Meanwhile, outside the instance, in Foosha Village, East Blue.
On the bustling market street, time paused for a second.
Luffy and Ace, two little brats, were staring wide-eyed at what was in front of them.
Garp, who had been standing there a second ago, cursing and about to flip a stall… was gone.
He had just vanished into thin air.
Not even a puff of smoke.
"…"
"…"
Luffy blinked hard, then rubbed his eyes vigorously.
Empty.
Ace was also stunned, the impatience on his face replaced by pure bewilderment.
Plink.
The bag of senbei Garp had dropped rolled out, one piece breaking into two halves.
Silence.
Dead silence.
The next second.
"G-Grandpa—!"
Luffy's signature loud voice, tinged with a cry, tore through the quiet of the entire street!
His rubber neck stretched out sharply, scanning frantically like a searchlight!
"Grandpa's gone!"
"Hey! You stinky old man! Stop playing such boring jokes!"
Ace also roared at the air, but only the wind answered him.
The faces of both of them instantly turned pale.
That old bastard.
Although he used his Fist of Love to punch them every day, forced them to eat disgusting wild beasts, and threw them into deadly jungles…
He was their Grandpa!
He was one of their few relatives in this world!
He was the man they cursed, but whose strength they never doubted, a man like a towering mountain!
"It's you!"
Luffy suddenly turned his head, his crimson eyes locking onto the white-haired kid still lazily leaning behind the stall.
"Where did you take Grandpa?!"
His arm instantly stretched, wrapping around the eaves of a nearby house, and he shot out like a cannonball!
"Gum-Gum…"
In a childish roar, his small fist tensed, aimed at the white-haired kid's face!
"Pistol!"
"Luffy! Stop!"
A figure was faster than him!
Ace pounced, hugging Luffy's waist tightly from behind, dragging him back with all his might!
Bang!
Luffy's fist missed, smashing heavily into the wooden board of the stall, making a large hole.
"Let go of me! Ace!"
Luffy struggled wildly, his limbs turning into rubber, stretching and flailing haphazardly.
"I'm going to beat this guy up! Make him give Grandpa back!"
"Calm down!"
Ace's forehead was covered in cold sweat; his arms ached from Luffy's struggles, but he still wouldn't let go.
He stared intently at the white-haired kid, who had been expressionless the whole time, his heart pounding.
"You idiot! Didn't you see?!"
"That old bastard… is Garp!"
Ace's roar made Luffy's movements suddenly stiffen.
"A guy who can make him disappear without even letting out a fart… is that someone we can deal with?!"
That's right.
That was Grandpa.
The Grandpa who ate wild boars as big as mountains for dinner, who could use warships as punching bags.
Luffy stopped struggling; he turned his head, looking at Ace's pale face, and the color in his own face quickly drained away.
Fear, belatedly, gripped his heart.
Just then.
The white-haired kid finally reacted.
He yawned, stretched, looking like he had just woken up.
"So noisy."
He glanced at the two brats indifferently.
"It's just your Grandpa."
"He went on a trip to another world; he'll be back in a few days."
"…"
"…"
The air froze.
Ace's brain was still processing the completely out-of-scope term "another world."
Luffy, however, had already reacted.
He blinked blankly.
"Trip?"
He loosened his clenched fists.
Then, he slammed his right fist into his left palm.
"Oh!"
Luffy suddenly understood, all the fear and anger on his face instantly vanished, replaced by a refreshed expression of "I see."
"So that's it!"
He even grinned, showing a big smile.
"You scared me! Seriously, the old man goes on a trip without saying a word!"
Ace: "???"
He slowly, inch by inch, turned his head.
He looked at his brother, who had completely relaxed and was even picking his nose.
An indescribable fury shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head!
"You—super incredibly stupid idiot—!"
Ace's furious scream echoed through the entire street.
He stretched out both hands and fiercely pinched Luffy's cheeks, pulling them hard to both sides!
"You believe whatever he says?!"
"A trip to another world?! You believe such nonsense?!"
"What else is in your brain besides eating meat?!"
