Ace and Sabo were young.
Escaping from Akainu's grasp? Possible—but not very likely.
Akainu rapidly closed the distance.
A savage grin spread across his face.
"Die! A sinful bloodline has no right to exist in this world!"
It was as if he could already see Ace being pierced through the chest.
And to be fair—
Akainu had always been quite fond of punching holes through people.
Just then—
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The sound of wooden sandals striking the ground approached.
"Fish-Man Karate: Vagabond Drill!"
The Knight of the Sea, Jinbe, stepped in front of Ace and Sabo.
Manipulating the moisture in the air as a shield, he forcibly blocked Akainu's magma punch!
How did he block it?
Ace and Sabo both smelled something in the air.
A charred, grilled scent.
The smell of cooked fish.
Mm. Aromatic, in one word.
The answer spoke for itself.
Jinbe had used this same technique to block Ace's Fire Fist before—but blocking magma was an entirely different matter.
"Jinbe!!" the two shouted anxiously.
Akainu's face darkened like storm clouds.
He was extremely displeased.
It was like being interrupted right at the peak of exhilaration.
Stuck halfway—utterly infuriating.
Killing Ace would have satisfied him. Being stopped filled him with rage.
"Knight of the Sea Jinbe…" Akainu narrowed his eyes, oppressive pressure pouring from him. "Do you know what you're doing?"
Jinbe's arms trembled slightly.
It hurt—badly.
Even the sheer force of Akainu's punch made his arms go numb.
Not to mention the searing burn of magma.
But he still nodded firmly, refusing to step back.
"I understand. What this old man does now is my personal decision. It has nothing to do with Fish-Man Island!"
Akainu laughed.
Not amused—angered.
Naïve fish-man.
"You say it's unrelated, and that makes it so? Jinbe—you'll doom all of Fish-Man Island!"
His magma surged again, heat rising around him.
A mere Warlord daring to obstruct a Marine Admiral?
Dream on.
Jinbe stepped back, standing shoulder to shoulder with Ace and Sabo.
All three wore grave expressions.
They had each personally felt Akainu's strength.
They were beginning to suspect that Kizaru and Aokiji had truly been holding back earlier.
As fellow Admirals, the pressure difference was enormous.
Still, Jinbe's delay wasn't useless.
At the very least—
Marco, who had just been planted into the ground by Sengoku, had regenerated his pineapple head and flown back over.
Seeing the situation, he didn't hesitate.
"Phoenix Brand!"
Marco transformed into a phoenix, his Haki-clad talons aiming straight for Akainu's head!
"Hmph."
Akainu didn't even turn around.
He casually hurled a magma punch backward.
Bang!
Marco arrived. Marco departed.
The jailbird crashed once more.
After Sengoku's merciless slam earlier, the fact that Marco could still fight at all was thanks to his Phoenix Fruit regeneration.
With any other Devil Fruit, he'd be halfway to death.
"Ace! Sabo! Jinbe!" Marco's name echoed in worried shouts.
Unfortunately, yelling didn't grant power-ups.
Akainu withdrew his gaze from Marco and fixed it back on Ace and the others.
"Now… it's your turn."
He advanced step by step, magma fist ready to erupt—
Just as he was about to engulf them—
"Seaquake!"
In his clash with Garp, Whitebeard's strike "accidentally" veered off.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit had wide-ranging attacks.
Accidentally hitting Akainu? Perfectly reasonable.
The fractured space spread toward Akainu and Ace.
Boom!
The fragile ice shattered violently, forcing Akainu to retreat half a step.
His attack died in the womb.
Almost simultaneously—
Garp seized the moment and slammed a heavy punch at Whitebeard's face. Whitebeard hurriedly blocked.
Their fists collided, unleashing a tremendous shockwave.
Coincidentally—
Most of that shockwave swept toward Akainu.
Having just stabilized himself, Akainu was struck again by the combined tremor force and Conqueror's Haki.
His blood churned violently.
He glared furiously at Garp and Whitebeard.
"What the hell are you two doing?!"
Neither responded.
They simply continued their "evenly matched" battle.
Whitebeard kept his back to Ace's direction, wholly focused on fighting Garp.
He didn't care what Akainu was barking about.
They were enemies to begin with.
Garp, meanwhile, maintained a stern expression, fists flying as if locked in a life-or-death duel.
"Huh? Sakazuki, what are you talking about? I'm busy beating this old fossil."
Akainu's face grew darker.
Amid the clash, Garp and Whitebeard's eyes briefly met.
In that fleeting instant—
They understood each other completely.
"This old bastard…" x2
Both realized the other was deliberately creating openings to prevent Akainu from killing Ace.
And neither found it surprising.
One was a father.
One was a grandfather.
Were they really going to watch Ace die?
Garp: Of course not, brother.
This time, he sided with Whitebeard.
Ace wasn't stupid.
He immediately realized the two elders were doing this on purpose.
Glancing at them—and at Akainu, whom they kept disrupting—
His eyes filled with gratitude.
His lips moved silently:
"Arigato… Oyaji… Ji-chan…"
Sabo understood as well.
Without hesitation, he seized the opportunity.
He grabbed Ace's arm and barked, "Move!"
Ace didn't hesitate.
With the help of the two old men—
He, Sabo, and Jinbe retreated swiftly toward the bay's exit.
They felt relieved.
But someone else did not.
Akainu watched Ace slip away once more, veins bulging on his forehead, magma erupting wildly around him.
Just like his mood—
He was furious.
"You two… bastards!!"
He looked at Garp and Whitebeard, still "locked in intense combat."
He wanted nothing more than to slap each of them.
You think I'm blind?!
Taking a deep breath, he forced his rage down.
Even if he confronted them, those shameless old men would likely twist the story.
What mattered now—
Was erasing the sinful bloodline completely.
Still, his tolerance for Garp had reached its limit.
If there was a next time—
Even at the cost of mutual destruction, he wouldn't let them off easily.
"Being an Admiral can't save the Marines."
Only becoming Fleet Admiral could.
A little shockwave might interrupt his attack—
But it wouldn't stop him.
He prepared to resume pursuit.
The two old men couldn't move freely.
But Akainu could.
Just then—
An untimely burst of laughter echoed across the battlefield.
"Zehahahahaha… Old man, you're still alive."
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