A/N: Don't forget to check out my original novel: Can I Magic Please. It's like really good. 😉
ANYWHOOO. ENJOY THE CHAPTER
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The war intensified.
Across the frozen battlefield, the commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates rampaged through the Marine forces like monsters unleashed from their cages.
Diamond Jozu bulldozed through entire platoons.
Vista dueled Vice Admiral Gion in a storm of petals and steel.
Izo dropped Marine officers with pinpoint gunfire.
Everywhere the commanders moved, Marines were forced backward.
Even with overwhelming numbers, the pirates refused to collapse.
Atop the execution platform, Borsalino watched the battlefield with his usual lazy expression.
"Well, well…"
His hands rested inside his pockets as lasers flickered faintly around his body.
"How scary."
The Admiral's voice carried casually across the platform.
"The commanders of Whitebeard's crew are quite troublesome."
Below him, thousands of Marines and pirates continued tearing into one another.
Despite being vastly outnumbered—
The Whitebeard Pirates still looked capable of winning.
Kizaru sighed.
"At this rate…"
Golden particles began drifting from his body.
"…this war could drag on for quite a while."
Akainu glanced toward him briefly.
Kizaru's expression remained unreadable behind his sunglasses.
"There's only one quick way to end this."
Then—
His body exploded into light.
SHIIIIING!
A beam of golden radiance shot skyward, crossing the battlefield instantly.
Pirates shouted in alarm.
"It's Admiral Kizaru!"
"He's moving!"
Above the Moby Dick—
Golden light gathered.
Particles condensed together until the form of Kizaru slowly materialized in midair directly above Edward Newgate.
The pirates froze.
Whitebeard slowly tilted his head upward.
Kizaru lifted one glowing foot.
Blinding light concentrated around it like a miniature sun.
"Yasakani no Magatama."
Hundreds of light particles formed behind him, each one radiating lethal destructive power.
The battlefield brightened instantly.
Whitebeard frowned.
"Tch…Too bright."
Then the heavens rained lasers.
SHOOOOOM!!
Golden beams descended like divine punishment toward the Moby Dick.
Explosions erupted across the ship.
Pirates screamed.
The air itself burned beneath the heat of the attacks.
But then—
Blue flames exploded upward.
A massive phoenix burst into the sky.
Marco intercepted the barrage head-on, azure fire consuming the incoming lasers.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosions vanished within the blue flames.
Marco's phoenix wings spread across the battlefield magnificently.
He shot upward toward Kizaru at incredible speed.
"You can't just attack the King that easily."
Kizaru blinked slowly.
"Ooh…"
A laser exploded from his fingertip.
Marco twisted sideways mid-flight, the beam grazing past his feathers before detonating in the distance.
Kizaru sighed.
"How troublesome."
Marco's clawed kick crashed toward his face.
Kizaru blocked with his forearm.
BOOM!
The shockwave split the clouds overhead.
The Admiral was blasted backward through the air in a streak of golden light.
But before Marco could pursue—
Kizaru vanished.
SHING!
He reappeared behind Marco instantly, light gathering around his leg.
"Speed is weight."
His kick descended like a meteor.
"Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"
BOOM!!!
The strike connected directly with Marco's side, sending the phoenix commander crashing downward into the Moby Dick.
The ship trembled violently.
Pirates shouted in panic.
"Marco!"
But blue flames erupted again immediately.
Marco launched back into the sky almost unharmed, regeneration flames covering his body.
Kizaru tilted his head slightly.
"Hm."
His voice sounded genuinely inconvenienced.
"That didn't even hurt you."
Marco grinned.
Blue fire danced around his shoulders.
"That's kind of my thing."
He accelerated again.
The sky became a battlefield of gold and blue.
Light beams rained downward endlessly.
Marco twisted through them with impossible aerial mobility, blue flames trailing behind him like comet tails.
Kizaru fired lasers from both hands.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
Hundreds of beams flooded the heavens.
Marco folded his wings around himself and burst straight through the barrage.
Explosions engulfed him completely.
Then he emerged from the smoke untouched.
His phoenix flames regenerated every wound instantly.
Marco reached Kizaru.
And slammed both flaming talons downward.
Kizaru crossed his arms.
BOOOOM!!
The impact detonated like a bomb in the sky.
Shockwaves rippled outward across Marineford.
Even soldiers below paused briefly to look upward.
Tenjin stared from the battlefield, eyes wide.
"So that's a commander…"
Above, Kizaru transformed partially into light to lessen the impact—
But Marco spun midair.
His wing ignited brighter.
"Blue Bird!"
A devastating flaming kick smashed into Kizaru's torso.
BOOM!!
The Admiral shot across the sky like a cannonball, crashing through the distant execution platform wall in an explosion of debris.
Marines shouted in shock.
"KIZARU-SAN!"
Marco hovered in the air above the battlefield, blue flames swirling around him majestically.
The pirates erupted into cheers.
