Facing this hard iron fist full of anger, although Sakazuki had already mentally prepared himself, he was still shocked. This terrifying momentum was truly overwhelming. He was worthy of being a Marine legend who could defeat Rocks and hunt down ONE PIECE! Truly getting stronger with age!
Feeling an extreme sense of oppression, Sakazuki quickly cleared his mind of distracting thoughts. He then concentrated all his strength into his arms. I saw that the muscles of his right arm suddenly thickened, as thick as an adult's thigh. Jet-black light covered the entire arm.
"Big Fire Super!"
At the critical moment, Sakazuki used his magma fist to strike forward, and his iron fist collided with Garp's.
This was the latest move Sakazuki had learned after the desperate battle with Whitebeard. It was an upgrade based on the original Spitfire. This required mobilizing the strength of the muscles throughout the body in a short time and gathering it into the fist. All the power was concentrated on one point to achieve the effect of one point Arrancar.
After several hours of non-stop fighting, Sakazuki had become completely proficient in this technique. Both physical skills and fruit abilities could be used skillfully. Knowing when to use domineering entanglement and when to use rock berries had simply become second nature.
Boom!
When Sakazuki's attack touched Garp's fist, an explosion echoed through the sky. The aftermath of the collision between the two attacks swept dozens of meters around, causing rubble to fly everywhere. The air around them distorted, creating what seemed like a vacuum.
Sakazuki and Garp each took half a step back. The ground beneath their feet shattered like a spider web.
Such strength, such a hard fist! This was Sakazuki's first feeling. Garp was stronger and more powerful than the old, frail, and injured Whitebeard!
Sakazuki shook his sore arms and looked at Garp, who was still trying to attack despite not hitting the target. Sakazuki immediately shouted angrily:
"Lieutenant General Garp! Please don't make a mistake!" He gritted his teeth and emphasized the word "lieutenant general".
Hearing Sakazuki's loud scolding, Garp gradually recovered his senses, though he hadn't fully returned to himself. As soon as his eyes cleared, Ace's weak voice came over.
"Ahem... Old man, protect Luffy. I will have no regrets in this life!"
With a relieved smile on his face, after saying these words, Ace collapsed on the ground and never moved again.
"Ace!"
With tears in his eyes, Garp raised his fist again and attacked Sakazuki.
Seeing that Garp not only refused to listen but insisted on attacking him, Sakazuki showed no mercy and picked up his fist to strike back!
Although Garp was very strong, even stronger than the previous Whitebeard, the ravages of age still affected his physical functions. He wouldn't be a match for Aokiji in another two years, but right now, he was at his peak. Naturally, Sakazuki wasn't afraid.
"If you want to fight, then let's go!"
"Lieutenant General Garp! General Sakazuki!"
Seeing the two about to continue fighting, the surrounding Marines became extremely anxious. Although they didn't understand why Lieutenant General Garp suddenly attacked General Sakazuki, they knew that the war was not over yet, and Marine's own combat power couldn't be consumed by internal fighting. But they were unable to stop it, so they couldn't help but feel extremely worried.
"Garp, stop it!"
At this moment, Sengoku suddenly appeared behind Garp. He immediately transformed into a giant Buddha and pinned Garp to the ground.
"Yes! Sengoku, just hold me down or I will kill Akainu!"
Garp buried his head on the ground, suppressing the sadness and anger in his heart, and cried to Sengoku.
"What an old man who doesn't recognize his relatives and ignores his parents!"
Sakazuki heard Garp say that he wanted to kill him. Even though he knew Garp was speaking out of anger, Sakazuki was still unhappy.
He stared directly at Garp. He wondered if he could take advantage of Sengoku's control and rush over to give him a magma punch.
Sengoku knew from the look in Sakazuki's eyes that he had evil intentions. He quickly urged him to catch up with the retreating pirates of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Sakazuki also knew that with Sengoku here, he wouldn't be able to sneak attack Garp. He didn't think Sengoku's Buddha Palm strike was weak. Although Ace and Straw Hat Luffy were at peace earlier, if it had been anyone else, they would have been killed instantly on the execution platform.
"If it had been anyone else, they would have died directly on the execution platform!"
But now was not the time to focus on that. Sakazuki hurriedly ran in the direction of Whitebeard.
On the other side of the battlefield, Blackbeard's men were fighting with the captains of the Whitebeard Pirates, and Blackbeard himself was nowhere to be seen. Shiryu of the Rain was fighting Phoenix Marco.
As one of Impel Down's two ace combatants, the great swordsman Shiryu of the Rain had a combat power that was infinitely close to that of a general. He was gaining the upper hand in the battle.
Others, such as the King of Evil, Badgers, Lafitte, and Poison Q, each held back a captain, buying time for their captain.
When Sakazuki arrived, he saw Whitebeard's body covered with a thick layer of black cloth, which blocked any light from getting through, hiding what was inside.
After scanning around, Sakazuki didn't see Blackbeard. He must have been hiding under the black cloth, trying to secretly steal Whitebeard's Shock Fruit ability.
Sakazuki didn't have time to waste, so without hesitation, he launched a special move directly toward Whitebeard's body.
"Meteor Volcano·Explosion!"
Countless lava attacked the black cloth, and with a violent explosion, the entire cloth burned instantly.
"Hot, hot, hot! What the hell kind of b*d is that?"
A scream from Blackbeard was heard coming from inside the cloth. Then Blackbeard, who had the figure of a fat pig, rolled out, continuing to roll on the ground to extinguish the burning flames on his body.
The side effects of the Dark Fruit were fully exposed, causing the pain the ability user endured to become several times greater than before. At this moment, Blackbeard was suffering from intense burning pain all over his body.
While rolling on the ground, he couldn't stop shouting: "Fk!! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"**
It made the listeners cry and the listeners sad. No one could equate this embarrassing look with that of a strong person.
But Sakazuki, who had a deep understanding of Blackbeard, dared not underestimate him. Although the Dark Fruit doubled the pain, it had the advantage of avoiding harm!
This guy was a real hero—despicable, sinister, and cunning. In order to achieve his goals, he would stop at nothing.
Just one Dark Fruit had kept him hibernating for twenty years. Even Whitebeard had been deceived by him, showing the depth of his scheming.
After ten seconds, Blackbeard slowly got up from the ground under the contemptuous eyes of everyone. Despite his embarrassing performance, he managed to withstand Sakazuki's move without injury, thanks to the Dark Fruit's ability to instantly transform injuries into pain.
Therefore, during the short period when Blackbeard was rolling, no one rushed to cause further damage. If he had been entangled by the strange energy of the Dark Fruit and suffered an unexpected attack from Blackbeard, the consequences would have been unpredictable.
"Hahahaha, you almost died!" Blackbeard breathed heavily, grinning with a mouth full of missing teeth.
He laughed arrogantly on the outside but was laughing bitterly on the inside. His plan had failed.
He looked around and quickly identified the culprit who had ruined his plan.
"Damn that guy!" Blackbeard cursed quietly in his heart, staring at Sakazuki with vicious and malicious eyes, as if he was about to attack him at any second.
But Sakazuki was not afraid and stared back at Blackbeard calmly. He knew that Blackbeard had failed to obtain the Quake-Quake Fruit, and even if Blackbeard got it, he wouldn't be able to master it as well as Whitebeard had.
Sakazuki thought to himself: Magellan and Sengoku can kill Blackbeard in an instant, so why would I fear him?