"Gahahaha! Newgate, it's been far too long!"
A slightly older but powerfully built man walked slowly forward through the chaos, responding to Whitebeard with a confident grin spreading across his weathered features.
Former Rocks Pirates member Wang Zhi or Ōchoku
"Ōchoku," Whitebeard replied grimly, planting his feet firmly on the ground as he gripped his supreme grade naginata. "You must understand what it means to show up uninvited in my territory."
Without any further warning, the World's Strongest Man leaped high into the air and brought his massive blade down in a devastating overhead strike aimed directly at his former crewmate.
"The pointer leading straight to Laugh Tale has finally appeared!" Ōchoku responded with obvious excitement, meeting Whitebeard's attack without showing the slightest weakness. "Whoever manages to claim it will depend entirely on their individual strength and cunning!"
These two legendary pirates had once served together aboard the infamous Rocks Pirates, so they naturally had extensive combat experience with each other from their younger days.
However, after the Rocks Pirates were decisively defeated during the legendary God Valley Incident, everyone had gone their separate ways to pursue their own ambitions. Whitebeard had chosen to wander the seas freely while building his family of pirates, while Ōchoku had claimed and occupied the former Rocks Pirates stronghold of Hachinosu Island, ruling there until the present day.
Although they had sailed together on the same notorious crew, the Rocks Pirates had never possessed any genuine sense of brotherhood or companionship. They had simply been a collection of powerful individuals who had temporarily banded together for mutual benefit and shared interests.
Therefore, it wasn't particularly surprising that former Rocks members—including Charlotte Linlin and Kaido—would immediately begin fighting when they encountered each other, regardless of their shared history.
On the northern side of Treasure Island, the fierce battle between Jerry's group and the Marine Admirals had left the entire coastline fragmented and utterly devastated. Molten lava flowed freely across the broken terrain, meteorite fragments lay scattered everywhere, enormous craters dotted the landscape, and massive tree trunks from Aramaki's attacks were scattered in chaotic tangles. The scene resembled the aftermath of a natural disaster.
This incredible display of raw destructive power shocked many pirates who had originally planned to take advantage of the chaos, as well as the few Marine officers who had remained in the area to observe. Since there were no structural limitations like the buildings at Marine Headquarters to consider, Akainu and his fellow Admirals didn't need to suppress their most devastating techniques and could unleash their full power without restraint.
However, as the battle continued to escalate, Akainu found himself feeling increasingly unsettled by what he was witnessing.
Although he desperately didn't want to believe it, his seasoned combat instincts were telling him that the irritatingly talkative opponent before him had quietly but significantly improved his fighting capabilities since their last encounter.
Noticing the subtle change in Akainu's usually confident expression, Jerry landed a solid punch while continuing his relentless verbal assault: "What's with that look in your eyes? Even if you manage to annoy me to death, I'm still going to beat the hell out of you."
"Shut your mouth!" Akainu snarled, throwing a defensive punch to block Jerry's attack before suddenly dodging and accelerating into a counterattack. His massive lava fist was wrapped in layers of advanced Armament Haki.
Jerry calmly sidestepped the molten assault, then spun around and swung his fishing rod in retaliation while continuing his psychological warfare: "The only reason I didn't finish you off completely last time was because there were too many witnesses around, and I was worried that animal rights activists might complain about me being too cruel to a dog."
Jerry maintained his offensive pressure as he spoke, never appearing rushed or impatient. After all, his water clone was simultaneously chasing Aramaki around the battlefield and attacking him relentlessly.
"Why do you keep running away like a coward?" the water clone called out mockingly. "Come on, let's settle this with a proper face-to-face fight!"
Although Jerry's water duplicate didn't possess the same overwhelming physical attributes and Haki strength as his original body, it could demonstrate speed nearly equivalent to the real Jerry through its ability to conduct and transform through naturally occurring water elements, making it even more elusive and unpredictable in combat.
Ever since the battle had begun and Aramaki had suffered his initial injuries, he had been relentlessly pursued by water constructs of various shapes that seemed to appear from thin air, leaving him in an extremely embarrassing and desperate situation.
"There's no honor in sneak attacks!" Aramaki roared in frustration, having endured the clone's verbal abuse for what felt like an eternity.
Hearing this complaint, Jerry's duplicate didn't even hesitate before delivering his immediate response: "You all keep saying I'm a pirate, so that makes me one of those thieves and criminals, right? How else would I maintain my reputation?"
Without waiting for Aramaki to formulate a reply, the water clone continued his merciless taunting: "You haven't been beaten so badly that your brain stopped working, have you? Why are you being so naive about this? Weren't you acting all wild and arrogant before? I actually preferred your rebellious attitude from the beginning."
