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Amid the ruins, sand gathered and formed into a human shape—a Crocodile.
Shrouded in smoke, his expression appeared chilling and sinister in the eyes of the pirates.
Especially terrifying was the mummified corpse ahead, drained of all moisture, which stirred deep fear within everyone.
"No one stays stagnant. You either move forward, or you fall behind. Isn't that right?" Crocodile said coolly.
Whitebeard's eyes sharpened. In the blink of an eye, he leapt high into the air, gripping his naginata tightly.
His tall frame bent like a drawn bow, filled with explosive force. "Are you saying I've fallen behind?" His deep voice rang out.
What followed was a thunderous strike, laced with electricity and tremors. Crocodile's eyes turned sharp as he slashed forward.
"Desert Spada!" Countless grains of sand condensed into a massive blade over a hundred meters long, wrapped in a formless aura, crashing toward Whitebeard.
Boom!
The blades collided. Desert Spada halted, cracks spreading rapidly along its surface before it shattered into dust.
Without losing momentum, Whitebeard swung down fiercely, aiming straight at Crocodile. The latter's pupils contracted, and they could not dodge in time.
Rumble!
The naginata split the Crocodile in two, from head to torso, his body scattering into countless sand particles.
Deep cracks tore through the ground where he stood.
"Crafty brat,"
Whitebeard growled coldly. Over a hundred meters away, Crocodile reformed his body, wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, and let out a cold chuckle.
Suddenly, a thunderous crash came from nearby. Whitebeard turned his head, and his expression changed.
Little Oars Jr., a towering giant, had been slammed into the ground by a muscular figure with a single throw, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Gasps of fear rang out.
"That's him?!"
"It has to be—Douglas Bullet!!"
"The Demon Heir, former crew of the Pirate King Roger, rival to the Dark King Rayleigh!"
"He's with the Marines now?"
"He joined twenty years ago. He's the current Commander-in-Chief of the West Blue!"
The pirates' shouts darkened Whitebeard's face. Rescuing Ace was turning into an uphill battle.
Saying they had to pass three trials and defeat five enemies was an understatement.
Both Crocodile and Bullet possessed strength close to that of Marine Admirals.
That meant the forces arrayed against them had more Admiral-level threats than they could count.
"Your time of arrogance is over… Whitebeard Pirates!" From the dense smoke, a monstrous figure stepped forth, arms crossed.
His muscles were terrifying, and his face could scare a child into tears.
"He's a monster!"
"He brought down Little Oars Jr. with sheer physical strength!"
"Unless one of the division commanders comes, none of us stand a chance!"
The pirates hesitated, overwhelmed by fear. "Terror won't save Fire Fist Ace!" Bullet scoffed.
He then crouched, split his legs, and with a loud boom, shot forward like an arrow. In an instant, he reached a pirate, grinning viciously.
"Heh…" Bullet spread his fingers and grabbed the pirate's face, lifting him off the ground.
Before he could even struggle, Bullet slammed his head into the ice.
Bang!
The ice cracked, a crater formed, and the pirate's head embedded into it.
Seeing this, the pirates staggered back, throats dry and backs drenched in cold sweat. Bullet's gaze locked on them like a demon from hell.
"Weak… Far too weak!"
"Is this what passes for the Whitebeard Pirates? The so-called emperors of the sea?"
"What a disappointment!" Bullet shook his head as the pirates retreated in horror.
Suddenly, a streak of light flew toward him, blue flames instantly raising the surrounding temperature. Bullet raised his arms to defend.
"Bluebird Brand!" A flaming claw struck his arms, the force blasting him back.
"First Division Commander, Marco?" Bullet grinned. "Finally, someone worth fighting!"
Marco's expression was grave. He raised his arm and shouted, "Don't be afraid! We're Whitebeard!" The words dispelled some of the fear in the pirates' hearts.
"I'll hold him off!" Marco called. "You all keep pushing forward!" After one last glance at Bullet, the pirates nodded excitedly and resumed their charge.
Not far away, in another battlefield—"Buggy, move!" Shanks shouted. "I don't have time to waste on you!"
"I hate that commanding tone of yours!" Buggy sneered. Shanks winced—he was tangled with Buggy and couldn't shake free.
Since awakening the Chop-Chop Fruit, Buggy's abilities had become absurdly troublesome, practically countering all swordsmanship.
Even if Shanks sliced him apart, it did no damage. This was something he hadn't anticipated when joining the war.
Meanwhile, the surrounding Marines gazed at Buggy with reverence, practically worshipping him.
Buggy earned himself a massive following of devoted believers in this war.
Suddenly, a large man forced his way through the crowd, pushing Marines aside and arriving instantly between Shanks and Buggy.
