The execution platform.
Two long blades were raised high.
Sunlight flashed coldly along the edges, reflecting off Portgas D. Ace's lowered head.
Sengoku stood to the side with his arms folded, his gaze sweeping across the chaotic ice below.
It was time.
"Execute him."
With Sengoku's order, the two executioners tightened their grips and brought the blades down.
Garp knelt at the edge of the platform, his fist pressed hard against the wooden boards.
The Marine hero kept his head lowered, his body rigid, refusing to look up at the blades that were about to fall.
Down on the battlefield
Whitebeard swung Murakumogiri, and the very air cracked.
Hundreds of marines in front were blasted back, scattering across the ice.
The world's strongest man's chest heaved as old wounds and new wounds flared together, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. He saw what was happening on the platform.
Too far.
Kizaru turned into light, blocking Marco.
Akainu's magma fist forced back the pirate captains trying to charge.
Aokiji's ice walls sealed the last route into the plaza.
They wouldn't make it.
Every member of the Whitebeard Pirates stared wide-eyed, eyes burning as they watched those two blades fall.
Right as the blades came within less than ten centimeters of Ace's neck
The sky tore open.
A massive ripping sound drowned out the cannons. The executioners froze mid-swing.
The downdraft that surged out was far too violent, flipping both men onto the platform.
All three admirals looked up at once.
One hundred thousand elite marines, tens of thousands of pirates, everyone lifted their heads.
From the pitch-black spatial rift, the bow of a gigantic ship pushed through.
The Thousand Sunny.
On both sides of the ship's hull, thick, twisted giant trees had grown alive, forming a vast "tray" that carried the vessel.
At the roots of those trees, a long-haired man in layered red armor stood at the lion-headed prow with his hands clasped together.
Hashirama.
On the other side of the ship, a skeletal blue chakra arm appeared out of thin air, steadying the keel from below.
Its owner, Madara, folded his arms and looked down at the "insects" beneath him.
Like something that defied common sense, the Thousand Sunny appeared directly above Marineford.
"What is that?!"
A marine rear admiral shouted in shock.
Behind Sengoku's glasses, his eyes widened.
A Devil Fruit ability?
No. there was nothing like this in the records.
The ship's trajectory pointed straight for the inner bay plaza, the closest possible landing zone to the execution platform.
"That's Straw Hat's ship!"
A sharp-eyed marine recognized the unmistakable lion figurehead.
"Luffy!"
Garp shot to his feet.
On the platform, Ace stared blankly at the sky.
"ACE!!!"
Luffy's roar shook the air.
The Thousand Sunny fell faster and faster.
The vines wrapped around the hull swelled instantly, turning into enormous wooden pillars that slammed into the ice below.
In the next moment, Susanoo used the recoil to slow the ship's descent.
The Thousand Sunny landed on the ice of the inner bay plaza.
A huge gust burst outward from the hull, tossing nearby marines and pirates off their feet.
The furious battle was forcibly paused in that instant every gaze locked onto the pirate ship that had descended from the heavens.
Luffy stood at the very front, eyes fixed on Ace atop the execution platform.
Behind him were Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and the rest of the Straw Hat crew.
And beside those familiar faces stood several figures utterly unfamiliar to this world.
Hashirama released his Wood Style, dusting off his hands.
Madara dismissed Susanoo and watched coldly.
Shinju sat in a chair that had appeared at some point, legs crossed.
In his hand was a device that looked like a communicator.
His gaze passed through the crowd and locked directly onto Sengoku on the execution platform.
Sengoku felt that stare.
Sweat beaded on the Fleet Admiral's forehead.
Even facing Whitebeard, he could remain steady because he understood Whitebeard.
But these people…
The unknown was the greatest threat.
"Who are you?" Sengoku asked in a deep voice.
Shinju didn't answer immediately.
On this battlefield, his posture felt out of place, yet strangely natural.
He stepped to the bow, standing beside Luffy.
He glanced at the battered Whitebeard, then at Garp and Sengoku on the platform.
Finally, his eyes settled on Ace.
"Looks like we didn't arrive too late," Shinju said.
This wasn't Haki, more like some special technique, a precise way of controlling his voice.
"This family dispute is even livelier than I expected."
The entire battlefield erupted in shock.
Calling the Summit War, a battle that would decide the world's direction a "family dispute"?
Akainu's face sank, magma dripping from his arm onto the ice.
"Arrogant."
He snorted, his right arm swelling into a massive magma fist.
"Dai Funka (Great Eruption)!"
