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Whitebeard looked at Garp and let out a hearty laugh.
"Gurararara! Garp, as an opponent, you might be even more exciting than Sengoku."
Whitebeard was a warrior at heart. Now, back at his absolute peak, he craved a battle between equals. If it hadn't been for Ace's capture, he might have gone to challenge Shin.
Of course, if he had challenged Shin, Whitebeard would have undoubtedly lost. He was no match for him. The very reason he had regained his peak strength was all thanks to Shin.
"Your change… it has something to do with Shin Uzumaki, doesn't it?"
Sengoku staggered over, his uniform stained red, his body covered in blood as he glared at Whitebeard.
Whitebeard's expression shifted, but he didn't bother to hide it. "As expected of the Strategist. It was indeed that kid, Shin, who restored me to my peak."
Though he didn't know how Shin had done it, the method was undoubtedly his.
"I knew it. I was right."
Sengoku had only been guessing. He had noticed that Shin and Whitebeard had met a while back. It was classified Marine intelligence. At the time, Sengoku had dismissed it as a chance encounter and paid it no mind.
And it was a chance encounter. Shin and Whitebeard had simply run into each other, Shin hadn't sought him out. It was only after seeing Whitebeard that the idea had struck him, and he had acted on it. It was that simple.
But Sengoku didn't know that. He believed it was all part of Shin's grand conspiracy.
If Shin knew, he would have claimed he was being framed. Did he really need to resort to conspiracies? Not at all. Besides, he had no intention of taking on the Marines right now. If he did, they probably wouldn't even exist anymore.
"Garp, are you really going to stand in my way?" Whitebeard asked, his gaze fixed on him.
Though he longed for a good fight, he knew now wasn't the time. The most important thing was to save Ace. Even though Ace was right there, until he was safely away, Whitebeard couldn't rest easy.
Garp's expression showed a flicker of hesitation.
Deep down, he wanted Whitebeard to save Ace. But he couldn't just stand by and watch Whitebeard kill Marines. Too many had already died at his hands—Garp couldn't let that go.
"Garp." Sengoku looked at Garp. The three Admirals' gazes were on him as well.
"Sorry, Ace."
Garp's eyes sharpened. He couldn't let a pirate run rampant in Marineford. What's more, the aftershock from the clash between Whitebeard and Sengoku had killed nearly a thousand elite Marines. He couldn't just let that slide.
"I'll hold off Whitebeard. You guys take care of the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates," Garp said to Sengoku and the three Admirals.
"Can you do it?"
Sengoku asked Garp, his brow furrowed.
If it had been the Whitebeard from before, Sengoku wouldn't have asked. He had faith in Garp's strength. After so many years as partners, how could he not know Garp's power?
But the current Whitebeard was terrifying. Sengoku had been severely injured by a single punch and was now just barely holding on. As the Fleet Admiral, he couldn't fall, or it would be a huge blow to Marine morale.
"I don't know, but I'm confident," Garp said.
Since Garp had said so, Sengoku had to believe him. Besides, with Garp's strength, even if he couldn't beat Whitebeard, he wouldn't be in any danger. Garp's strength was even greater than his.
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"Oh, Iron Fist Garp Versus a prime Whitebeard. This is getting interesting."
Shin's eyes lit up.
"I can't see anything." Nami craned her neck, trying to see Marineford in the distance, but it was all a blur.
Nami wasn't Shin. His eyesight could see for miles, but she couldn't. And without Observation Haki, she had no idea how the battle was progressing, which was incredibly frustrating for her.
"Shirahoshi, can you see?" Nami asked.
"Of course I can," Shirahoshi nodded. Don't underestimate her—Shirahoshi's talent was astounding, especially her Observation Haki. She could already communicate with the terrifying Sea Kings, displaying some of the power of the Sea King herself.
If she wanted to, the Sea Kings sleeping in the depths of the ocean would rise from the sea and destroy an island in an instant.
"Even Shirahoshi can see… I guess I'm just useless," Nami said, lowering her head in disappointment.
"Don't sell yourself short, Nami. Your talent is already amazing," Olvia said, hearing Nami's self-deprecating words.
"Even Hina's a little jealous," Hina walked out and said to Nami.
She had trained for years to achieve her current strength, while Nami had almost caught up to her in no time at all.
"Didn't you go to the cabin to rest because you didn't want to see this battle?"
Shin turned his head and looked at Hina.
"Hina wanted to come out and see. What's wrong with that?" Hina tilted her head up at Shin.
"If you want to watch, then watch. Did you think I was going to do something to you?"
Then Shin's gaze turned strange, looking Hina up and down, making her feel very uncomfortable.
"What are you looking at?" Hina asked, on guard.
"Sigh, I didn't expect you to have such a fetish. Do I really have to knock some sense into you?" Shin sighed and said.
"Don't talk nonsense! Hina doesn't have anything like that!" Hina's face flushed as she retorted.
Seeing her instantly understand his meaning, a smile appeared on Shin's face. Hina was a real veteran at this.
"Shin, stop teasing Hina. Let's watch the fight between Whitebeard and Garp. There's some real suspense there," Robin said, helping Hina out.
Hearing this, Shin did turn his attention to the fight. The clash between the two of them indeed made his eyes light up.
Garp was holding his own against Whitebeard's punches, not at a disadvantage at all. His strength was truly formidable.
If it were the Whitebeard from the original story at this time, he would definitely be no match for Garp.
Garp's strength wouldn't decline with time.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
After another clash of fists, Garp was sent flying by Whitebeard, and Whitebeard was also pushed back by Garp.
"Gurararara! Garp, your strength is no weaker than when you were young," Whitebeard laughed after being pushed back.
Without using his bisento, Murakumogiri, just trading blows with Garp, the two of them were like ancient beasts.
"So scary, so scary," Kizaru said, watching their fight. This time, he wasn't being sarcastic—it was truly terrifying.
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