A/N: Don't forget to check out my original novel: Can I Magic Please. It's like really good. 😉
ANYWHOOO. ENJOY THE CHAPTER
---
The frozen battlefield groaned beneath the weight of war.
Cannons roared across the bay. Swords rang against steel. Men screamed, charged, fell, and rose again. All around Marineford, legends collided and ordinary soldiers were swept up in the current of history.
Yet in one corner of the battlefield, the chaos narrowed to a single confrontation.
Tenjin stood on the ice, Marine coat snapping violently in the wind.
A few paces away, Whitey Bay rested her sword casually against one shoulder, her expression cool and composed.
Tenjin rolled his shoulders and frowned.
"Don't call me a little boy."
Whitey Bay raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"I'm seventeen."
For a brief moment, she stared at him.
Then she laughed.
A rich, amused laugh that carried even over the thunder of battle.
"That," she said, lowering her blade into a ready stance, "is exactly what a little boy is."
Her eyes sharpened.
"And little boys don't belong on battlefields like this."
The tip of her sword leveled directly at his chest.
"So I'm going to spank some sense into you."
Tenjin clicked his tongue.
"Try it."
Whitey Bay vanished.
The world blurred.
Tenjin's eyes widened.
'Fast.'
He threw himself sideways as her blade cut through the air where his neck had been a fraction of a second earlier.
SHING!
The sword stroke split the frozen battlefield for dozens of meters, sending shards of ice spraying into the air.
Tenjin landed in a crouch.
No pause.
No hesitation.
Roots exploded from the ice beneath Whitey Bay.
"Mori Mori: Wood Spike!"
Dozens of sharpened wooden spears erupted upward.
Whitey Bay spun gracefully, her sword flashing in silver arcs.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Every spike was sliced apart before it could touch her.
Tenjin barely had time to react before she was in front of him again.
CLANG!
He crossed both forearms, generating hardened wood to block her strike.
The impact sent a shockwave across the battlefield.
The frozen ground cracked beneath his feet.
Tenjin was hurled backward.
He skidded across the ice, boots carving two deep trenches.
Whitey Bay didn't let him breathe.
She pursued immediately, coat billowing behind her like the wings of a hunting bird.
Her sword thrust forward in a blur.
Tenjin twisted.
The blade missed his throat by centimeters.
Another slash.
He ducked.
A third.
He bent backward, the sword whistling just above his nose.
A fourth.
He launched himself away using a burst of wooden vines.
Whitey Bay clicked her tongue.
"Running already?"
Tenjin landed on a massive wooden branch he had grown from the battlefield.
"I'm not running."
The branch split into dozens of whipping tendrils.
"Mori Mori: Wood Whip!"
The tendrils lashed toward her from every direction.
Whitey Bay spun once.
Her blade became a storm of silver.
The tendrils were severed cleanly.
She stepped through the debris without slowing.
Tenjin's eyes narrowed.
'She's too strong.'
Not in raw destructive power.
Not like Ace.
Not like Big Mom.
But her fundamentals were terrifying.
Every movement was efficient.
Every slash carried precision.
And most importantly—
She had Haki.
Tenjin thrust both hands downward.
The frozen sea exploded.
Towering wooden pillars erupted beneath Whitey Bay like a forest born in an instant.
"Wood Wood: Forest Burst!"
The battlefield shook.
Whitey Bay leapt from pillar to pillar, dancing across the wooden structures with impossible agility.
Each time her blade flashed, another massive trunk was split in two.
She descended from above.
Tenjin raised his arm to block.
Her sword changed direction mid-swing.
SHK!
Pain burned across his cheek.
Tenjin jumped backward instinctively.
A thin line of blood trickled down his face.
He touched the cut with two fingers.
And stared at the blood.
For a moment, he looked offended.
Then he scowled.
"I hate Haki."
Whitey Bay smirked.
"Get used to it, little boy."
Tenjin growled and lunged forward, wooden gauntlets forming over his fists.
He threw a right hook.
Whitey Bay slipped past it.
He swung again.
She ducked.
Her blade swept upward.
Tenjin transformed his torso into wood just in time, the slash carving through his body without striking anything vital.
But before he could reform, her boot slammed into his stomach.
BOOM!
Tenjin was launched backward.
He crashed through a group of pirates and Marines alike, sending bodies tumbling across the ice.
Nearby Marines stared in alarm.
"Captain Tenjin!"
"He's being pushed back!"
"Isn't he as strong as a Vice Admiral?!"
Koby, watching from farther behind, clenched his fists anxiously.
"Tenjin-san…"
Helmeppo swallowed.
"She's really strong."
Prince Grus narrowed his eyes.
"She's a New World captain fighting under Whitebeard."
Hibari bit her lip.
"Please be careful…"
High above the battlefield, among the Seven Warlords, Hancock stood utterly distracted.
Her beautiful eyes tracked Tenjin's every movement.
Each near miss sent a jolt through her heart.
Each cut made her breath catch.
When Whitey Bay sliced his cheek, Hancock nearly screamed.
'He's bleeding!'
Her fingers tightened around Salome.
'Should I help him?'
'No!'
'What if he thinks I believe he's weak?'
'What if he becomes offended?'
'What if… what if he starts hating me?'
The mere thought made her face go pale.
'No.'
'I couldn't bear it.'
Beside her, Donquixote Doflamingo chuckled.
"Fufufufu…"
His sunglasses tilted slightly toward her.
"What's wrong, Pirate Empress?"
