Agonizing pain made Whitebeard's right hand loosen its grip.
In that instant, Borsalino appeared on the battlefield, pulling Sakazuki away at the speed of light.
A laser beam, several meters wide, fired at Whitebeard's chest from close range.
"Air Quake!"
Even though he was temporarily blinded in one eye, Whitebeard's battle-hardened instincts kicked in.
He raised both hands and unleashed his Devil Fruit power.
Boom!
Borsalino's sneak attack failed, mostly because Whitebeard was already prepared for it.
However, Borsalino never cared much about his own battle achievements; to him, this was just a casual strike.
After being saved by Borsalino, Sakazuki refused to leave the battlefield.
He faced Whitebeard, closed his eyes, and held out his right hand, trying to blow up the giant magma blade still stuck inside Whitebeard's body.
Clang! Clang!
Whitebeard grabbed Sakazuki's blade with both hands. With a simple flex of his monstrous strength, he shattered the blade into three pieces.
Only the broken segment stuck in his flesh remained.
"Explode!" Sakazuki curled his fingers, then looked smugly at Whitebeard.
The magma blade inside Whitebeard's body did not explode like Sakazuki expected.
However, it was visibly heating up at a rapid pace.
An endless surge of magma and burning energy suddenly erupted around Whitebeard's waist, constantly damaging his body.
Before the heat could spread any further, Whitebeard slapped his own chest.
Dark Armament Haki instantly covered the burned areas, both inside and outside his body, stopping the magma from doing more damage.
Crack!
To stop the magma from ruining his ability to fight, Whitebeard jammed his right hand directly into his own wound.
He fiercely grabbed and tore out a large chunk of his own flesh mixed with the burning magma.
"Hah!"
Before Whitebeard could even catch his breath, a wild voice roared from below.
"Whitebeard, what is the point of bullying kids? Come fight me instead!"
Along with a loud, hearty laugh, Garp's muscular figure appeared below him.
Immediately, Garp channeled Armament Haki into his arms and threw a massive punch at Whitebeard.
"Galaxy Impact!"
Whitebeard took a deep breath.
He gripped Murakumogiri with both hands, a fierce glare flashing in his eyes.
'So what if this was a battle of endurance? This old man would show them what it meant to be the strongest man in the world!'
His massive bisento was once again coated in both Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki, while the sharp edge carried the crushing power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Whitebeard spun the hilt like a blazing wheel, creating a violent gust of wind as he slashed down heavily toward Garp's head.
"Die!"
Whitebeard's full-power strike was terrifying.
The sharp edge of Murakumogiri crashed into Garp's invincible iron fist, making the surrounding wind turn wild and chaotic.
Then, the loud sound of shattering space echoed through the air.
White cracks appeared exactly where Whitebeard and Garp clashed, exploding violently just a moment later.
Garp's body shook, and a metallic taste filled his mouth, but he ignored the pain.
He continued to push back against Whitebeard's Murakumogiri with all of his strength.
"One Sword Style: Heavenly Star Slash!"
A cold voice rang out as Raleigh suddenly appeared right behind Whitebeard, thrusting his sword directly at the pirate's back.
"Raaaaaah!"
Whitebeard's aura exploded violently, forcefully pushing Garp back.
But it was already too late. Raleigh's blade had easily pierced right through the Armament Haki on Whitebeard's body.
Thud!
The wet sound of a weapon piercing flesh echoed out.
The sharp edge of Mikazuki Munechika stabbed directly into Whitebeard's lung.
Raleigh had originally aimed for Whitebeard's heart.
But at the very last second, Whitebeard shifted his body in an unbelievable way, turning a deadly blow into a severe but survivable injury.
After making sure he had pierced Whitebeard's lung, Raleigh quickly backed away.
But as he retreated, he saw Whitebeard raise his head and reveal a triumphant smile.
Hum!
Whitebeard activated his Devil Fruit powers with both hands at the same time.
A glowing, translucent energy bubble gathered around his fists.
"Get lost, Marine brat!"
Crack!
