Meanwhile, on the far side of Siguri Island.
"Reporting to Vice Admiral Garp! It has been confirmed that the enemy commander, Onihime Yamato, is approaching Siguri Island at high speeds. She will make landfall shortly!" a Marine soldier reported breathlessly.
Garp stood on the deck of the warship, his arms crossed over his broad chest. "So she's finally here? I have to say, that Haki of hers is incredible. She's practically a demon!"
Though he was grinning, a sharp, serious glint flickered in his eyes. The girl had sensed his presence instantly and charged straight for him without a second thought. That bellicose attitude was exactly like Kaido's.
"That fellow Kaido actually sired such a strong daughter; the heavens really must be blind," Garp lamented. He could already feel Yamato stepping onto the island. Her terrifying Haki was as clear as a beacon in the darkness. "You lot wait here. This old man is going to meet the brat. The coming battlefield is not one you can participate in."
With that, Garp leaped into the air, his feet treading on the atmosphere with Moonwalk as he surged toward the center of the island.
"Vice Admiral Garp?" The soldiers on the warship looked at each other in bewilderment, unsure of what to do.
"Do as the Vice Admiral said," a Marine officer wearing a sharp bowler hat spoke up. His voice was cold and steady. "For now, we only need to wait here."
"Mr. Bogard..." Seeing the veteran swordsman speak, the soldiers fell silent.
On Siguri Island, Yamato had already hit the ground running. She sprinted across the rugged terrain toward the other side of the island without a moment's pause. She moved like a peerless beast in full gallop, her ferocious aura enough to make anyone shudder.
"Are you coming?" Yamato shouted, her golden pupils shining with a majestic, sharp light.
A few seconds later, a white figure appeared in mid-air. Draped in a Marine "Justice" cape, the man had graying hair and eyes full of spirit, possessing an air of natural, overwhelming authority.
"Haha! Brat from Kaido's family, do you know who I am?" Garp called out, seeing Yamato rushing toward him.
"Of course! You're the old man with the legendary fists, right?" Yamato replied loudly.
Hearing the answer, Garp let out a boisterous laugh. "A very good answer, brat! Then tell me—are you ready for a beating?"
"That's my line, old man! Just try not to fall down too early!" Yamato swung her spiked club, and streaks of red-black lightning began to burst forth from the weapon.
"You've got a big mouth! To think you've mastered Conqueror's Haki to this extent... you're a monster in every sense of the word!" Garp clenched his fist, coating it in a thick layer of Armament Haki. Red-black lightning erupted from his knuckles as well.
"Galaxy Impact!"
"Thunder Bagua!"
Their voices rang out simultaneously as Yamato and Garp collided with violent force.
Boom!
The pitch-black fist and the heavy spiked club clashed in mid-air. Red-black lightning spread out in every direction, the two forces counter-clashing before entangling and soaring straight into the sky, splitting the clouds above. A terrifying shockwave erupted, sweeping across the island like a hurricane.
The entire island shook. Countless rocks and ancient trees were blown away like dust, and the surrounding sea surged in violent waves.
"What happened? What's going on?"
On the warships near the coast, Marine soldiers were blown off balance, clutching onto railings and masts just to stay on the ship.
"Have they already engaged?" Bogard pressed his hand down on his bowler hat to keep it from flying away, looking toward the interior of the island with shock. "Such intense fluctuations... that goes far beyond what a bounty of 1,300,000,000 would suggest."
Garp was the Hero of the Marines, a man who had reached the pinnacle of strength decades ago. But this woman, Yamato, was only in her twenties. Despite being Kaido's daughter, possessing strength of this magnitude at such an age was truly astonishing.
On the other side of the island, Maria and the others were also feeling the effects as they neared the shore.
"What terrifying Haki... it's almost like when Yamato and Lord Kaido fight," Maria noted, her eyes wide as the aura continued to ripple outward. Even before they reached the beach, they felt the hair on their arms standing on end.
"That fellow Yamato..." Jack's expression was complex. Her strength had already surpassed his by an embarrassing margin. Though his own power had improved over the years, it hadn't skyrocketed like hers. "Is it really the result of fighting with Big Brother every day?"
Jack knew that Yamato had fought dozens of battles with Kaido over the last two years. However, he also knew he could never do the same; he wasn't rebellious enough to treat his captain like a training partner. "Dammit, I can't let her pull too far ahead of me," Jack thought bitterly.
Meanwhile, in the heart of the island, the battle between Yamato and Garp reached a fever pitch. Everything around them was being shattered by the shockwaves. The ground cracked and buckled under the weight of the Haki being unleashed.
"Old man, your fists really are as hard as they say!" Yamato shouted, her face alight with excitement.
"Haha! Of course they are, brat!" Garp laughed. In Yamato, he felt a long-lost sense of tension. His blood was boiling. It was a feeling he only got when facing a truly powerful enemy, and he couldn't remember the last time he had felt this alive.
"Old man, take this! Narikabura!" Yamato gripped her club with both hands, golden lightning snaking across the metal in a thousand strands. She swung it out with all her might.
In an instant, countless golden lightning bolts shot out like meteors, blanketing the sky and earth. The lightning fell upon the peaks, the ground, and even the sea outside the island, exploding like high-powered laser beams and vaporizing everything in their path.
"That's a bit too flashy of a technique!" Garp's gaze narrowed as he threw a powered-up punch.
Boom!
The golden lightning bolts were either shattered or sent flying by the sheer force of a single punch.
"Brat, it's my turn! Fist!" Garp flickered, vanishing and reappearing instantly in front of Yamato. His black fist slammed toward her chest.
Clang!
The fist landed squarely against the spiked club. Sparks flew, and the heavy force of the impact sent Yamato flying backward like a cannonball. She smashed through several hilltops in a row before finally coming to a halt in a cloud of dust.
"Truly a terrifying old man," Yamato muttered, her arms feeling a bit numb. The power behind that punch was unreal. "But it's better this way! Old man, again!"
Yamato swung her club to clear the dust and launched herself forward, charging straight back at Garp.
Seeing her coming, Garp laughed heartily. "What an energetic brat! Then this old man will just have to give you a few more punches!"
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