On the battlefield of Marineford, the war had erupted once again.
After witnessing the Marines' unshakable resolve, Sugisawa Yuuto knew there was no more room for negotiation. The only path forward was through sheer force of will.
Blackbeard Teach had lost all hope of outside help.
The grim reality was clear — if they were to survive, they would have to rely on themselves.
"You should understand by now," Teach said solemnly, his deep voice carrying across the chaos, "in our current situation, every division has been crushed one by one. The only way to live is to unite our strength!"
He spoke with rare sincerity, trying his hardest to persuade Shiryu, the Evil King, Catarina Devon, and Avalo Pizarro to stay by his side.
But—
Despite Teach's desperate pleas, the four infamous criminals remained silent. Neither agreeing nor refusing, they gave no sign of allegiance.
The uncertainty of the battlefield made silence their safest choice.
"Damn it!!!"
Teach clenched his teeth, fury flashing in his eyes.
Still, this outcome didn't surprise him. These were the monsters of Impel Down's Eternal Hell — merciless, cunning, and selfish. It was naïve to think that a few words could bind them together.
He understood that the only way out of this deadlock was to carve his own path.
The Marines had already declared open war; there was no possibility of reconciliation now.
If he wanted a breakthrough, it would have to come from the other side — from Whitebeard himself.
Of course, that didn't mean surrendering.
No — Teach had something far more dangerous in mind.
It was a move that others would call suicidal — a direct challenge to the Four Emperors' Whitebeard, proposing a one-on-one captain's duel.
If he could kill Whitebeard and seize the power of the Gura Gura no Mi, devouring it with his own Dark-Dark Fruit, then everything would change.
The dead end would become a road to the heavens.
At that moment, Blackbeard Teach would become unstoppable.
The idea sounded insane — reckless, even — but Teach's confidence burned bright.
After all, he wielded the most sinister of the Logia powers: the Darkness.
Whitebeard's devastating earthquake powers couldn't harm him — or so he believed.
The more he thought about it, the more the idea thrilled him. His grin widened, madness gleaming in his eyes.
"Old man," Teach called out boldly, "I've got a proposal! How about we settle this — just the two of us — one on one!"
He spread his arms, his voice echoing across the field.
"After all, if our two sides fight to the death, both of us will be ruined. The Marines will just sit back and pick the spoils. You wouldn't want that, would you, Pops?"
As the words left his mouth, Teach's heart pounded. He watched Whitebeard intently, hoping against hope that the old man would agree.
But even he knew how hollow his reasoning sounded. The strength of the Blackbeard Pirates wasn't enough to truly threaten the Whitebeard crew.
And even if they could, the Marines were in no position to profit from it now.
For a long, tense moment, silence hung in the air.
Then Whitebeard finally spoke.
"Teach…" His voice rumbled like thunder. "You're the one man alive not qualified to call me 'Old Man.'"
The suppressed fury in those few words made the ground tremble. Power surged from the Four Emperor like a living storm.
Teach's eyes widened in terror as he stumbled backward, his confidence shattering under the weight of Whitebeard's killing intent.
"Teach… are you afraid?"
Marco, the First Division Commander, called out sharply.
"I lost to you once — at Banaro Island," Ace shouted, flames roaring around him, "but this time, I'll never lose again!"
"Talking about mutual destruction, huh?" Joz, the Third Division Captain, sneered. "What a joke. You think you can compare yourself to us?"
"That's right!"
"Just Teach!"
"Who do you think you are?"
"We are the Whitebeard Pirates!"
Their voices rang out in unison, filled with anger and pride.
"It seems your head's gotten pretty big since you betrayed us," one captain growled.
And finally — Whitebeard's deep, thunderous voice cut through them all.
"Teach," he said, his gaze heavy with sorrow and wrath, "I want to know… what kind of Devil Fruit drove you so mad… that you killed one of your own family?"