A massive amount of Senjutsu Chakra erupted forth. Combined with the environment that suited it perfectly, another thousand-meter waterspout rose into the sky in an instant. Huge amounts of seawater were drawn into it, causing the waterspout to continue expanding. From a distance, it looked like a colossal pillar of water supporting the heavens.
While putting away the black Den Den Mushi, Kizaru took out a communication Den Den Mushi and called Akainu.
"Moshi moshi, this is Kizaru. Sakazuki, the situation here isn't looking good. The Celestial Dragon has already been killed," Kizaru said slowly while continuing to fire laser attacks.
"What?! The Celestial Dragon has been killed?!"
The Den Den Mushi displayed an extremely furious expression, its eyes turning crimson as if flames were about to burst from them.
On the other end of the call, Akainu was absolutely furious.
No matter what had happened, with a Celestial Dragon dead, the Marines would inevitably be held accountable by the World Government.
Akainu could already picture the Five Elders spitting in his face.
"Has the culprit been captured? Which bastard did this?" Akainu suppressed his anger and asked.
"Unfortunately, the culprit is very strong. I'm still fighting him." Looking at the increasingly enormous pillar of water, Kizaru clicked his tongue in amazement. "Is he planning to flood the entire island? How terrifying."
At that moment, Kizaru couldn't help thinking that if Aokiji had been the one to come, perhaps he would have been especially effective.
"Then hurry up and capture him!" Akainu roared. Even the Den Den Mushi's brows twisted into a cross.
"I already told you he's very strong. How about you come deal with him yourself, Sakazuki? Surely, with the strength of the Fleet Admiral, capturing him would be easy," Kizaru replied sarcastically after hearing Akainu's shouting.
Compared to the others, Kizaru was a rather laid-back Marine.
His stance during the Fleet Admiral succession made that obvious.
Garp and Sengoku had supported Aokiji.
Many of the World Government's higher-ups had supported Akainu.
But no one had supported Kizaru.
Was it because he wasn't strong enough?
Not necessarily.
The real reason was that Kizaru simply couldn't be bothered to compete.
He believed in "Unclear Justice." He rarely worked hard to capture pirates and generally just did enough to get by.
So Kizaru never had any lofty ambitions.
Being an Admiral was good enough.
Akainu certainly wasn't going to remove him from his position over a little sarcasm.
"You have to capture him. Otherwise, we won't be able to explain this to the World Government," Akainu could only repeat firmly.
He then hung up, allowing Kizaru to focus on the battle.
"What a hassle."
Kizaru felt today's assignment had been a complete loss.
Had he known the troublemaker was this strong, he wouldn't have come.
Someone else could have handled it instead.
At that moment, the waterspout suddenly surged upward again before transforming into an enormous waterfall that came crashing down toward Kizaru.
No...
It was crashing down toward the entire island.
According to Nagasawa's perception, aside from himself and Kizaru, only a handful of people remained on the island.
Judging from their presence, they weren't ordinary people.
They were most likely CP agents hidden in the shadows to support Kizaru, or ambitious individuals with ulterior motives.
Anyone who didn't run despite an Admiral fighting nearby definitely had a reason.
Kizaru crossed his arms as intense golden light burst from his fingertips.
Within the blue world covered by the enormous waterfall, the dazzling golden radiance shone brilliantly.
BOOM!!!
Countless light projectiles erupted, blasting away nearly half of the massive waterfall descending from the sky.
Then Kizaru transformed into a beam of light and shot toward Nagasawa through the opening.
However, halfway there, Nagasawa vanished directly before Kizaru's eyes.
He didn't reappear anywhere nearby.
Crash!!
The massive torrent crashed onto the island, dealing another devastating blow to the already ruined land, making it appear as though the entire island had been swallowed by a giant tidal wave.
"That teleportation ability again..."
Kizaru rapidly searched every corner of the island.
He found nothing.
"What exactly is the range limit of that ability?"
Having always relied on overwhelming speed to suppress his opponents, Kizaru felt that this teleportation ability was simply too unfair.
With such an ability, both fighting and escaping became incredibly convenient.
The battle between Nagasawa and Kizaru was so intense that the entire Sabaody Archipelago noticed the earth-shaking commotion coming from Grove 30.
Especially when the gigantic wave capable of engulfing the entire grove appeared, the people on the neighboring groves panicked and fled toward the opposite side of their islands, afraid of being caught in the aftermath.
Shakky, on Grove 13, also noticed the astonishing scene.