Space was torn apart by Whitebeard as the vibration force erupted violently.
Using this massive power, Whitebeard threw a heavy punch right at the retreating Raleigh.
Bam!
Raleigh was sent flying incredibly fast and far by Whitebeard's punch, rocketing away like a golf ball.
"Whitebeard, you're gonna die here!!!"
Seeing the young vice-admiral sent flying, Garp was so angry his chest nearly exploded.
These officers were the elite future of the Marines.
If they died in this battle, it would be a massive loss.
Garp surged up from below once again, swearing that this time he would definitely defeat Whitebeard.
"Pfft—"
Flying through the air, Raleigh finally could not hold it back anymore.
He spat out a large mouthful of blood in mid-air.
This time, his sneak attack had not been perfect.
However, he had not failed completely.
After all, he had pierced Whitebeard's lung, which meant the old pirate's combat power would be heavily weakened from now on.
But such powerful people always had incredible life force and stamina.
Raleigh remembered when he teamed up with Kuzan to deal with Golden Lion Shiki.
That guy had been nearly exhausted, yet it still took them half a day to finally defeat him.
So, from the very beginning, Raleigh never expected to end things quickly with these legendary pirates.
"Damn brat, you are finally here!"
A voice filled with pure rage came from behind Raleigh, accompanied by the loud sonic booms of someone stepping rapidly on the air.
"Huh?"
Raleigh adjusted his posture in mid-air, his expression suddenly turning very serious.
Not far away, a group of Roger Pirates had already rolled up their sleeves, completely ready to cut down the vice-admiral who had killed Gaban.
"Damn it!"
Raleigh forcefully ignored his painful injuries.
At the same time, he transformed his body into its wind elemental form and tried to fly away into the distance.
"Bastard Marine brat, where do you think you are running?"
Even the usually smiling Gol D. Roger was furious now, swinging his Ace, directly at him.
"Divine Departure!"
Endless black-and-red lightning spread out in all directions from the blade.
Before the sword strike even hit, the violent shockwaves had already reached Raleigh.
Roger looked like a demon, fully ready to send the Marine who killed his comrade straight to hell.
In this life-or-death moment, Raleigh's mind worked faster than ever before.
He was completely surrounded on all sides by the furious Roger Pirates.
Only the sky above him offered a tiny, slim chance to escape this deadly trap.
Clang!
Raleigh's Mikazuki Munechika violently crashed into Roger's Ace.
"Die!!!"
"Die!!!"
But how could a severely injured Raleigh possibly block Roger's overwhelming attack? After an endless flash of blinding white light, a deafening explosion erupted right where their swords clashed.
A massive mushroom cloud rose high into the air.
The violent explosion made everyone below instinctively look up at the sky.
Outside the blast zone, Roger stared grimly at the center of the smoke.
Just moments ago, Roger had been pushed back by the force of the explosion, but he knew his target had not come out.
The Marine was still inside the center of the blast!
"Roger, where is that brat?" Rayleigh asked furiously.
Roger pointed his sword toward the center of the mushroom cloud.
"That Navy brat did not immediately run away from the explosion. I do not know what he is thinking, but his presence has not disappeared yet."
Suddenly, Roger's expression drastically changed. "Damn it, that kid wouldn't be trying to..."
"This is insane!"
Before Rayleigh could even guess what his captain meant, he sensed Raleigh's figure reappear in his Observation Haki.
The young Marine was shooting straight up into the sky at an incredible speed.
Roger gritted his teeth in frustration. "That kid would rather take the heavy damage from the explosion just so he could charge straight up into the sky to escape us." He paused.
"Do not forget, the Marines have a flying ship up there and that lightning-wielding brat."
Hearing this, Rayleigh grew even more furious!
Last time, his attempt to capture Enel was exactly what led to Gaban's death.
Now, Raleigh wanted to use Enel to escape their trap? Absolutely impossible!
Looking like a madman, Rayleigh gripped his sword tightly and charged straight up into the dark thunderclouds, fighting against the violent wind to chase him down.