This guy… Luffy… really can't be underestimated!
Even Madara had to admit it.
On the other side of the arena—
Luffy wasn't faring too well either.
Madara's blade had landed.
Hideous wounds laced his body, blood trickling down in vivid streams. And worse—maintaining his Gear Fifth form was consuming an immense amount of stamina by the second.
He had just unleashed another Ape Divine Spear (Shinsō) with everything he had.
The power behind it?
Several times stronger than his normal output!
But the price?
Also several times heavier.
If not more.
"Hiss! Uncle, you're really something else!"
Luffy grinned despite the pain, steam rolling off his body as he staggered forward once again.
"Rubber White Whip!"
"Limbo: Border Jail!"
"Rubber Mole Gun!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
Invisible strikes from Madara's Limbo clones clashed with Luffy's gigantic attacks, shaking the arena to its foundation.
Their battle raged for over ten minutes, a brutal exchange of fists, slashes, and relentless will.
Madara's Six Paths Susanoo collapsed multiple times during the struggle.
Each time it was shattered, he forcibly reconstituted it with his dwindling pupil power.
The cost was steep.
Finally...
Luffy's body could no longer endure the energy drain from Gear Five.
In the blink of an eye, he was forcibly ejected from the form.
And in the next moment—
Swish!
A phantom slash tore through him.
He was obliterated.
Swish!
Luffy's body rematerialized atop the Pirate World's Sky-reaching Stone Pillar.
He blinked, momentarily confused, touching his chest and limbs. No pain. No wounds.
Even the exhaustion from before had vanished.
But this made sense.
After all—
The Luffy standing here now was the resurrected version after being killed by Madara.
"Luffy, that was amazing!"
Ace grinned, giving him a solid thumbs up.
"You almost had him!"
Several other Pirate Kings who were close with Luffy joined in, showering him with praise and laughter.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield—
Madara stood silently within the reconstructed Susanoo, a frown lining his features.
This fight… had cost him.
The last two matches were far from easy.
Especially the one against Luffy just now—it had consumed a tremendous amount of pupil power.
Though his Ōtsutsuki physique allowed for rapid recovery, it wasn't instantaneous.
He needed time.
And he didn't have it.
"Tch… So this is the real challenge of defending the ring," Madara muttered.
It wasn't just the strength of each opponent—it was the accumulating toll.
At that moment—
Boom!
Another towering figure appeared across from Madara, stepping into the arena with a loud, thunderous laugh.
"Gurara~! Now it's my turn!"
Whitebeard had entered the field.
Madara's eyes narrowed sharply.
Whitebeard…
Another titan.
But he had no intention of backing down.
He would win this one too.
At the same time, the Hokage camp was observing closely.
Hashirama and the others had already caught on to the hidden challenge of this round—
Attrition.
Each challenger was in peak condition.
But Madara?
He was exhausting himself little by little.
Each clash left him slightly more drained than the last.
"This doesn't look good," Hashirama muttered, brows furrowing.
"At this rate, Madara won't last much longer."
As his lifelong rival and closest comrade, he naturally hoped Madara would claim more victories, rake in more points.
But now…
It didn't look promising.
"If Madara falls, who can take over?"
Sasuke's calm voice cut in.
"If he's out, it'll be up to me."
Indeed, in the Hokage chat group rankings, Sasuke was right behind Madara, third in total power.
Orochimaru?
Even he was a step below.
Several minutes later—
Madara stood tall once more. Another hard-fought victory in his hands.
Whitebeard had fallen.
But Madara's condition?
Significantly worse.
The next battle?
It would only be harder.
"Who's next?"
The Pirate World side was in a dilemma.
They still had strong players left.
But only oone stronger than Luffy or Whitebeard.
Sending anyone else was just feeding Madara more points.
That wouldn't do.
"Let Garp go."
The murmurs turned into a chant.
All eyes turned to the man who had been silent thus far.
The one who hadn't fought yet.
"Alright. I'll go."
Garp stood up, muscles taut, expression relaxed yet composed.
His eyes locked onto Madara in the arena.
To be honest, he didn't want to take advantage of a tired opponent.
But this was a tournament.
Strategy mattered.
Swish!
In the next instant, Garp vanished from the pillar and reappeared in the center of the ring.
"That's the guy who got a bye in the last round!"
"Is he really that strong?"
"He must be. Otherwise, why send him now?"
The tension on the field soared.
Even Ryosuke narrowed his eyes.
"Garp… if I had to guess, he's probably the strongest among the Pirate Kings."
As expected—
From the moment the fight began, Garp exploded with monstrous power.
Unlike the flashy Devil Fruit abilities common among his kind, Garp's style was pure.
Unfiltered.
Violent.
A raw expression of explosive martial strength.
His Armament Haki had reached its pinnacle. He combined it with Conqueror's Haki, and his insane physique turned him into a monster of the battlefield.
Madara was overwhelmed and even Limbo clones were useless.
Garp couldn't see them but with his top-tier Observation Haki, he could sense them.
And more importantly, he was fast enough to counterattack.
It wasn't just power. It was refined instinct.
Madara's so-called invincible techniques?
Rendered ineffective.
Even with his Ōtsutsuki regeneration, he couldn't last.
BOOM!!
One devastating punch caved in Madara's skull.
