Marine Admiral Aokiji leaped into the air, releasing waves of freezing cold from both hands into the approaching tsunamis.
The towering waves that had threatened to swallow all of Marineford instantly transformed into enormous walls of ice.
Makoto had known this would happen, but seeing it firsthand still left him amazed by the sheer power of these monsters.
What Makoto lacked most right now was precisely this kind of large-scale destructive ability. He even began considering whether he should manifest another powerful Devil Fruit ability.
However, he suspected the rule limiting people to one Devil Fruit would also apply to him. After all, his abilities came from other people's perceptions, meaning he would naturally inherit the weaknesses they associated with Devil Fruit users.
He could eventually find a way to remove those weaknesses, but that was a problem for another time.
Meanwhile, Aokiji had finished reshaping the battlefield and immediately launched an attack against Whitebeard.
"Ice Block: Partisan!"
Freezing air gathered around his hands, forming two enormous ice spears that he hurled toward Whitebeard with tremendous force.
Faced with such a trivial attack, Whitebeard merely raised his fist and punched the air. The two spears instantly shattered, while the invisible shockwave struck Aokiji himself, breaking his already transformed elemental body into countless fragments of ice.
The shattered pieces of Aokiji's body fell toward the sea, drawing startled cries from Marine soldiers who were unfamiliar with his abilities.
After all, even if a Devil Fruit user survived falling into the ocean, wouldn't they immediately lose most of their strength?
What would happen to Aokiji now that his body had shattered into ice and fallen into the sea?
Ordinarily, that assumption would have been perfectly reasonable. However, as a Marine Admiral, Aokiji had long since learned how to overcome the threat seawater posed to Devil Fruit users.
The instant his body touched the ocean, he froze the entire surface of the crescent-shaped bay. As a result, he effectively landed on solid ice instead of entering the water, avoiding the danger of having his strength drained.
Unfortunately, this also eliminated the last stretch of water separating the Marines from the pirates. With nothing left to keep them apart, both sides were already itching to begin fighting.
"Get ready." Smoker drew his weapon and stepped in front of Makoto.
Although Makoto possessed two types of Haki and was an accomplished swordsman, Smoker believed his own Logia Devil Fruit abilities made him better suited to handling the unpredictable conditions of a battlefield.
Even Tashigi drew her sword and positioned herself beside Makoto, clearly having begun to regard him as something of a superior officer.
A faint smile appeared on Makoto's face. Smoker might be stubborn and unpleasant when facing an enemy, but as a teammate, he was surprisingly dependable.
Unfortunately, his abilities limited his potential. Either that, or he had developed his Devil Fruit in entirely the wrong direction, leaving him unable to keep pace with the Straw Hat Pirates later in the story.
The Marine character meant to rival Luffy had instead become that deserter, Koby.
Makoto had never particularly liked the guy. Rather than letting Koby fill that role, he would much rather see Smoker grow stronger.
"Let's go! Show them what we're made of!"
On the pirates' side, Flower Sword Vista shouted an order, prompting the pirates aboard the Moby Dick to leap from the ship and charge toward the Marines.
Seeing pirates led by fighters comparable to Marine Vice Admirals rushing toward them, the ordinary soldiers broke into cold sweats. Despite their overwhelming numbers, they knew charging forward would likely mean certain death.
Fortunately, the Marine officers had already begun issuing their own orders.
"Open fire! Keep them suppressed! Don't stop shooting!"
Although the Marine warships were frozen in place, their cannons remained operational. Cannonballs rained down on the pirates like a violent storm.
Such attacks were practically useless against powerful fighters, but ordinary pirates could still be blown half to death by a single direct hit.
"We'll intercept them!" Smoker charged forward without hesitation, with Tashigi immediately following behind.
Just as Makoto was preparing to join the battle, Sakiko's voice reached him through the ventilation opening near his ear.
"Makoto-kun, let me fight. I can help take some of the pressure off you."
Makoto frowned slightly but quickly agreed.
Part of him wanted to protect Sakiko so badly that he considered keeping her inside his cursed technique's spatial dimension indefinitely.
However, someone as strong-willed as Sakiko would never accept becoming a caged bird.
She had her own path toward becoming stronger, and he couldn't keep her sheltered forever.
"All right, but there's something I need to teach you first," Makoto replied, casually knocking away a pirate who had rushed toward him.
He had already tested the Memory Fruit's abilities on Tashigi. Although the techniques he transferred could only retain forty percent of their original effectiveness, that was still enough to compensate for some of Sakiko's weaknesses.
