BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Thunderous crashes echoed across the skies above the training grounds. Time ticked away, and night had completely fallen.
In the blink of an eye, Akainu and Nao had already exchanged blows dozens of times.
After separating once more, the two locked eyes, then suddenly charged forward again—this time with real killing intent. The probing phase was over; the real battle had begun.
"Meigou (Dark Hound)!"
As the low growl sounded, Akainu's right hand, already transformed into scorching magma, suddenly clenched into a fist, striking at Nao's chest with blinding speed!
Looks familiar, isn't this the move that killed Ace and blasted half of Whitebeard's face off?
As the thought flashed through his mind, Nao's speed didn't falter for even a moment. The dark red blade of the Azakanna Sword swept upward in a flash, clashing head-on with Akainu's magma fist.
BOOM!
A deep, muffled thud, like thunder hidden within gathering storm clouds, spread in all directions.
Under the gaze of countless Marines, after their figures violently collided, they remained locked in a stalemate, neither gaining the upper hand!
Gurgle! Gurgle!
Scalding magma splashed and sizzled from the clash, but it never broke through the layer of Armament Haki coating Nao's blade. It merely eroded and dissipated, causing Akainu's brow to twitch slightly in surprise.
"Your Armament Haki's stronger than I expected, brat."
He growled lowly, increasing his force. "But if this is all you've got—then you're not gonna cut it!"
With a dull thud, Akainu's right arm suddenly exerted force, pushing aside Azakanna Sword.
And his free left arm, at some unknown point, had transformed into a monstrous, terrifying dog head. It glowed red from front to back, radiating intense heat, and lunged to bite at Nao's head!
Inugami Guren (Dog Bite Red Lotus)!
This was also one of Akainu's most proficient close-combat attacks, like a demonic hound risen from hell, capable of easily tearing an enemy's head apart and melting their body into a pool of blood.
Thanks to his diligent training in recent days, Nao's Armament Haki had improved significantly.
However, facing such a fierce and bizarre technique, he finally couldn't fully withstand it. Akainu found an opening and slammed a fist directly into his chest.
Thud!
With a deep, muffled sound, Nao was sent flying high into the air, like a broken puppet, crashing into the wall dozens of meters away.
The once-solid wall now crumbled like ice, melting along with the metal fencing as the lingering heat from Nao's body scorched everything in its path.
Dripping magma steamed across the ground as Nao slapped a hand down and flipped himself upright.
Sizzle… sizzle…
His bare chest glowed red-hot, steaming in the night air, but the burned flesh was healing visibly fast. In mere seconds, it had returned to normal—no blood, no scar, nothing.
"Careless. Should've dodged that."
Brushing the ash from his charred clothes, Nao tightened his grip on both swords and looked up at the shocked Akainu, flashing a grin:
"Still hurts a bit. As expected of Sakazuki-san."
"…"
Just a bit?
Akainu stared at the fully healed chest in stunned silence. That move had crippled countless pirates with bounties over 100 million berries in the New World—but on this kid, it was like a love tap?
That kind of body… even he couldn't compete. The kid was a full-on monster.
"My turn now."
Nao's voice suddenly came. Akainu's gaze narrowed, and he immediately looked up.
He saw Nao holding both Wind Blade and Azakanna Sword high above his head. His aura condensed like a hurricane, and both blades were almost simultaneously coated with dark Armament Haki.
HUMMMM—
The next instant, the blades fell, and a brilliant, silver-moon-like radiance erupted, illuminating the entire training ground under the dim night sky as if it were broad daylight!
"Two-Sword Style: Lunar Eclipse!"
The howling, magnificent sword energy was enveloped within this radiance, streaking across hundreds of meters of sky at a terrifying, barely visible speed, slashing towards Akainu!
"What a bizarre sword technique…"
Under the dazzling, moon-rising-like brilliance, Akainu also momentarily lost his vision, narrowing his eyes and muttering under his breath.
However, with his Observation Haki, he could sense the terrifying power of the incoming sword energy. He dared not be careless in the slightest, roaring lowly as he crossed both arms, unleashing a full-power strike! "Double Arm Dog God: Magma Hell!"
