Boom!
Whitebeard clenched his fist and struck toward Luffy's direction. The air under his fist cracked like a spiderweb, and powerful seismic waves carrying tremendous force rushed towards Luffy's direction. The Marines caught in the way were all sent flying.
Even Vice Admirals had no choice but to scurry away. This was what made Whitebeard, at his peak, so terrifying. In his hands, the Quake-Quake Fruit wielded the destructive force of a natural calamity — every move of his could cause incalculable devastation to the surroundings.
At the same time as Whitebeard launched his punch, Akainu and Kizaru responded with their own attacks.
"Heavenly Dominion: Sacred Yata Crow!"
"Hound Blaze!"
Whitebeard dodged the Hound Blaze, but Kizaru, who had turned into a light beam, crashed squarely into Whitebeard's chest. In battles of this scale, losing focus was a serious taboo. Even for Whitebeard, interfering in another fight while facing two Admirals at once came with a cost.
Caught off guard by Kizaru's sudden attack, evading it was basically impossible.
Whitebeard staggered two steps back. Blood trickled down the muscular lines of his body, staining the cloth tied around his waist red.
"Pops!!"
"Forget about me! I'll handle things here! Everyone — cover Straw Hat boy! Help him break through!!"
Bored Kaido had gone off to fight Sengoku. Yamato was dragging Kuzan into a fake fight. Whitebeard had reduced pressure by drawing away Akainu and Kizaru — but this was already the limit of what they could manage.
Whitebeard hadn't expected Kaido to actually help. That was a surprise bonus. The Shichibukai had no interest in fighting. The division commanders were holding off the Vice Admirals. What he needed was someone who could break through Garp's defense under these circumstances.
He couldn't find anyone who could overpower Garp through sheer strength — so he had to take a different approach.
Back on Whitebeard's ship, Ace would talk constantly about his little brother. Whitebeard knew a bit about Luffy's family ties. If anyone left could rescue Ace right under Garp's nose, it could only be Luffy.
Whitebeard's voice echoed across most of the plaza, and his subordinates responded. A captain's command was absolute — those who could shake off their opponents began converging towards Luffy's direction.
Before Luffy could even register what was going on, a swarm of pirates from the New World had already gathered around him. These pirates were once renowned in their own right, and many of them were even stronger than Luffy.
But under Whitebeard's orders, they were willing to cover him.
"That won't do at all. If I let all of you through, it'd be quite troublesome for me, you know! Yasakani Sacred Jewel...."
"Flashy brat! Where are you looking?!"
Kizaru's attack hadn't even been released before it was interrupted by Whitebeard. What had just happened to Whitebeard due to distraction was now almost perfectly mirrored on Kizaru.
"Borsalino! Leave that side to the others — deal with Whitebeard first! As long as he's taken down, the Whitebeard Pirates will easily collapse!"
"Bold words, huh? If you want my head, then come and try it! Marines!"
Murakumogiri cleaved into the ground, massive cracks spreading toward the execution platform, carving a new path for the charging pirates.
Whitebeard even took several of Akainu's attacks head-on just to keep Kizaru firmly contained within the range of his powers, preventing him from interfering on any other battlefield.
With every passing moment, people were falling. Centered around Ace, both pirates and Marines had suffered heavy casualties.
As Kaido left the frontline battlefield, Yamato also let up quite a bit, and the intensity of her fight with Kuzan dropped drastically.
"You saw it, didn't you?"
"Saw what?"
"This battlefield — because of your arrival, the casualties have grown worse. If it weren't for you pirates, none of this would be happening, right?"
Though also a Marine Admiral, Kuzan had sharp battle instincts. Yamato's moves appeared overwhelmingly powerful, yet they appeared strange in all aspects.
He was Garp's top disciple. His main strength was the Ice-Ice Fruit, but that didn't mean he lacked physical skills. It was just that when facing Yamato, who was empowered by lightning, he was at a disadvantage in physical skills.
Yet Yamato would sometimes suddenly pull her punches, giving the impression that she was deliberately holding back. This only confused Kuzan more — what exactly was she trying to do?
After all, normal people couldn't possibly understand Kaido's family environment.
"What are you talking about? This is war. Isn't death in war completely normal? Besides, you're the ones who started this war, aren't you?"
"Ara ara, can't argue with that… Looks like you're not as naïve as I thought."
"Don't talk to me with that elder tone! Who do you think you are?!"
"Don't get me wrong. If my juniors went off to become pirates, I'd be pretty stressed out, too."
"I'm just curious — someone like you who dislikes war and even fights half-heartedly, why did you come to this battlefield?"
"Obviously, I was forced into it. But... was my fighting really that half-hearted? That won't do."
To think her opponent had noticed her slacking off — this was practically the biggest failure of her entire "pretend-fighting" career. If Kaido found out…
Imagining that terrifying scene, Yamato shook her head fiercely and then charged in another direction right in front of Kuzan. With the power of Zekrom's lightning bolstering her, Kuzan couldn't stop her.
When she reappeared in a safer zone, there was a Heracross in her hands.
"Hey you, why did you come to a place like this? This isn't somewhere you should be."
"Heraaacross."
"He's really got some nerve, actually letting you come here. Don't go any further in — your strength won't be of much help over there."
Ever since a Chansey once took a bullet for her, Yamato no longer wanted to bring Pokémon into dangerous battlefields. Except for casual travel missions, she wouldn't bring them along, even if they are unique types like Diancie and Genesect.
Heracross wasn't good at high-speed flight. In the Summit War, full of high-ranking officers, that kind of flight speed would just make it an easy target.
Realizing the logic in Yamato's words, Heracross turned its gaze toward Buggy's group. There seemed to be a decent locksmith over there.
"Heraaacross."
Seeing Luffy recklessly charge in to rescue someone without even a key, Heracross sighed helplessly and flew toward Mr. 3, planning to help get one made.
Where Buggy happened to be was one of the safest areas on the entire battlefield. Yamato didn't stop Heracross but instead returned to confront Kuzan — determined to fix the impression that she was fighting half-heartedly.
Meanwhile, at the rear of the battlefield, another force was approaching Marineford.
"Captain Teach, are we really going to do this? That place is seriously dangerous."
"Zehahaha! Of course—handing Ace over to the Marines was all for this, wasn't it? That world-destroying power... is destined to be mine!"
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