Makoto extended one hand into his cursed technique's spatial dimension and gently touched Sakiko's forehead, transferring his memories and experience of swordsmanship, Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and the Six Powers.
Sakiko's base attributes had already surpassed Makoto's, placing her among the strongest even when compared to other Veterans.
Mastering these techniques would hardly pose a challenge for her. If they weren't pressed for time, Makoto would have liked to teach her techniques and abilities from the Naruto power system as well.
Naturally, Sakiko welcomed everything he offered. She closed her eyes and carefully absorbed the flood of knowledge entering her mind.
At that moment, Makoto noticed the enormous amount of Cursed Energy flowing through Sakiko's body. After examining it more closely, he realized her reserves might already rival Jogo's.
With that in mind, he decided to transfer his experience with Domain Expansion, Reverse Cursed Technique, and Black Flash as well.
If Sakiko successfully mastered everything he had given her, she would undoubtedly possess the abilities of a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Combined with the other powers she already possessed, her overall combat strength might not be much weaker than Makoto's current level.
The entire process lasted roughly one minute. Throughout that time, Makoto continued fighting with only one hand, leaving nearby Marines and pirates completely confused about what he was doing.
Then again, the One Piece world was filled with strange and unpredictable abilities. Coupled with Makoto's habit of knocking enemies around with Armament Haki, his performance had already frightened several pirates into keeping their distance.
During that brief period, Makoto also earned a few Contribution Points.
Every ordinary pirate was worth one Contribution Point, regardless of their actual strength. Just as Makoto began thinking the rewards were calculated purely by kill count, a figure carrying a long sword appeared before him.
"Your opponent is me!"
Makoto glanced at the newcomer.
Fate Value: 5.
Fossa, the Fifteenth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Finally, someone with a little strength had appeared. Makoto estimated that Fossa was probably around the level of a Marine Rear Admiral.
"I'll finish you with one slash!"
Fossa brought his sword close to the cigar in his mouth, causing flames to spread across the blade. He then swung down with one hand, delivering a swift, precise, and vicious strike.
The speed of his attack was already beyond what an ordinary Marine Commodore could react to.
Unfortunately for him, his opponent was Makoto.
Taking a step forward, Makoto abruptly vanished from Fossa's sight, using none other than Soru (Shave) from the Six Powers.
In that instant, Makoto's speed exceeded 300 meters per second. Although he hadn't quite reached the speed of sound, he was already frighteningly close.
Fossa's pupils contracted sharply. His rudimentary Observation Haki immediately warned him of danger, prompting him to spin around and slash behind himself.
His senses told him that Makoto was about to attack from that direction.
Unfortunately, Makoto's Observation Haki was considerably stronger than Fossa's. The sword passed harmlessly through an afterimage, and just as Fossa exhausted the force of his swing, Makoto appeared beside him.
His right index finger, hardened black with Armament Haki, transformed into a Shigan (Finger Pistol) that pierced straight through Fossa's chest.
That wasn't all. A thin Spatial Slash erupted from Makoto's fingertip, cutting through Fossa's body and opening a narrow wound across his back.
His heart had been sliced apart.
One moment, Fossa had been overflowing with strength and fighting spirit. The next, darkness began swallowing his vision.
"No..."
He struggled to say something, but blood suddenly sprayed from his mouth. Realizing he was about to die, Fossa gritted his teeth and spread his arms, desperately attempting to grab Makoto and create an opening for his comrades to attack.
The nearby division commanders noticed what had happened and charged toward Makoto, roaring Fossa's name in fury.
Even Whitebeard, who had been confronting the Marine Admirals, turned his attention toward them. The instant he saw one of his sons being killed, rage consumed him, and he threw a devastating punch in Makoto's direction.
"You dare kill my son?! You're dead!"
Terrifying pressure engulfed Makoto's mind. His Observation Haki screamed warnings of impending danger, but by the time those warnings reached him, it was already too late.
Invisible vibrations tore through the air. The force behind Whitebeard's punch was powerful enough to shatter Marineford itself, much less Makoto's body.
Yet Makoto neither dodged nor retreated.
That was because Aokiji had already formed an ice blade between his hands and positioned himself directly in front of Makoto.
Crack!
With a sharp explosion, the ice blade shattered, along with most of Aokiji's body. However, the attack had weakened Whitebeard's shockwave enough for Makoto to react.
Makoto immediately coated his entire body in Haki and endured the remaining force head-on. The solid ice behind him exploded, leaving a crater dozens of meters wide, yet Makoto himself didn't retreat a single step.
This display stunned numerous Marines and pirates alike. Even Whitebeard widened his eyes as he stared toward Makoto, an uneasy feeling beginning to form in his heart.