Surging, towering hot magma immediately collided head-on with the white, giant-serpent-like sword energy!
BOOOOM!!
A deafening explosion suddenly resounded throughout the entire G-1 Branch at that moment.
And when the dazzling brilliance gradually dissipated, and all the surrounding Marine onlookers finally regained their vision and could barely make out the scene before them.
They were stunned to see that Akainu's figure had been forced back to the southernmost end of the training ground, panting heavily. Large amounts of magma dripped from his body, completely melting the surrounding ground into a sea of lava.
Nao, however, was pushed back even further. He was currently lying on the ground spread-eagled, looking quite miserable.
Many areas of his skin were charred and broken, his eyebrows and eyelashes completely burned away, and a huge fist-shaped indentation, more than ten centimeters deep, appeared on his chest.
Did I hit too hard…
Seeing this, Akainu felt a slight pang of guilt. He was also foolish; he had said he'd go all out, but when he got carried away, he really didn't hold back at all…
If he had seriously injured this junior, whom he thought so highly of, he would surely be reprimanded by Zephyr-sensei and Admiral Sengoku back at Headquarters.
He shook his head, strode forward, and was about to reach out to help Nao up when the latter already rubbed his chest and stood up, muttering:
"Hiss~ That's burning hot. Fighting Logia users is a pain; I almost got disfigured…"
In just these few words.
Akainu clearly saw that Nao's eyebrows and eyelashes had already regrown. The areas where his flesh and bones had been exposed due to the magma burns were also healing at an even faster rate than before.
The collapsed indentation on his chest even subtly pulsed, and within just over ten seconds, it returned to normal, showing no signs of injury.
He's truly a complete monster!
Akainu was startled, completely frozen in place. The words of comfort that were about to escape his lips got stuck in his throat, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
"Let's stop here, Vice Admiral."
Finally, Nao broke the eerie silence. He looked up at the sky, chuckled, and said: "It's getting late, and I should be heading off for my mission. I'll consider this spar a loss for me. I'm not as strong, and I humbly concede. When there's another chance, let's try again."
"Hmm."
Akainu was of the same mind. After glancing at his wrist, he shook his head with a wry smile. "It's already been six hours, it seems I'll have to pull an all-nighter again to finish my work…"
"As for saying you're not as good, don't say that anymore. You're only twenty years old, kid. For me to go all out and take this long without defeating you, that's already embarrassing enough for me…"
Is that so? You won and you're still embarrassed?
Nao scratched his hair, glancing around with the corner of his eye. It was indeed as Akainu said: even though he had been at a disadvantage this time and had lost.
But the surrounding Marines were still full of disbelief, their eyes shining brightly, filled with admiration and respect…
It makes sense, when you think about it.
Although Akainu wasn't yet an Admiral and was still a bit shy of his peak strength, within the entire Marine Headquarters, he was already a combatant who could firmly rank in the top five.
In the eyes of these subordinates, who saw him day in and day out, he was an even more towering figure, a solitary guardian of the New World, having defeated countless pirates and amassed an illustrious record of achievements, like an unrivaled God of War.
For him to be able to fight Akainu to such an extent was already jaw-dropping…
Through this exhilarating battle, the relationship between Nao and Akainu had subtly grown closer.
While still far from Aokiji and Kizaru, the initial sense of polite distance had gradually dissipated.
Akainu even specifically kept Nao for dinner at the mess hall and had someone fetch a fitted suit for him before bidding him farewell and rushing to his top-floor office to deal with his mountain of duties.
Even as the highest-ranking officer of the base, he lives like a diligent programmer who works overtime. Nao mused as he watched Akainu's retreating figure—
If Kizaru could also voluntarily work overtime and not procrastinate or slack off like this, would G-2 Branch really have to go to such lengths to pull him, the workaholic, over to carry the load?
The dinner provided by G-1 Branch was quite good. While filling his stomach, Nao reflected on the sparring session, summarizing his shortcomings.
After all, they were fellow officers; Akainu couldn't genuinely go all out with killing moves like in a life-or-death battle.
But Nao could still clearly recognize that there was a clear gap in overall strength between himself and Akainu.
