Clang, clang, clang...
"He truly has no consideration at all, ne~ We're supposed to be comrades fighting alongside each other."
After taking a few blows from Whitebeard, Borsalino glanced around at the massive, roaring lion heads, which had formed a high wall, and complained in a feigned voice.
"What a nuisance."
Whitebeard frowned at the familiar sight surrounding him.
Kizaru, being a Logia-type user, was utterly fearless of such physical attacks, but Whitebeard was not. Even as the World's Strongest Man with a monstrous body, he was still flesh and blood; a crushing blow from a purely physical attack weighing tens or hundreds of tons was something he couldn't simply shrug off.
What's more, the opponent could fly.
Sure enough, Borsalino dispersed the light sword in his hand, and his body flashed with a dazzling light, transforming into a stream of light that flew away from the area.
"Hah!"
Whitebeard gripped his naginata with both hands, taking a massive stride forward, and slashed fiercely through the air.
Crack—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The atmosphere was instantly ripped apart. The immense, nearly visible tremor force burst outward, shattering everything in its path with devastating power, carving out a gigantic gap tens of meters wide.
Moreover, that almost visible tremor force rapidly extended into the interior of Marineford, sending hundreds of elite Marines flying and kicking up countless air currents and dust clouds in its wake.
"This is bad! Marine Headquarters!"
On the other side, Kuzan's face tightened in alarm. Immediately, a powerful surge of cold air erupted from his body. He touched the ground with his hand, and a wall of ice, over a meter thick and hundreds of meters wide, swiftly shot up.
Just as the wall of ice reached about twenty meters in height, the immense tremor force slammed into it.
Rumble!
Air currents surged. The towering ice wall shuddered violently, countless cracks rapidly spread across its surface, and in a moment, it collapsed into a heap of ice chunks of various sizes.
However, the tremor force also reached its limit here, completely dissipating its power.
"Arara~ That was close," Kuzan raised his head, staring at Whitebeard in the distance.
"To still possess such formidable power, as expected of Whitebeard!" Seeing Whitebeard escape the encirclement, Aeridar cracked his neck and said savagely, "But this way, the kill will feel much more satisfying!"
"How scary, ne~ What a monster!" Borsalino hovered in mid-air, pouting but speaking unhurriedly.
As soon as he finished speaking, Borsalino instantly transformed into light particles, forming a gigantic, dazzling, flashing four-pointed star, from which he launched countless bright light projectiles downward.
Yasakani no Magatama!
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...
The dazzling light projectiles rained down like a storm, completely covering the area where Whitebeard was. The ground cracked under the impact, powerful gusts swept through, and dust rose everywhere, forming a gray, hazy smoke that blanketed the ground.
At this time, Sengoku walked up to Kuzan and instructed, "Kuzan, you go after the Whitebeard Pirates. Leave this place to me!"
"No problem!" Kuzan nodded and departed immediately.
"That man, Golden Ring, intends to kill Whitebeard," Sengoku mused. "But that's fine. What does it matter if he takes the credit? As long as Whitebeard can be killed, it will demonstrate the Navy's victory!"
Knowing he couldn't stop it, Sengoku let nature take its course.
On the other side, Sakazuki relentlessly pursued the fleeing pirates, his high-temperature magma melting one heinous pirate after another.
"Fleeing immediately after rescuing Fire Fist Ace, the Whitebeard Pirates truly are a collection of cowards!" Sakazuki buried a pirate in lava, then looked at the tide of escaping pirates and loudly attempted to provoke them.
"What!"
Some pirates turned their heads, indignant.
"Don't fall for that obvious provocation! Stopping now plays right into his hands!" Kingdew hastily shouted.
Although many people hated Sakazuki, calling him "Red Dog" and other names, it must be said that as a Marine, he was extremely concerned with maintaining the Navy's authority, and he was absolutely dedicated and competent. Perhaps his concept of "Absolute Justice" was extreme, but from the Navy's perspective looking at this out-of-control world, this extreme ideology wasn't necessarily wrong.
Moreover, he possessed great strength and a brilliant mind, which was clearly demonstrated by his previous manipulation of Squard and his current use of provocation.
Hot on the heels of Ace and Luffy, Sakazuki began to trash-talk, brazenly claiming that Whitebeard was a failure of the era, inferior to Roger, had confined himself to one area, achieved nothing, and mocked everyone present as mere underlings.
Hearing Sakazuki relentlessly belittle Whitebeard, the hot-headed Ace, who considered Whitebeard's honor everything, clearly couldn't ignore it.
"Take back what you just said!"
Ace stopped, glaring at Sakazuki, and a raging fire immediately ignited around him.
"Stop, Ace! Don't stop!"
"Let him say whatever he wants!"
People around him grabbed Ace's arm, urging him not to engage.
"That guy is insulting Pops!" Ace, burning with rage, violently shook off the people restraining him.
"Take it back? I'll never take it back! What I said is true!"
A smile appeared on Sakazuki's face, his provocation had succeeded. To be absolutely certain, he became even more bombastic, continually disparaging Whitebeard, essentially calling him utterly worthless.
His words even made the Division Commanders stop running, turn around, and grit their teeth as they stared at Sakazuki.
"Shut up!"
"Shut your mouth!"
Ace walked step by step toward Sakazuki, fire burning all over his body. The fury in his chest was now like a violent inferno.
"Pops gave us the motivation to live! How could you possibly understand Pops' greatness!" Ace shouted heatedly.
"A person who doesn't walk the righteous path has no value in life. You pirate scum have no need to live!" Sakazuki scoffed. His arm transformed into high-temperature magma that gushed like a flowing stream, belching black smoke.
"Shut up!" Ace screamed excitedly.
"It's fitting for Whitebeard, that piece of trash captain, to die as a failure!" Sakazuki aggressively countered.
"Whitebeard is the great pirate who created this era! Don't you dare insult my savior!"
"This era is called Whitebeard!"
Ace was engulfed in blazing orange flames, completely transforming into a man of fire, and lunged at Sakazuki.
Crack!
"Whitebeard, and all of you who look up to him as your Pops, are failures in the end!"
Magma, like dripping wax, coated Sakazuki's face. The ground under his feet cracked and shattered, and molten lava surged from the fissures. A magma arm, like a volcanic eruption, blasted out toward Ace.
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