He raised a revolver and fired without hesitation. Bang! A muffled shot rang out as smoke curled into the sky.
Buggy leaned back just in time, drenched in cold sweat. After two seconds, he stood upright and shouted, "You bastard! How dare you ambush me!"
The man before him smiled gently, though his eyes were icy. "Go handle your business, Shanks."
"Leave this guy… to me." Lucky Roux grinned.
"Thanks!" Shanks sighed in relief and ran off. Seeing this, Buggy panicked and tried to chase him, but Lucky Roux blocked his path.
"Your opponent is me, Buggy," he said with a smile.
"Damn you!" Buggy roared.
"I heard you and Shanks go way back and that you're strong—interested in joining us?" Lucky Roux asked, grinning as his strikes forced Buggy to dodge desperately.
Huff! Crocodile exhaled a puff of smoke, eyes fixed on Whitebeard. His expression turned serious.
Whitebeard was still the world's strongest man, even though he was aged. Crocodile couldn't underestimate him.
The next instant, his legs turned to sand as he shot forward. Whitebeard gripped his naginata and charged as well.
Boom! The two clashed in a storm of sparks and dust.
With a wild look in his eyes, Crocodile reached out and clenched his fist.
"Desert Grande Coffin!!" The ground quaked violently. Buildings turned to sand and surged upward, forming mountains of pressure crashing down.
Whitebeard's eyes widened. He released the naginata with one hand and punched the sandstorm above.
Crack! The sand crumbled, leaving a hole over a hundred meters wide. Crocodile's devastating move was shattered.
Their eyes locked—both radiating killing intent. "All these years…" Crocodile growled. "I've carried the shame of that day like a curse, Whitebeard!"
He slammed both hands onto the ground, shattering the stone beneath and unleashing a torrent of sand.
Whitebeard sneered. "Too bad—I never saw you as a threat. To me, you were bait!"
The words ignited rage in Crocodile's eyes.
"Desert Maelstrom!!" An even larger sandstorm erupted, becoming a tsunami of sand tens of meters tall, impossible to measure in weight.
Worse yet, Whitebeard noticed that anything the sand touched was rapidly dried and turned to dust, absorbing all moisture from its victims.
"One touch, and you're a dried-up corpse!"
"You've grown stronger," Whitebeard admitted.
He stood tall and planted his naginata into the ground. Then, spreading his fingers wide, he pulled forcefully.
Crack! The air split open, releasing a shockwave. The sand tsunami was thrown off course, its power disrupted and frozen in place.
But what came next was even more terrifying. All of Marineford began to tremble violently—a catastrophic earthquake.
Crocodile's face shifted. He was about to charge again when a muscular figure rammed into him from the side.
Pfft! Crocodile coughed blood and was sent flying.
"Diamond Jozu!" he gritted, sitting up with a dark expression. "Your opponent is me!" Jozu declared coldly.
At the same time, many pirates near the execution platform noticed something alarming—one of the four chairs beneath it was now empty. Only Akainu remained seated.
The one who had been there just moments ago—Arashi—was now standing, his sharp eyes sweeping across the chaotic battlefield below.
Marineford had been split into numerous combat zones, each raging with battle. With over 200,000 fighters from both sides, the fortress was packed.
"Marco vs. Bullet. Diamond Jozu vs. Crocodile. Vista vs. Mihawk. And Buggy, Kuina, Rosinante, Fisher Tiger, and Smoker are being held off by the Red-Hair commanders."
"What a perfectly matched war," Arashi remarked. Nearly everyone had found a rival on their level in this grand-scale battle. And yet, even now, two figures had been overlooked.
"Whitebeard. Red-Haired." Arashi narrowed his eyes. But in the next second, he chuckled.
"Now this is interesting!"
Standing on the edge of a high platform, overlooking the thunderous chaos of Marineford below, he suddenly raised his arms and stretched his body.
His neck twisted from side to side, letting out a crisp crack.
"It's about time I moved too," he muttered, clenching his fists tightly—then slowly relaxing them again. "Otherwise, I'll rust up."
Arashi's eyes sharpened. The smile on his face turned cold, tinged with a hint of madness.
"The blood in my veins is burning!" he said, a low thrill in his voice. "With two Emperors present, I should finally get a real fight!"
And with that, his massive, towering frame leapt down from the platform, landing hard on the battlefield below.
"Admiral Arashi!!" The Marines cried out in shock—then roared with excitement.
Since the battle began, Arashi hadn't taken the field much, only briefly when Whitebeard first made his move.
But even that short moment was enough to shake the world.
A body so vast it blotted out the sun, swallowing a tsunami whole with overwhelming presence—it was a monster beyond monsters.
