At this point, the battle between the Navy and the pirates could be said to be evenly matched.
For the time being, Sengoku and Kozuki Oden were unable to determine a winner. Although Sengoku's shockwaves were troublesome, Oden's slashes were also inflicting considerable damage on him.
The same was true for Garp and Rayleigh. Garp's Iron Fist was more than Rayleigh could comfortably withstand, but Garp also found it difficult to block Rayleigh's swordsmanship with his bare fists alone.
As for Marco and Borsalino, their fight was evenly matched as well. Neither of them could do anything to the other, and the sky had become their battlefield.
In the battle between Kuzan and Jozu, Jozu was showing faint signs of being suppressed. Still, the gap in strength between them was not that great. It was only because of their Devil Fruit abilities that Jozu seemed to be at a disadvantage. Their battle was destined to be a prolonged one as well.
As for Sakazuki and Gaban, theirs would probably be the first battle to end among all of them. Sakazuki was by no means weak, but he was still young, and he had chosen the wrong opponent.
Against a serious Gaban, Sakazuki could only focus with all his might, trying to predict where Gaban's next attack would come from so he could elementalize in advance.
His idea was good.
Reality, however, dealt him a heavy blow.
He could dodge the first bullet and the second bullet, but not the third, and certainly not the fourth.
The battlefield around these top-tier fighters had been cleared out by everyone else. Otherwise, anyone caught up in their clashes would end up either dead or crippled.
Among these high-end combatants, the moment one person on either side was defeated first, the balance of victory would tilt toward the other side.
As for Baichuan and Momonga, their battle was just as intense.
Baichuan's swordsmanship had been inherited from Rayleigh, wild and explosive, while Momonga's swordsmanship was the complete opposite. His style was extremely steady, valuing defense even more than attack.
One offense. One defense.
Baichuan's attacks burst forth violently, while Momonga's defense was flawless.
Both of them were searching for an opening in the other, trying to decide the fight with a single strike. But during the battle, it was Baichuan who exposed more flaws, perhaps because his combat experience was lacking and his swordsmanship had yet to reach perfection.
But Baichuan's regenerative body was undoubtedly what gave Momonga the biggest headache.
Even when he used Haki, any damage he inflicted would recover almost instantly, and Baichuan would continue fighting as if nothing had happened.
"You too... are you some kind of immortal phoenix?" Momonga asked with a headache coming on, glancing at Marco in the sky, who had already been struck heavily several times by Borsalino and still recovered to normal.
"Immortal phoenix? I don't like that title."
Momonga felt stifled.
He felt like nothing more than an unpaid sparring partner. Even though he was using his full strength, he could not deal any real, lasting damage to his opponent.
Baichuan, on the other hand, was enjoying himself immensely.
This was exactly the kind of opponent he had been hoping for, someone who could force him to go all out, someone whose strength was either equal to his or only slightly above it.
Momonga belonged to the second category.
Baichuan had also gained a much clearer understanding of his own strength. He was roughly at the level of an elite rear admiral from Navy Headquarters. Against ordinary rear admirals, or rear admirals stationed in the various regional branches, Baichuan felt he could defeat them.
For a twenty-year-old Baichuan to possess the strength of a Navy Headquarters rear admiral should not be excessive, right?
At eighteen, Bullet could fight against vice admirals from Headquarters and even exchange moves with Roger.
At seventeen, Luffy had already defeated several vice admirals during the Summit War. Two years later, vice admirals were no longer enough to challenge him, and he was already capable of exchanging blows with admirals.
At seventeen or eighteen, Sabo had already become the Revolutionary Army's second-in-command. His strength was also extremely formidable. He could fight Admiral Fujitora, battle CP0, and utterly crush Blackbeard Pirates officers.
Compared with those monsters, twenty-year-old Baichuan still felt too weak.
Fortunately, Baichuan's rate of progress was astonishing. He had only trained for a few months to reach his current level.
As for how great Baichuan's talent really was, Momonga was probably the one who understood it most clearly at this moment.