The next moment—
Swish!
He was teleported back to the Hokage side's Sky-reaching Pillar.
"YES!!"
The Pirate King camp erupted in cheers.
Garp had done it.
Garp, however, merely sighed, seemingly unsatisfied. He pulled out a cigar and lit it, taking a puff before glancing toward the Hokage camp.
"Hey! Anyone else coming up?!"
His voice echoed arrogantly.
Over at the Hokage side—
Naruto looked over at Sasuke.
"Wanna go?"
Even though they'd only known each other for a few days, they got along surprisingly well.
Perhaps because they were parallel versions of each other.
"No. I can't beat him," Sasuke replied honestly, shaking his head.
He wasn't one to lie or bluff. In the power rankings, Sasuke was third, Madara second.
And though Madara was already weakened when he lost to Garp, it was still too clean, too overwhelming.
If he couldn't win, Sasuke wouldn't waste a turn.
"Ryosuke, it's up to you now."
Tobirama turned his gaze toward him.
Ryosuke nodded calmly.
"Then let's bring this individual battle to a close."
Swish!
In the blink of an eye, Ryosuke's figure appeared on the arena floor.
"Oh? You're my next opponent?"
Garp puffed on his cigar, eyeing the new challenger with interest.
"You seem like the strongest one left on your side." He grinned.
"Hahaha! Alright then—let this old man see what you're made of!"
Garp laughed heartily, his massive arms crossed as he stepped forward.
"Come! Let's have a good, old-fashioned brawl!"
"A hearty fight?"
Ryosuke shook his head, calm as a still lake.
"That won't be necessary. This'll be over soon."
"Huh?"
Garp's smile froze, the corners of his mouth twitching.
That tone—those words…
Was this brat looking down on him?
The Garp of this parallel world had never tasted defeat.
From the time he was a rebellious youth, to the moment he hoisted the banner of piracy, he carved his legend into the seas.
A legend that ended with one title—
The First Pirate King.
And unlike others, Garp had no Devil Fruit.
No tricks. No hacks.
Just fists. Will. And raw dominance.
Even before joining the Chat Group, he had the strength to challenge the entire World Government alone.
An absolute force.
A walking natural disaster.
And after entering the chat group?
With resources, training manuals, power-ups, and fierce competition—
Garp climbed to Invincible Tier Three.
Every inch of progress earned through sweat and blood.
So naturally…
He had pride.
When Garp invited Ryosuke to a fair fight, it wasn't mockery. He simply saw a fellow powerhouse.
He had intended to clash fists as equals, even if he believed he would inevitably win.
He didn't look down on Ryosuke.
But now?
This kid dared to look down on him?
"Little brat… you've managed to tick this old man off." Garp exhaled heavily.
The cigar between his teeth burned straight to the butt in an instant.
With a flick of his fingers, he crushed it between two fingers and tossed it to the ground.
"Maybe I should teach you something important—"
"How to respect strength."
Swish!
In the blink of an eye, Garp vanished.
A sonic boom echoed through the arena as his towering frame appeared right before Ryosuke like an apparition.
Conqueror's Haki—boiling over.
Armament Haki—hardened to its peak.
Both surged like twin dragons, coating Garp's twin iron fists.
These fists had once shattered battleships. Flattened mountains. Defied gods.
BOOM!
He let one swing fly—
Only for it to be caught.
Easily.
With a single hand, Ryosuke stopped the mighty Garp's punch like it was nothing but a child's tap.
"I'm just telling the truth," Ryosuke said indifferently, not even looking Garp in the eye.
"If you didn't want to hear it, you could've just ignored it."
Boom!
In the very next instant—
His other arm moved.
Faster than sound. Faster than sight.
A crushing fist slammed into Garp's abdomen.
CRACK!!!
Garp's body was launched like a cannonball, flying across ten kilometers in an instant before slamming into the barrier at the edge of the arena.
"Ugh—!!"
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
Over ninety percent of the bones in his body shattered in a single strike.
The Pirate King was on one knee, his body trembling.
He couldn't move.
Footsteps echoed.
Slow. Calm. Unhurried.
A pair of boots entered his vision.
Garp raised his bloodied face with great effort, and met the cold, composed eyes of Ryosuke.
"Sorry," Ryosuke said softly, without a hint of arrogance.
"I didn't mean to bruise your pride… but the truth is, you and I aren't even in the same league."
Garp: "…"
Plop!
The Pirate King collapsed. His massive frame crashed heavily into the arena floor.
He had lost consciousness.
A one-hit defeat.
Swish! Swish!
Both fighters were teleported off the battlefield, returned to their respective Sky-reaching Stone Pillars.
The revived Garp panted heavily, his face still pale with shock.
"Garp! Are you alright?"
Whitebeard immediately stepped forward, his eyes filled with concern.
Luffy and Ace rushed over too, visibly anxious.
Even the normally rowdy Pirate Kings fell silent.
"I'm fine."
Garp waved his hand.
His body was healed—resurrection in this arena meant he had no lingering injuries.
Physically, he was fine.
But emotionally?
He was shaken.
He had been instantly killed by a boy—a boy who looked no older than his grandsons.
This wasn't just defeat. This was humiliation.
And even though no one dared to say it aloud…
That psychological gap was difficult to accept.
Even for someone like Garp.