What none of them realized was that Makoto had only used abilities belonging to the One Piece power system.
If he had also used Chakra and Cursed Energy, he might have already thrown a punch straight at Whitebeard's head.
"Aokiji, you damned brat! How dare you protect the man who killed my son!"
"Whitebeard, I'm simply protecting a promising young talent of the Marines."
Aokiji silently reassembled his shattered body before turning his head toward Makoto.
"Not bad. From now on, you're free to hunt any pirates below the division commanders. But until Whitebeard has been defeated, don't confront another division commander head-on."
Makoto nodded, casually tossed Fossa's corpse aside, and disappeared in a flash as he retreated from the area.
He had been looking for an excuse to search the Whitebeard allied fleet for the missing newcomers anyway. Aokiji had just handed him the perfect justification.
As for killing Fossa, Makoto understood that the man might have been something of a righteous pirate. However, the realization no longer stirred much emotion in him.
After experiencing the trials of two different worlds, Makoto had come to understand one fundamental truth: showing mercy to enemies on a battlefield was often the same as being cruel to yourself.
Besides, he wasn't Red-Haired Shanks, the wielder of the legendary Face-Face Fruit, nor was he Koby, the deserter seemingly destined to become the next Marine hero.
Ending an entire war with a few words was hardly something he could accomplish.
"I'm ready."
Sakiko's voice reached him once again. Makoto looked across the battlefield and happened to catch sight of Dracule Mihawk raising his sword toward Whitebeard.
A pale-green wave of sword energy swept across a distance of more than a hundred meters, slicing through the frozen battlefield and sending every pirate in its path flying or cutting them apart.
Not a single person managed to slow the attack down or alter its direction in the slightest.
That continued until a figure suddenly appeared before the flying slash. His entire body transformed into diamond as he roared and intercepted Mihawk's attack, deflecting the enormous wave of sword energy into the sky.
It was Diamond Jozu!
Despite being nothing more than a flying slash, and despite Makoto not sensing even a trace of Haki within it, the attack had possessed enough power to make both heaven and earth tremble.
It was exactly what one would expect from the One Piece world. The physical strength of its most powerful fighters was simply monstrous.
However, Mihawk's spectacular attack had also drawn practically everyone's attention.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Makoto released Sakiko from his spatial dimension.
Neither of them wasted time talking. After exchanging a single glance, flames erupted around Sakiko's hands and feet, and she charged toward a group of nearby pirates.
This was Makoto's first time witnessing Sakiko fight after her latest increase in strength.
He could clearly sense that she was simultaneously using Observation Haki, Armament Haki, the Six Powers, Cursed Energy Reinforcement, and the anger-fueled flames produced by her Emotional Mastery Talent.
The sheer combination of abilities made Makoto draw a sharp breath. He hurriedly called out to her.
"Hold back a little! Don't go after the division commanders just yet!"
Unfortunately, he had barely finished speaking when Sakiko punched a three-meter-tall pirate, sending him flying dozens of meters through the air.
The pirate's entire body burst into flames that refused to extinguish even after he crashed onto the frozen battlefield. Judging by his condition, there was practically no chance he would survive.
"Okay," Sakiko replied without hesitation. "But I can't promise I'll stay rational the whole time. These eyes of mine... you know how they are."
"Mm."
Makoto acknowledged her warning with a quiet sound. He had deliberately left the negative Buff that caused Sakiko's cursed eyes to interfere with her rationality untouched.
The reason was simple. He wasn't certain whether the person who had given Sakiko those eyes possessed some method of observing her.
The eyes' status panel fell under the Main God Space's system, meaning that person probably couldn't monitor it directly.
However, if Sakiko suddenly remained perfectly rational at all times, the change would be far too suspicious.
With that concern settled, Makoto changed direction and looked toward Whitebeard's massive allied fleet.
Although these pirate crews nominally followed Whitebeard's commands, only their captain-level figures had originally come from the Whitebeard Pirates. Most of their remaining members were ordinary pirates who had been recruited along the way.
Compared to the core members of the Whitebeard Pirates, these men varied far more widely in both strength and character.
Makoto therefore decided to investigate those ships first. Not only would this allow him to kill more pirates and accumulate Contribution Points, but it would also help him avoid drawing Whitebeard's attention again.
After all, killing Fossa had only earned him 10 Contribution Points.
Considering that an ordinary pirate was worth one point, Makoto couldn't help thinking that fighting powerful opponents was far less efficient than slaughtering large numbers of weaker pirates.
Perhaps that was the true meaning behind Battlefield Mode?
…