For Akainu Sakazuki, justice was absolute and could never be defiled.
Anyone who betrayed the Navy deserved to die!
Even if they hadn't betrayed it—so long as they obstructed his absolute justice—they deserved death all the same!
His justice was extreme.
If sacrificing one person could save many more, he would not hesitate to choose the many.
To accomplish a mission, partial sacrifices—whether civilians or comrades—were an acceptable price.
Therefore, a traitor like Leno, with immense potential and an extremely high threat level—
Akainu would never let him go. He had to be completely eradicated before he fully matured!
As for whether the means were honorable?
That didn't matter. He only cared about the result. The process was irrelevant.
If Leno died, the overall strength of the pirates would undoubtedly weaken!
What surprised him slightly, however, was that not one of the women beside Leno stepped forward to stop him.
They simply stood where they were, faint smiles tugging at their lips.
"Hmph! Brat, it seems that after leaving the Navy, you've only found yourself a bunch of cowardly companions!" Akainu sneered.
The scorching heat from his Meigō grew closer and closer to Leno's back.
In his mind, Akainu could already see Leno's body being pierced and burned through with a single punch!
After all, using the Mag-Mag Fruit to punch through an enemy's body was something he was more than familiar with.
Unfortunately, things did not unfold as he expected.
Just as his attack was about to touch Leno—
A pitch-black, all-devouring maw appeared behind him.
It swallowed Akainu's magma whole.
Ssssh—!
There was no earth-shattering explosion. The moment Meigō came into contact with the black mouth—
All of its energy was devoured completely!
The magma coating Akainu's fist rapidly dimmed and vanished, leaving behind only ordinary Armament Haki.
The power of the Mag-Mag Fruit hadn't harmed Leno at all.
This bizarre scene stunned Akainu, his mind going blank for a split second.
"What kind of ability is that?!"
Whitebeard, Sengoku, and Garp all revealed looks of astonishment as well.
They had never seen an ability that could directly eat an attack!
Wasn't Leno supposed to have eaten the Chop-Chop Fruit?
The Chop-Chop Fruit definitely didn't have this kind of power!
At that moment—
Leno slowly turned around, a relaxed smile on his face, completely unbothered by Akainu's sneak attack.
The black maw behind him even let out a symbolic burp.
"Thanks for the gift," he said with a grin.
The instant his words fell, magma began to surge over Leno's fist.
The color. The aura. It was almost identical to Akainu's fruit ability!
"Now…" Leno's gaze turned cold. "Let's see how your own move tastes."
"Meigō!"
He threw a punch, the magma-wreathed fist roaring toward Akainu's face!
Though the hue differed slightly, everything else was virtually indistinguishable from Akainu's technique!
Snapping out of his shock, Akainu faced the familiar attack.
Though astonished that Leno could use his Devil Fruit ability, he showed no panic.
He snorted coldly. "A fake is still a fake."
Then he roared, "Great Eruption!"
BOOM—!!!
Two identical Devil Fruit powers collided violently, triggering a massive explosion. Shockwaves rippled outward in all directions.
In the end, they canceled each other out.
Akainu did not attack again immediately. He stared at Leno intently and said in a low voice, "No wonder those women by your side didn't try to stop me… So you were hiding a trick like this."
A glint of curiosity flashed in his eyes.
"As far as I know, you ate the Chop-Chop Fruit. And the Chop-Chop Fruit doesn't have any devouring ability."
Hearing this, Leno felt a bit regretful that their earlier clash of Conqueror's Haki had been interrupted.
Still, he stretched his limbs casually.
The black maw that devoured the attack earlier was a fruit ability he had developed over the past few days.
The Greed Statue's Munch-Munch Fruit ability!
But stronger than an ordinary Munch-Munch Fruit—and without side effects.
The Greed Munch-Munch Fruit sought to devour everything.
Its development direction had been focused entirely on devouring. The move "Thanks for the Gift" was a defensive technique he had created.
During their special training on the unnamed island—
He had often used Robin, Kalifa, and the others as sparring partners, using this move to train their Observation Haki.
At the same time, he refined the technique.
He had basically "eaten" all of them once—purely defensively, of course.
They had already suffered enough losses to know how powerful this move was. They also knew he wouldn't be injured by such an attack.
That was why they hadn't stepped forward to interfere.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have helped—and might even have disrupted him.
Seeing that Leno didn't answer immediately—
Instead appearing lost in thought, Akainu's expression grew darker and darker.
This brat actually dared to ignore him!
Only when Leno snapped back to reality did he speak. "Oh, sorry. Zoned out for a second."
Akainu's expression eased slightly, thinking he was about to explain.
But Leno continued, "As for your question…"
At that moment—
Whether Navy or pirates—even Sengoku and Garp on the execution platform, and Whitebeard as well—
All of them subconsciously pricked up their ears.
They were immensely curious about what this bizarre ability of Leno's really was.
Koby, lying on the ground pretending to be dead, seemed to want to say something. But his injuries were too severe, and he could only produce hoarse sounds.
Under countless gazes—
Leno, wearing a teasing smile, blinked and uttered two words.
"You guess."
That answer instantly ignited the powder keg that was Akainu.
"Bastard!!! You dare mock me?!"
Akainu's fury skyrocketed.
Magma churned continuously over his body, dripping down with sizzling sounds.
The air itself grew scorching hot.
"Whoa, whoa, why such a big reaction?"
Leno's face was filled with undisguised contempt.
"You shamelessly tried to sneak-attack me, and you're upset that I mess with you a little? Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to tell you my abilities? What kind of delusional dream are you having?"
They were already enemies to the death—did he seriously expect Leno to reveal his trump card?
He wasn't that foolish!
"You're courting death!!!"
Akainu clenched both fists as the magma around him began to riot.
Since joining the Navy, no one had ever dared speak to him like this.
Those who did were all dead!
Just as he was about to launch another attack—
Leno suddenly said, "Don't rush. The main character has arrived."
A bright, sunny smile appeared on his face.
But in Akainu's eyes, it sent a chill down his spine.
Looking up—
A Navy warship descended from the sky, crashing heavily onto the frozen edge of the bay.
It kicked up a massive cloud of smoke.
By the ironclad rule of smoke with no casualties—no one was hurt. The warship bore it all.
This sudden turn of events—
Drew everyone's attention!
From within the smoke—
A figure wearing a straw hat burst out first, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Ace!!! I'm here to save you!!!"
It was Monkey D. Luffy, who had charged all the way from Impel Down!
"Luffy!!" Ace roared upon seeing him.
His eyes were filled with worry. Luffy must not get involved in this battle!
He had already lost one brother. He couldn't lose Luffy too.
"Luffy! Leave this place now! You—"
Before he could finish—
Another figure stepped out of the smoke, wearing a tall top hat and carrying a massive iron pipe across his back.
When Ace saw that familiar silhouette, his pupils trembled violently.
"Th-This is…!"
Sabo stepped forward, removed his top hat, and flashed a brilliant smile at Ace on the execution platform.
"Yo, long time no see, Ace!"
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