"Great Flame Commandment!!"
Ace roared, launching a massive fireball that engulfed nearly half the arena, detonating with a deafening boom.
The blazing inferno raged like a miniature sun, drowning the battlefield in light and searing heat.
But the moment the explosion erupted—
Tobirama had already vanished.
In that split second, he entered Sage Mode, and reappeared silently behind Ace like a wraith emerging from thin air.
A terrifying stream of water infused with Senjutsu Chakra condensed in Tobirama's hand, shining like a blade of pure blue light.
With surgical precision, it pierced straight through Ace's flaming body.
This time, Ace's elemental form failed him.
The devastating Senjustu Chakra-infused water blade carved through his body cleanly, cutting the pirate in half before he could even react.
Ace's eyes widened in disbelief. His voice caught in his throat. He couldn't believe it.
He lost? Just like that?!
A beat later, golden light surrounded them.
Swish! Swish!
Both combatants were teleported from the arena and returned to their respective Stone Pillars.
Ace immediately patted his neck, his chest—checking for wounds. Thankfully, there were none. His body was intact.
But the emotional wound?
Not so easy to heal.
His face contorted with fury, and his eyes locked onto the Hokage camp in the distance.
"Damn it! That bastard did it on purpose!!" Ace growled.
"Ace." Whitebeard said beside him, shaking his head.
"You were too careless. You assumed your elemental form made you invincible. But against an opponent like that... complacency is dangerous."
"He's insidious!" Ace clenched his fists, gritting his teeth.
"No." Whitebeard corrected him seriously. "That Tobirama... he's simply stronger than you. He was testing you at first, likely because he wasn't familiar with your abilities. When the time was right, he finished it cleanly."
Ace's face fell, guilt and frustration warring on his face.
"So... I messed up," he muttered. "Two wins in a rowand I go and ruin it..."
"Gu la la la! Don't beat yourself up." Whitebeard laughed heartily, "If you kept winning, the next round would've been your funeral."
Meanwhile, in the Hokage camp...
"Good job, Tobirama!" Hashirama shouted with a proud grin. "Let me guess—you got the 10,000-point reward too, right?"
Tobirama gave a small nod. It wasn't a huge prize, but it was nothing to scoff at either.
10,000 points.
A clean, efficient victory and a tidy reward to go with it.
"Too cautious, Tobirama-sensei" Hiruzen commented with a huff, arms crossed as he glared across the arena. "That Pirate King guy, Ace, wasn't even close to your level. You could've ended it in seconds."
Hiruzen was still bitter about being obliterated by Luffy earlier. A grudge simmered beneath his words.
After all, Luffy didn't look much older than a normal genin, yet he had trounced Hiruzen like an amateur.
Embarrassing didn't begin to cover it.
Fortunately, Danzo's fate had been even worse. He had been trampled to death.
Literally.
That fact gave Hiruzen a bit of petty comfort.
Swish! Swish!
Two beams of radiant light struck the arena again.
Two new figures materialized—
"March 5: Piaret World [First Pirate King] Whitebeard VS Hokage World [Fourth Hokage] Namikaze Minato!"
As soon as the match announcement was made, murmurs erupted from the Hokage camp.
"Minato drew him?! That giant?"
"He looks like another Kaido!"
"Whitebeard, huh? Not good... not good at all!"
In the arena, Whitebeard let out a loud, rumbling laugh.
He lifted his massive fist and casually threw a punch at the air.
Crack!
The very atmosphere shattered, like glass hit by a hammer.
Cracks webbed through the sky. The arena trembled under the pressure.
But Minato?
He was already gone.
Golden afterimages flashed in every direction as Minato used Flying Thunder God Technique to blink around the arena, planting seals across the terrain for later use.
"Little guy's fast!" Whitebeard rumbled with amusement.
"Gururara~! Your technique is flashy but how long can you keep running?"
He swung his naginata, unleashing a sweeping arc of flying energy.
Minato's teleportation flared again, evading with split-second precision.
In the stands, Ace narrowed his eyes.
"That teleportation... it's the same as Tobirama's."
Garp, meanwhile, nonchalantly picked his nose and replied, "Don't sweat it. It's Whitebeard. He ain't gonna lose."
This wasn't the decrepit old man from Marineford. This was Prime Whitebeard.
At the peak of his strength. Rejuvenated and empowered further by the chat group.
His rating?
Early Third Tier.
And only because he joined late. With more time, he'd be even stronger.
Minato, on the other hand, was merely Mid Second Tier.
The difference in strength?
Vast.
If not for his teleportation hacks, Whitebeard could've ended this in one strike.
Back in the arena—
Whitebeard let loose another punch.
Crack!
Reality itself split open.
Minato barely escaped, narrowly avoiding being torn apart.
But the Yellow Flash wasn't done yet. His eyes sharpened, and his chakra surged.
Sage Mode: Activated.
A swirling Rasengan formed in his palm, pulsing with dense natural energy.
Sage Art: Big Ball Rasengan!
He hurled the Rasengan forward. It expanded mid-air, growing to over ten meters in diameter as it roared toward Whitebeard.
Fun fact: Minato had tried over a dozen times to rename the jutsu something more poetic. But each time, it was rejected.
Too wordy.
Too awkward.
In the end, he had no choice but to stick with Big Ball Rasengan.
"Heh. Nice attack but not enough!"
Whitebeard charged directly into it, punching the Rasengan out of existence.
His Armament Haki shielded him from the bulk of the impact. He tanked the damage like it was nothing.
"It's not over yet!"
Swish!
Minato appeared behind Whitebeard, hand already cocked back.
Sage Art: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!
He hurled it instantly. But Whitebeard was already on the move. His naginata swept through the air, creating a chasm of raw energy.
