As soon as the words fell, the aura around Admiral Aokiji surged dramatically.
Two ice spears shot out from his palms, piercing into the towering wave in the blink of an eye.
"Crack."
At the point where the ice spears penetrated, the seawater instantly froze.
Accompanied by a series of crisp cracking sounds, the massive wave visibly solidified into a gigantic block of ice.
With just a simple move, he had neutralized Whitebeard's powerful strike.
The strength of a Marine Admiral was truly terrifying!
"It... it stopped!"
"Is this the power of an Admiral? It's overwhelming!"
"He actually froze the surging wave and the sea in an instant. How much power does that require?!"
"..."
People around the world, witnessing the terrifying wave that was about to engulf Marineford, were filled with awe as Admiral Aokiji effortlessly resolved the crisis with a single move.
With the actions of Whitebeard and Aokiji, the war had officially begun!
On the pirate side, there were Whitebeard, Shiki, Kaido and their subordinate crews.
Facing them were the Marine legendary trio: Kong, Garp, and Sengoku, along with the three Marine Admirals, the Seven Warlords, the CP agents, and a hundred thousand Marine soldiers.
And of course, the Five Elders who were secretly watching from the shadows.
The viewers watching the live broadcast knew that no matter which side emerged victorious, this battle would significantly alter the world's balance of power.
***
Marineford
On the plaza, the soldiers seeing the wave neutralized, all wore expressions of relief, as if they had just escaped Death.
"We... we're saved!"
"It's Admiral Kuzan!"
"..."
Although the crisis had been resolved by the Admiral, they were still gasping for breath, their words stuttering.
Some of the weaker ones were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down their faces.
***
On the deck of the Moby Dick.
Whitebeard, seeing the tsunami he had created frozen by Aokiji, narrowed his eyes.
"Aokiji! You brat!"
Hearing this, Aokiji frost-covered face showed no emotion.
"Crack!"
The ice spear in his palm suddenly shattered, emitting a crisp sound. Aokiji exhaled a cold breath, his aura surging once more.
"Ice Block: Partisan!"
With a low shout, four ice spears instantly formed around him emitting a chilling cold.
In the next moment, they shot toward Whitebeard, piercing through the air and leaving trails of frost, as if even the air itself had frozen.
At the same time, Whitebeard's eyes sharpened and he swung his fist forward with tremendous force.
Accompanied by the sound of shattering, the space itself cracked and a massive surge of energy erupted from the fissure, rushing toward Aokiji.
The ice spears flying through the air seemed to be halted by some invisible force, unable to advance even half an inch, suspended in mid-air.
"Crack!"
In the next moment, the ice-covered spears shattered into pieces, falling into the sea below.
But it wasn't over yet!
The unleashed energy did not stop, the invisible force sharp as a blade, slashed toward Aokiji.
Seeing this, Aokiji expression changed abruptly.
Activating his Devil Fruit ability to transform his body into an element, half of his head instantly turned into ice.
In the next moment, the elementalized head was directly sliced in half. And his entire body plummeted downward amidst the gasps of the crowd.
"Admiral Aokiji!"
"His head was cut off!"
"Will the admiral be alright?!"
"..."
The Marines witnessing their admiral having half his head shattered by Whitebeard's strike, were filled with terror.
However, Whitebeard's expression remained unchanged. He knew this was just the beginning.
Sure enough, as Aokiji fell onto the sea's surface, within a moment he solidified into an ice sculpture and with him at the center the sea within several kilometers froze solid, with ice even appearing on the walls.
"The sea has turned into ice!"
"Our ships are immobilized!"
"What a powerful ability! Not only did he freeze the waves instantly, but the entire sea surface turned into ice!"
"..."
The pirates, who had been secretly pleased seeing Aokiji struck down, were shocked when he froze the sea in the next moment.
"Our side has the Marine admirals!"
"Whitebeard and the others are nothing to fear!"
"..."
The Marines in the square who initially terrified, regained their confidence upon seeing Aokiji unharmed.
They gripped their weapons tightly, ready to launch an attack on the pirates at any moment.
On the Moby Dick, Whitebeard looked at Aokiji, who had instantly turned into an ice sculpture and murmured.
"He's elementalized now!"
As soon as he finished speaking... "Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Two sounds echoed by his ears as Shiki the Golden Lion and Kaido appeared beside him.
"Who would have thought! That kid from back then has grown to this level!" Shiki, puffing on a cigar, sighed with emotion.
"Tch!" Kaido crossed his arms, seemingly disdainful of Aokiji strength.
"That's all he's got!"
Back in the Rocks era, he could overpower these people and he still could now.
On the Moby Dick, the three great pirates stood side by side, exuding an overwhelming presence even without making a move.
Aokiji, now an ice sculpture, shed his elemental form and looked at the three before him, his eyes narrowing slightly.
In the next moment, his aura erupted violently, his right arm swirling with a vortex of air.
The bone-chilling cold around him instantly condensed into a crystalline ice bird.
A wisp of white vapor escaped his lips as he muttered.
"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"
In an instant, the ice bird formed at his right arm flashed with a cold light in its eyes and a sharp cry echoed across Marineford.
In the next moment, the ice bird flapped its wings charging toward Whitebeard.
"Is this all he's got? Not impressive enough!" Shiki watched the ice bird hurtling toward them, blowing a smoke ring, completely unfazed.
"Clang!"
The sound of a sword being drawn rang out as Shiki gripped Oto and Kogarashi, crossing his arms before slashing forward with a fierce motion.
With a low shout, two sharp sword beams shot forth.
"Lion: Thousand Slashes!!"
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