"Gomu Gomu no... Bazooka!!!"
His elongated, stretching rubber arms were exactly like twin cannonballs fired from a heavy barrel, violently blowing away a massive swarm of Marines!
Having sprinted most of the way, Luffy suddenly braked hard and turned back toward the chaotic path he had just come from!
His heavily injured body was barely holding together, relying completely on Emporio Ivankov's Tension Hormones.
Luffy had only one driving conviction: to save Ace.
Now that the offense and defense had officially swapped, he had to immediately rush back to Ace's side to protect him!
"Out of the way! Out of the way!"
... "Do not panic! All units, pursue!"
Regaining his former, absolute majesty, Fleet Admiral Sengoku barked orders loudly across the plaza: "Priority targets are Whitebeard and Fire Fist Ace!"
"No matter what happens, these two must absolutely not be allowed to escape Marineford alive!"
One was the leader of the Four Emperors, a legendary, world-shaking pirate who had finally been heavily wounded with great effort!
The other was the cursed bloodline left behind by the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, and someone the World Government had strictly, publicly ordered to be executed!
Newspapers regarding the public execution had already been distributed heavily across the entire world.
If even one of these two key targets walked out alive... the face of the World Government and the majesty of Navy Headquarters would be completely, permanently lost!
As for those strange visitors from beyond the heavens... they were far too weak; there was no need to pay them any mind for now.
"OH!!!"
Ace's successful rescue had caused the main Marine force to become somewhat demoralized and chaotic.
But as soon as Sengoku stood up to loudly direct them, the Marines' morale surged once again!
They immediately gripped their weapons tight and launched a desperate, bloody charge toward the pirate ships!
... 'That fellow Sengoku!'
Watching the massive crowds of Marines surging forward without any fear of death, Whitebeard lamented from the very bottom of his heart how incredibly troublesome his old rival was.
"My sons!!!"
Whitebeard's Haki-infused roar echoed powerfully across the entire battlefield!
"Our goal has been fully achieved; there is no need to stay here any longer!"
"Now, I shall give my final Captain's Order!"
"Take Ace safely with you, and absolutely all of you return to the New World alive!"
Someone always had to stay behind to cover the retreat... Whitebeard stared down the powerful opponents before him, having long since completely prepared himself for a glorious death.
His only goal now was to ensure as many of his beloved sons as possible could survive.
"Final?!"
"Pops! Those words are far too unlucky!"
"We won't listen to that kind of order! Let's go back together, Pops!"
"Pops..."
BOOM!!!
Whitebeard blocked a searing, deadly molten fist with some difficulty!
His aging, sick body, years of surviving on an IV drip, continuous high-intensity combat, and the heavy, bleeding wound from his subordinate's earlier sneak attack...
Due to this brutal series of factors, Whitebeard's raw strength was no longer at its peak.
"Are you finished with your pathetic last words?"
A dark red suit, black leather gloves!
His entire body radiated terrifyingly high, volcanic temperatures, yet his expression was exceptionally cold and absolute!
One of the three Marine Admirals, Sakazuki... code-named Akainu!
"I've personally prepared a luxurious, fiery funeral specifically for you. Don't even think about escaping, Whitebeard!"
...In a quiet corner amidst the collapsed buildings, about a hundred meters from the ruined execution platform.
This group of otherworlders, completely ignored by both fighting factions, felt somewhat exactly like pathetic clowns.
"Damn it!!!"
"The main body is busy fighting the Will of the World outside, and most of our Cursed Energy power has been drained!"
Rising from a dusty pile of rubble, White Zetsu spoke with a deeply irritated face. "Otherwise, I'd have completely slapped that goatee old man to death!"
The current White Zetsu was using Kenjaku's 'Number Zero' Body.
Slapping the Fleet Admiral to death was naturally just him bragging to vent his deep frustration.
However, as the ultimate, perfected creation Kenjaku had spent a thousand years meticulously planning, his full power was indeed enough to rival a top-tier Marine Admiral!
Yuta Okkotsu, Takako Uro, and Kinji Hakari were roughly at the combat level of a strong Marine Vice Admiral.
Yuji Itadori, Nobara Kugisaki, and Panda were likely at the combat level of the weaker pirate 'Supernovas'.
Sengoku's earlier, casual shockwave strike had been barely blocked by everyone working together.
Itadori, who had been standing too close to White Zetsu, still had warm blood trickling down his forehead from the sheer kinetic shockwave of that Buddha fist.
"This world..."
Having barely blocked the ambient aftershocks of Sengoku's punch, both of Atsuya Kusakabe's sword-wielding arms were still trembling violently.
Kusakabe's voice sounded slightly terrified as he asked, "Are all the people here monsters this strong?!"
Glancing roughly over the ruined, bloody plaza, it felt like watching ten thousand Special Grade Cursed Spirits fighting in a free-for-all!