His grin widened.
"Are you worried about that little Marine?"
Hancock snapped her head toward him, cheeks flushed.
"Do not be ridiculous."
Doflamingo laughed louder.
"Fufufufufu! So you are."
Hancock turned away sharply.
"I care nothing for him."
But her eyes immediately returned to Tenjin.
And her heart pounded even harder.
Back on the battlefield, Tenjin wiped the blood from his cheek and grinned despite himself.
His eyes burned with excitement.
For the first time since the war began—
He had found someone who could genuinely push him.
Whitey Bay rested her sword lightly at her side.
"You're tougher than I expected."
Tenjin rolled his neck.
"You're stronger than I expected."
The two fighters stared at each other across the shattered battlefield.
Wind howled between them.
Broken wood and ice littered the ground.
Then both smiled.
And in the next instant—
They vanished toward one another once more.
---
Elegant.
Precise.
Deadly.
Rose petals drifted through the air.
Steel sang.
And two master swordsmen tested one another with smiles and killing intent.
Vista stood with both blades drawn, his mustache curling with amusement. Roses decorated his attire, and every movement he made carried the effortless grace of a gentleman at a ballroom rather than a pirate in the midst of the greatest war in history.
Across from him, Vice Admiral Gion held her sword in a flawless stance.
Her expression was calm.
Focused.
Unreadable.
Wind stirred her hair as she leveled her blade toward him.
Vista smiled.
"What a pleasure."
Gion said nothing.
Vista's grin widened.
"Such beautiful posture."
Gion vanished.
Soru. (Shave)
The air burst beneath her feet as she accelerated to speeds invisible to ordinary soldiers.
Her blade descended in a silver arc aimed directly for Vista's shoulder.
CLANG!
Vista crossed both swords and intercepted her strike.
Sparks exploded.
The impact cracked the frozen battlefield beneath them.
Vista slid backward a single step.
His eyes gleamed.
"Marvelous."
Gion twisted her wrists and unleashed a flurry of slashes.
One.
Two.
Ten.
Twenty.
A relentless barrage of precise sword strikes drove Vista backward across the ice.
Each collision rang like a bell.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Vista's twin blades moved like an artist's brushes, meeting every attack with perfect timing.
Rose petals spiraled around them as if drawn by the rhythm of their blades.
Vista laughed softly.
"Your sword is as sharp as your beauty."
Gion's eyes narrowed.
"I'm not here to chat."
She disappeared again.
Soru. (Shave)
This time she reappeared above him.
Geppo. (Moon Walk)
The Vice Admiral stood in midair, kicking off the atmosphere itself.
Her blade flashed downward.
Vista pivoted.
Both swords crossed overhead.
The impact blasted a shockwave outward, shredding the surrounding ice into glittering fragments.
Vista looked genuinely delighted.
"Moon Walk and masterful swordsmanship."
He pushed her away and leapt backward.
"You're a remarkable woman."
Gion landed lightly on the ice.
"I'm a Marine."
She launched forward once more.
Their swords met again.
And again.
And again.
The battlefield became a blur of silver flashes.
Vista's twin blades curved in graceful, flowing patterns like petals carried on the wind.
Gion's sword was direct and merciless, each strike delivered with military precision.
Vista feinted left.
His right-hand sword slipped beneath her guard.
Gion bent backward, the blade passing inches from her throat.
At the same instant, she drove her heel into Vista's chest.
Rankyaku. (Tempest Kick)
A compressed slash of air erupted from her kick.
Vista crossed his swords just in time.
BOOM!
He was launched backward, boots carving long trenches across the ice.
When the smoke cleared, he adjusted his hat with a smile.
"Excellent."
Gion was already upon him.
Her sword thrust like lightning.
Vista turned his body sideways.
The point skimmed past his ribs, slicing his coat.
He retaliated instantly.
Both blades swept in opposite directions, one high, one low.
Gion used Haki to harden her foot and blocked the low strike with her foot while intercepting the upper slash with her sword.
The force still sent her skidding backward.
For the first time, a faint smile touched Vista's lips.
"Wonderful control."
Gion's response was immediate.
She kicked off the air and vanished into the sky.
Geppo. (Moon Walk)
Vista looked up.
Her silhouette danced across the heavens.
One step.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
She became a blur weaving through the clouds.
Then she descended.
"Moonfall Slash!"
A crescent of compressed air and sword force crashed downward.
Vista crossed his swords and spun.
"Flower Sword: Blooming Cross!"
A cross-shaped slash erupted upward.
The two attacks collided midair.
BOOOOOOM!
The resulting shockwave blasted Marines and pirates alike off their feet.
Snow and rose petals exploded across the battlefield.
When visibility returned, both combatants stood exactly where they had begun.
Neither had landed a decisive blow.
Neither had yielded even an inch.
Vista chuckled, breathing slightly harder now.
"I must say…"
He twirled one blade elegantly.
"It has been far too long since I've met a swordswoman of your caliber."
Gion held her sword at the ready.
Her voice remained cold.
"You talk too much."
Vista laughed.
"And yet you continue to impress me."
His eyes sharpened.
"This war may be tragic, but meeting you has been delightful."
Gion's grip tightened.
"I'd prefer if you surrendered."
Vista placed one hand over his heart.
"What a tempting offer."
His smile widened.
"But I'm afraid my captain needs me."
Rose petals began to swirl more violently around him.
---
Find early chapters on my patreon
[Patreon.com/tenten100?]