Chapter 77: Wood Golem Technique
Jon and Katakuri had been fighting for several minutes, yet neither had managed to land a decisive hit. Both of their expressions grew more serious.
As masters of Observation Haki, they understood better than anyone just how powerful it truly was.
Unlike Conqueror's Haki, which was flashy and imposing, or Armament Haki, which provided both offense and defense, Observation Haki played an even greater role in battle—sometimes even surpassing Armament Haki in importance.
However, a fight between two individuals who both excelled in Observation Haki could be downright frustrating.
They both launched rapid, precise attacks, only to keep missing each other—it was as if they were fighting air. Even Jon and Katakuri found the situation exasperating.
Using Observation Haki, Jon sensed the battle unfolding around him. Many of his Marine soldiers had been injured, and some had even been killed. His expression instantly turned ice-cold.
This was his first time leading troops into battle, and Jon naturally didn't want his subordinates to suffer heavy losses. He had no intention of dragging this fight out any longer—he needed to end it quickly.
Katakuri was thinking the same thing. He had assumed this Marine officer would be easy to defeat, but to his surprise, Jon was proving to be incredibly difficult to deal with.
He had never met anyone whose Observation Haki rivaled his own—but now, this Marine officer not only matched him but might even be stronger. This made him far more cautious.
But Katakuri wasn't just an Observation Haki user—his combat skills and Devil Fruit powers were also highly developed.
With a slight flick of his wrist, a massive trident—several meters long—suddenly appeared in his hand.
This was Katakuri's weapon, which he normally kept hidden within his arm. He only revealed it when facing truly strong opponents.
Now that Katakuri recognized Jon as a formidable enemy, he was ready to go all out.
Just as he was about to make his move, his expression suddenly changed, and his gaze shifted to the massive trees nearby.
To his shock, one of the giant trees began to tremble violently. Its branches and leaves retracted, and in mere moments, it transformed into an enormous wooden humanoid.
"A wooden giant?" Katakuri's cold, emotionless face briefly showed surprise.
Yes, what Katakuri was seeing was a Wood Golem—a massive humanoid figure formed from a tree.
The tree that had been firmly rooted in the ground was now completely uprooted.
Its roots had turned into legs.
Its branches had gathered together to form arms.
The top of the tree had expanded, shaping itself into a massive head.
It even had eyes, a nose, and a mouth, making it strikingly similar to a human.
"Wood Golem Technique."
Jon's expression remained indifferent as he calmly spoke.
This was a technique he had developed by studying the legendary Wood Release techniques of Hashirama Senju.
The key difference? Jon didn't need to form hand seals—he could directly control the transformation using his ability.
For two or three years, Jon had been experimenting with this technique but had never perfected it. It was only after mastering Life Return that he finally gained control over the ability.
Now, he could activate it effortlessly.
This wooden giant, standing over ten meters tall, wasn't even his limit.
But since he had already grown trees of this height earlier, it was much easier to transform them into golems rather than creating larger ones from scratch.
When the Wood Golem fully awakened, it suddenly opened its eyes.
Its eyes weren't ordinary—they gleamed with an eerie green light.
Its massive body, thick limbs, and menacing face made it look truly terrifying.
Under Jon's command, the Wood Golem immediately attacked Katakuri.
BOOM!
A gigantic wooden fist smashed down, its sheer size and power making the ground tremble.
Even with Katakuri's incredible reflexes, he only barely managed to dodge the attack in time.
"Impossible! This thing moves like a human?"
Katakuri continued dodging the Wood Golem's relentless attacks. He was shocked to realize that this massive wooden figure wasn't just strong—it was extremely agile as well.
Each punch left deep craters in the ground. If he were to get hit even once, he knew he wouldn't come out unscathed.
He had never encountered a plant-based Devil Fruit user before.
To him, plants didn't seem like a serious threat.
But now?
This was far from weak—it was terrifying.
Though shaken, Katakuri didn't panic.
Jon's ability was powerful, but it wasn't enough to make him afraid.
With a quick flick of his wrist, Katakuri thrust his trident at the Wood Golem.
SHHK!
The Wood Golem's massive fist came crashing down again.
At the same time, Katakuri's trident struck directly into the giant's hand.
Though the golem stood nearly twenty meters tall, Katakuri himself was about five meters—meaning he was roughly one-fourth of its size.
His trident not only pierced into the wooden hand, but it also completely stopped its momentum.
Holding his trident firmly, Katakuri sneered, "So this is all it can do?"
His tone was mocking.
Jon frowned slightly.
"You're getting cocky, huh?"
Jon was fully aware of the Wood Golem's limitations.
It was massive and powerful.
But its wooden structure wasn't particularly durable.
If he wanted to reinforce it, he would need to coat it in Armament Haki—but doing so would drain a huge amount of his stamina.
Still, Katakuri's arrogant attitude annoyed him.
"If I could perfectly control harder materials, would you still be acting this smug?"
Jon could create stronger wood, but the denser the material, the more difficult it was to manipulate.
"Fine. If one isn't enough… I'll just make more."
Jon's eyes gleamed, and he activated his ability once more.
Suddenly, the surrounding trees began to transform.
Just like before—
Roots turned into legs.
Branches gathered into arms.
The tops expanded into giant heads.
One after another, enormous Wood Golems emerged.
Katakuri's confident smirk vanished instantly.
His heart trembled as he watched the scene unfold.
"No way… This isn't possible!"
One after another, identical twenty-meter-tall Wood Golems took shape.
By the time the transformation finished, there were a total of twenty.
Lined up perfectly in formation, the twenty massive figures all opened their glowing green eyes simultaneously.
In that instant—
They came to life.
Twenty identical Wood Golems, moving as one.
Even someone as composed as Katakuri was completely stunned.
FWOOOOSH!
Jon let out a slow breath, his voice calm.
"Now… is it still 'nothing special'?"
Creating twenty fully functional golems required his full mental and physical exertion.
Though he couldn't control each one with absolute precision, their collective power was far greater than a single, perfectly controlled golem.
Now, the real battle began.
----------
Powerstones?
10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/milezen
Make Sure to give a Review!
Collections please!