As Whitebeard’s words faded, a “whoosh!” echoed, and the Giant Golden Buddha landed beside Garp.
He stared at the twisted, deformed wreckage of the warship before him, his expression slightly stiffening.
After a moment, his furrowed brows gradually relaxed.
No matter what, the remaining Heavenly Tribute had been preserved—though the method of preservation was somewhat humiliating.
“Sengoku,” Garp turned around, facing the still-churning sea.
“Let’s switch.
Newgate is yours.
I’ll deal with that bastard Ron.”
Sengoku’s gaze fell upon Ron, and then his expression abruptly changed.
Garp keenly sensed Sengoku’s unease and instinctively followed his gaze toward the sea.
At that moment, the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon opened its mouth.
A massive, dark-red energy sphere coalesced and expanded within, emitting a low, resonant hum.
Meanwhile, on the several Chakra arms extending from its sides, each palm held a condensed magma fireball.
“Damn it,” Sengoku gritted his teeth, his voice laced with suppressed fury.
“We’ve unwittingly…
fallen into a trap.
That bastard Ron has seized our weakness.”
To be precise, he had seized Sengoku’s weakness.
Only Sengoku placed such heavy importance on the mission of escorting the Heavenly Tribute.
If this batch of Heavenly Tribute were lost under his watch, the consequences—the World Government’s reprimands, the instability of his position, the ruin of his future prospects—were all outcomes Sengoku could foresee but was unwilling to accept.
And Garp?
If it was lost, so be it.
Let them reprimand as they pleased.
Even if he were demoted to an ordinary marine, it wouldn’t stir a ripple in his heart.
Thus, the problem lay here.
If Sengoku dodged, the remaining Heavenly Tribute would undoubtedly be reduced to dust.
If he didn’t dodge, he would have to endure the full brunt of Ron’s attacks.
This was an open scheme.
A straightforward, utterly transparent scheme devoid of any deceit.
He, Sengoku, had to make a choice.
“That bastard,” Sengoku hissed through clenched teeth.
“Sengoku…” Garp glanced at Sengoku’s rigid profile, hesitating to speak.
After a moment, he suddenly laughed with a sense of relief.
“You always say I act recklessly, but aren’t you the same?”
“It’s coming!” Sengoku suddenly shouted.
“Boom~~”
In an instant, the long-condensed Tailed Beast Bomb and the magma fireballs shot forth simultaneously.
The sea surface was torn apart.
An immense chasm stretched from beneath the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon’s feet all the way to the beach.
The seawater was forced aside, churning violently and revealing the sand and reefs below.
White walls of spray rose high, like two giant doors being split open.
“Hah!!”
Sengoku thrust his palms forward.
From the palms of the golden giant Buddha, shockwaves emitted sharp, explosive shrieks.
Then, with incredible speed, they collided with the Tailed Beast Bomb and the magma fireballs.
“Boom!”
A deafening explosion reverberated through the surroundings.
The terrifying aftershocks spread outward in all directions like a tsunami.
At the center of the explosion, flames and smoke intertwined into a massive sphere, devouring all light.
“Garp!” Sengoku’s voice pierced through the roaring blast.
That shockwave palm strike hadn’t completely neutralized Ron’s attack; it merely slowed the Tailed Beast Bomb and destroyed part of the accompanying magma fireballs.
The dark red energy sphere continued its slow advance, radiating a heart-palpitating pressure.
“Leave it to me!”
Garp responded, leaping into the air amidst the lingering glow of the explosion.
Haki instantly enveloped his fists as he swung them forward.
“Meteor Fist!”
“Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!!”
In mid-air, Garp’s fists moved so fast they became nothing but afterimages.
Each punch unleashed a terrifying shockwave, pouring down upon the Tailed Beast Bomb like a meteor shower.
The moment the shockwaves collided with the Tailed Beast Bomb, blinding white light and deafening roars erupted.
“BOOM”
“BOOM”
Impact after impact exploded, their residual waves spreading outward like ripples.
All the magma fireballs were obliterated.
Yet the Tailed Beast Bomb still pressed forward.
Sengoku didn’t wait idly.
The golden giant Buddha expanded once more, its form towering as it thrust both palms forward, directly blocking the Tailed Beast Bomb head-on.
“THUD!!”
The giant Buddha’s palms pressed against the dark red energy sphere.
Under the impact of the Tailed Beast Bomb, its massive body was pushed back step by step, plowing two deep trenches into the ground.
“ARGH!!”
Sengoku’s roar echoed all around as his fingers dug deep into the energy mass.
Haki enveloped the energy sphere at an astonishing speed.
Then, with a sudden burst of strength, he twisted the Tailed Beast Bomb’s trajectory sideways.
“SWOOSH”
Once its course was altered, the Tailed Beast Bomb could no longer hold back its momentum, hurtling toward the mountain range on the other side of the island.
A moment later.
“BOOM!!”
An explosion erupted violently, shaking the entire island.
In the distance, a massive mushroom cloud soared into the sky.
Shockwaves swept outward in all directions, carrying rubble and dust, blanketing the entire island in a thick layer of sand.
Sengoku panted heavily, his face betraying no expression.
Garp, imitating Sengoku’s usual tone, scolded, “Hey, you’re being too reckless, Sengoku.
If that thing had exploded near you, you definitely wouldn’t have been able to handle it.”
“You idiot…
the battle isn’t over yet!” Sengoku wanted to retort, but now was clearly not the time.
Just then, a light, drifting voice carried over from the sea.
“What are you two muttering about?
I’ve already prepared my second round.
What about you?”
Sengoku swept his sleeve, stirring up a fierce gale that violently dispersed the lingering smoke and dust around them.
On the sea, the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon opened its mouth, a Tailed Beast Bomb larger than the previous one taking shape.
The good news was that this time, its Chakra arms weren’t forming magma fireballs.
The bad news was that what gathered in those palms were all Tailed Beast Bombs.