"Impossible!"
"He caught the old man's sword... with one hand?"
"Is that even humanly possible?"
"Even an island would be split in two by that swing!"
Marco, Jozu, Vista, and the other Whitebeard Pirates commanders watched in utter disbelief as Edward Newgate's Murakumogiri was snatched from the air by Rosen's bare hand.
They had seen their father clash with legendary figures before. Gol D. Roger. Monkey D. Garp. Even the other Emperors. While those titans could withstand Whitebeard's strikes, none had ever caught the blade of the world's strongest man barehanded—and what's more, completely neutralized the shockwave that could shatter islands. Not a single ounce of power escaped Rosen's palm.
This wasn't a block. It was total suppression.
"Got it?"
"Then don't let go."
"Hold tight!"
A cunning smile flashed across Edward Newgate's face. He let Rosen grip the Murakumogiri, then clenched his left fist. A surging shockwave gathered within it—the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. He swung straight for Rosen's face, a dragon rising from the sea, shattering the atmosphere with enough force to split the ocean.
RUMBLE!
Before the fist even connected, the sheer force of the throw caused the sea to tilt within a ten-kilometer radius. The sky itself began to warp and buckle.
Rosen didn't flinch. He calmly raised his left hand, extending a single finger. Black Armament Haki erupted like a torrent, coiling around his fingertip. He met the attack head-on.
BOOM!
Fist met finger. A deafening roar exploded across the battlefield, sending a visible sonic wave sweeping over the water. The atmosphere shattered like glass. A missile-like shockwave of pure Haki expanded in a blinding flash.
Just as it threatened to engulf the Moby Dick beneath them, Rosen's Haki erupted from his back. It shot skyward, instantly manifesting a four-hundred-meter Susanoo avatar—a towering figure of pure Haki and will.
The avatar spread its massive arms, catching the expanding shockwave like a balloon about to burst. Its palms pressed inward, containing the blast, shielding the Marine fleet below.
"Hmph!"
Newgate wasn't discouraged. He had known from the start this would be his toughest battle yet. If gaining the upper hand were this easy, Kaido wouldn't have been beaten and imprisoned.
WHOOSH!
After two failed attacks, Newgate leaped, his right foot glowing white, the air around it visibly collapsing. The Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power could cover any limb—he could become the world's strongest kicker or grappler at will.
This kick shattered the atmosphere, unleashing enough force to launch an island like a soccer ball. And it was enhanced with Armament and Conqueror's Haki.
Newgate had seen Rosen's power. He was going all-out from the start.
BANG!
Rosen's eyes flashed scarlet. Instead of retreating, he advanced.
His Armament Haki surged into his veins—the dynamic form he rarely used. The world's strongest man's power ignited a long-lost rush of adrenaline, and Rosen abandoned his Zanpakutō style for pure hand-to-hand combat.
With dynamic form active, his strength and speed skyrocketed.
Then—Conqueror's Haki exploded outward. Black-and-red lightning coiled around his right knee as he leaped to meet the kick.
BOOM!
Before impact, the colliding Conqueror's Haki alone created a deafening roar. The turbulent sea couldn't withstand it—the surface collapsed, currents spreading wildly.
A bizarre scene unfolded: despite the water's collapse, the Moby Dick didn't sink. Instead, the clash of their kingly auras created a tidal wave of Haki that lifted the legendary ship into mid-air.
But the stalemate was brief.
The Conqueror's Haki wrapped around Newgate's foot shattered violently.
SIZZLE!
Rosen's knee, sheathed in black lightning and Armament Haki, pierced through like a blade, crushing the white sphere around Newgate's foot.
CRACK!
The sound was like shattering glass. It wasn't the atmosphere this time—it was Newgate's Tremor-Tremor sphere being obliterated.
BANG!
With his Conqueror's Haki broken and his Devil Fruit power shattered, Newgate's remaining Armament Haki couldn't withstand Rosen's strike.
The impact launched a rainbow of black-and-red lightning through the sky, sending both men flying off the Moby Dick's bow.
"I was right," Newgate realized mid-air, forced backward by the lightning pillar. "His Conqueror's Haki surpasses Roger's... even Rocks's. No—his Armament Haki surpasses Garp's too."
His Observation Haki meant nothing against Rosen's. His Armament Haki, mastery of all four techniques, strength second only to Garp—completely outmatched by Rosen's Binding Hardening, Flowing Release, Internal Destruction, plus the offensive/defensive Blood Armor variants.
His Conqueror's Haki, even the advanced Binding technique that could rival Roger's prime—was overwhelmed by Rosen's superior mastery.
In skill, power, and technique, he was completely outclassed.
"Gurarararar!"
Newgate's fighting spirit soared.
He hadn't faced a true equal in years. Now, he had one. Stronger than himself, even.
He made the same choice Kaido would: to swing at something stronger.
BANG!
Newgate slammed his elbow backward into the air. Cracks spiderwebbed across the sky like broken glass. The violent shockwave stabilized his body.
He gripped Murakumogiri, its heavy blade now wreathed in Conqueror's Haki and a glowing white sphere, and swung it upward.
WHOOSH!
A sphere of light crackling with black lightning hurtled toward Rosen, who had somehow caught up and now stood directly above him.
Rosen clenched his fist. Surging Conqueror's Haki transformed into black-and-red lightning, coiling around his right arm like a ferocious dragon. From high above, he unleashed a devastating punch—the chilling aura of an eagle diving on its prey.
"Six Powers Secret Technique: Evening Elephant!"
As his fist struck, the coiled Conqueror's Haki erupted with a deafening dragon's roar. The released lightning transformed into a sky-ripping Haki shockwave, crashing down like a pillar from heaven, directly suppressing Newgate's sword strike.
Navy vs. Pirates. Strongest vs. Strongest.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The two forces collided. Concentric rings of overwhelming shockwaves cleared the sky and shattered the sea below, creating a terrifying scene like a dried-up riverbed.
The white sphere expanded wildly, like a nuclear blast wave, trying to crush Rosen's attack.
But the Conqueror's Haki shockwave—like Zunesha's leg, wrapped in Haki—stomped down relentlessly, shattering the white sphere under Newgate's narrowed gaze.
BOOM!
The Conqueror's Haki impact cannon slammed in like divine punishment, its pressure crushing the heavens, heading straight for Newgate.
BANG!
Newgate barely had time to raise Murakumogiri, hardening it with Armament Haki. He and his sword were crushed by the cannon, then plummeted from the sky.
CRASH!
He slammed into the ice, carving out a one-kilometer basin riddled with cracks.
SIZZLE!
Every crack instantly filled with Conqueror's Haki, like flowing black magma, covering the entire basin.
Beneath the towering pillar of ice and dust, the world's strongest man lay sprawled on his back in the basin. Crimson blood dripped from the corner of his mouth onto the cracked ice