In terms of basic physical attributes, his Stamina might be similar, and due to various talent skills, his defensive capabilities, or rather his body's ability to withstand blows, was even superior to Akainu's.
However, in Strength and Agility, Akainu was ultimately stronger, and Nao was more than just a little behind in Armament Haki and Observation Haki.
As for hand-to-hand combat.
There was also a clear, visible gap.
In Nao's view, although Akainu's strength relied significantly on his Logia-type Devil Fruit, his inherent power was also formidable. He was strong in both offense and defense, like a lower-tier Garp without his Devil Fruit abilities, with almost no weaknesses—an absolute hexagonal warrior.
In contrast.
He still had a long way to go to reach that level.
"According to the 'battle power theory' on forums, Akainu and Aokiji are currently probably at the peak of Vice Admiral rank, halfway to Admiral."
Nao gulped down the hot borscht, thinking gleefully, "And me? Probably late-stage Vice Admiral, like level eleven or twelve?"
Of course, these were ultimately just playful thoughts.
Among powerhouses, there often existed relationships where abilities countered each other. In a true life-or-death battle, various environmental factors and conditions would also play a role, so it wouldn't be surprising for anyone to fight to a draw with someone else.
In the One Piece world, this 'battle power theory' wasn't all that rigorous.
...
After dinner, Nao wasted no more time. That very night, he departed G-1 Branch, leading his ship directly towards Paja Kingdom.
Compared to the first half of the Grand Line, the weather in the New World was even more bizarre and harsh.
One moment it could be sunny and calm, the next, lightning and thunder might strike, followed by a torrential downpour, then a barrage of hail, making it utterly unpredictable.
Even with an Eternal Pose, Nao's journey was arduous, taking a full week to finally reach his destination.
Paja Kingdom's territory wasn't small; traveling from the coast to the capital and back would take at least several days.
So, to save time, Nao had his subordinates contact the royal family in advance, requesting that their diplomatic delegation, sent to the Mary Geoise for the meeting, await them in a coastal city.
The other party immediately expressed understanding and cooperation, stating that due to the King's old age and inability to travel far, this diplomatic mission would be led by Princess Shia herself, who would be fully responsible for all matters related to the conference.
This did not surprise Nao.
He leaned against the ship's bow, leisurely gazing at the silhouette of the coastal city appearing in the distance, a subtle smile playing on his face.
Traveling thousands of miles, spending over a month to reach here from the West Blue, was indeed quite arduous.
Sure, his decision had been impulsive—fired up by Shia's heartfelt confession—but now that he was here, he didn't regret it.
The amusing part? He'd kept it all under wraps. The Paja Kingdom had no idea who was in charge of their escort mission.
And Shia… she had no idea who she was about to see again after all this time.
...
Meanwhile.
Thousands of kilometers away, in the isolated and secluded Wano Country, the war between the Beast Pirates and the Kozuki Family's rebel army finally concluded.
Kaido's side achieved a decisive victory, and the legendary daimyo, Kozuki Oden, who once made Pirate King Gol D. Roger kneel and beg to take him on his ship.
After leaving behind his heroic words, "I, Oden, am the oden of the old era. The New World has no pot to boil me!", he was executed by Kaido through boiling, dying with a hearty laugh.
To escape pursuit, Lady Toki, at the very last moment before the pursuers arrived, used all her strength to activate the power of her Toki Toki no Mi (Time-Time Fruit), sending the tearful Momonosuke and his protectors, the Nine Red Scabbards, twenty years into the future.
She hoped they would avenge Kozuki Oden in the distant future, defeat Kaido and Kurozumi Orochi, and restore Wano Country.
However.
Perhaps due to the capture of Dugalio the Drought, Kaido's rage was far greater than in the original timeline, and his actions were even more ruthless.
Among the Nine Red Scabbards, Raizo and Kiku, died on the run, and only Kanjuro and Kin'emon crossed through time with Momonosuke.
And Lady Toki, under the influence of the butterfly effect, was in an even worse physical condition than in the original timeline. Exhausted, she was unable to fully control her ability.
Therefore.
No one knew that the time to which Momonosuke and his two samurai subordinates traveled was not twenty years later.
But the year 1511 of the Sea Calendar…