Because he could feel it.
While fighting him, Baichuan's strength was visibly improving.
To Momonga, that was unbelievable.
His own strength had been accumulated through long years of training, day after day. But Baichuan was actually improving through battle with him.
Comparing people really was enough to make one furious.
"What's your name?" Momonga asked Baichuan.
The Navy could not afford to ignore someone like this. They absolutely had to put him on a wanted poster.
"My name is Adolf K. Baichuan. Remember it. This will be the last time we cross blades."
"Why?" Momonga asked.
As long as the Navy still had the mission of pursuing the Roger Pirates, they would have plenty of chances to fight again.
"Because the next time we meet, you won't be my opponent anymore."
"Hmph, arrogant. Maybe this time you'll be coming back with me to Impel Down to reflect properly."
Baichuan's talent was undeniably high, but saying something like that out loud was far too disrespectful to a rear admiral of Navy Headquarters.
"It won't happen. This battle has already been decided."
Baichuan raised a hand and pointed behind Momonga.
Momonga turned his head as well.
He trusted that Baichuan was not the type to launch a sneak attack.
What he saw was Vice Admiral Sakazuki, already heavily wounded.
Vice Admiral Kuzan had already moved in to support Sakazuki, but Kuzan alone could never deal with both Gaban and Jozu at the same time.
Momonga immediately wanted to rush over and help, but Baichuan stopped him.
"Did you forget about me?"
"Get out of my way!"
Momonga roared and slashed out a fierce flying sword wave at Baichuan. It was the first truly serious attack Baichuan had seen from him.
But Baichuan was unwilling to yield, and immediately answered with a slash of his own.
The two slashes collided, gradually canceled each other out, and finally vanished together.
Naturally, the situation on Sakazuki and Kuzan's battlefield had also been noticed by the others.
"Sengoku, looks like your Navy is going to lose," Kozuki Oden said to the gleaming golden Buddha Sengoku.
Although Oden himself looked very battered, Sengoku was not in much better shape. The golden radiance on his body was no longer as dazzling as it had been at the start.
"Damn it."
Sengoku gritted his teeth, and retreat was already entering his mind.
If the battle continued, the Navy might lose two future admirals here.
Sengoku first blasted Kozuki Oden back with a shockwave, then retreated in one bound to the rear of the battlefield and roared:
"Full retreat! Garp and Borsalino, stay behind and cover us!"
When the order to withdraw was given, it was not only the pirates who sighed in relief.
The Marines did too.
Both sides immediately stopped fighting with remarkable tacit understanding.
Although Garp still wanted to continue, he was also someone who knew how to judge the situation.
If the battle went on, the Navy would truly face annihilation.
"Garp, you're leaving already?" Rayleigh asked.
He had been beaten into a miserable state by Garp, but he was still unwilling to lose when it came to words.
"Tell Roger to wait for me. The next time I see him, I'll personally send him to Impel Down."
"Alright, I'll pass your words on to the captain. Hahaha."
"Damn it!"
Sakazuki slammed his fist hard into the ice. The several-meter-thick frozen surface instantly melted into a huge hole.
He knew perfectly well that the reason for the Navy's defeat lay with him.
If Kuzan had defeated Jozu first, then perhaps the entire result of the battle would have been reversed.
After the Navy finally withdrew, Rayleigh let out a breath of relief and dropped to one knee.
Holding back Garp by himself really had been too much of a strain. Several distinct fist marks were left on his body by Garp.
"That bastard... his fists are getting stronger and stronger."
Kozuki Oden was in much the same condition as Rayleigh. His body also bore the traces left behind by shockwaves.
But the Navy had not come away lightly either.
Garp had suffered light injuries.
Sengoku had suffered moderate injuries.
Sakazuki had suffered severe injuries.
Of everyone present, only Borsalino had not a single wound on him.
It really made people wonder whether he had actually participated in the battle at all.
/-\
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased chapters!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon! (+1 Chapter daily)
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally)