On the ice, Renji casually made a few slashes, dealing with some reckless pirates.
He had already locked onto his next target to eliminate:
Speed Jiru, Commander of the 14th Division of the Whitebeard Pirates, with a bounty of 456 million Berries.
Just as Renji was about to make his move, he suddenly felt a chill run through his body.
This is...
Renji sharply looked up at the sky, only to see large cracks rapidly spreading across the distant sky. Behind them was the burly figure of a man—
Whitebeard!
"All units, attention! Whitebeard is about to make his move!"
On the execution platform, Sengoku shouted into the Den Den Mushi.
Countless Marines' expressions stiffened, and their eyes revealed an uncontrollable fear.
The legendary strongest man was about to make his move.
Who was his target?
As many Marines panicked, a golden light shone on the battlefield, then transformed into a pillar of light that shot directly towards Whitebeard.
Almost simultaneously, a blue figure, moving with equal speed, intercepted this pillar of light.
Bang!
Borsalino kicked Marco's wing, and the latter sneered, "That hurt so much."
Borsalino's mouth slightly opened. "You're lying."
Renji had originally thought Borsalino would help de-escalate, but unfortunately, Marco provided defensive support.
Renji's eyes flashed. The next moment, where Whitebeard had forcefully punched the sky, the firmament, like a layer of tape holding back flowing water, sharply caved inward, forming an elliptical protrusion. Then, cracks spread across it, and the space, under the expansion of this shockwave, suddenly rebounded with terrifying fluctuations capable of destroying the world.
Boom...
The raging vibrational force and airwaves combined, forming a massive, visible shockwave that roared towards Renji like a towering tsunami.
"Renji!" Yamakaji shouted in panic.
In such haste, even if he rushed at full speed now, it would be too late.
Of course, even if Yamakaji arrived, facing such an enraged attack from Whitebeard, his end would likely be extremely tragic.
"Boss!" Miguel's expression was equally grim.
That was Whitebeard's attack!
Sengoku and Garp both gritted their teeth, the latter even clenching his fists.
Was the future of Marine to fall here like this?
Below the execution platform, Sakazuki watched Whitebeard make his move, but he chose not to intercept.
As an Admiral, he naturally had his considerations. Facing the enemy commander's furious attack, one should avoid its edge and wait for him to relax before delivering a fatal blow, not blindly attacking.
Only this way could the chances of winning the war be greatly increased.
For this, Sakazuki was willing to sacrifice a rising Marine star, maximizing benefits at any cost.
Renji... your sacrifice is worth it.
Rumble!
The supremely violent wave of power seemed to press down from the zenith, a suppressive feeling that even dulled the mind's reactions.
Renji stood still. Now he understood why so many strong individuals among the pirates, when facing an enemy's ultimate move, didn't dodge but met it head-on. It was because they couldn't dodge.
Perhaps there were world rules at play but unfortunately, Renji was not included in them.
Such a long distance was not enough to immobilize the current Renji. A faint light flickered in his azure eyes.
Just as he was about to teleport away to avoid it, an icy blue figure blocked his path.
An intensely bone-chilling cold radiated from Kuzan's body. Even without intentionally targeting Renji, that cold was enough to slow down the energy within the latter.
"Ice Age!"
Kuzan's expression was solemn. His hands transformed into ice, and the cold that erupted was even more potent than the Ice Age technique used at the very beginning.
Crack...
The extreme cold ice collided with the overwhelmingly powerful wave. The intense cold actually managed to freeze the vibrating Haki.
But as soon as it froze, it was shattered again by the subsequent vibrations. The two energies clashed in mid-air, but it was clear that Kuzan's ice seemed to be suppressed.
"Oh dear. Renji-kun, you'd better hurry and dodge. I'm going to bail too."
As he spoke, half of Kuzan's face had already begun to elementalize, and the overwhelming energy was about to break through his ice.
Hearing this, Renji no longer hesitated. His figure instantly flickered away, reappearing outside the affected range of that attack... probably.
"Oh dear, you're fast."
Seeing Renji leave, Kuzan's entire body immediately turned into ice.
The next moment, Ice Age, no longer sustained by Kuzan, instantly disintegrated. Whitebeard's greatly diminished, enraged attack then slammed into the battlefield.
Boom!
An astonishing giant wave of energy crashed down, like a cubic wave of water hitting the ground, creating square energy ripples.
In an instant, the ice surface exploded, and a large number of Marine soldiers were swept into it. The violent energy shattered all their internal organs and bones almost instantly.
No one below Vice Admiral survived.
In the sky, Borsalino glanced down, his expression unreadable. "Oh, this isn't good."
Marco, who was confronting him, showed a confident smile. "Who told you to anger pops? He is our King."
Sakazuki watched Whitebeard, who was smiling in the sky, his eyes gradually darkening.
Sengoku breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Kuzan save Renji, but after seeing the widespread attack, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Whitebeard, even after all this time, your ability is still so overbearing."
Garp sighed, "Renji... facing Whitebeard, it's still too early for you."
"It's good that you're alright." Yamakaji gritted his teeth, raising his hand to block the sweeping gale, his eyes filled with deep apprehension.
On the ice, a fellow with a shield in his left hand and a spear in his right held the shield in front of him, and then a gust of wind swept past.
Speed Jiru felt the power and said, "To bring such a fierce gale from this distance, it's hard to imagine what it would be like to be hit head-on. As expected of pops."
He smiled, completely unaware of the black-haired figure behind him.
A dark red, bloody glint flashed. Kurai pierced through Speed Jiru's body. In his horrified eyes, Cursed Energy surged from the blade of Kurai, and a hellish pain instantly spread throughout his body.
Speed Jiru, who hadn't even had time to scream, had his expression shift from horror to despair.
Blood-red Cursed Energy condensed into a spiraling airflow on the blade.
Renji's voice sounded behind him, like a demon whispering in his ear.
Cursed Technique Reversal: Red!
Swish!
Speed Jiru's body trembled violently. A red stream of light burst from Kurai, shooting towards Whitebeard.
Whitebeard, who was descending from the sky, turned his head, only to see a rapidly moving red stream of light shooting out from within the thick smoke.
The red light rapidly magnified in his eyes. In a moment of urgency, his peripheral vision caught sight of a pair of azure eyes staring intently at him from behind the thick smoke from which the red light had been emitted.
The next moment, the red light pierced Whitebeard's chest.
Marco's furious roar echoed across the battlefield, "Pops!"