After crushing Kizaru's heart, Ryūjin released his grip without a second glance.
Thud!
Kizaru's body hit the ground.
The sound itself was not loud, yet it echoed across the battlefield like a funeral bell.
The entire area had fallen into absolute silence.
"Borsalino!"
"Admiral Kizaru!"
"Kizaru!"
Several seconds passed before shocked voices finally rang out.
Sengoku, Garp, and Aokiji stared at the fallen Admiral with widened eyes.
Veins bulged across their faces.
Cold sweat covered their foreheads.
Even their bodies trembled slightly.
None of them could accept what they were seeing.
Another Marine Admiral had died at the hands of Demon Eye Ryūjin.
"How... how is this possible?"
One of the surviving Vice Admirals muttered in disbelief.
"Admiral Kizaru was killed just like that?"
The remaining officers looked as if they had seen a nightmare come to life.
Marine Admirals represented the pinnacle of Marine Headquarters' military power.
Yet Ryūjin had killed one after another as though he were swatting insects.
At that moment, many began to wonder if Demon Eye Ryūjin was truly human.
Or if he was some kind of devil walking the seas.
"DEMON EYE RYŪJIN!"
A furious roar exploded across the battlefield.
The murderous intent contained within the voice shook the surrounding air like thunder.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The frozen sea trembled violently.
Sengoku, still transformed into his gigantic golden Buddha form, charged forward in a blind rage.
At the same moment, Aokiji raised a hand.
"Ice Age!"
An enormous ice bird more than a hundred meters tall condensed from freezing air and seawater.
The colossal creature spread its wings and rushed toward Ryūjin, blotting out the sky.
The three strongest fighters remaining within Marine Headquarters launched their assault together.
Whoosh!
Garp moved even faster than the others.
Using pure physical strength, he crossed the distance instantly and appeared before Ryūjin.
Unlike before, his fist was coated in pitch-black Armament Haki.
The power contained within that strike far surpassed his previous attacks.
Unfortunately, overwhelming force meant little when the difference in strength was this large.
Ryūjin casually raised his arm.
Boom!
The two fists collided.
Garp's body shook violently.
Then he was launched backward like a cannonball.
Crash!
His body smashed through the hull of a damaged warship, creating a massive hole before finally coming to a stop.
At the same time, Aokiji's giant ice bird descended from above.
Sengoku's enormous fist came crashing down from another direction.
The Buddha's shockwave and physical strike merged into a devastating attack.
The combined power was enough to destroy cities.
Yet Ryūjin merely looked at them.
"Let me show you what real power looks like."
His eyes shifted.
The Sharingan evolved into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Massive amounts of chakra erupted from his body.
Blue energy surged violently into the sky like an endless ocean.
The surrounding battlefield trembled.
The sea shook.
The air itself seemed to distort.
Then a colossal blue giant emerged.
Susanoo.
The gigantic warrior towered above the battlefield.
Its size was more than twice that of Sengoku's fifty-meter Buddha form.
The previously imposing golden giant suddenly appeared insignificant by comparison.
The fully armored Susanoo wore a fearsome tengu mask.
Gigantic wings extended from its back.
A massive sword rested in each hand.
It looked less like a technique and more like a god descending into the mortal world.
At the center of the tengu mask stood Ryūjin.
Arms crossed.
Expression indifferent.
Looking down at everyone below.
"Nani?!"
Sengoku's pupils contracted violently.
Aokiji's expression changed completely.
The pressure radiating from the Susanoo was overwhelming.
It felt impossible to breathe.
Impossible to resist.
Impossible to overcome.
Swish!
The Susanoo moved.
One sword swung downward.
Boom!
Aokiji's hundred-meter ice bird shattered instantly.
The gigantic construct exploded into countless frozen fragments that scattered across the battlefield.
Then the Susanoo turned.
Its massive leg rose into the air.
Boom!
The kick landed directly on Sengoku's Buddha form.
The gigantic golden Buddha was sent flying like a child's toy.
Dozens of meters.
Hundreds of meters.
The massive body crashed across the frozen ocean.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Enormous fissures spread through the thick ice.
The entire battlefield shook violently.
Sengoku struggled to stand.
His face was filled with disbelief.
"Is this..."
His voice trembled.
"The power of a god?"
Despair appeared in Sengoku's eyes.
Aokiji looked up at the towering Susanoo.
His face had gone pale.
Before today, Ryūjin had already displayed countless terrifying abilities.
Space manipulation.
The Rinnegan.
Wood Release.
Dōjutsu beyond comprehension.
Yet Aokiji suddenly realized something horrifying.
Those abilities had merely been Ryūjin's ordinary techniques.
None of them represented his true strength.
This monster had never fought them seriously.
Not once.
And now they were witnessing what happened when he did.
"Sengoku..."
Garp slowly emerged from the wreckage.
His expression was completely blank.
"What exactly are we fighting?"
Even his legendary fists felt meaningless before such overwhelming power.
The appearance of the Susanoo shattered the confidence of the Marine leadership almost instantly.
The battlefield had become a place of despair.
At that moment, Sengoku felt genuine regret.
If he had known Ryūjin possessed power of this level...
He would have accepted negotiations when Aokiji had been captured.
He never would have allowed events to escalate this far.
Unfortunately, regret changed nothing.
The battle had already begun.
There was no path left except forward.
Whoosh!
Sengoku roared and charged once more.
The giant Buddha rushed directly toward the Susanoo.
But the result remained unchanged.
Boom!
A massive sword struck him.
The golden giant staggered backward again.
Compared to the Susanoo, even Sengoku's mythical transformation looked small.