She didn't know exactly what had happened.
She only knew someone was fighting Kizaru.
Kizaru was easy enough to recognize.
As for who his opponent was, she couldn't tell.
They were simply too far away.
She could only identify people by their flashy abilities.
None of the people she knew seemed capable of manipulating water like that.
"There really are hidden dragons and crouching tigers in this world. First there were two previously unheard-of Admirals, and now someone like this has appeared," Shakky sighed.
"Could it be that white-haired guy actually went and robbed a Celestial Dragon, then attracted an Admiral?"
She suddenly remembered the white-haired man who had freeloaded a beer from her earlier that day.
Shakky shook her head.
She felt she was overthinking it.
Who would rob a Celestial Dragon over ten million Belly?
That was about as unrealistic as trying to solve a money problem by collecting a bounty from one of the Four Emperors' pirate crews.
When Shakky returned to her bar, however, she was surprised to find that the same white-haired man had somehow already returned and was sitting in his previous seat.
She looked at Nagasawa cautiously.
She hadn't noticed when he entered.
Nor how long he had been there.
She had only gone outside to watch the commotion for a short while.
"Boss, didn't I ask you to pour me another glass of that ten-million-Belly liquor? Why haven't you done it?" Having just finished robbing the rich to help the poor, Nagasawa was in an excellent mood as he smiled.
"Didn't you say you didn't have a single Belly? I don't serve freeloaders," Shakky said, though she still got up to pour him a drink.
The moment she finished speaking, Nagasawa placed a chest heavily onto the counter.
Opening it directly, he revealed stacks upon stacks of ten-thousand-Belly notes.
"There's two hundred million Belly in here. Do you still think I can't afford the drinks?" Nagasawa said generously.
After all, the money had been taken from a Celestial Dragon.
Even if he spent every last Belly in one go, he wouldn't feel bad.
Looking at the neatly stacked banknotes inside the chest, Shakky froze.
It wasn't because of the money.
It was because she immediately connected it to what had just happened.
This white-haired man had actually robbed a Celestial Dragon?
She found it unbelievable.
"You really robbed a Celestial Dragon?" Shakky placed the beer in front of Nagasawa.
Despite everything she had experienced in her life, this was still the first time she had encountered someone as bizarre as Nagasawa—robbing a Celestial Dragon simply because he lacked money.
"What else? Do you think a Celestial Dragon would just hand me this money for free?" Nagasawa smiled.
"Oh, and one more thing. I killed Saint Charlos while I was at it. There'll probably be heavy Marine inspections throughout Sabaody Archipelago for a while."
"You really are..."
Shakky's mouth hung open.
She had never expected this white-haired man not only to rob a Celestial Dragon, but to kill one as well.
From the way he spoke, it sounded less like he had killed a World Noble and more like he had casually stepped on an ant.
"Crazy."
That was the only word Shakky could think of.
She could already foresee the overwhelming searches that would cover Sabaody Archipelago over the coming days.
Along with the shockwaves that would spread throughout the world.
"Crazy? Really? Compared to the Celestial Dragons, I'd say I'm perfectly normal," Nagasawa said with a chuckle.
"At the very least, I wouldn't kill someone just because they're too tall and blocking my view."
"And besides, it's not like I killed one of the Five Elders. It was only an ordinary Celestial Dragon. It's not that serious."
Hearing Nagasawa casually mention killing the Five Elders, Shakky finally understood why he wanted to find the Revolutionary Army.
He was probably planning to join them.
"After deducting twenty million Belly for the beer, there are still one hundred and eighty million Belly left. I wonder if that's enough to buy your information," Nagasawa said.
Shakky shook her head with a smile.
"Forget the money. Just tell me your name. That's worth far more."
She genuinely admired people like Nagasawa who could make life difficult for the World Government.
So she decided not to charge him.
"My name..."
Nagasawa thought for a moment.
His real identity had already been used as the Marine Admiral.
Using it here obviously wasn't appropriate.
"My name is Tobirama Senju," he finally said.
Since he was already using Tobirama's appearance, he might as well use the same name for this identity.
"I can get in touch with a Revolutionary Army officer and tell her about you. As for the outcome, I can't guarantee anything," Shakky said.
"But someone as fearless as you... I think they'll like you."
The Revolutionary Army's ultimate goal was to overthrow the World Government.
Since Nagasawa dared kill a Celestial Dragon and wanted to join the Revolutionary Army, Shakky believed they would attach extraordinary importance to him.
