The battlefield had reached a fever pitch. With the first clash between the high-ranking officers and the Marine top brass, the most intense phase of the conflict began.
Ulti and Page One did not hesitate for a second. After unleashing their combined Hakai, the siblings lunged forward. They streaked through the air with incredible speed, closing the distance to Admiral Kizaru in the sky.
"Boom!"
In an instant, they were upon him. Moving in perfect sync, the siblings swung their maces with bone-crushing force. Kizaru didn't even bother to use his Logia elementalization. He simply raised a single arm to parry the blow, his eyes narrowing slightly as he assessed the pair.
"Boom!!!"
The impact sent a shockwave through the air. Ulti and Page One poured every ounce of their strength into the strike, desperate to overpower the Admiral, but Kizaru's feet didn't move an inch. A lazy smile played on his lips.
"How terrifying~" he drawled in his signature casual tone.
"Damn you!!!" Ulti screamed, her temper flaring. That dismissive attitude was more than she could stand.
"Thunder Bagua!!!"
She swung with everything she had. Kizaru effortlessly kicked Page One aside and transformed into a flash of golden light, vanishing from his spot just as Ulti's mace whistled through the air where he had been standing. Ulti didn't overextend, however; she immediately pivoted, channeling the momentum of her missed strike into a new technique.
"Kongo Bō!"
It was a move she had learned from Kaido, a devastating mace strike delivered with the speed of a slash. Guided by her Observation Haki, she swung toward a seemingly empty patch of sky. At the same time, Page One—having already stabilized himself from Kizaru's kick—attacked the same point from the opposite direction.
"Boom!!!"
The siblings' coordinated assault arrived back-to-back, once again sandwiching Kizaru the moment he reappeared. This time, the Admiral's gaze grew a bit more solemn.
"How terrifying... such sharp Observation Haki," Kizaru remarked. He then shifted his attention to Page One. "And the recovery speed of an Ancient Zoan. Still, if you think that's enough to stop this old man, you're underestimating me."
Golden light began to shimmer violently around him. Dozens of light-clones erupted from his body, filling the sky with identical versions of Kizaru. Simultaneously, they all unleashed a barrage.
"Yasakani no Magatama!!!"
Page One stepped in front of his sister. "Leave the clones to me, Sis!"
"Got it, Little Pei!"
"Thunder Dragon Twister!!!"
Page One spun his mace, his Armament Haki flaring like a dark flame. He rotated his entire body at high speed, creating a purple, tornado-like vortex of mace strikes. The technique intercepted the golden light pellets and smashed through the light-clones, dispersing them into sparks. Together again, the siblings resumed their relentless encirclement of Kizaru.
The battle in the sky appeared, for the moment, to be a stalemate.
"Is this for real? Admiral Kizaru is actually being held back by those two kids?"
The Marines below were in shock. They couldn't wrap their heads around the power of the Beasts Pirates. These two were among the youngest officers in the crew—Page One was only eighteen, and Ulti was twenty.
In truth, if Kizaru were fighting with the intent to kill, even the superior recovery of Ancient Zoans wouldn't save them for long. However, the Admiral was playing a different game. He knew the Marines had no intention of escalating into a full-scale war with Kaido. Sakazuki's orders made that clear.
Furthermore, the presence of two Yonko—Kaido and Charlotte Linlin—looming overhead was a constant threat. Kizaru's best strategy was to stall, preventing the Emperors from entering the fray. If he finished the siblings too quickly, the war would spiral out of control. Just as he had done during the Marineford War, Kizaru was acting as a stabilizer, managing the flow of the battle to prevent a total catastrophe. He knew exactly how dangerous the situation could become if the "Strongest Creatures" were truly provoked.
On the deck of a Marine warship below, Fleet Admiral Akainu watched the exchange. The impulsive heat of his youth had been tempered by the weight of his office. As Fleet Admiral, he was finally beginning to understand the burden Sengoku once carried.
Despite seeing Kizaru held at bay and his soldiers struggling, Sakazuki remained composed. He issued a calm command: "All warships, begin a tactical retreat. Aramaki, go and put those monsters down!"
"Finally! I thought you'd never ask!"
Aramaki, unable to contain his excitement, activated his Devil Fruit. A massive tree-giant erupted from the deck of the warship, let out a roar, and leaped into the air. He descended like a falling forest, landing squarely in front of Oars. With a single, earth-shaking punch, he knocked the warship-sized giant to the ground.
Countless vines, each several meters thick, surged from the earth and the sea, weaving together to ensnare the Giant God Soldiers. Within seconds, Oars, Wapol, Moria, and Orochi were bound tightly, their movements completely halted. Aramaki was living proof of why he was an Admiral candidate.
However, just as the vines tightened, a blur of dense slashes rained down, severing the wooden restraints in a flurry of woodchips and explosions.
"Dammit! Who did that?" Aramaki barked, looking up.
Two familiar figures stood atop Oars's massive shoulder, looking down at him.
"Hey, hey, Admiral," one of them sneered. "Who gave you permission to play with my weapons?"
"I never thought the Marines would sink so low," the other added, "where just anyone can put on an Admiral's coat."
Aramaki narrowed his eyes. "Tobi Roppo... Sasaki and Who's-Who. You fools really think you can take me? I'm not going to hold back."
Who's-Who and Sasaki shifted into their strongest Human-Beast forms, drawing their blades.
"We won't know until we try, will we?"
"Don't worry," Sasaki laughed. "We won't be holding back either. I've been wanting to see what an Admiral's head looks like on a platter."
"Boom!!!"
The clash began instantly, pitting the two high-ranking officers against the forest-power of the Admiral.
"Soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals, is it?"
Tsuru, the Great Staff Officer, watched the battlefield with a keen eye. She saw right through the rhythm of the combat.
Sengoku nodded beside her. "It seems his intentions match ours. Kaido doesn't want a total war right now either."
"Indeed," Tsuru agreed. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have made that two-year pact with Red Hair. Now, it's your move, Sakazuki. That chair isn't as comfortable as it looks, is it?"
Sakazuki took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on the two Yonko hovering menacingly in the sky. He had made his decision.
"It's enough," he muttered. "The Marines have bought them enough time. If they still can't succeed, then their incompetence is their own problem."
He turned to the veterans beside him. "Inspector General Sengoku, Vice Admiral Garp, Chief of Staff Tsuru—let's move. We cover the retreat of all forces."
"Understood," Garp grinned, cracking his knuckles. "Leave it to us!"
As the last legendary figures of the old era, the three veterans prepared to fight side-by-side once more.
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