"No!!!"
"This is absolutely impossible... absolutely impossible!!!"
"The War of the Best has long been over. Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors, has perished, and the Marines achieved ultimate victory."
...…
At this moment, Sakazuki, shrouded in a black shadow, was slightly bewildered, his eyes flickering with uncertainty. He had merely looked into Tengen's eyes and was pulled into this place.
And he had lived through this familiar scene once before.
The big guy behind him...
There was no need to guess that it was Whitebeard, who was long dead and couldn't die again.
When that thought crossed his mind, Sakazuki turned his head without hesitation.
And, just as expected, Whitebeard, holding muromogimi, stood behind him, looking at him with a smirk on his face. The power of his Quake Devil Fruit in his fist was growing at a furious pace.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha!!!"
"Tengen, is this your ability?"
"Don't you know that in the War of the Best, we, the Marines, were victorious?"
"This is merely a small trick. You really underestimate a Admiral."
"This must be an illusion, right?" Destroy it...
...
Before he could finish speaking, Sakazuki completely ignored Whitebeard in front of him and activated Observation Haki at full strength. After carefully sensing everything, he threw his head back and laughed loudly. His entire body instantly turned to magma, and a wave of terrifying energy erupted outward.
Without a word,
since this is an illusion,
he would begin attacking indiscriminately.
Whether they were marines or pirates, they were all enemies and deserving of death...
Boom!!!
Without warning,
the ground beneath Sakazuki began to transform into bubbling magma, spreading throughout the Marines Headquarters.
Aaa!!!
Mr. Sakazuki, what are you doing?!
No way?
Mr. Sakazuki, I'm a marine, we're on the same side, right? No... no?
Retreat... quickly... Retreat!!!
....
Watching the magma begin to spread,
many Marines soldiers panicked and started to back away at incredible speed.
Stop!
Whoosh!
Accompanied by the sound of the air being sliced through,
the immobile Fleet Admiral of the Marine Watch—Sengoku—instantly appeared before Akainu, shouting:
Sakazuki, what on earth are you planning? This is the Marines Headquarters! Are you trying to start a revolt?
Akainu...
A cold voice sounded nearby.
The hero of the Marine Watch, Garp, flew in, clenching his fist and shouting with a frosty expression:
Stop, don't make us act.
How frightening...
Kizaru appeared next to Garp in the blink of an eye and exaggeratedly remarked:
We are your colleagues, do you want to attack us?
Well, well...
Aokiji sighed as he flew in from afar, speaking incredulously:
"Our enemy is the Whitebeard Pirates, Akainu. What are you planning? Do you want to launch a massive attack?"
"Akainu, you are already surrounded, so surrender!"
The staff officers surrounded him from a distance, making it clear: if Akainu didn't stop, the Marine Watch would have to deal with him before turning to the Whitebeard Pirates.
"Ha-ha-ha!!!"
"Fakes, you're all fakes! I will definitely kill you!!!"
Looking closely at Sengoku, Garp, Kizaru, Aokiji, and the others, Sakazuki wasn't scared at all; he even felt like laughing.
He couldn't have imagined that the War of the Best, which had already ended, would repeat itself.
No, this time it was even more brutal, more direct, and ridiculous!
Sengoku, Garp, Aokiji, Kizaru, and the others stopped standing idle and intended to directly attack him in front of the Whitebeard Pirates and the Seven Warlords of the Sea, which seemed like a public condemnation.
"Well, well..."
Upon seeing the scene,
Sakazuki gave a bitter smile but couldn't hold back a sigh.
The War of the Best...
Was it an eternal pain in his heart?
If the top fighters of the Marines had combined their forces, perhaps the Whitebeard Pirates would have been annihilated immediately. The Blackbeard Pirates and Monkey D Luffy would also have been crushed in one blow, without the need for intervention from the Red-Haired Pirates.
As for the Seven Warlords of the Sea,
those who didn't cooperate would have been destroyed, and no one would have dared to object.
What a pity...
Aside from him, who gave his all, the other high-ranking officers were either inactive, pretending, or holding back their strength.
In the end,
even though they won,
it was merely a bitter victory.
Now, he doesn't know by what means Tengen recreated all this, trying to break him.
How is this possible?
To put it bluntly... whoever it is, if they want him to surrender without a fight,
it's impossible.
If they're all fakes...
then I'll just take them all down!
"Garp, you're the stumbling block on Marine's path to success. Go to hell first!"
"Great Eruption!!!"
Sakazuki's expression became focused, and he sharply swung his magma hand, directing the strike straight at Garp.
"Sakazuki... how dare you!"
"You scoundrel!!" a furious voice rang out.
"Akainu, if you dare to do this, the Navy will no longer tolerate you!"
"Stop, Sakazuki! Do you want us to suppress you together? Have you decided to betray the Navy?"
"You're bold, Sakazuki, but your actions are true treason!"
Silence.
When Akainu attacked, the faces of Garp, Sengoku, Commander Crane, Aokiji, and Kizaru changed sharply. They shouted in anger, and their rage created a terrifying shockwave.
But, alas, Sakazuki ignored their fury.
His blazing magma fist, carrying devastating power, struck swiftly at Garp's body, tearing it to shreds.
"Ha-ha-ha!!" Sakazuki laughed, nearly losing his mind. "Tengen, your illusions can't hold me!"
Having destroyed Garp with a single blow, he immediately attacked Sengoku, Aokiji, and Kizaru.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions echoed across the field.
Sengoku, Aokiji, and Kizaru were swept away by the lava fists and vanished in the illusion.
But this was just the beginning.
It seemed Sakazuki wanted to unleash all his discontent and anger accumulated since the War on the Peak.
He instantly appeared next to Luffy and with one kick knocked off his head. Then, he unleashed devastating magma attacks on the Seven Warlords of the Sea and Whitebeard's pirates.
Finally, while the illusion still lingered, Sakazuki smirked and, waving his magma fists, launched the "Meteor Volcano."
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Hundreds of massive lava fists soared into the sky and then, like a meteor shower, began to rain down, turning Navy Headquarters – Marineford – into a sea of fire and lava.
"Now it's your turn!" Sakazuki turned to Whitebeard, standing amidst the magma. "Tengen, is your real form Whitebeard? It will be enough to attack you, and this illusion will crumble!"
...
Releasing his inner anger and frustration, Sakazuki proudly declared:
"Tengen, I am a Admiral of the Navy. Your illusion is cunning, but it can't hold me."
"Dark Hound!!"
His hand of scorching magma struck Whitebeard's face with lightning speed.
Sakazuki still did not believe that within this illusion, anything was possible. Didn't he manage to destroy half of Whitebeard's face during the War on the Peak?
Now he'll shatter this illusion along with Whitebeard!
"Alright!" Whitebeard, who hadn't moved until this moment, bent and extended his right arm to deliver a counterstrike.
In the next moment, the lava-covered fist and Whitebeard's fist collided.
Boom!!!
With a deafening crash, an immense force descended upon everything around, causing the entire illusion to tremble.