The roaring molten fist, trailing black smoke, slammed straight toward the Thousand Sunny.
If they were here, they were criminals. And criminals should be eliminated.
Akainu's logic was simple.
Facing the incoming magma fist, Luffy dropped into a fighting stance.
Zoro's hand went to his sword hilt—but someone moved faster.
Madara stepped forward once.
"Katon: Goka Mekkyaku."
A torrent of flame blasted from Madara's mouth.
The sea of fire was so vast it covered nearly half the inner bay plaza.
Against it, Akainu's magma fist looked almost small.
Flame collided with magma.
There was no explosive shock like people expected.
Madara's flames were intensely hot, driven with overwhelming force pushing Akainu's magma back head-on.
A scorching wave rolled across the battlefield.
Even Aokiji in the distance had to throw up ice walls to block the heat.
When the flames finally dispersed
The Thousand Sunny stood completely unharmed.
Madara remained at the bow, looking down at Akainu with indifferent eyes.
"Only this much?" he said flatly.
Akainu's expression turned ugly.
Sengoku's became even darker.
One man. One technique.
And he had stopped a marine admiral's attack.
Who in the world were these people?
Whitebeard watched, a sharp light flashing in his eyes.
He looked at the straw-hatted boy.
"Gurararara…"
Whitebeard laughed—bold, and oddly relieved.
"Luffy, you always bring surprises."
Luffy didn't look back.
He stared at the platform and shouted, "Old man! I'm here to save Ace!"
Whitebeard tightened his grip on Murakumogiri.
"I know! Sons!" Whitebeard roared
"Reinforcements are here! Push forward!"
"OHHHHHH!!!"
The Whitebeard Pirates' morale surged.
Pirates who'd been driven into a corner by the encircling walls and Pacifista now saw hope.
Sengoku clenched his teeth.
The situation was slipping away.
"All marines, hear me!"
"At any cost, execute Portgas D. Ace! Eliminate the Straw Hats! Eliminate those invaders!"
"Yes!!!"
The marines raised their weapons, roaring so loud it shook the air.
The war restarted, wilder than before.
Shinju stood at the bow, watching the elite marines charge.
He turned to Hashirama.
"Hashirama-sama, clear the field."
"Alright."
Hashirama clasped his hands together.
"Mokuton: Jukai Kotan (Wood Style: Deep Forest)!"
The ice layer shattered completely.
Countless massive trees burst up from beneath the ice.
They grew at terrifying speed, forming a dense forest in moments, swallowing the front line of charging marines within the tangle.
The flat ice battlefield turned into primeval woodland in the blink of an eye.
The terrain had been rewritten.
The navy's encirclement was forcibly torn open.
Luffy seized the opening, leaping off the ship.
"Ace! I'm coming!"
He sprinted along the rapidly growing trunks toward the execution platform.
Zoro and Sanji followed close behind.
Jinbe and Ivankov jumped down as well.
Shinju didn't move.
He stayed on the Thousand Sunny's deck, overlooking the entire battle.
He was the mind behind this strike force that had pierced the battlefield.
Within the "Shintei" network, streams of information raced at breakneck speed.
Pacifista attack patterns. Admiral movement routes. Whitebeard's condition…
Every piece of data was in Shinju's grasp.
"Madara-sama," Shinju said softly.
"That glowing guy, leave him to you."
He meant Kizaru, who was preparing to intercept Luffy.
Madara gave a small nod.
In the next instant, his figure vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already midair, cutting off Kizaru as he turned to light.
A blue Susanoo skeleton formed in an instant, its fist smashing into the golden glow.
"Oh my, oh my… how scary," Kizaru drawled, while his hand condensed an Ama no Murakumo sword, blocking the strike.
Light and chakra collided, bursting into a blinding flash high above.
On the execution platform
Garp watched Luffy weaving through the forest.
Watched the mysterious man clashing with an admiral.
His hands clawed at his own scalp.
"Luffy… you idiot."
He was trembling.
Duty on one side.
Family on the other.
And now—these bottomless allies.
This sea… was truly about to change.
Sengoku lowered the megaphone.
His justice coat billowed without any wind.
If the situation couldn't be pulled back—
Then it would be crushed with absolute power.
The Buddha, Sengoku, finally moved.
Golden light erupted from his body.
His frame swelled, skin turning a dazzling gold.
A massive shockwave expanded outward from the execution platform.
"No matter who you are!" bellowed Sengoku, transforming into his Giant Buddha Form, his voice booming like a great bell.
"Justice will not fall here!"
(End of Chapter)
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