Garp's fist collided directly with the blade in Shirakawa's hand, instantly generating a massive shockwave. The resulting aftershock blasted everyone present away.
Even Akainu, Kizaru, Kurokam, and Yuristin were not spared—they were all sent hurtling to other locations.
Shirakawa had used his full strength from the very start, because when it came to Garp, there was no such thing as warming up. Garp's condition was perpetually at one hundred percent, and this time, his strike carried not a shred of mercy.
"Oh?" Seeing Shirakawa effortlessly block his full-powered blow, Garp uttered a single word of surprise.
"I didn't expect that you, brat, haven't wasted these five years."
"Of course not. As for you, Garp—these five years seem to have left you standing in place."
"Hahaha, you brat, your mouth is as vicious as ever." Garp let out a booming laugh, then raised his fist and swung at Shirakawa once more.
"The captain's strength has actually reached this level?"
Witnessing the battle between Shirakawa and Garp, not a single member of the Silver Pirate Crew wasn't astonished. They all knew Shirakawa was powerful, but exactly how powerful—this was the first time they truly understood.
And in Akainu's heart, there was a lingering sense of dread. Thank goodness he hadn't come alone, otherwise, with his current strength, he would have been left here without a doubt, one hundred percent.
"Have you already grown to this extent, Shirakawa?"
Watching Shirakawa fight, even Rayleigh felt a stir of alarm in his heart. Shirakawa's current strength was now in no way inferior to his own.
"But if this is all you've got, defeating Garp is impossible."
Rayleigh adjusted his glasses, the sunlight reflecting off the lenses, making it impossible for anyone to see the look in his eyes at that moment.
"Truly terrifying." Kizaru and Yuristin, with perfect unspoken coordination, both stopped fighting and turned their gazes toward the battle between Garp and Shirakawa.
Shirakawa's sword energy could be shattered by Garp with ease, yet Garp's fists were also something Shirakawa could block.
"Interesting. Truly interesting. This old man hasn't experienced such an exhilarating fight in a long time."
With that, Garp tore off the suit shirt that was somewhat restricting his movements, revealing the powerful, muscular upper body beneath—every muscle seeming to brim with boundless strength.
"So you're resorting to stripping because you can't win?"
Shirakawa asked with a grin.
"Haha, with a mouth that sharp, I wonder if you'll still be in the mood to run it later."
Garp's muscles suddenly bulged, veins visible with crystal clarity.
"So you're going all out, Garp. Shirakawa, how will you respond now?"
Rayleigh murmured to himself. A Garp in this state was someone even Rayleigh would have to avoid by three paces.
Garp's figure suddenly vanished from in front of Shirakawa.
"Too fast." In that single instant, Garp had already closed in on Shirakawa's body—but Shirakawa's reaction speed was no slouch either, and he immediately defended himself with Armament Haki.
But he was still sent flying by Garp's strike.
"What a heavy fist." That was Shirakawa's most direct feeling at that moment. He felt as though his internal organs had all been injured—what one would call internal damage.
"Now this is the Hero Garp."
Shirakawa straightened up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, the damage to his organs rapidly healing.
"This kind of fight is what makes it interesting."
Shirakawa's speed also suddenly increased by a fraction. He teleported directly to Garp's side and slashed out with an extremely sharp blade of sword energy.
"Vice Admiral Garp!"
Seeing that attack, all the Marines cried out in alarm. That had been the full-force strike of a great swordsman—even Vice Admiral Garp would be injured by that, right?
"Hahaha, just as expected of you, brat. That cut actually hurt this old man."
As the sword energy dissipated, Garp's figure reappeared before everyone—but his condition didn't look great.
His arm and abdomen bore wounds from Shirakawa's attack, the sword energy lingering in the gashes, blood flowing down without stopping.
"How's that, Garp? That hit's got some kick to it, doesn't it?"
"Plenty of kick, plenty. But if that's all you've got, thinking you can defeat this old man is still nothing more than wishful thinking."
Immediately after, Garp charged at Shirakawa again, the injuries on his body not hindering his movements in the slightest.
"This is getting troublesome."
