The perspective shifts back to the Marine Admirals. The three of them remain impassive, their iconic seated postures exuding an aura of untouchable authority.
Suddenly, Aokiji stands. He leaps into the air, extending both hands to fire thin streams of ice that pierce deep into the heart of the towering tsunami.
"Ice Age!"
Boundless freezing energy surges through the ice lines, flash-freezing the gargantuan waves in a matter of seconds.
"Admiral Kuzan!" The Marines let out a collective sigh of relief, moved by the sight of the unstoppable tide being halted in its tracks.
"Aokiji, you brat..." Whitebeard mutters, watching his seaquake turn to solid glass.
At the same time, Aokiji manifests four jagged ice spears in mid-air and hurls them toward Whitebeard.
"Partisan!"
"Hmph..." Whitebeard gathers his strength and strikes the air before him.
CRACK! The shockwave shatters the very fabric of space.
In response, Aokiji's ice spears are reduced to glittering dust, and the Admiral himself is shattered into frozen shards, plummeting toward the sea below. The moment he touches the water, a burst of frost erupts, freezing the surrounding ocean surface instantly.
This is the "cheat code" nature of the Hie Hie no Mi—by freezing the sea upon contact, the user avoids the weakness of drowning.
The harbor was silent for a long moment before the Marines erupted in cheers, their confidence restored by Aokiji's display.
"We have the Greatest Military Power on our side! With the three Admirals here, we have nothing to fear from the Whitebeard Pirates!"
"Fire!" With the Marine counterattack, the entire battlefield ignites into a fever pitch.
"Let's go, lads," the Division Commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates say, shouldering their weapons with grim smiles.
"Let's show them what we're made of!" Vista, the Fifth Division Commander, leaps down first, his dual sabers flashing.
"YEAH!" The other Commanders follow suit.
The war has officially begun!
The pirates' offensive is relentless. Within the bay, the battle unfolds on the massive sheet of ice created by Aokiji, pitting the Division Commanders against high-ranking Marine officers. Outside the bay, the allied pirate fleets clash with the Marine blockade. Cannon fire thunders, echoing toward the heavens.
Screams, war cries, and the clashing of steel fill every corner of Marineford. The air is thick with acrid smoke.
In a residential building not far from the frontline:
"This is..." Sabo watches the chaos, a chill running down his spine. Even as a veteran of many battlefields, the sheer scale of this conflict is staggering.
"It's to be expected when the world's top powers gather," Kenshin says quietly. "This is truly an epic war."
"Yeah..." Sabo clenches his fists. On a battlefield this volatile, the outcome is anyone's guess. While the Marines have the advantage in numbers and terrain, Whitebeard possesses the power to destroy the world. It's a toss-up.
But his gaze settles on the execution platform, and his resolve hardens. No matter who the enemy is, Ace, I won't let anything happen to you!
I haven't seen you in all these years; I won't let you die right in front of me.
"That man is..."
At that moment, a figure steps to the front of the Warlords' line. Dressed in a red-patterned shirt and carrying a massive black blade on his back, the man with hawk-like eyes moves forward.
"Dracule Mihawk! The World's Strongest Swordsman!" Sabo recognizes him instantly.
"The world's greatest..." Kenshin grips the hilt of his sword, a flicker of longing in his eyes. As a swordsman, Hawk-Eye Mihawk is the ultimate summit—the goal of every blade-user in the world, and Kenshin is no exception.
Schwing! Mihawk draws the Black Blade, Yoru, and unleashes a massive horizontal slash. His target is clear: the Strongest Man in the World, Whitebeard.
Let me see for myself the true distance between that man and us, Mihawk thinks, his expression grim.
"Hawk-Eye! He's actually attacking!"
"Look out!"
In the path of the emerald slash, the crowds scramble to get away. The world's strongest sword-intent tears through the ice, heading straight for the Moby Dick.
Suddenly, a dark blur flashes forward, intercepting the strike.
BOOM! The slash grinds to a halt against the figure.
"HRAAAH!" With a primal roar, the massive silhouette heaves the slash upward, sending it harmlessly into the sky. The figure's body shimmers with the brilliant radiance of diamond.
"Third Division Commander, 'Diamond' Jozu!"
"Heh..." Jozu grins, his body still glowing.
"Foolishness. To think they'd try a frontal breakthrough," Fleet Admiral Sengoku mutters, stepping forward. "Annihilate the pirates outside the bay! Sink their ships!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! The black muzzles of the heavy cannons open fire, intensifying the bombardment.
Below the platform, Admiral Kizaru stands up lazily. "The Whitebeard Commanders really are a bunch of monsters, aren't they?"
"To keep our casualties to a minimum, I suppose we should just take out the 'King' first."
He dissolves into a shower of golden light, vanishing and reappearing high in the air before Whitebeard.
"Yasakani no Magatama!" Kizaru crosses his arms, raining down countless beams of light.
Whoosh! A streak of blue flame cuts through the air, intercepting the barrage head-on.
"The Admiral's attack was blocked!" The Marines stare in shock as the figure reveals himself.
"First Division Commander, Marco!"
Enveloped in swirling blue flames and sporting a pair of ethereal wings, he looks like a creature of myth. Any damage taken is instantly healed by the flickering azure fire.
With his signature pineapple hairstyle, "Phoenix" Marco hovers before the Admiral. "You can't just go for the King right at the start, you know..."
"The Phoenix, Marco... how scary," Kizaru says in his slow, mocking drawl. "An Ancient Zoan... even rarer than a Logia."
"That actually hurt, you know," Marco quips. His flames surge as he transforms fully into a blue-and-yellow phoenix, delivering a powerful diving kick.
The strike sends Kizaru hurtling back.
BOOM! He hits the ground in a burst of golden light. When the light fades, Kizaru stands unharmed, looking slightly inconvenienced. "It seems they won't let me succeed that easily..."
He looks toward the front of the plaza. "Giant Squad, keep an eye on the sky."
Suddenly, Jozu heaves a massive iceberg out of the frozen sea and hurls it toward the execution platform. "Block this if you can!"
"The Whitebeard Pirates... what a bunch of lunatics," Sabo and Kenshin mutter, watching the overwhelming exchange of power.
"Great Eruption!" Akainu stands, his arms flowing with magma. He unleashes a colossal molten fist that incinerates the iceberg into ash in a single blow.
"Akainu!" Sabo and Kenshin flinch. They still can't wrap their heads around how the "old bastard" survived.
But for now, that doesn't matter. The real battle has begun.