The massive wooden hull of the Moby Dick loomed over Tenjin like a towering fortress of white timber. The dark, volatile energy radiating from his body was suffocating, his fists coated in densewood fibers that scraped against the ice as he walked. He didn't look at the sky, he didn't look at the execution platform, and he didn't look at the thousands of soldiers dying around him. His entire reality had narrowed down to the single, colossal man sitting on the captain's chair above the deck.
With a sudden, violent burst of green steam, Tenjin launched himself upward. The spinning flower on his back accelerated to a high-pitched scream, propelling his body through the air like a localized missile. He cleared the high railing of the flagship, landing heavily on the main deck with a thunderous impact that cracked the thick wood beneath his boots.
"Whitebeard!" Tenjin roared, his voice cracking with pure, unbridled fury.
Edward Newgate didn't move. He sat perfectly relaxed, his massive hand resting loosely on the shaft of his towering bisento. He looked down at the green-haired Marine captain with a calm, weathered gaze that carried the absolute weight of the sea.
"You're a loud one, brat," Whitebeard rumbled, his deep voice vibrating through Tenjin's chest. "Is that any way to greet an old man?"
"Shut up!" Tenjin screamed, his eyes bloodshot as his right arm expanded exponentially, transforming into a massive, multi-layered log covered in jagged, razor-sharp bark splinters. "I told you to take it back! I'm going to tear that arrogant smile right off your face!"
Tenjin lunged forward, executing a high-velocity dash that tore up the deck boards. He swung his massive wooden arm in a devastating, horizontal trajectory designed to take Whitebeard's head off. "Mori Mori: Giga Timber Guillotine!"
Whitebeard didn't even stand up. As the colossal mass of black timber drew within inches of his face, the old Emperor simply raised his left hand, his palm open.
SLAM!
A violent shockwave erupted across the deck as Whitebeard caught the massive wooden construct barehanded. The sheer, kinetic force of Tenjin's attack didn't move the Emperor a single inch; his massive fingers simply dug deep into the compressed wood fibers, stopping the momentum instantly.
Tenjin's eyes widened in genuine shock. 'He stopped it... with one hand? Without even using Haki?'
"You've got a lot of raw power, kid," Whitebeard said smoothly, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at the raging Marine. "But power without a clear mind is nothing more than a temper tantrum. A man who fights simply because he hates his past will never be able to stand against the true forces of this sea."
With a casual flick of his wrist, Whitebeard twisted his arm. The absolute, monstrous physical strength behind the movement forcefully rotated the entire mass of Tenjin's wooden arm, lifting the boy completely off his feet and slamming him violently down into the deck.
BOOM!
Tenjin gasped as the breath was driven from his lungs, the thick timber of the deck shattering beneath his back. But his rage wouldn't let him stay down. He dissolved his torso into loose green leaves and steam, reforming several yards away near the ship's main mast.
"I don't care about your philosophy!" Tenjin shouted, baring his teeth as he slammed both palms against the deck. "Mori Mori: Forest Domain... Impalement!"
From the very structure of the Moby Dick itself, dozens of thick, sharp wooden spikes burst upward like a bed of spears, shooting directly toward Whitebeard from beneath his chair.
Whitebeard finally stood up. He grabbed his massive bisento with a single hand and slammed the butt of the weapon heavily against the deck boards.
CRACK!
A sudden, translucent sphere of distorted air manifested around the base of his weapon. The localized vibration exploded outward in a circular wave, instantly shattering Tenjin's incoming wooden spikes into a cloud of harmless sawdust before they could even reach his boots. The absolute gravity of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit shook the entire ship, forcing Tenjin to anchor himself with deep roots just to keep his footing.
"A family isn't something you choose based on convenience, brat," Whitebeard spoke, his voice carrying a calm, lecturing tone as he began to walk slowly toward Tenjin. His massive strides were completely unhurried. "Your father might be a monster who sits in the Holy Land, but rejecting the very blood in your veins only makes you weak. You're letting his shadow dictate how you fight."
"Stop talking about him!" Tenjin screamed, his hyperactive personality completely swallowed by his dark fury.
He lunged again, his limbs transforming into a sprawling network of high-velocity, tangled roots that shot forward to bind the Emperor's limbs. "Mori Mori: Dead Wood Coils!"
The black roots wrapped tightly around Whitebeard's massive legs and arms, binding him in place. Tenjin materialized right in front of him, drawing his right fist back as it coated itself in a dense, heavy layer of hardened wood. "Take this!"
Whitebeard didn't even try to break the bindings physically. He simply flexed his massive chest muscles, a sudden, blinding flare of invisible Armament Haki enveloping his entire body.
SHATTER!
The black roots wrapping around him instantly dissolved into splinters under the sheer pressure of his spiritual armor. Before Tenjin's fist could connect, Whitebeard reached out with lightning speed, his massive hand clamping firmly around Tenjin's face.
"Ugh?!" Tenjin choked, his vision completely blocked by the Emperor's giant palm.
"Listen well, rookie," Whitebeard said softly, his voice dropping into a deep, authoritative rumble. "The sea is vast. There are men out here who would give their lives just to have a single person call them a brother, or a son. You sit here crying about the family you have, completely blind to the fact that you have the freedom to walk away and build your own."
With a devastating downward motion, Whitebeard slammed Tenjin's head directly into the deck.