In this One Piece world where strong combatants averaged four meters in height, Itadori's group looked exactly like tiny, weak little potatoes.
Especially the ten-meter-tall Marine Vice Admirals from the Giant Squad and the massive Warlord Fishman (Jinbe) sprinting rapidly across the land.
Not to mention the identical, towering cyborgs (Pacifistas) that could actively spit fire and fire highly explosive lasers directly from their mouths!
And the giant okama (Ivankov) whose gender was completely indistinguishable!
The dazzling, reality-warping Devil Fruit abilities were even more terrifying than the Cursed Techniques of Special Grade Cursed Spirits!
"What are you panicking for?!"
White Zetsu straightened his messy, expensive presidential suit. "At most a few more minutes, and that kid Mirai will be here!"
"When he finally gets here, I'll make this entire bunch of arrogant guys kneel down and sing 'Conquer' for me!"
Hearing that Zenin Mirai would be arriving very soon, Kusakabe and the others instantly breathed a long, deep sigh of relief.
Nowadays, the Jujutsu High group could easily be considered to be working under Mirai.
They needed to earn "game points" in this New World to resurrect Principal Yaga, Kento Nanami, Satoru Gojo, and the others.
Just as Zenin Mirai had been absolutely despair-inducing as an enemy... he was equally, completely reassuring as a backer.
No matter how ridiculously strong the people in this world were, they definitely weren't stronger than Zenin Mirai.
This was an absolute fact that all of Jujutsu High believed with one hundred percent certainty.
"BWA-HAHAHAHA!"
Nearly three meters tall, with short, styled gray-white hair.
A broad, barrel-like chest, exceptionally developed muscles, and a crescent-shaped stitched scar over his left eye.
Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp, who had suddenly appeared silently before them, looked curiously down at White Zetsu. "Was it you, brat, who loudly said you could slap Sengoku to death?"
"And who exactly is this 'kid' you're talking about?"
"Arriving on the battlefield in a few minutes and making us all kneel and sing?"
Glancing at the group who looked completely as if they were facing a great, apocalyptic enemy, Garp burst out laughing happily. "BWA-HAHAHAHA!"
His strong, unwavering sense of duty as a Marine made it impossible for Garp to actively sit idly by while the main pirates escaped.
But as Ace and Luffy's beloved grandfather, Garp also secretly, desperately hoped those two children could retreat safely.
The 'Justice' he carried heavily on his broad shoulders was just too heavy.
The strange group standing before him happened to serve as the absolute perfect excuse for Garp to actively avoid joining the main conflict with his grandsons.
White Zetsu couldn't stand the piercing, mocking laughter for even a single second!
"Old man! Don't be so fucking arrogant!"
"Do you believe me when I say I'll blow up your entire island in a bit?"
Upon hearing this...
Garp laughed even louder, clutching his stomach. "BWA-HAHAHAHA! You must be a comedian, right?"
In his memory, there was no information on these strange people in any active pirate bounty posters.
Coupled with their shocking, completely unexpected entrance falling from the sky, Garp was indeed somewhat deeply curious.
"You damned old geezer!"
Veins bulged violently on White Zetsu's neck as he shouted angrily, "Tiger of West Junior High! Get him!"
"Me?!"
Yuji Itadori pointed at himself in absolute disbelief, his mouth beginning to twitch violently.
Just by looking up at this robust, mountainous old man, he instinctively knew they weren't on the same level.
"Yes, you!"
"Give that arrogant old man a solid punch! I'll be right back here cheering you on!"
While he seemed entirely reckless and irritable, White Zetsu actually had other, calculating intentions.
If someone with actual, murderous killing intent had shown up, White Zetsu would have already actively called everyone to swarm him.
The old man before them clearly had no killing intent, and Mirai was only a few short minutes away from arriving.
Letting Itadori go 1-on-1 would, at absolute most, result in a comedic beating.
After taking a few heavy punches, it would be the perfect time for a satisfying, face-slapping comeback once Mirai arrived and the situation turned.
Panda, who was just about to speak up, was also pulled firmly back by Kusakabe.
Okkotsu and the others also immediately, perfectly understood White Zetsu's stalling strategy.
They simply tensed their bodies in caution, with no intention of stepping forward for a group fight.
Seeing that even Nobara Kugisaki was actively gesturing with her eyes for him to hurry up and go get beaten to buy time...
Yuji Itadori took a deep breath and crouched slightly to build power.
If he really had to fight... he wanted to win!!!
Garp didn't actively stop him, merely sizing up this strange group of runts with genuine interest.
Stomping hard on the stone, Itadori lunged forward in a sprint.
If he punched from the ground, he wouldn't even be able to reach the tall man's face.
Leaping powerfully into mid-air, he swung his fist downward!
With a slight, crackling flicker of black Cursed Energy light, the heavy punch was exactly like a fierce tiger descending the mountain!
"Black Flash!!!"
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