Shirakawa had already begun planning his retreat. A retreat was different from fleeing—fleeing only applied when you couldn't match your opponent, whereas Shirakawa was considering how to execute a strategic retreat.
The main purpose of Shirakawa's fight with Garp had been to test the extent of his own strength.
And now he had his answer: he stood at the pinnacle of the world. One could say that there was no longer anyone in the world capable of defeating him.
After being sent flying by Garp once more, Shirakawa's body suddenly blazed with dazzling silver light—and the same happened to his crew members.
"That power again..."
Akainu had witnessed this once before, five years ago. A sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in his heart.
Empowered by the silver light, Kurokam's attacks grew fiercer and fiercer, as though he had returned to the peak condition he'd had at the very start of the battle.
The other crew members experienced the same—each had their strength boosted to a certain degree.
"Looks like the captain plans to end this quickly."
Yuristin smiled. He could feel his mental state completely restored—but this spelled trouble for Kizaru.
Their battle had always been one of extreme mental focus. Every minute and every second of consumption drained them more than physical exertion ever could.
But now Yuristin had recovered to his peak state, while Kizaru's own mental state was, at this very moment, extremely poor.
"Oh?"
Seeing this scene for the first time, Garp was momentarily stunned. He could feel Shirakawa's aura suddenly surge.
"An ability that can boost the strength of every member of your crew?"
Garp roughly assessed the situation on the battlefield. But right now, he was fearless. Even if Shirakawa's strength doubled again—so what? He was still fearless.
Garp's state only grew more ferocious the longer he fought. Against a Garp in this condition, all Shirakawa could do was slowly fight his way to a stalemate, matching him blow for blow.
Truthfully, the crew's enhancement contributed almost nothing to Shirakawa's own strength at this point. The main reason Shirakawa was using this ability now was to bolster his crew's combat power.
"Garp, do you still intend to keep fighting?"
"What, planning to run?"
"No. I think the ones who should run are you."
"Run? This old man doesn't run."
"Then why don't you take a look back at the current state of your Marines?"
Hearing Shirakawa's words, Garp turned to look—only to see that the rank-and-file Marines had already all been cleaned up by the Silver Pirate Crew.
Kizaru's and Akainu's opponents had each doubled from one to two, their pressure mounting.
Kizaru now had a second opponent in Wind, and Akainu a second opponent in Abro.
In a two-against-one situation, these two Admirals no longer had any chance of victory.
"Damn it." Seeing this, Garp cursed inwardly. Their top-tier combat strength was roughly equal; the real gap lay in their mid-tier forces.
Had Garp brought a few Vice Admirals this time, the situation might have been different.
Seeing Shirakawa and Garp cease fighting, the Silver Pirate Crew also stopped with perfect coordination, all of them withdrawing behind Shirakawa.
Akainu and Kizaru likewise moved to stand beside Garp.
"Well, you two—can you still fight?" Retreating like this left Garp deeply dissatisfied. It was a blow to his pride. After all, in all his years hunting pirate crews, it had always been the other side that retreated.
"No problem," Akainu said.
"I'm done." These words came from Kizaru. To be honest, if the fight continued, even he might not be able to escape.
That Storm-Storm Fruit user was simply too irritating—it was as if he could predict Kizaru's every next move.
And Akainu was merely putting on a tough front.
"This battle is one you Marines cannot win, Garp." At that moment, Rayleigh also appeared in the field.
"I didn't expect you to show up too, Rayleigh. I thought you'd keep hiding in the distance, too scared to come out."
Garp had sensed Rayleigh long ago.
"Haha, well, I'm out now. What, do you still want to continue?"
A long silence hung over the scene before Garp slowly uttered two words: "Retreat."
There was no denying it—Rayleigh's appearance had given Garp an out. After all, when the time came, he could say that an unexpected variable had occurred during the battle: the vice-captain of the Roger Pirates had suddenly appeared, which was why they had decided to make a strategic retreat.
"Hmph."
Hearing the word "retreat," Akainu was the first to leave. There was no denying that he was the one who had lost the most face here.
One could say this entire operation had been his initiative—yet it had achieved nothing, and had instead caused the Marines to lose such immense face.
Once he returned, he could already imagine the punishment awaiting him would not be light.
/-\
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