Fleet Admiral Sengoku opened his mouth with a bitter smile, "But we can't kill him now."
All three Marine Admirals were dispatched, yet the man managed to strike Marineford itself. Who can withstand such a blow? Who would dare attempt a frontal kill now?
Tsuru nodded gravely, "If we can't kill him now, our chances will only shrink in the future."
Although she is older, her words carry undeniable weight.
She continued, voice firm: "His unique Devil Fruit ability allows him to mimic and learn abilities from other Devil Fruit users. If he had never encountered those users, a single fatal wound might've ended him. But as time passes and his crew sails through more seas meeting more Devil Fruit users, that unkillable monster only becomes stronger. According to reports from Colonel Smoker in Loguetown, at first the man only used one or two abilities, including Smoker's Smoke Fruit powers. Later, after his crew entered Alabasta, he clearly had more encounters — likely with members of Baroque Works under the former Warlord Crocodile."
Tsuru exhaled and added, "From that moment, he transformed into a monster comparable to a Four Emperor. I suspect Crocodile was not defeated by Straw Hat Luffy, but by the Arrogant Emperor."
Sengoku frowned, pacing slowly. "Many Marines witnessed Crocodile being punched away by Luffy."
"But something feels off," he muttered. The most troubling fact is that after Crocodile was captured, he revealed nothing about the man — no information useful enough to track him.
Tsuru's voice dropped: "That's suspicious. According to Smoker's subordinates, Crocodile had extended contact with him — contact lasting long enough for him to see the threat. Yet when he was captured, he gave nothing. Unless… they reached an agreement."
Sengoku's face grew grim. "Could it be he commands a Warlord now?"
Tsuru shook her head. "Maybe that doesn't matter for now."
She leaned forward and spoke quietly, "If that foolish order from the Gorosei had never been given, we would have never become enemies with him."
Sengoku paused, glancing warily around before whispering, "Walls have ears."
Tsuru sneered, "Foolishness remains foolish, even for those of noble status. If the Gorosei had refrained from provoking that monster, then dispatching Admiral Kizaru prematurely — and gifting him a movable Devil Fruit ability — we would not have put ourselves in this mess."
Sengoku ran a hand through his graying hair and sighed, "If he never gained Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit ability…"
That fact has long been a sore wound for the Marines. Previously, Kizaru's speed-based powers gave the Navy an edge — a trump card to suppress hostile forces. With Glint-Glint Fruit, Kizaru could shift across the sea almost instantaneously, turning the battlefield on a whim. His mere presence would force opponents to think twice, or flee. But when this new foe appeared... the Marines felt the same fear their enemies once did.
You think you've surrounded him? He blinks and reappears at your Marineford — that thought alone spread dread through the Marines.
Sengoku shook his head, frustration in his gaze. He remembered Smoker's report: the man once appeared to serve peacefully as a vice-captain on a new pirate crew.
Tsuru added quietly, "If we had taken that report seriously and dispatched Admiral-level forces immediately while he was still weak, maybe he would never have become this unkillable monster."
Sengoku turned away, troubled. "You mean our best chance was in the past?"
Tsuru answered firmly, "Yes. The best chance to kill him was when he emerged from Loguetown — and the second best is now."
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