"Fish-Man Karate – Over-the-Shoulder Throw!!"
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
A blur of blue shot through the sky.
A massive surge of water burst from the boiling sea, surging upward like a long whip.
It lashed out against the incoming magma attacks.
Ssszzz—!!
Steam hissed into the air.
The two pillars inhaled in unison.
Looking up, they saw the sky blanketed with ominous, thunderous clouds.
A storm loomed as if the world itself were on the brink of destruction.
Sasuke's hands trembled in exhilaration.
Chidori!
Lightning surged wildly from his palm—unrestrained.
Licking his parched lips, he muttered:
"Heh… that familiar feeling is back."
Elsewhere, Jinbe's attack had landed.
He successfully blocked many lava strikes, but shockwaves and a Tailed Beast Bomb still hit him.
His attack failed to change anything.
Ace and Luffy stood frozen, minds blank.
At that moment, Hashirama Senju halted his assault.
On the back of his giant wooden Buddha construct, only half of a hand remained.
Down below, deep inside a vast crater—
Sengoku lay bloodied and unconscious.
His chest barely rose and fell.
Hashirama glanced at him, then shook his head before turning his gaze again.
From high above, Madara Uchiha, encased in his Complete Susanoo, lifted one colossal leg.
Akainu's expression darkened as his body dispersed into magma.
Ssszzz—!
Black smoke curled upward as magma coated the Susanoo's foot.
Still, Madara stood with arms folded, unflinching, emotionless.
Akainu reformed, looking around.
His face contorted with fury.
The imprint left by Susanoo's stomp was inescapable.
Looking up, Akainu saw the magma still sizzling on Susanoo's sole.
Yet it had no noticeable effect.
"No... that's not right…"
Suddenly, Aokiji's pupils contracted.
He stared at the molten-covered foot.
Akainu: "..."
Ssszz! Ssszz!
Aokiji raised his arm—ice began to creep over his body.
Cold surged in all directions.
In an instant—
A thick layer of ice enveloped Susanoo's foot.
The magma froze solid.
Akainu narrowed his eyes… then shook his head.
"This isn't the time for this."
The battle was already lost.
It wasn't just about the loss of an admiral or even a fleet commander.
The question now was whether Marineford itself could be saved.
If not—then death was the only outcome.
"Justice!!" Akainu roared.
His brand of absolute justice wasn't inherently good or evil.
He was simply a blade—following orders from above.
And "above" meant one thing:
The World Government.
That was undeniable.
Akainu scanned the battlefield.
Marineford was a wasteland.
Rubble, fire, corpses—Navy and pirates, all mixed and indistinguishable.
He could no longer tell friend from foe.
Only the strongest remained standing.
And even they…
He glanced toward Aokiji, barely escaping from beneath Madara's Susanoo.
He looked pitiful.
So did Akainu himself.
Let alone the others.
With power on this scale, mere survival was a miracle.
Meanwhile...
Out at sea, a massive ship drew closer—its enormous shadow looming ever larger.
The eight Tailed Beasts advanced.
Wait!
Akainu's eyes narrowed.
A flying figure—round and tan—whizzed overhead.
"Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet!!"
It was Shukaku.
He'd noticed Akainu too.
Without hesitation, he attacked.
Shukaku's belly expanded like a balloon, then—
BANG—!!
A massive sphere of wind chakra blasted forward.
And that wasn't the end.
With another slap to his belly, Shukaku fired a second wind bomb—this one even larger.
Akainu's eyes widened.
"This power again… it's beyond comprehension…"
"Damn it!! Stop looking down on me!!"
He didn't dodge.
He couldn't.
BOOM! BOOM!
The first Air Bullet crashed against his magma fist.
Molten lava surged forward, colliding with the wind chakra.
But then came the second blast.
It overwhelmed his lava entirely.
Akainu was swallowed by the cyclone.
Dozens of wind blades slashed through him.
His cap was blown away.
He stood hunched over, magma leaking from his body uncontrollably.
Not by choice—
The wind blades had cut so deep, his elemental form was exposed and destabilized.
But it wasn't over yet.
Boom! Boom! Boom—!!!
After landing, Shukaku immediately checked on Gaara—confirming he was safe.
With a pat to his belly, he bellowed:
"Wind Style: Sand Shot—!!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—!!
A barrage of sand bullets exploded outward, carried by a violent wind from Shukaku's open jaws.
Akainu narrowed his eyes. Something about this attack felt… strange.
He hesitated. It didn't feel right to take it head-on.
But then he realized—
Shukaku wasn't aiming at him.
The true target was Crocodile, who had just shifted into a mass of golden sand.
"Huh?!"
A chill ran down Crocodile's spine.
He spun around just in time to see a massive storm of sand bombs racing toward him, wind howling around them.
"Damn it!"
"Why is it always another sand user?!"
"Where the hell are these monsters coming from?!"
"This much sand—what kind of freak ate the Nature-Suna Suna no Mi?!"
He couldn't afford to hesitate.
The sandstorm was too wide to escape normally—
He immediately shifted into his elemental form, scattering into sand to avoid damage.
But then—impact.
Boom—!!!
And just like that, the familiar heaviness returned.
Stronger than even when he'd fought that red-haired brat.
Crocodile was stunned—frozen.
At the same time—
Shukaku's massive arms morphed into swirling torrents of sand and stone.
All around Akainu, fine gravel erupted from the ground.
A surge of danger prickled at his senses.
Without thinking, he leapt.