"After all, that made me feel much more accomplished when I was beating you down. Now it just feels like I'm bullying someone who's completely helpless..."
Hearing the endless stream of mocking commentary during their life-or-death battle, Aramaki felt his rage building to impossible levels. He roared with hysterical fury, trying to release all his accumulated resentment in one explosive outburst.
"I'm going to kill you!"
Looking at the Admiral who had been completely suppressed and was already covered with numerous wounds, Jerry's clone didn't believe his opponent possessed the actual ability to fulfill such boastful threats.
The water duplicate made a deliberately mocking gesture with his left index finger, and as he swung his right hand through the air, three massive water dragons rose from the surrounding ocean. They roared with terrible power as they swooped toward Aramaki like perfectly trained hunting beasts.
"Forbidden Hatred!" Aramaki screamed.
Seeing the water dragons rapidly approaching his position, the Admiral bellowed toward the sky and quickly transformed into his giant tree-man form, his body expanding to enormous proportions.
"My Devil Fruit represents the life-giving force that coexists with the natural world!" he declared with desperate confidence. "As long as seawater cannot make direct contact with my true body, I have absolutely nothing to fear from your pathetic attacks!"
Noticing that Aramaki had extended dozens of thick branches in his tree-man form to create an improvised wooden barrier in an attempt to block the incoming water dragons from the outside, Jerry's clone smiled with obvious amusement.
"You haven't forgotten who was beating you senseless just a few minutes ago, have you?" the duplicate asked with mock concern.
Then the water clone manipulated his three dragons, which immediately split into hundreds of much smaller, more precise water streams the instant they struck the wooden shield. These liquid tendrils moved like flexible probes, accurately navigating through the tiny gaps between Aramaki's defensive branches.
At the same time, the clone's figure vanished in a brilliant flash and merged seamlessly into the smaller water currents, as if he had become one with the environmental flow itself, completely concealing his presence.
"Ha! You can't do anything to me now, can you?" Aramaki couldn't help but feel proud of his tactical inspiration upon seeing that most of the water had been blocked by his improvised wooden shield. "Water is supposed to provide nourishment and growth for plant life! Now it's my turn to launch a counterattack!"
He firmly believed that as long as he avoided direct contact with large quantities of debilitating seawater, his opponent would be completely helpless against his natural advantages.
Marine intelligence had already compiled detailed reports about Jerry's water clone capabilities, and Aramaki had always been confident that he was more than capable of dealing with such techniques using his own Devil Fruit abilities.
His previous defeats had simply been due to the surprise factor and the opponent's overwhelmingly fast and intense initial assault, which had prevented him from demonstrating his true combat potential.
But before he could change his defensive posture and transition to offensive maneuvers, a familiar voice suddenly spoke directly into his ear—so close it seemed like the speaker was standing right beside him within his wooden fortress.
"Water Style: Cutting Stream!"
"What?!" Aramaki's heart clenched with sudden terror. He had never expected this development, nor had he sensed when Jerry's clone had managed to approach him so silently.
As the duplicate's voice echoed in Aramaki's ears, a stream of ultra-high-pressure water swept through the enormous tree-man form like liquid lightning, mercilessly carving a deep gash across the Admiral's exposed face.
"Ahhhh!" Aramaki's agonized scream erupted from within the tree-man construct that had been cleanly bisected.
But Jerry's clone wasn't finished with his assault. The duplicate suddenly swung his other arm, and another pressurized water blade cut through the air to slice through the lower portion of the tree-man, splitting the entire construct into three separate pieces of broken timber floating in mid-air.
"I won't let you escape this time!" the water clone declared with cold determination.
Jerry's duplicate clenched his left fist, his eyes fixed intently on the fragments of wood as a fierce smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Maelstrom Abyss Breaker!"
A powerful stream of water rose up from the ground, spinning rapidly like a liquid tornado. It consisted of the large amount of seawater that had been left behind after the three water dragons had completed their initial assault and dispersed.
Witnessing this devastating technique taking shape, Aramaki realized the desperate urgency of his situation. He suddenly emerged from one of the floating wood pieces, transforming into a dark blur as he rushed toward Jerry's clone at tremendous speed.
He understood perfectly that if he waited any longer, he would be completely submerged by the seawater vortex and would have absolutely no chance of turning the battle around.
"I'll fight you with everything I have! Piercing Branch Strike!"
Several razor-sharp wooden spears emerged from Aramaki's transformed arms, resembling deadly lances as they shot toward the water clone with lightning speed.
"If you want to cause trouble, go practice in Impel Down," Jerry's duplicate replied dismissively. "I'm not some rookie you can intimidate."
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