The Rasenshuriken met it and detonated.
BOOOOM!!
A massive explosion engulfed the arena.
Whitebeard emerged, unscathed. He let out a low grunt.
"You've done enough."
With that, he clenched his left fist.
A shockwave of unimaginable power burst from his punch, rippling through the entire 30-kilometer arena.
Reality bent. Space cracked. The arena space fractured like porcelain.
Were it not for the special rules preventing attacks from spilling outside the field, the explosion would've gone far beyond the boundaries.
Minato had nowhere left to hide.
Nowhere to teleport.
No seals left.
The shockwave engulfed him.
His body was ripped apart almost instantly.
There was no escape.
Golden light flashed again.
Swish! Swish!
Both fighters returned to their stone pillars.
"Victory again!" Luffy shouted excitedly. "I knew Uncle Whitebeard wouldn't lose!"
"Uncle Whitebeard, you're awesome!!"
Robin, with a graceful smile, gave Whitebeard a big thumbs-up.
"Tch! That's nothing special!" Kaido scoffed as he crossed his arms and looked away, clearly displeased.
"It's just a win against a weakling. If it were me out there, I would've crushed him even faster."
Kaido, as usual, couldn't stand seeing Whitebeard shine. The man's arrogance knew no bounds, especially when it came to this old rival. It irked him to no end that he didn't get to see Whitebeard mess up in front of everyone.
"Gu la la la! Kaido, the guy you fought earlier was probably weaker than mine, no?" Whitebeard laughed heartily, a knowing glint in his eyes.
Kaido's face twitched. He wanted to retort. He really did. But he had nothing to say.
Because... it was true.
His previous opponent, Danzo, was far weaker than Whitebeard's.
Danzo didn't have the Flying Thunder God Technique, after all.
That meant he had zero chance of evading Kaido's brutal, destructive attacks. In just two or three hits, Danzo was down. He hadn't even displayed half of his actual skills before being crushed under Kaido's overwhelming might.
Though to be fair—
Even if Danzo had put up a proper fight, it likely wouldn't have changed the outcome.
Against Kaido?
He still would've lost.
Meanwhile, on the Hokage side, things were less cheerful.
Minato stood atop the Stone Pillar, his expression tinged with regret. He had fought hard. He had almost turned the tides.
But in the end... a loss was still a loss.
"Minato."
Sakumo said gently, standing beside him, "You fought honorably. It's nothing to be ashamed of. At least you held your ground against that giant longer than Danzo or Hiruzen. Compared to them, you did far better."
Danzo, off to the side: "???"
Hiruzen, next to him: "???"
The two turned their heads in unison, eyes burning with silent fury as they glared at Sakumo.
'Was that a comfort or an insult?!'
Did he really have to step on them just to lift Minato up?
Next up:
Match 6.
The Hokage side drew—Uchiha Madara.
On the Pirate King side, stepping forward was—Nico Robin.
The moment Madara laid eyes on his opponent, he didn't hesitate for even a second.
No mercy.
No chivalry.
No holding back just because she was a woman.
Right from the start—
Tengai Shinsei!
A massive meteorite, two to three hundred meters wide, descended from the heavens.
Robin's expression froze.
There was nowhere to run.
The thirty-kilometer-wide arena offered no refuge as the colossal meteor engulfed the entire battlefield.
Robin had already retreated to the farthest edge she could reach but it didn't matter.
In the blink of an eye, she was crushed. Torn to pieces!
Madara floated in the air, arms folded across his chest, and sneered.
"Even the gravel on the ground is more impressive than that."
With one line, he detonated the rage of the entire Pirate King camp.
After all, Robin wasn't just another member. She was one of the few female members in their chat group. She might not be everyone's favorite (after all, Kaido existed), but she was cherished by many.
Whitebeard, in particular, had even joked about adopting her as his daughter.
And now?
She wasn't just killed.
She was mocked.
Publicly.
Brutally.
Every Pirate King present turned their eyes toward Madara, their fury simmering.
But Madara?
He didn't care. He even hoped they'd retaliate. To him, none of the Pirate Kings who had shown up so far were worth anything.
Weaklings, all of them.
Match 7 was announced.
Orochimaru took the stage on behalf of the Hokage world.
Facing him from the Pirate side was Aokiji.
One of the more powerful members of the Pirate King chat group. His combat rating stood at quasi-third-tier—no pushover.
But against Orochimaru, who now wielded a Rinnegan, Aokiji was outmatched.
The battle ended swiftly, and Orochimaru claimed an easy victory.
Then came match 8.
A matchup that made people do double takes.
Sarada VS Big Mom.
Big Mom, known as the grotesque monster of the Pirate King chat group, made her entrance. Her bloated body and distorted features were enough to make Sarada visibly recoil the moment she laid eyes on her.
"Disgusting." Sarada muttered, activating her Complete Body Susanoo on the spot.
Without delay, she unleashed a savage storm of chakra blades.
In just two or three devastating hits, Big Mom was pounded into the ground, her swollen face resembling a pig's head more than a person.
Sarada's strength, within the Hokage chat group, was rated quasi-Six Paths level.
Big Mom, by contrast, though much stronger than she was when she first entered the group, only stood at peak second-tier.
A clear mismatch.
Had it not been for Big Mom's naturally thick skin and monstrous resilience, she might not have even lasted two rounds.
But even with that endurance, Sarada's long-range, large-scale bombardment overwhelmed her entirely.
One blast severed more than half her body.
Big Mom collapsed.
Dead.
And with that, the Hokage World secured their third consecutive win. Their momentum was now undeniable.
The Pirate King camp, once bursting with laughter and confidence, had grown eerily quiet.
The air was heavy.
Gone were the cocky smiles.
All that remained was tension and dread.