But Shukaku's sand arms moved with eerie precision—like they had predicted his every move.
Clap!
Both palms struck together.
Observation Haki flared.
Akainu's pupils shrank.
His magma body trembled.
In the vision granted by his Haki, he saw it clearly:
A tidal wave of sand engulfing him.
A strange, suppressive force sealing his movements.
Forming a pyramid etched with ancient runes—draining him, locking him down.
He wouldn't be able to move or escape.
"I can't let that happen!"
Like Aokiji earlier, he made the only choice.
"Shave—!!"
He vanished in a blur of motion.
Then, Moonwalk—!!
Whoosh—!
A burst of white smoke erupted beneath his feet as he launched himself backward through the air.
He zig-zagged with practiced ease, dodging the entire barrage of sand.
In the next moment—
"Iron Body—!!"
Akainu reappeared behind Shukaku, arm hardened with Haki, magma erupting from his fist as he drove it toward the beast's head.
"Fleet Admiral Sakazuki!!"
A Rear Admiral shouted in alarm.
"Look out!!"
Akainu's eyes narrowed.
Whoosh—!
A massive tail swung toward him at breakneck speed.
He immediately abandoned his strike, throwing up both arms covered in Haki to block.
Boom!
The collision sent out a shockwave.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield...
Aokiji wasn't faring well.
His body was nearly four-fifths frozen over as he tried to mount a counterattack.
He summoned countless ice spears and launched them toward Madara Uchiha, who stood atop his Complete Susanoo.
But before they even got close—
Slash!
Susanoo swung its blade, cleaving through the ice in a single blow.
Clang—!!
The air rang with a metallic screech.
Susanoo slowly unsheathed the longsword at its hip.
The glint of the blade made Aokiji instinctively brace himself.
With a slam of both palms, he raised an enormous ice wall in defense.
Puff—!
It shattered instantly.
Aokiji's right arm was severed.
But as a Logia user, he didn't panic. He could regenerate.
Still, in the depths of his Observation Haki, he saw it—
The moment of his death.
Both admirals were now trapped.
Clang—!!
At that same moment, the sharp ring of steel echoed from the execution platform.
The 5th Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Flower Sword Vista, appeared behind Ace and Luffy.
Two blades flashed.
Clang—!
With the Myōjinmon of Hashirama Senju no longer suppressing the platform, Sengoku's guard was down.
Neither Tobirama Senju nor Dracule Mihawk seemed to care.
Vista took advantage of the gap.
With assistance from Marco, who flew overhead—
Vista cut through the seastone cuffs chaining Ace and Luffy.
Without hesitation, Vista and Marco lunged at Tobirama and Mihawk.
"Go!!"
Marco didn't even turn as he roared.
Chomp—!!
A torrent of glowing love-shaped petals surged from behind Vista as he brought down his dual swords—
Only for Mihawk to raise his blade in time and block them cleanly.
"Heh… to think I'd get the chance to cross swords with the world's strongest swordsman in a place like this."
"Flower Sword Vista," Dracule Mihawk replied in his usual calm tone.
The two clashed without another word.
Elsewhere, Marco was engulfed in brilliant blue flames.
Phoenix feathers scattered as he fully transformed—
His beast form igniting the sky.
Just like all Mythical Zoan users, Marco's regenerative abilities made him practically immune to ordinary attacks in this state.
"Flames, huh?"
Tobirama Senju narrowed his eyes at the incoming phoenix.
In the very next moment—
He vanished.
But not before dozens of kunai, each engraved with the Flying Thunder God seal, scattered around Marco's path.
Whoosh!
Tobirama reappeared.
"Flying Thunder God Slash!"
Boom—!!
The slash tore through Marco's elemental flames.
It worked.
A trace of Haki laced the technique, bypassing Marco's regeneration and slashing deep into him.
Marco was sent flying back, wounded for real.
Tobirama's lips curled into a smirk.
"If I'd been fighting the swordsman instead… things might've been a bit trickier."
"Heh."
He chuckled softly, then began forming hand signs.
The Second Hokage—a master of forbidden techniques, with a mastery of Water Style that surpassed even the Mizukage—was preparing something massive.
Not just water—
He was about to unleash the sea itself.
Meanwhile, on the execution platform—
Ace and Luffy, now unshackled, leapt to their feet.
"Gomu Gomu no——!!"
The fool was winding up for his punch.
His arms stretched far behind as he leaned forward dramatically.
"Jet——!!"
Bang—!!
Before he could even finish, a green blur appeared.
Rock Lee landed a powerful kick to Luffy's face, warping his rubbery features.
Luffy was sent flying backward, completely thrown off.
"Luffy!!"
Ace shouted in shock, flames erupting from his shoulders in response.
But when he saw Rock Lee's face—he froze.
That kick… the sheer speed and force...
"You?!"
Ace took an instinctive step back.
But then—
"Hey. Where are you looking?"
Sasuke Uchiha appeared in front of Ace, expression unreadable.
"Tch… So even a born evil like the Senju dares to look down on the power of fire?"
"Hey! You—!"
Ace's instincts screamed danger.
This youth—he looked too calm, too sharp.
And those eyes—those strange, spinning patterns.
Ace clenched his fists.
"Let me show you… what true fire looks like," Sasuke said coldly, raising his hand.
He weaved hand seals effortlessly, drawing in breath.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!!"
Ace didn't hesitate.
"Fire Fist!!"
Flames collided—one born of chakra, the other of a Devil Fruit.
The battlefield lit up in an inferno.
...
TN:
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