"Mmm mmm mmm… It hurts! Ace!"
Luffy was pulled so hard that tears were almost coming out, protesting indistinctly.
"But… but what he said is true…"
The two brats immediately started wrestling on the spot.
And the instigator merely propped his chin, watching the scene with interest, a playful curve on his lips.
White Night raised his arm and checked the time.
"Hmm…"
He spoke slowly, to himself.
"It's about time."
"It's also time… to decide the winner."
…Inside the barrier, Cloud Gorge.
The sphere of black and purple energy had expanded to a terrifying degree!
Destruction!
Pure destruction!
The suffocating, terrifying aura made the air in the entire gorge viscous, every breath burning!
Tailed Beast Ball!
The wild smile on Garp's face completely disappeared for the first time.
His pupils contracted to the extreme, staring intently at the black sphere that was continuously compressing energy.
"Damn it!"
He couldn't help but curse.
"What a joke!"
"If this thing explodes, this old man will be finished here too!"
On the other side.
The Third Raikage's raging Lightning Release armor even paused for a moment.
The anger and fighting spirit on his face were replaced by an unprecedented solemnity.
He knew the power of this thing better than Garp.
He knew even better the consequences of this thing exploding in the confined space of the "Four Violet Flames Formation"!
Mutual destruction?
No!
It would be complete and utter annihilation, leaving not even a speck of dust!
The next second.
Two top powerhouses from different worlds made exactly the same decision.
They turned sharply, their gazes colliding in mid-air!
No words.
No communication.
Only an instant, unspoken understanding belonging to powerhouses!
Act!
"BWAHAHAHA!"
Garp's wild laugh rang out again, this time with an unprecedented ferocity!
"First, I'll stew you, you disobedient big octopus!"
The ground beneath his feet exploded, and he shot towards the Eight-Tails like a cannonball!
At the same time!
The Third Raikage also moved!
He transformed into an even brighter, faster blue lightning, his target also the giant beast that was charging its attack!
"Hell Stab: One-Finger Nukite!"
The Raikage's roar echoed through the gorge!
He gathered all his Chakra into the three fingers of his right hand; those three fingers became harder than diamonds, flashing with dazzling electricity, transforming into the strongest spear that could pierce anything!
And on the other side!
"Get… down here!"
Garp leaped high, and his weathered iron fist was covered with an invisible, overbearing power!
One left, one right!
One punch, one spear!
In the Eight-Tails' terrified eyes, the two attacks simultaneously struck its massive head!
Boom!!!
Violent power exploded on the Eight-Tails' body!
Its mountain-like body stiffened abruptly.
The Tailed Beast Ball that had already formed in its mouth instantly lost control of its energy, and then… with a soft puff, it fizzled out.
The Eight-Tails' massive body fell backward, crashing heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
It was subdued.
The dust settled.
Garp and the Third Raikage stood at opposite ends of the gorge, facing each other.
Both were breathing heavily.
To stop the Tailed Beast Ball just now, they had both used immense power, resulting in huge exhaustion.
Garp shook his somewhat sore arm.
The Lightning Release armor on the Third Raikage also became somewhat flickering.
Inside the gorge, a strange silence fell for a time.
"Well done, old man."
The Third Raikage spoke first, his voice hoarse but full of praise.
"However, we're not finished yet."
Garp grinned, revealing his stark white teeth.
"BWAHAHAHA! Of course!"
He clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking loudly.
"The warm-up is over!"
At this moment, their fighting spirit once again climbed to its peak!
"Let's use this last move to decide the victor!"
The Third Raikage roared, gathering all his remaining Chakra frantically into the fingertip of his right hand!
The light of his Lightning Release Armor rapidly dimmed, all the energy transforming into that pinpoint of cold light at his fingertip!
The strongest spear, betting everything!
"Just as I wished!"
Garp laughed wildly, adopting an unprecedentedly serious stance.
He slowly pulled his right fist behind him, all his muscles tensed to the extreme, and an even more terrifying, unfathomable aura rose from him!
"Take this!"
"This is my… Fist of Love!"
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