...
News of the Celestial Dragon's death quickly spread across the entire world.
After all, the killing of a Celestial Dragon was an extraordinarily rare event.
Even the most vicious pirates had to consider whether they could withstand the World Government's furious retaliation before daring to make a move.
Naturally, Morgans, who loved publishing sensational news, wouldn't miss such an opportunity.
He personally wrote the front-page story.
At the same time, the Marines immediately issued a bounty for Nagasawa.
2.95 billion Belly!
Since they didn't know his name, the Marines gave him the title White Devil.
Once the bounty poster was released alongside the newspapers, the name White Devil spread throughout the entire world almost instantly.
This was the first bounty in history to begin at the terrifying amount of 2.95 billion Belly.
It was an astonishing figure.
It clearly showed just how desperately the World Government wanted Nagasawa dead.
After all, Nagasawa was just one man.
He hadn't even demonstrated any large organization behind him.
Yet his very first bounty was nearly three billion Belly.
It was truly terrifying.
Then again...
Considering he had killed a Celestial Dragon, it suddenly seemed rather reasonable.
The family of the slain Celestial Dragon certainly wouldn't allow one of their own to die without demanding vengeance.
On Whitebeard's ship, Whitebeard read the newspaper and discovered that someone had actually killed a Celestial Dragon.
Not only that, the man had fought Admiral Kizaru before successfully escaping.
Whitebeard burst into hearty laughter.
"Another interesting man has appeared on the seas."
"A year ago Straw Hat Luffy punched a Celestial Dragon. Now this White Devil has gone one step further and killed one."
"Anyone capable of escaping from Kizaru shouldn't be underestimated," Marco commented.
"White Devil, huh? I'd kind of like to meet him," Ace said eagerly.
Within the Beasts Pirates, Kaido was delighted to see someone this outrageously bold.
He immediately ordered his subordinates to spread word that the Beasts Pirates welcomed White Devil to join them.
Kaido was highly ambitious.
He didn't merely want to be a pirate.
He wanted to establish a pirate empire without a government.
Naturally, someone as fearless as White Devil was exactly the kind of person Kaido wanted.
After reading the news, Shanks couldn't help sighing.
"There's not much peace left. The seas are about to become turbulent."
"The Marines have recruited two new Admirals... the conflict between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Beasts Pirates... and now this White Devil who appeared out of nowhere..."
...
The entire world was in turmoil.
The Marines were no exception.
Anyone standing near the Fleet Admiral's office could clearly hear Akainu's furious shouting.
"Where the hell did this bastard come from?!"
Akainu slammed both fists against his desk in rage, nearly turning into magma from sheer anger.
"Being Fleet Admiral isn't easy, is it?"
Sengoku had somehow appeared at the office entrance, looking at Akainu sympathetically.
If a Celestial Dragon had died during his own term—and only after an Admiral had already arrived—he would probably have exploded with rage as well.
Just imagining the aftermath gave Sengoku a headache.
Akainu's eyebrow twitched violently.
Already furious, hearing Sengoku say that made him completely lose control.
He was just about to respond.
But Sengoku was far too experienced.
The moment he finished speaking, he immediately slipped away and headed for Nagasawa's office.
At that moment, Nagasawa's office looked more like a party than an Admiral's office.
Nagasawa and Garp were drinking heavily, eating grilled meat, and laughing loudly.
When Sengoku entered, he froze.
Had he walked into a Marine Admiral's office?
Or a tavern?
He stepped back outside to check the door.
No...
This was definitely the right office.
"Garp, Nagasawa... what are you two doing?" Sengoku asked in confusion.
Garp pulled Sengoku over, stuffed a huge piece of grilled meat into his mouth, and laughed.
"Nothing. We're just celebrating something."
After swallowing the meat, Sengoku asked, "Celebrating what?"
"Because there's one less piece of trash in the world." Nagasawa took a huge gulp of wine and laughed.
Garp immediately gave a thumbs-up in agreement.
Exactly!
Sengoku: ...
He finally understood what these two were celebrating.
At that moment, he was incredibly grateful that he was no longer the Fleet Admiral.
Otherwise, these two would probably have driven him to death from anger.
Akainu was already overwhelmed with problems, while these two were openly feasting and celebrating in an Admiral's office.
"Nagasawa, Zephyr should be returning to Marine Headquarters within the next couple of days. He's also very interested in you and wants to meet one of the Admirals of the new era," Sengoku said.