Along the trajectory of the slash, a dark crack over a hundred meters long appeared, with the edges of the fissure resembling shattered glass, covered in fine, dense cracks.
Below, the sea surface split open, revealing a chasm so deep its bottom couldn't be seen.
Seawater on both sides of the chasm rose like towering walls, only to be refilled by the rushing waves a second later.
In just an instant, the ocean had been cleaved in two!
Garp's pupils contracted sharply.
The power of this slash... had surpassed that of an ordinary master swordsman.
No, it was even more dangerous than Shiki's slashes.
Because it contained not only Sword Qi but also a force capable of tearing through space.
However, that wasn't the end. Before Garp could fully steady himself, his Observation Haki alarm blared once more.
Not one, but five!
Five dark slashes attacked simultaneously from above, below, left, right, and behind, sealing off all his escape routes.
Even more bizarrely, the trajectories of these slashes weren't straight; they continuously curved, changed speed, and even intersected with each other in mid-air, forming a three-dimensional net of death.
Faced with Raiver Sky's relentless assaults, the fury in Garp's chest erupted like a volcano!
"You brat—!!!"
He roared, his fists instantly coated in Armament Haki as dark as ink.
Garp chose the most direct, brutal, and characteristic method—
Hard confrontation!
His fists shot out like cannonballs!
Whoosh—BOOM!!
Iron Fists and slashes collided violently, each impact exploding into ring-shaped shockwaves.
Dark Sword Qi and crimson Haki wildly clashed, annihilated, and exploded in the air.
Within seconds, all five slashes shattered, dissipating into scattered black light particles.
But Garp didn't come out unscathed.
A needle-like stinging pain shot through his fist bones.
It was the damage from the space-tearing force within the slashes, which had penetrated through his Armament Haki.
Though not severe, it made Garp inwardly wary.
This kid's slashes... are unusual.
"Kid! Since you're here—"
Garp's voice rumbled like thunder as he glared at the figure slowly descending from the clouds:
"Come spend the rest of your life with me in Impel Down!"
Rage churned in his eyes, mixed with a trace of unconcealable surprise.
He had expected Rocks to send Whitebeard or Golden Lion to intercept him, as their strength was comparable to his own, making them the most suitable candidates.
Unexpectedly, it was Raiver Sky who made the move.
This newcomer, not even twenty years old, who had recently joined the Rocks Pirates.
And this precisely ignited Garp's fury to the extreme.
Raiver Sky's previous actions, especially severely injuring Tsuru, had already crossed the line of his tolerance.
Now, he even dared to intercept him proactively—it was nothing short of a blatant provocation.
"Is that so? Then let's give it a try!"
Raiver Sky's expression remained impassive as he stood firmly in mid-air.
Just moments earlier, when he had intended to return to the pirate ship, the system had suddenly issued a mission.
"Ding! Temporary Mission: Intercept Garp!"
"Mission Rewards: Advanced Observation Haki, Advanced Armament Haki usage techniques!"
"Hmph!"
Garp said no more. His left foot stomped violently in the air, Moon Walk creating a sonic boom as he shot toward Raiver Sky like a cannonball, leaving no room for retreat.
His right fist pulled back to his waist, Armament Haki coiling, compressing, and compressing further. The air around his fist began to distort and collapse unnaturally.
"Iron Fist·Star Shatter!"
Facing Garp who charged forth like a ferocious beast, Raiver Sky slightly lowered his stance.
Spatial energy and Haki enveloped the blade of Black Dragon as its edge swung down to meet the Iron Fist.
Zzt! Zzzzt—!
The moment fist met blade, there was no explosion, no thunderous roar—only the screech of grinding metal and arcing black-and-red sparks.
Their gazes crossed in midair like sharpened blades.
In Raiver Sky's eyes was iron-like concentration.
In Garp's eyes burned world-consuming fury.
Neither showed any intention of retreating.
The stalemate lasted mere seconds.
Then—
BOOM——!!!
Instantly, the point where fist and blade met erupted in a blinding white light that temporarily robbed all onlookers of their vision.
Both figures were completely swallowed by a pillar of light connecting heaven and earth.
A massive explosion swept across the sea, its shockwave expanding outward like a white halo.
Where it passed, clouds were cleanly sliced apart while the ocean surface was pressed into a two-hundred-meter-wide hemispherical depression!
"I-impossible! That man... can actually fight Vice Admiral Garp to such an extent?!"
"Is that kid really under twenty?! This level of collision approaches admiral-tier, doesn't it?!"
"Damn... when I was his age, I'd just graduated from the naval academy and been promoted to lieutenant..."
"Damn it! Why would such a monster appear among the pirates?!"
The marines stared fixedly at the distant pillar of explosive light, exclaiming in disbelief.
"That kid... is practically a monster."
Zephyr crossed his arms as he watched the intense battle, muttering to himself.
Though reluctant to admit it, Zephyr knew clearly: during his earlier fight with Raiver Sky, he had indeed been suppressed.
It wasn't a gap in Haki, but rather the combination of that bizarre Devil Fruit Ability and exquisite swordsmanship that had constrained him at every turn.
Beside him, Sengoku clenched his fists tightly. His anger toward Raiver Sky was no less than Garp's.
The meticulously planned operation to exterminate the Rocks Pirates had deployed most of the navy's elite forces.
And the result?
Everything had been thrown into chaos by that young man.
If Raiver Sky hadn't pinned down Zephyr and Tsuru, Shiki couldn't have so easily seized the Celestial Tribute.
If Raiver Sky hadn't severely injured Tsuru, the navy wouldn't have suffered a gap in their elite forces.
On the other side, with the Rocks Pirates.
Both Shiki and Whitebeard watched the celestial phenomena caused by the high-altitude battle with shocked expressions.
Though they knew Raiver Sky was strong, to think he could clash with Garp to this extent...
"That kid has grown stronger again," Shiki narrowed his eyes.
As the person who sparred most frequently with Raiver Sky, Shiki understood best the speed of this kid's growth.
When he first boarded the ship a month ago, Raiver Sky's swordsmanship was still somewhat unrefined, and his Devil Fruit Ability usage rather crude.
Now he could face Shiki head-on without losing ground, even surpassing him in certain aspects.
This growth speed could no longer be simply described as "genius."
It was "monstrous."
From within the explosion's dust cloud, a figure suddenly shot through the haze.
Garp stood firm using Moon Walk, his expression dark as he glared toward the other side.
During the instant of fist-blade collision, Garp had sensed not only Sword Qi and Haki from the blade, but also some strange tearing force.
Had his Armament Haki not reached the realm of "Internal Hardening," that single strike would have been enough to destroy his entire arm.
"Damn it... just what kind of Devil Fruit is it?"
Alarm bells rang loudly in Garp's mind.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Raiver Sky spun three times in midair, dispersing the impact force before stabilizing himself in the sky.
Garp's Iron Fist truly lives up to its reputation.
But it wasn't over yet.
Raiver Sky raised his right hand, fingers spread wide, aiming at Garp hovering a hundred meters in the air. He uttered softly:
"Space Imprisonment—"
"All Creation of Attraction!"
An irresistible gravitational force, like an invisible giant hand, swept toward Garp.
On the distant warship, Zephyr's face drastically changed the moment he saw Raiver Sky raise his hand. He screamed hoarsely at Garp:
"Garp! Dodge now!!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Garp felt an overwhelming gravitational force suddenly envelop his entire body. Immediately after, he lost control and flew uncontrollably toward Raiver Sky.
No matter how hard Garp struggled with all his might, it was utterly futile.