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Jinbei leapt in front of Luffy. "Stay with me, Luffy!"
Akainu's magma roared hotter, forcing Marco's blue flames back inch by inch.
"This fight's far from over!" Marco shouted. "Jinbei, get him out of here!"
Carrying Luffy, Jinbei retreated toward the rear.
"Straw Hat's life is Ace's will made flesh!" Marco's wings burned brighter, the blue fire surging higher.
"We'll protect him in Ace's place. If he dies, it's the Whitebeard Pirates' eternal shame!"
A deafening roar rose from the Whitebeard crew.
Akainu snarled. "I told you already—neither of those brothers will escape me!"
Magma swelled and detonated, forcing Marco back several steps. The admiral lunged at Jinbei. "Straw Hat!!!"
But a gleaming blade slashed across his face, halting him in his tracks. His expression froze.
A massive bisento slammed into the earth. Behind him towered Whitebeard himself, his presence like a storm given form.
Akainu stiffened, fear creeping into his molten features.
He turned, only to meet Whitebeard's shadowed glare.
With a roar, Whitebeard raised his colossal fist, the power of the Quake-Quake Fruit crackling around him.
The world shook. Energy shattered the ground, smashing Akainu into the earth as a hurricane ripped outward.
He didn't even have the courage to resist.
"Father's furious!!!" someone shouted.
"Everyone, get back!"
The battlefield convulsed, dust clouds exploding outward.
Blood streaked down Akainu's face.
Whitebeard leapt high, his leg glowing with destructive energy. He stomped down, the ground caving in beneath the force. Akainu rolled like a ragdoll, barely escaping.
Sweat poured down his temple.
Whitebeard landed, bisento in hand, and charged again.
The massive blade carved down, Akainu tumbling desperately away as another blast of dust exploded skyward.
He steadied himself, channeling every ounce of power. Magma surged over his arm, fists glowing like molten suns.
He hurled them forward in a storm of blazing punches, but Whitebeard didn't dodge—he charged straight through.
One quake-powered fist smashed Akainu, hurling him across the battlefield, crashing him flat on his back.
Whitebeard advanced slowly, step by step, as Akainu writhed, face bloodied, gasping in pain.
He raised his quake-armored fist again—
But Akainu's eyes sharpened. He summoned everything left, magma erupting into a monstrous shape.
"Hellhound!!!"
The molten beast lunged, jaws clamping down on Whitebeard's chest as shockwaves blasted outward.
"Father!!!" Marco cried out in horror.
Terrifying flames erupted across Whitebeard's body, scorching him as pain twisted across his face.
He dropped to one knee, his enormous frame shaking. Akainu, his own face bloodied, glared at him viciously.
"Die!!!"
The hellhound of magma roared as it burned through Whitebeard's body.
In his mind, images of Ace kept flashing again and again. For a moment, his massive figure seemed swallowed by fire—until a sudden steel-like resolve shone in his eyes.
Clenching his enormous fist, Whitebeard thrust his hand straight through the blaze and seized Akainu by the collar. Shock flickered across the admiral's face as his body was lifted off the ground.
Whitebeard rose to his full height, towering, unstoppable, and hurled Akainu into the sky. His fist tightened, and a monstrous, world-shattering power surged through it.
The blow connected. The space before Akainu cracked like a spider's web, layer after layer splintering apart. His body seemed to shatter into fragments as blood poured from his mouth.
The entire battlefield quaked. The Marineford plaza split apart into jagged pieces. Whitebeard's power tore the very land and sky, the fractures refusing to heal, the devastation spreading farther with every thunderous roar from his chest.
Sengoku shielded his face from the hurricane-force winds, staring helplessly as Marineford, already scarred beyond recognition, was reduced to ruin.
"The Navy headquarters is collapsing!"
Akainu, broken and battered, plunged into the cracks of the earth, his scream echoing.
"Damn you, Whitebeard!!"
Countless marines fell into the abyss with him, the destruction like the wrath of a god unleashed upon them.
"Has it stopped…?"
"Where's Pops?!"
Through the dust and chaos, Whitebeard stood across from them, his power alone forcing marines and pirates apart, cutting the battlefield into two worlds.
In the Pirate King's World
"As expected… Whitebeard's power is terrifying. He turned the entire Marine headquarters into rubble." Sengoku slammed his fist on the table, rising in fury.
From the side, Garp's voice rumbled coldly, "Sengoku… I'm in a foul mood. Don't push me."
On the Moby Dick
"Pops fought brilliantly! Finally, someone put that bastard Akainu in his place!" the pirates roared in relief.
But Squard clutched his head, weeping bitterly. "The future me was such an idiot… Ace died because of me. Pops is fighting for his life because of me. It's all my fault!"
Whitebeard looked at the screen, his eyes heavy. "I really have grown old. Time spares no one. To think those little brats could push me this far… and I still couldn't save my foolish son."
In the Naruto World
Nagato watched the screen as Whitebeard's single punch reshaped the land itself, leaving him speechless.
"That Akainu deserved it… but Whitebeard's power is terrifying. We'll keep watching. If men like that ever come to our world, we need to be ready." His low, grave voice hung in the air.
Back on the battlefield, marines gasped.
"The plaza's split in two! The pirates are stranded across from us!"
"Completely cut off from Pops… Pops!!!"
From the other side came the cries of Whitebeard's crew.
"His guts are burnt through, and he's still this strong…" Sengoku muttered in disbelief.
Whitebeard's power surged again, winds swirling violently around him.
"This next part… I'll handle myself."
"Bring it on!"
The marines charged, only to be blasted back by waves of crushing force.
Marco's tears streaked his face. "Everyone, back to the ship!"
Under his orders, the pirates began retreating.
Meanwhile, Whitebeard swung his massive bisento with a strength that tore through crowds of marines, holding nothing back.
"Pops," Marco cried, "let me at least walk with you to the end!"
Whitebeard lifted his weapon high, white energy blazing along the blade like a falling star.
The strike split the sky itself.
The heavens were cleaved in two.
"..."
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