BOOOOM!
The ground across hundreds of meters cracked open.
A colossal wooden Buddha statue erupted from the earth.
With thousands of arms extending behind it, Amamiya Noah stood tall atop its head like a divine overseer.
The statue itself towered over 300 meters high, already well beyond the size of the training field.
And even this was Noah holding back.
If he had unleashed its full power, the Thousand-Armed Buddha could have easily stood over a kilometer tall.
The walls on both sides of the training grounds had already crumbled to pieces.
Kuzan stood frozen.
His eyes locked onto the towering monstrosity in front of him.
His "Ice Time Beak" had already flown straight at it.
But the Buddha's arms, dozens of them, moved with blinding speed.
CRASH!
The two forces collided midair, sending clouds of dust and shattered debris rising skyward.
Those watching already had their answer.
The moment Noah revealed a technique of this magnitude, it was clear who the victor would be.
But this was still a duel.
It wasn't about who the crowd believed had won.
It was only over when one opponent acknowledged defeat.
"So this is what you meant by letting me use both hands?"
"You've got a thousand of them, you son of a—"
Kuzan stared at the scene in disbelief.
His mighty ice bird now looked like a helpless little chick, trapped in one of the Buddha's giant hands.
With a high-pitched shriek, the bird was crushed to powder.
Even its ice-based nature offered no resistance.
Trying to freeze something of this scale?
Impossible.
Not unless he went all out and risked everything.
But he didn't plan to.
And to make things worse, Kuzan now noticed something truly insane...
Noah had coated the entire Thousand-Armed Buddha in Armament Haki.
A massive amount of it.
So much that Kuzan instinctively felt a chill, despite being an ice user himself.
Even he couldn't muster that kind of overwhelming Haki.
"Admiral Kuzan," Noah grinned from above, "I'm not holding back."
Trying to steal his subordinates?
Oh, he was going to make Kuzan pay for that.
Today, he was going to show him what true cruelty looked like.
"Wait!"
Kuzan's expression twisted. He had just been about to surrender.
And honestly, there was no shame in it.
With the strength Noah was showing now, even if Kuzan gave up, no one would think less of him.
But Noah didn't give him the chance.
Countless fists descended from the heavens.
Each impact sent gravel and dust flying in all directions.
Kuzan dodged and weaved through the barrage.
But sweat began to bead on his forehead.
Earlier, it had only been a few dozen fists at once.
But now?
Hundreds were crashing down simultaneously.
"Ice Wall!"
Kuzan clenched his jaw and summoned an impossibly thick wall of solid ice.
It stood before him like a fortress, buying precious time as he continued to dodge.
The assault lasted over a minute.
Finally, Noah stopped.
The once-proud training field was gone, flattened into a wasteland.
Even the grandstands were obliterated.
All that remained was a giant wooden statue still standing high above, its thousand arms stretching menacingly into the sky.
Those who had been watching had long since evacuated, carrying the injured with them.
Now, staring at the smoking ruin...
There was only silence.
"…Holy crap."
"…Holy crap!"
"HOLY FREAKIN' CRAP!"
"This is Vice Admiral Noah's real strength?!"
"That's insane... no, this isn't just insane. This is monstrous!"
"'Monster' isn't even enough. He's the king of monsters."
"Thank god he's on our side."
"Right? Imagine if someone like him was an enemy..."
"He'd be a living nightmare."
"I swear... I'm applying to become one of his men the second this duel ends."
"But Roco, you're already a Rear Admiral. You'll be promoted to Vice Admiral soon…"
"So what? Vice Admiral or not, Noah's gonna be Fleet Admiral someday. Honestly, I feel like I'm already late to the party."
"..."
No one had expected the duel to destroy the training grounds.
This was the Marine headquarters' core training field, and now it was gone.
But the spectacle had burned itself into their hearts.
They had witnessed true strength.
And many of them wanted to be like him.
To become men like Amamiya Noah.
Standing in his presence gave them courage, even against pirates.
He had become the true icon of the Navy's new generation.
After all, Garp was aging. He was one of the old legends.
But Noah was here.
Young. Strong. Legendary.
The embodiment of their dreams.
"Vice Admiral Noah's power is... truly stunning."
"I bet when he steps into the New World, even the Four Emperors will tremble."
"Hahaha! Looks like the Navy's golden age has finally begun."
"Yeah. With Vice Admiral Noah around, the Emperors aren't so scary anymore."
"Too bad the rest of the world has no idea how strong he really is."
"If Morgans ever reports this, the whole world would know the Navy's name."
Meanwhile, Sengoku and the others stood off to the side, speechless.
At first, they had thought Kuzan would win.
But after watching that battle play out, they realized... yes, even a salted fish can flip over.
And Noah wasn't just some salted fish.
"The training field..." Sengoku stared at the devastation, feeling a pang in his chest.
"How much is this gonna cost? Think the World Government will cover it?"
If they didn't, it would have to come straight out of the Navy's own budget.
And lately, the government had been tightening its purse strings.
If they weren't so broke, they'd have already expanded the Navy years ago.
Now, with all this extra loss?
Sengoku's heart ached just thinking about it.
"You're seriously still thinking about money right now?" Garp shot him a look.
This old geezer was practically living in the Navy's accounting department these days.
All he ever worried about was budget cuts and numbers.
Honestly, he was one step away from robbing the Golden Emperor just to balance the books.
"Shouldn't we be more worried about Kuzan right now?"
Garp scanned the ruins, searching for any sign of his fellow Admiral.
But the destruction was so thorough, it looked like everything had been reduced to dust.
Still, this was Kuzan. An Admiral-level powerhouse.
He couldn't have gone down that easily.
And sure enough—
CRACK!
A slab of stone shifted aside.
Kuzan's battered figure slowly crawled out from underneath it.
Covered in dust, blood trickling from his forehead, he looked like he'd just returned from a war with one of the Four Emperors.
Kuzan had never felt this humiliated.
He had been completely outplayed.
That first punch, he thought Noah had gone all out.
So he let his guard down slightly, thinking he could still teach the kid a lesson.
And the next thing he knew?
A freakin' wooden Buddha nearly crushed him to death.
If his ice hadn't held strong...
There would be a new Admiral vacancy in the Navy today.