As soon as Kuzan made his move, countless ice blades filled the sky.
He believed that if this attack landed, even Edward Newgate would not survive.
"Nice!"
Seeing this, the Marines erupted in excitement.
"That's Admiral Aokiji's killing move! Let's see how you block it!"
The earlier fear and gloom were completely swept away.
Aokiji's attacks had reignited their morale.
Every Marine burned with fighting spirit.
"Hah."
On the other side, the Whitebeard Pirates remained completely calm.
It was almost laughable.
If an Admiral could defeat one of the Four Emperors so easily, the New World would have already been conquered by the Marines.
There would be no Four Emperors maintaining the balance of power.
The commanders led by Marco saw that Whitebeard was interested in handling the fight himself, so they stopped preparing to intervene.
Meanwhile, the other pirates began considering how to break through the Marine defensive lines.
The bad news was that their four ships were completely frozen and unable to sail.
The good news was that Aokiji's ice had effectively created a path straight toward Marineford.
"Gurararara!"
Whitebeard's signature laughter echoed across the battlefield.
He stepped forward.
In the next instant, he appeared directly in front of Aokiji.
His speed was astonishing, even faster than that of Borsalino with the Glint-Glint Fruit.
"How is that possible?!"
Aokiji's pupils shrank.
Panic flashed across his face.
"Damn… I can't dodge."
His reaction was still fast.
Since evasion was impossible, he curled his body tightly and coated the most vulnerable areas with a thick layer of Armament Haki.
"You think that kind of defense can block my attack?"
Whitebeard looked at him with disdain.
Tiny cracks appeared around his right fist.
The power of the Gura Gura no Mi was pushed to its limit.
"Die!"
His thunderous roar echoed across the battlefield.
In the next moment, Whitebeard's fist struck forward.
It landed directly on Aokiji's arm.
Crack!
The sound of shattering ice rang out.
Even with Armament Haki protecting him, Aokiji's arm was shattered by the blow.
"Hahaha!"
At this moment, even the disciplined pirates of the Whitebeard crew could not hold back their laughter.
"Did you see that?! That's our captain, one of the Four Emperors!"
"And your Admiral is nothing!"
Mockery burst out from the pirates one after another.
For a moment, the Marines were stunned.
It was not that they had nothing to say.
It was not that they did not know Whitebeard was strong.
But they had never imagined he would be this powerful.
Even with Aokiji personally attacking at full strength, he still could not block a single punch.
At that moment, every Marine present, even the elite Vice Admirals, were shaken by the sight.
"T-this…"
"Are you kidding me?"
The pirates were celebrating, while the Marines were questioning reality itself.
But the clash between Edward Newgate and Kuzan had not ended.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The sound of ice shattering continued to echo.
Soon, Whitebeard's fist completely pierced through Aokiji's body.
The punch, infused with both the power of the Gura Gura no Mi and Armament Haki, shattered Aokiji into fragments.
Not a single intact piece of ice remained.
If someone gathered the pieces, they could probably serve them as shaved ice.
"Pfft!"
A mouthful of blood spilled from Aokiji's lips.
In the distance, his body reformed from scattered ice as he stared at Whitebeard in shock.
Even he could not understand how Whitebeard could be this powerful.
Fortunately, the moment he realized he was about to be hit, Aokiji reacted immediately.
He reinforced his defenses while letting his real body escape from the battlefield, leaving behind only an ice clone.
Even so, he was still injured.
Looking at Whitebeard standing calmly on the whale-shaped bow of the Moby Dick, Aokiji spoke quietly, fear appearing on his face for the first time.
"What a terrifying man."
"He's practically a monster."
This scene shocked everyone present.
Even Monkey D. Garp and Sengoku fell silent.
Everyone knew Whitebeard was formidable.
But no one expected him to be this overwhelming.
Even an Admiral had been injured by a single punch.
If Aokiji had not escaped quickly, he might not have died, but he certainly would have lost the ability to continue fighting.
"In that case… I'm even more interested now."
A voice suddenly echoed across the battlefield, filled with killing intent and excitement.
At a moment when even Garp and Sengoku remained silent, there was only one person who would still show such enthusiasm for battle.
The greatest swordsman present.
Dracule Mihawk.
Mihawk slowly drew the supreme-grade blade from his back.
The black blade, Yoru, one of the twelve Supreme Grade swords.
His gaze traveled across the battlefield of Marineford, across the frozen sea, and landed directly on Whitebeard.
All of his power gathered into the sword.
Armament Haki surged along the blade.
"I want to see how big the gap is between myself and the strongest man in the world."
As he spoke, a massive slash shot forward from Yoru.
The slash rose as high as the giant walls built around Marineford.
It cut across the entire battlefield and flew straight toward Whitebeard.
"Mihawk! Hawk-Eyes Mihawk has made his move!"
The Marines, who had been completely discouraged moments earlier, suddenly regained their spirits.
"That's the world's greatest swordsman!"
"With a slash like that, it could probably split heaven and earth!"
Excitement surged through the Marine ranks once again.
Even fellow Warlords like Donquixote Doflamingo and Gecko Moria looked toward Mihawk with surprise.
In their eyes, Mihawk had only appeared here because the World Government forced the Seven Warlords to participate.
But judging from his actions now, that did not seem to be the case.
The massive slash reached the front of the Moby Dick under countless watching eyes.
At that moment, a shining figure stepped onto the frozen sea in front of the ship.
It was Jozu.
"Hah!"
The enormous slash crashed directly into him.
The force pushed Jozu backward more than ten meters across the ice.
But his defense was simply too strong.
Although Mihawk's slash made him look somewhat battered, it did not injure him in the slightest.
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