"Marco!"
"First Division Commander Marco!"
"Yeahhh!"
Whitebeard laughed deeply from below.
"Gurararara!"
Meanwhile, from the smoking rubble of the shattered wall, Kizaru slowly stood back up.
Dust rolled off his coat.
He adjusted his sunglasses calmly.
"How scary…"
His tone remained lazy as ever.
But this time—
There was the faintest trace of seriousness beneath it.
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The battlefield around them had become ruin incarnate.
Frozen waves towered over Marineford like mountains.
Cannons roared endlessly.
Explosions stained the air with smoke and fire.
Pirates and Marines screamed as they tore into one another across the frozen sea.
And standing amidst that chaos—
Tenjin and Whitey Bay faced each other once more.
Whitey Bay rested her sword over one shoulder, breathing lightly after their relentless exchange.
Tenjin stood several meters away.
Silent.
For the first time since their battle began—
The grin vanished from his face.
Whitey Bay narrowed her eyes.
"…What's with that look?"
Tenjin slowly exhaled.
Then something changed.
The skin along his arms began darkening slightly.
It looked more like bark tightening beneath flesh.
Wood.
Compressed wood.
Faint green steam drifted from his body in thin wisps.
The frozen ground beneath his feet creaked.
Whitey Bay's expression sharpened.
"…What's happening to you?"
Tenjin raised one arm slowly.
The sleeve of his Marine coat shifted enough for Whitey Bay to see beneath the surface of his skin.
Dense layers of wooden fibers twisted beneath it.
Countless strands.
Interwoven tightly together like cables pulled to their absolute limit.
Tenjin spoke calmly.
"Most people think wood is rigid."
The fibers beneath his skin tightened further.
"But that's only because they look at the finished product."
A faint creaking sound echoed from his body.
Like an ancient tree bending during a storm.
"In reality…"
Thin lines spread across his arms, neck, and legs.
The fibers compressed tighter.
And tighter.
"…wood is made of countless cellulose fibers."
The ice beneath his feet cracked.
"They're naturally elastic."
Whitey Bay's eyes widened slightly.
Tenjin slowly lowered himself into a stance.
Every muscle in his body seemed to coil inward unnaturally.
"By condensing those fibers throughout my muscles, tendons, and joints…"
Green steam burst harder from his body.
"…every movement stores tension."
The frozen battlefield groaned beneath him.
Then—
CRACK!!
The ice shattered beneath his feet.
"When I release that tension…"
His eyes sharpened.
"…all that force discharges at once."
The air around him warped from sheer pressure.
"In other words…"
BOOM!!
A shockwave exploded outward from his stance.
"My body becomes a living spring."
Whitey Bay instinctively tightened her grip on her sword.
Danger.
Her instincts screamed at her.
Then Tenjin disappeared.
The ice where he had stood exploded.
Whitey Bay's eyes widened.
'Fast.'
'Too fast.'
A blur of green and brown appeared directly in front of her.
Tenjin's hand grabbed her face.
BOOOOOM!!!
He smashed her head into the frozen battlefield with horrifying force.
The impact shattered the ice in a massive web stretching dozens of meters outward.
Whitey Bay's eyes trembled in shock.
The sheer acceleration behind that movement—
'What the hell?!'
Before she could recover, Tenjin launched backward again using the recoil from his own compressed legs.
He landed atop a splintered pillar of wood rising from the battlefield.
Green steam poured from his body continuously now.
"My legs launch me forward."
The wooden fibers beneath his skin tightened again with audible creaks.
"My arms snap faster."
He clenched one fist.
The air around it distorted.
"Even my reactions improve."
The fibers compressed further.
"Because every fiber is preloaded…"
CRACK.
"…and ready to release."
Whitey Bay leapt backward instantly just as Tenjin vanished again.
BOOM!!
He reappeared beside her in an explosion of shattered ice.
His fist grazed her shoulder.
The pressure alone blasted her across the battlefield.
She skidded violently through the frozen sea before barely managing to stabilize herself.
Her breathing had become heavier now.
Tenjin slowly walked forward.
Each step cracked the ground beneath him.
"It's not just speed."
The bark-like patterns spread further across his limbs.
"It's stored kinetic energy."
Creak.
Creak.
The sound coming from his body grew louder now.
Like entire trees twisting beneath immense pressure.
"The tighter I compress the fibers…"
Green steam erupted wildly around him.
"…the faster I become."
Whitey Bay stared at him cautiously now.
This wasn't the reckless boy from before.
This felt different.
Sharper.
More dangerous.
Tenjin lowered his stance once more.
The wooden fibers throughout his body compressed to an almost terrifying degree.
The air screamed around him.
A violent burst of wind exploded outward from his body.
Then he smiled.
"I call this technique…"
BOOOOOM!!
The battlefield detonated beneath his feet.
"Mori Mori Round 2…"
His body blurred violently.
"…Dead Wood."
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