Meanwhile, Sengoku and Garp stepped out of the Fortress of Justice.
"Looks like the Battle of Edd War took a toll on Shiki. His reflexes aren't what they used to be," Garp muttered in a low voice as he flexed his arms.
Ortoren's Goro Goro no Mi speed was indeed terrifying, but in his prime, Shiki shouldn't have been suppressed like this—at least not without being caught off guard. After all, Shiki had always been renowned for his speed and agility.
Sengoku's expression was grim. "If you had a ship's wheel stuck in your head, it would slow you down too."
And it wasn't just his reflexes. In that short exchange, top-level fighters like Sengoku had already noticed the difference. Shiki was still strong, but undeniably weaker than at his peak. Even his Haki seemed to have dulled.
After a pause, Sengoku added, "If this were somewhere else, we could let the younger generation like Ortoren take more of the fight. But this is Marine Headquarters. We cannot allow Shiki to rampage here. Let's move."
"Got it!" Garp tore the cloak of justice from his shoulders and tossed it aside. With a powerful stomp, his body shot forward like a cannonball.
Sengoku's actions were just as bold. He too discarded his cloak, golden light radiating from his fists as he hurled himself into battle.
...
Meanwhile, though Ortoren had smashed him from the sky into the ground, Shiki hadn't fallen. His feet shattered the earth beneath him as he activated his ability. The fractured ground surged upward, condensing into a massive stone pillar that shot skyward straight at Ortoren.
High above, lightning coiled around Ortoren like silver serpents. He didn't dodge. Instead, he swung the warhammer strapped to his back and brought it crashing down with a roar.
The towering prism shattered instantly under the strike, exploding into countless chunks of stone and dirt that scattered through the sky like fireworks.
Seizing the moment, Ortoren's eyes flashed with lightning as he stepped through the air, ripples forming beneath his feet. With his warhammer raised, he dove to pursue Shiki.
But Shiki only lifted his hand and clenched his fingers.
The fragments suspended in the air froze. Then, as if alive, they converged rapidly around Ortoren, forming a prison of earth and stone.
"Shishi Odoshi," Shiki said softly.
In an instant, half of Ortoren's body was swallowed. His eyes widened in shock. "The hell—Chibaku Tensei!?"
Before he could finish, the rest of him was engulfed. In the blink of an eye, a massive stone sphere, as large as a warship, floated above Marineford, encasing Vice Admiral Ortoren inside.
At the officer training grounds, Admiral Zephyr stood on a rooftop with a cigar clenched between his teeth. He exhaled slowly, shaking his head. "That kid... still paying for his lack of experience."
But from the look on Zephyr's face, he wasn't particularly worried. In his view, with Ortoren's physique and strength, Shiki's move wouldn't do much more than delay him.
Meanwhile, Shiki had only just trapped Ortoren when Garp's figure was already charging straight toward him.
"Galaxy Impact!" Garp bellowed.
His massive fist, wrapped in dense Haki, drove straight for Shiki's head.
Shiki's face darkened. His long blade, also clad in Haki, swung up to block. With a thunderous crash, the Haki on his blade visibly began to crack and falter.
A shadow crossed his eyes. Sliding his feet to release the force, he pulled back several meters while countering with a swift backhand slash. The fierce blade aura ripped through the rain, cutting straight toward Garp.
But Garp, ever the brute, didn't care. He simply raised his fist and smashed through the slash, shattering it instantly before launching forward again.
From that brief exchange alone, Shiki realized it—his Haki was no longer enough to stand against Garp!
So he abandoned brute force. He would have to rely on his Devil Fruit and mobility.
As Garp closed in again, Shiki prepared to slip away with his speed. But before he could act, Sengoku's figure tore through the rain behind him. A dazzling golden light erupted, washing out the gloomy skies of Marineford.
"Impact Wave!!!" Sengoku roared.
His palm struck forward, releasing a golden shockwave that engulfed nearly the entire plaza.
With Garp before him and Sengoku behind, Shiki found himself cornered. His response was quick—his body grew light as if riding the wind, attempting to escape upward.
But at that moment, the massive earthen sphere trapping Ortoren shattered in midair. A torrent of lightning burst forth, flooding the sky like nature itself was unleashing its fury.
The timing was perfect. As Ortoren broke free, he spotted Shiki rushing upward right toward him.
"Bull of Heaven!!!"
Instead of chasing, Ortoren raised his hand and roared. Lightning surged endlessly from his body, pouring from his raised palm into the thick, rain-soaked clouds above.
The clouds, once heavy and dark, instantly crackled with energy. Their gloomy hue shifted, flickering with violent silver-white light.
As the storm clouds swelled with thunder, everyone in Marineford heard it—the deep, oppressive bellow of a bull.
From within the clouds, a colossal form emerged: a bull as massive as a mountain, forged entirely of lightning. Its burning crimson eyes locked instantly onto Shiki's fleeing figure.
The next moment, the enraged Bull of Heaven lowered its head with a thunderous snort and charged downward at Shiki.
Shiki below, the bull above—the force of the descending strike threatened to shake the world itself.
On the ground, Sengoku, whose strike had missed, looked up. Instead of relief, his face filled with horror.
"That damn brat's trying to sink Marineford!?" Sengoku shouted.
"We can't let that lightning hit the ground!" Garp barked, his aura flaring as the Haki around his fists roared to life.
Their eyes met. Both nodded, then struck together, launching their attacks upward at the raging bull in the sky.
"Galaxy Divide!!!" Garp roared.
"Buddha's Wrath: Palm of Rage!!!" Sengoku growled.
Their techniques differed, but their timing was flawless. The Marines had long mastered joint attacks, and Garp and Sengoku were seasoned comrades-in-arms. Their powers merged in midair, amplifying one another into a force far greater than the sum of its parts.
Their combined strike wasn't aimed at Shiki—but at Ortoren's Bull of Heaven.
Shiki, however, was caught in the middle. Both attacks covered nearly the entire sky above Marineford, leaving him no escape.
It was true saturation fire.
When blinding lightning and golden radiance clashed together, everyone in Marineford was struck blind—their vision turned to pure white.
At the same time, silence fell. As if sealed in a soundless chamber, they could hear nothing at all.
The moment stretched into eternity. Minds went blank. Yet when awareness returned, everyone knew it had only lasted an instant.
When sight returned, they realized—the endless drizzle had vanished.
Looking closer, it wasn't an illusion. A breathtaking scene appeared above: the rain curtain had been split apart, like a waterfall cut in two. Rain still fell beyond, but within a hundred meters above Marineford, not a single drop fell.
In that instant, the entire storm had been evaporated away.