BOOMOMOOM!
The impact detonated with the force of a cannon shell, creating a deep, splintered crater in the center of the ship. Tenjin's Logia body tried to dissolve to escape the pressure, but Whitebeard's hand was coated in a subtle, crushing layer of high-grade Haki that locked his physical form in place.
Tenjin coughed up a spray of crimson blood, his vision swimming as the back of his head throbbed with immense pain. He tried to raise his arms to counterattack, but Whitebeard simply raised his massive boot and brought it down heavily onto Tenjin's chest, pinning him to the shattered wood like an insect.
The fight wasn't a battle between equals; it was a legendary Emperor completely dismantling a reckless rookie, delivering a physical and ideological lecture that Tenjin had absolutely no answer for.
"You're not ready to face me, kid," Whitebeard said, looking down at the pinned Marine with a look of stern, fatherly disappointment. "Go back to the rear lines. Come back when you've figured out who you are, rather than who your father is."
Whitebeard lifted his boot, turning his back on the fallen captain as he walked back toward the railing to oversee the main battle.
Tenjin lay in the center of the shattered crater, his body slowly reverting from wood back into human form. His green hair was matted with blood and sweat, his chest heaving violently as he stared up at the gray clouds in complete, unadulterated frustration. He slammed his fist weakly against the broken deck, a bitter, silent tear mixing with the blood on his cheek. He had been completely, utterly helpless against the true gravity of the world's strongest man.
---
Meanwhile, in the western sector of the frozen bay, a completely different kind of high-tier conflict was reaching its boiling point.
Vice Admiral Gion moved like a silver streak across the battlefield, the elegant blade of Konpira parrying a simultaneous, twin assault with absolute fluid grace. Her Marine cloak was slightly torn at the edges, but her stance remained entirely unyielding as she faced down two of Whitebeard's division commanders at the same time.
CLANG! CLANG!
Haruta, the 12th Division Commander, executed a high-speed leap, his single-edged saber swinging down in a vicious, vertical arc aimed at Gion's shoulder. At the exact same microsecond, Rakuya, the 7th Division Commander, swung his massive, spiked iron flail horizontally, the heavy chain hissing through the air to crush her ribs from the blind spot.
Gion didn't retreat. She twisted her body with millimeter precision, her blade rising to deflect Haruta's saber upward, using the momentum of his own strike to swing herself into a low duck. The massive spiked flail tore through the air directly above her head, missing her by a fraction of an inch and smashing into a nearby marine fortification, reducing it to rubble.
"You're incredibly fast, Vice Admiral!" Haruta laughed, landing nimbly on the ice before immediately launching into a rapid-fire sequence of thrusts.
"Don't lose your focus, lady!" Rakuya bellowed, yanking the chain of his flail to recall the massive spiked ball, sending it spinning toward her flank once more.
Gion shifted her footwork, entering a traditional, low-profile defensive stance. Her blade became a continuous, flashing shield of silver steel as she parried Haruta's rapid stabs while simultaneously using her scabbard to redirect the heavy kinetic energy of Rakuya's spinning flail. The three of them were moving at such high velocities that ordinary soldiers from both sides had completely cleared the area, terrified of being caught in the vacuum of their high-tier choreography.
CLANG! SHATTER!
Gion executed a sharp, upward slash, the compressed wind from Konpira forcing Haruta to dance backward to keep his balance. She immediately pivoted, her leg snapping out in a swift back-kick that caught Rakuya's iron chain, altering the trajectory of his flail so it crashed into the ice between them, creating a massive fissure.
The three fighters bounced apart, landing in a perfect triangle across the shattered ice, all three breathing heavily as steam rose from their shoulders. The 2-on-1 dynamic was at a terrifying, perfect equilibrium; Gion's supreme technical skill and swordplay were perfectly balancing out the numbers advantage and raw power of the two New World commanders.
Before the clash could resume for another round, a slow, casual footsteps echoed from the rear of the Marine line.
"My, my... looks like quite the party over here," a lazy, drawing voice spoke up.
Vice Admiral Tokikake walked out from the smoke, his standard marine suit slightly rumpled as he adjusted his hat. He stopped a few paces behind Gion as he looked toward the two pirate commanders with a relaxed smile. He then shifted his gaze to Gion, his eyes softening as he tried to look heroic.
"Do you need a hand over here, Gion-chan?" Tokikake asked smoothly, puffing his chest out slightly. "I can take the big one with the chain if you're feeling a bit tired."
Gion didn't even look back at him. She kept her eyes locked entirely on Haruta and Rakuya, her grip on Konpira tightening as her expression turned incredibly cold.
"No," Gion replied cleanly, her voice dripping with an absolute, icy dismissal. "I don't need your help, Tokikake. I was just about to finish them up anyway. You're just getting in my way."
Tokikake's heroic posture instantly deflated. A visible, comical shadow of absolute despair fell over his face, his shoulders drooping as his heart practically shattered into a million pieces. 'H-Hurtful... As always, she doesn't even want me near her battlefield...'
Haruta blinked, a sweatdrop forming on the back of his head as he watched the dramatic shift in the Marine vice admiral's demeanor. "Uh... did we just interrupt a domestic dispute?"
"Don't drop your guard, Haruta!" Rakuya grunted, lifting his flail back into a spinning motion. "She's still dangerous!"
---
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