed Beast Bomb from his mouth, the massive sphere tearing through the air with unparalleled force. It collided with the Ever-White Threads, obliterating them with crushing power. Yet, the cascading motion of the threads forced the bomb to veer slightly off course, its trajectory bending away from Doflamingo.

The massive attack streaked past him, missing by mere meters, and hurtled toward the sea at ten times the speed of sound.

BOOM!

The resulting explosion erupted with such intensity that it seemed to split the sky. A colossal mushroom cloud ascended into the heavens, painting the sky a fiery red. The ocean beneath was vaporized, leaving behind a gaping, charred crater. The sheer force of the blast sent shockwaves rippling outward, their ferocity propelling Doflamingo into the air despite the distance he had already managed to put between himself and the explosion.

"Fufufufu! Incredible! Absolutely incredible!" Doflamingo laughed maniacally, the heat from the distant explosion still palpable even from kilometers away. The resulting hurricane-like winds battered him, yet his grin only widened. "This destructive power… It's no wonder they say these things can destroy the world! That beast's attack… It's on par with the legendary Ancient Weapon Pluton! What a monster!"

Kaido, observing from a distance, couldn't help but nod in astonishment. "The power is enormous, no doubt about it," he muttered. The sheer scope of the explosion was staggering—spanning several kilometers. He could only imagine the devastation caused by the strongest of the Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tails, wielding its even greater reserves of chakra.

"If even Shukaku can unleash such power, then what kind of destruction could Kurama bring with its Tailed Beast Bomb?" Kaido murmured, his eyes gleaming with a mix of curiosity and anticipation.

As the fiery mushroom cloud began to dissipate, the battlefield remained eerily silent for a moment, the echoes of destruction lingering in the air. Shukaku's guttural laughter broke the quiet, reverberating through the ruins of the land he had torn apart.

"See that, you pathetic humans? That's the power of a Tailed Beast! Bow down before me, Shukaku, the One-Tail!"