Now, he had leapt down again, and there was no doubt: what followed would be a war-shaking clash that would drive the battlefield into frenzy.
In that instant, every eye turned toward him. "Arashi..."
On the execution platform, Sengoku exhaled deeply, a grin tugging at his lips.
The Marines' greatest trump card—without a doubt—was Arashi.
His terrifying power was something the world feared. There had even been ambushes aimed solely at him.
To put it bluntly, the outcome of this war would rest on Arashi.
"Show them," Sengoku thought, his excitement rising, "what you've achieved in Impel Down over all these years."
No one knew what Arashi had gone through after his fall from grace—what he had endured or had become.
But Sengoku knew one thing with absolute certainty: this man had become the greatest legend in Marine history.
Beside him, Ace raised his head, gritting his teeth. "He's finally moving!!" Sitting cross-legged nearby, Garp's expression grew complicated.
"His move isn't good news for you, Ace." Ace fell silent. Remembering his previous conversations with Arashi, his fists clenched tightly.
"Do you have the power to keep your promise?" he thought. At this point, the war had already spiraled far beyond expectations.
Two Emperors were working together—no one alive could stand against that.
"Arashi?" At the same time, Whitebeard raised his head and looked ahead. His eyes narrowed—then a wide grin stretched across his face.
"Well, well... time to deal with you, the biggest thorn in my side. Once that's done, it'll be easier to rescue Ace!"
Elsewhere, Shanks was quickly closing the distance behind Whitebeard. But the moment he saw Arashi take the field, his expression turned deadly serious.
Ahead, Whitebeard was charging forward, his naginata cleaving through the Marine ranks.
Unopposed, he was a storm—each swing sent Marines flying into the air, scattering them like leaves.
High above, Arashi grinned down. His eyes flared—instantly, a massive, invisible wave of Conqueror's Haki burst out before him.
Half the sky was dyed black and red in the blink of an eye. "That Haki... it's terrifying!!" Countless pirates stared in horror.
This Conqueror's Haki—it was the strongest they had ever felt. It could go toe-to-toe with Red-Haired Shanks himself.
"Is this the power of the legendary Marine Admiral Arashi?! Just his presence alone... I can't even move. It's like he's gripping my soul!"
"Against a monster like this... do we even have a chance at winning?—no. Not even Pops could—"
Trembling voices spread among the pirates. Under the crushing wave of that Haki, doubt finally crept into their minds.
For the first time, they questioned whether this war could even be won.
"Tap." A heavy footstep echoed, reverberating across the ground and in their hearts.
Everybody on the battlefield shuddered. At that moment, every eye locked onto one figure—the massive Marine descending the stairs, a Justice cloak billowing behind him.
"Tap." Another step. An invisible surge of Haki howled through the air, sweeping over the heads of all present.
"Thud!" Someone collapsed to the ground, eyes rolled back, unable to withstand the mental shock.
"What's going on?! Hey! Wake up!!"
"This is insane—we're still so far away from him! His Conqueror's Haki... It's covering all of Marineford—and even reaching the ocean beyond!!"
Voices filled with fear and disbelief spread like wildfire through the pirates.
Just feeling the intensity and range of his Haki was enough to plunge thousands into despair.
"Tap." Another footstep. More bodies dropped. The incoming wave of Conqueror's Haki grew stronger, choking the air.
"At this rate, if we keep falling to his Haki, we'll be lucky if even a fraction of our 100,000 troops can fight!!"
The desperate cry shook everyone's hearts. That was the terror of Conqueror's Haki—wiping out weaker-willed foes en masse. It was a perfect weapon to slaughter small fry.
"What do we do?!" A scream of panic rang out. For a moment, the fighting seemed to stop.
Everyone's eyes were locked on that figure walking forward, his Justice cloak flaring behind him.
And then—"Whum!!"
Another massive shockwave of Conqueror's Haki erupted across the battlefield, sweeping forward, wild and violent.
It clashed head-on with Arashi's Haki, and the two forces collided with an ear-splitting crash.
"BOOM!" The air trembled. Invisible ripples blasted outward. Cracks split across the walls of Marineford.
Everyone froze. Suddenly, the pressure overhead lifted—almost completely.
"Red-Haired Shanks!!" A pirate shouted in sheer excitement, his voice echoing to the heavens.
Whitebeard threw his head back and laughed:
"Gurararara!! What an entrance, Arashi! Trying to intimidate me right from the start, are you?"
Arashi kept walking forward, his Haki continuing to ripple out in every direction.
"This war," he said calmly, "needs to be settled... between you and me." His voice rang across the battlefield, crystal clear in every ear.
"A conclusion, huh?" Whitebeard's gaze sharpened. "You're right—it's time to settle this!"
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