As for Garp and Aokiji, they seemed even less significant.
Ryūjin quickly lost interest in dealing with them personally.
A single Wood Clone emerged beside him.
That clone immediately intercepted both Garp and Aokiji.
Meanwhile, Ryūjin focused entirely on Sengoku.
And Sengoku's nightmare began.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The giant Buddha was sent flying repeatedly.
One slash from the left.
Another from the right.
Then from above.
Then across the frozen sea.
Sengoku had no chance to recover.
Several times he was launched into the air before even managing to land.
The sight was almost pitiful.
"Damn it!"
Garp's eyes turned bloodshot.
Aokiji's face darkened.
Yet neither could help.
Because they were being completely suppressed by Ryūjin's Wood Clone.
The reality was painfully obvious.
Even working together, they could not defeat a single clone.
All they could do was watch Sengoku endure one-sided punishment.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The battle continued relentlessly.
Shockwaves tore through the battlefield.
Warships shattered into fragments.
The frozen ocean created by Ice Age was almost completely destroyed.
Finally...
Boom!
The Susanoo's sword descended one last time.
The strike sent Sengoku flying hundreds of meters.
This time he did not stand again.
The giant Buddha vanished.
Golden light faded.
Sengoku's battered body reappeared.
Blood covered his clothes.
His breathing was ragged.
His injuries were so severe that he could no longer maintain his transformation.
Even standing had become impossible.
Seeing this, Ryūjin dismissed the Susanoo.
The colossal warrior vanished.
Then Ryūjin extended a hand.
"Banshō Ten'in."
An invisible force seized Sengoku.
The Fleet Admiral was dragged helplessly across the battlefield and pulled directly before him.
Ryūjin grabbed him by the throat.
"Sengoku!"
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
Garp and Aokiji roared furiously.
Their eyes turned red with rage.
Both charged desperately toward Ryūjin.
Neither managed to break through the Wood Clone's defense.
Sengoku stared blankly ahead.
His face was pale.
His body no longer possessed the strength to resist.
"What have I done..."
His voice was hoarse.
Because of his decisions, the Marines had suffered catastrophic losses.
The strongest forces of Marine Headquarters had fallen one after another.
The disaster had been brought upon them by his own choices.
In that moment, Sengoku felt like a sinner.
A sinner against the Marines.
Crack!
Ryūjin tightened his grip.
Sengoku's neck snapped instantly.
The Fleet Admiral's body went limp.
Without another glance, Ryūjin tossed the corpse aside like discarded garbage.
"AHHH!"
"Sengoku!"
"You killed Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
Garp and Aokiji erupted in fury.
Their killing intent surged uncontrollably.
Yet none of it mattered.
Ryūjin's Wood Clone raised one hand.
Wood Release activated.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Countless wooden branches erupted from the battlefield.
The branches intertwined rapidly.
Within moments, a gigantic wooden cage formed around Garp, trapping him completely.
The clone then vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
The next instant, it appeared before Aokiji.
Clap!
Its hands came together.
Shadow Imitation Technique!
The clone's shadow connected directly to Aokiji's.
Aokiji froze.
His body immediately lost control.
Although Ryūjin had previously used this technique against Kizaru at Skypiea, neither Kizaru nor Aokiji had ever figured out how it worked.
The technique was simply too strange.
And shadows were naturally overlooked during combat.
Without understanding the ability's mechanics, avoiding it was nearly impossible.
Swish!
Ryūjin appeared directly before Aokiji.
Looking at the immobilized Admiral, he shook his head.
"Logia users really are troublesome."
His eyes shifted once more.
The Rinnegan appeared.
The Human Path activated.
Then he reached toward Aokiji.
"Wait... what is this?!"
Aokiji's expression changed instantly.
His soul was being dragged out of his body.
Even after transforming into ice, the process continued uninterrupted.
Elementalization could not stop an attack aimed directly at the soul.
Aokiji stared at the sight in horror.
His own spirit was being forcibly extracted.
At that moment, terror overwhelmed him completely.
In his eyes, Ryūjin was no longer a man.
He was the most terrifying devil on the sea.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Heavy impacts suddenly echoed nearby.
Garp had broken through the wooden cage using brute force.
The legendary Marine charged forward immediately.
The moment he emerged, he saw Ryūjin standing before Aokiji.
Although he didn't understand what had happened, instinct told him it was fatal.
"Let Kuzan go!"
Garp roared.
"As you wish."
Ryūjin shrugged.
The Wood Clone disappeared.
He casually stepped aside.
Thud.
Aokiji's body collapsed onto the ice.
Motionless.
Lifeless.
"Kuzan..."
Garp froze.
Then his face twisted with grief and fury.
"Kuzan is dead..."
The reality shattered what remained of his composure.
Akainu.
Kizaru.
Sengoku.
Aokiji.
All dead.
And he had witnessed every single death.
"You bastard!"
With a furious roar, Garp charged once again.
He no longer cared about survival.
Or consequences.
Only vengeance remained.
Whoosh!
He appeared before Ryūjin in an instant.
His fists rained down like a storm.
Yet Ryūjin had already lost interest in fighting him directly.
His hands formed seals.
"Water Release: Water Mirror Technique!"
A mirror made entirely of water appeared before Garp.
The surface rippled.
Then another Garp stepped out.
An exact duplicate.
The clone immediately threw a punch.
Boom!
The original Garp met the attack head-on.
Fists collided.
Shockwaves erupted.
The two Garps began exchanging blows at terrifying speed.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The battlefield echoed with the violent impact of fist against fist as the copy perfectly matched every attack of the original.