At sea, all ships are effectively obsolete in the face of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
A massive fleet of warships?
They are nothing more than floating planks. Such is the power of the Gura Gura no Mi, simply because it grants the user command over the ocean itself.
"Aokiji!" Sengoku roared.
"Understood." Aokiji instantly flash-froze the sea. However, this created a secondary crisis: many Marines who had fallen into the water were frozen along with it. If not handled carefully, they would lose their lives on the spot.
"Akainu!"
As Fleet Admiral, Sengoku maintained a perfect grasp of the tactical situation and barked another order.
Akainu, his face grim, used his magma to counteract a portion of the encroaching ice, ensuring the water remained liquid around the remaining warships. It was a feat of incredible precision; only a top-tier Admiral of Akainu's caliber could manage such delicate force control under these conditions. To anyone else, it would have been impossible.
Despite Sengoku's rapid response, nearly ten warships had capsized in those brief ten seconds. While Akainu's magma halted the ice from trapping the Navy's vessels, the frost began to race toward the Moby Dick from the other side.
Naturally, Sengoku had anticipated this.
But while the Navy had Akainu, the Whitebeard Pirates had Ace and Sabo—two Flame-Flame Fruit users. Aokiji's ice stood no chance; before it could even touch the hull of the Moby Dick, it was incinerated by a wall of fire.
"OHHH!!" The morale of the Whitebeard Pirates reached a new zenith.
It was understandable. Even for these seasoned pirates, this was a sight they had never witnessed: being surrounded by dozens of warships, including three Admirals, five Warlords, and a swarm of Vice Admirals, yet holding their ground. Not only was the Navy failing to suppress them, but they were being beaten into a pathetic state. Any pirate seeing this would feel an uncontrollable surge of excitement.
"Gurararara... Sengoku, we are leaving." Whitebeard gave a grand sweep of his arm and bellowed, "My sons! Set sail!"
"YEAH!"
The Moby Dick began to turn, carving a path away from the ruins.
"WHITEBEARD!" A voice tore through the heavens.
A crimson silhouette came hurtling across the ice. Though Aokiji's Ice Age had been halted by both sides, it had still formed a solid bridge of ice in the gap between the Navy fleet and the Moby Dick.
Previously, Akainu had held back, wary of overextending his power while trying to stabilize the ships. Ace and Sabo had likewise only focused on stopping the encroaching frost. This resulted in a vast expanse of ice separating the two forces—providing Akainu with a perfect path.
Moving with the speed of a lightning bolt, Akainu reached the edge of the ice in an instant. This was the closest point to the Moby Dick.
"Admiral Sakazuki!" the Marines screamed as they watched him charge forward alone. Some cheered him on; others watched with bated breath. They had seen Whitebeard's power; Akainu had already taken a brutal beating, and now he was going in solo...
"Great Eruption!"
Akainu's target wasn't Whitebeard this time. It was the ship.
"Not good! He's trying to sink the Moby Dick!" the pirates cried in terror.
At a distance of only a few dozen meters, the ship couldn't possibly dodge!
Vroom! Marco, who had been occupied with Kizaru, caught the movement and dove toward the harbor. If this strike landed, the Moby Dick was finished!
Whitebeard looked at Akainu, who seemed determined to trade his life for the ship, and narrowed his eyes. "Magma brat... are you setting off fireworks for our departure?"
"Whitebeard... these are the fireworks for your funeral!" Akainu roared, driving a massive molten fist toward the hull of the flagship. "Sink to the bottom of the sea! Whitebeard Pirates!"
Just as the crew thought the blow was unavoidable, Marco interceded, positioning himself directly in the path of the magma.
HUMMM—! The blue flames were shoved backward by the raw kinetic force of Akainu's punch. Marco's wings flapped violently. Ignoring the lethal, searing heat of the magma, the Phoenix used his physical body to stall Akainu's advance in a desperate struggle of wills.
He would defend their home to the death!
"Commander Marco!" "Support him! Fire!"
Countless cannons swiveled and locked onto Akainu. At the command, a volley of shells shrieked toward the Admiral.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
It was useless. The explosions did nothing to deter the magma-man.
"Out of the way!" Vista gripped his twin blades and prepared to leap from the deck.
"Wait..." Whitebeard stopped him.
"Pops!" The crew turned to him in shock. Someone had to go down there and stop Akainu, or the consequences would be catastrophic. The longer they delayed, the worse their situation became; the Navy was already rapidly rescuing their fallen soldiers.
Whitebeard didn't offer a verbal explanation. He simply swung Murakumogiri.
KABOOM! A massive shockwave slammed into Akainu, blasting him away and giving Marco a moment to breathe.
The crew felt a brief sense of relief, but their nerves frayed again a second later. Akainu, having barely steadied himself, was already charging back.
"Again!?" The pirates were seething with rage. The Commanders were ready to leap into the fray; a fight was a fight, and the Whitebeard Pirates feared no one.
"Let me handle this."
A calm voice drifted from the rear of the group.
Kenshin walked toward the edge of the deck. He ignored the stares of the crew, his focus entirely on the Navy's movements. By now, the massive fleet was closing in, and the remaining bridge of ice had been shattered into fragments. It no longer impeded the warships, but the floating chunks were still enough to support Akainu's path.
Akainu's face was a mask of cold stone, radiating an aura of absolute slaughter.
"He's with Ace's brother," the crew noted. Kenshin was no stranger to them; his prowess had been proven throughout the battle, and he was a companion of Drake and Sabo.
"Leave it to Kenshin," Sabo said with a smile. He knew exactly what Kenshin was about to do.
Ace, seeing Sabo's confidence, smiled as well. He addressed the crew, "Let our friend handle this. I believe he can settle it."
At Ace's word, the crew subsided, their eyes fixed on Kenshin.
Sizzle... Kenshin drew his long blade, his body becoming a conduit for crackling electricity. He lunged forward, leaping into the sky. Lightning erupted from his form, expanding outward in a blinding flash.
"Heavenly Thunder... DESCEND!"
This was a technique he had developed recently, but the stamina cost had kept him from using it until now. This was the perfect moment.
At sea, the power of lightning is amplified by the range and conductivity of the water. This was an area-of-effect attack of the highest order—the strongest move Kenshin could currently muster.
Countless bolts of lightning shrieked down from the heavens, targeting the Marine fleet. The largest, most concentrated pillar of white light thundered directly onto Akainu.
KABOOM!!
The sea became a dazzling world of electricity. Countless Marines were swallowed by the white light; their silhouettes vanished, replaced by a chorus of agonized screams that echoed across the bay.
"AAARGH...!"