Chapter 136: Shocking Conqueror's Haki! Marco Shocked
Hearing Whitebeard's words.
Lotte didn't say anything more. He simply gripped his dual blades tightly and charged forward without hesitation once again.
His figure moved like an arrow loosed from a bow,
Carrying an extremely terrifying aura as he swung his dual blades once more.
Sword energy surged forward like massive ocean waves, forcing Whitebeard to narrow his eyes. He gripped Murakumogiri without hesitation and met the attack head-on.
"Clang!"
The sound of metal clashing echoed through the sky.
The raging airflow that exploded outward made Toki and the Whitebeard Pirates instinctively raise their hands to shield their faces.
The two figures clashed for several seconds.
Though neither seemed to have gained the upper hand, it was clear the current Whitebeard Newgate held the slight advantage. He blocked the incoming slash with just one hand on Murakumogiri.
Lotte—hidden behind his mask—
Simply used his Three Tomoe Sharingan to silently observe the opponent's movements.
Through this exchange with Whitebeard, Lotte could now confirm that the current Newgate had fully entered his peak period.
If the current Whitebeard
Had been at Marineford in the future, even in defeat, it would never have been so easily achieved.
While Lotte was deep in thought.
"Ha!!!"
Whitebeard's arm suddenly exerted force. The bulging veins on his arm made Lotte's footing sink instantly into the ground.
Immediately after,
His other hand clenched into a fist. Tremor-Tremor Fruit power gathered in it, shattering the air as it blasted straight toward Lotte.
There was clearly no way to dodge!
"Gurararara! Looks like this ends here for you!"
Whitebeard was extremely confident in this move. He had already roughly gauged the masked man's strength.
Though it was indeed impressive, there was still a significant gap between them.
Just as he grinned widely.
With a sudden "bang," the masked figure instantly vanished from his spot.
In his place was an ordinary-looking piece of wood. The moment the fist struck it, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit power tore it to shreds!
Meanwhile, the masked man
Was now calmly sitting on a rock not far away, glancing at the stunned Whitebeard.
"Looks like you haven't wasted these ten years, Whitebeard. Your strength now isn't far off from the old Rocks."
"No need to say my name—I'm being targeted right now."
At this moment,
Whitebeard Newgate's body froze in place.
His pupils suddenly contracted. That familiar move instantly brought back memories.
Back during the assessment years ago, that boy
Had used this exact signature technique—one that still remained vivid in his mind even now.
But what puzzled him was,
Why had the other's strength regressed instead of progressed after these ten years?
Even ten years ago,
He had been hailed as the pirate genius most likely to succeed Rocks.
Though there had been no news of him since their parting at God Valley, the World Government's bounty posters had kept Whitebeard at ease.
In his view,
The top spot on those bounties rightfully belonged to Lotte. Yet now, upon meeting again, the other's strength had declined considerably—even weaker than during the God Valley War ten years ago.
What exactly had happened?
Though filled with doubts, Whitebeard still raised his head and smiled at Lotte, setting Murakumogiri aside.
"Gurararara! This is our first meeting in ten years!"
"Your current strength is quite unexpected. Though I don't know what happened, on these seas, very few could threaten you."
Everyone knew that ten years ago,
Lotte's strength had already allowed him to face two Marine Admirals alone!
He had even severed one of their arms.
Logically, unless all three Admirals came at once, Whitebeard Newgate couldn't imagine what kind of figure could reduce Lotte to this state.
Seeing the battle suddenly calm.
The Whitebeard Pirates members all showed looks of astonishment.
"That masked guy seems to be an old acquaintance of Pops. He somehow dodged Pops' attack just now—I don't know how!"
"Could he really be a friend of Pops from ten years ago?"
They exchanged glances, completely puzzled about what to say.
After all, ten years ago Whitebeard hadn't formed his pirate crew yet, so naturally they had no way of knowing the masked man's identity.
Lotte heard this and merely raised an eyebrow.
Sitting on the rock, he narrowed his eyes slightly at Whitebeard Newgate.
"This isn't the place to talk. Besides, I plan to handle this matter myself. Whitebeard, just focus on developing your pirate crew."
"To be honest, I don't want to drag you into this mess."
Lotte had no intention of making Whitebeard an ally.
After all, while the other's strength was indeed among the absolute top on the seas.
Whitebeard's ambition was only to find his family. Once involved in his fight against Imu, that would become something else entirely.
Moreover, facing Imu's time-reversal ability.
With the intelligence he currently possessed, pushing through head-on was definitely impossible.
Hearing these words,
Whitebeard frowned and was about to say something.
Suddenly, in his Observation Haki perception, an extremely powerful aura charged straight toward them.
This made him immediately stand up, gripping Murakumogiri tightly.
He raised his head and stared intently into the depths of the forest.
"Something's coming. Looks like today we're getting visitors one after another."
Whitebeard hadn't expected that today—not only would he reunite with Lotte after ten years, but people would keep showing up one after another.
And this new arrival's aura was also extraordinarily strong.
As his words fell,
A figure suddenly leaped out from the forest, drawing the sword at his waist and slashing down toward Whitebeard with crushing force.
The figure's face bore an extremely wild grin.
"Come take me out to sea!!"
Kozuki Oden shouted loudly as his dual blades swung down. Both Enma and Ame no Habakiri were Great Grade swords—only a step below Supreme Grade.
Among the 21 Great Grade swords!
Fierce Conqueror's Haki gathered on the blades, carrying a roaring tiger-like aura as it charged straight toward Whitebeard.
Whitebeard Newgate raised an eyebrow.
Just as he was about to swing Murakumogiri to meet the attack, he heard the familiar voice from Lotte.
"Whitebeard, leave this guy to me."
"My hands are getting a bit itchy right now."
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