Sengoku replayed what had just happened in his mind, then suddenly widened his eyes.
"His Armament Haki… passed through the fist and entered my body. Don't tell me that was a Haki technique he developed himself?!"
"Ares… is he really a combat genius?!"
"To think even Armament Haki can be twisted into something this bizarre in his hands…"
Shock rippled through him.
Sengoku was thoroughly proficient with Armament. Hardening, coating, emission he had mastered them all.
But he had never seen Armament used like that.
With "Blood-Red Armament" as precedent, Sengoku's heart sank into disbelief. The odds were high that Ares had created yet another new variant of Armament Haki.
On the Navy's briefing, they had mentioned it Ares possessed a terrifying talent for learning. He could copy another person's fighting style and techniques in an incredibly short time.
A monstrous prodigy.
A monster that grew at a frightening speed in the middle of battle.
Sengoku had even heard it directly from his comrades, Zephyr and Garp. When the two of them spoke about Ares's learning talent, it was with unprecedented headache and helplessness.
They would rather fight Whitebeard or the Golden Lion than fight that monster Ares.
Because the longer you fought him, the more it felt like you were fighting yourself.
It was suffocating.
Sengoku getting punched away by Ares caused an uproar across the Marine ranks.
Garp, watching from the side, practically had his eyes pop out of his head.
"That bastard Sengoku… even if he's having a bad day, he shouldn't be getting blown away by one punch!"
"Something like that… even I can't do it. Ares shouldn't be this strong!"
It hadn't even been that long since his last clash with Ares. So why did it suddenly feel like Ares had become a completely different person?
Brutally strong to an absurd degree.
Dragon stared, dumbstruck. He rubbed his eyes hard, then looked again, confirming it wasn't an illusion. His lips moved as he muttered blankly.
"How… how is that possible…"
"Mr. Sengoku is one of the Navy's strongest… How could he…"
It was unbelievable.
It looked like Ares held an overwhelming advantage.
And Sengoku was one of the Navy's top pillars.
It felt unreal.
Rear Admiral Gion's beautiful eyes trembled with shock, fear slipping into her expression.
"Is he even human…? How can someone have power like that?"
It was the smallness of someone staring up at a mountain.
Ares's strength alone stole the courage from countless Marines.
He moved once and the entire battlefield shook.
"Sengoku won't go down that easily," Vice Admiral Tsuru said, staying composed. "He was caught off guard because he didn't fully understand Ares's power. Don't let fear take you."
Her voice stayed calm, because she knew fear and hesitation solved nothing.
They only made things worse.
"In this sea, no one is truly invincible. Not even Rocks. Sengoku will adjust."
Then she added, steady and firm, "He's the user of the Mythical Zoan Human-Human Fruit, Model: Daibutsu."
"We should trust him to hold Ares back."
Hearing that, the still-young Dragon and Gion steadied themselves. The shock from that scene had hit them hard.
Tsuru's words had barely fallen
When dazzling golden light exploded from the wall.
A solemn, radiant golden Buddha burst out from within the fortress stone.
Gold flowed across his entire body. His size did not lose to Ares's towering frame in the slightest.
He truly looked like a gilded statue brought to life…
Except
This Buddha had an afro.
And wore frog-like glasses.
Nothing like the majestic temple Buddhas of old.
Sengoku's face was grim.
That punch from Ares had shaken him deeply and made one thing clear.
Against Ares, he couldn't hold anything back.
The moment Ares saw that golden Buddha, a strange sense of familiarity surged through him.
Memories flashed through his mind.
"Sengoku… the Fleet Admiral who once crippled the Blackbeard Pirates with a single palm."
Ares's eyes burned hotter. His battle intent surged.
Under the Buddha's light, the cords of muscle on his body shone as if layered with gold leaf, brilliant and blinding.
Like a golden war god.
His fighting spirit boiled.
His blood boiled with it.
Only opponents like Sengoku could truly ignite Ares.
"Buddha Fist!"
Sengoku struck first, lunging in. A golden orb of light shimmered around his massive fist.
"Ryuo Great Ape King Fist!"
BOOM!
Their fists met dead even.
The shockwave of the explosion crushed everything around them like a grinder. The earth split beneath their feet.
"He used a shockwave to block my Ryuo?" Ares reacted instantly.
He felt a strange energy on his fist exactly the same kind of power that had stopped his Dragon Breath earlier.
So this was the special force granted by Human-Human Fruit, Model: Daibutsu.
It was powerful.
So powerful it made even Ares feel astonished.
"This energy is bizarre… Its destructive force and impact are insane. It's nothing like an ordinary punch-wave."
"A new kind of power…"
Ares's greatest weapon wasn't only his absurd body, tough enough to shrug off blades and cannonfire.
It was also his ability to learn.
Learning made people happy.
But in this world, learning made him stronger.
Seeing Sengoku's unique shockwave attacks, the urge to understand and seize this power rose inside Ares.
After the clash, Sengoku shifted his other hand into a palm strike. A transparent golden sphere formed, not even touching Ares's counterpunch before it detonated.
BOOM!
The explosion forced Ares back dozens of meters, his boots carving two deep furrows into the ground.
WHOOOSH!
The golden Buddha vanished in an instant like teleportation.
In a blink, he erased the distance between them and reappeared right in front of Ares, throwing another Buddha Fist.
No breathing room.
Sengoku wanted the pace of the battle locked firmly in his hands.
That punch came in viciously.
Ares twisted his body in a bizarre way like a sheet of paper, like a fallen leaf drifting on the wind and slipped past it.
As he evaded, the muscles in his leg swelled. Terrifying explosive force burst outward as he whipped a heavy kick at Sengoku.
"So skilled with the Six Powers…" Sengoku's eyes narrowed.
"With that huge body, he's using Paper Arts like he's untouchable."
"What a headache…"
But facing Ares's kick, Sengoku instinctively chose to avoid it. The memory of that terrifying punch still lingered.
He raised a hand.
A shockwave burst from his palm and pushed his own body back, dodging the kick cleanly.
It not only made Ares miss it also blasted Ares back several more meters.
Sengoku stared at Ares's bulging, powerful muscles without a scratch.
He couldn't help clicking his tongue.
"Even if that wasn't full power, it's enough to shatter boulders and punch through steel."
"And yet it does nothing to him."
"This bastard is absurdly tough."
"Kong ordered me to hold Ares here. I originally wanted to see if I could take him down…"
"But now…"
"Capturing him will be unimaginably difficult."
Sengoku pounced like a tiger, locking Ares into close combat, doing everything he could to keep Ares pinned.
They traded blow for blow, dominating the entire area.
Inside G-1 Base
Golden Lion Shiki, twin swords in hand, cut through the Marines like he was walking through an empty field.
He bit down on his cigar, wearing a look of arrogant invincibility.
"The Navy's good at one thing having numbers!"
He slaughtered a wave
Then another wave came.
Looking at the endless stream of capes and uniforms, Shiki truly couldn't take it.
There were too many.
It felt like they could never be killed off.
"Then let me deal with you."
A familiar voice rang out.
Garp leapt down from the high wall, his fist the size of a sandbag, Armament Haki roaring around it as it slammed toward Shiki.
"Garp?!"
"You're at G-1 too?!"
Shiki's expression sank. His teeth clenched hard around the cigar.
He crossed his two swords
CLANG!
Garp's gaze collided with Shiki's, sparks almost seeming to crackle in the air.
"Why the hell can't I be here?" Garp snarled.
"You, bastard get ready to taste my fists!"
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