When Sentomaru spotted his beloved "old uncle" again, Kizaru was streaking across the battlefield with Big Mom in relentless pursuit.
Actually, saying "with" wasn't quite accurate. It would be more precise to say he was "leading" her on a deadly chase.
No matter how fiercely Big Mom pursued from behind, she always remained one step short of catching the elusive Admiral. Meanwhile, Kizaru would pause periodically during his flight to unleash laser bombardments at his pursuer.
Low damage, but extremely insulting.
"Garp-san, can we switch?" Kizaru called out in his characteristic drawl as he zipped overhead.
Both Naruto and Garp paused mid-exchange, genuinely stunned by the request.
Looking closer, they could see Kizaru's usually pristine uniform was actually torn in several places, clearly indicating he wasn't nearly as relaxed as his casual tone suggested.
Just over ten minutes earlier, Kizaru had found himself trapped within the mirror prison created by Artemis, facing what seemed like certain death.
Thunderclouds pressed down from above while Gaia's massive form exerted crushing gravitational force from below. Mirror reflections surrounded the entire perimeter, creating an inescapable cage of light and stone.
Most terrifying of all was that bone-chilling sense of impending doom that every veteran warrior learned to recognize. These elaborate preparations were clearly just means to limit his evasion options. Big Mom had undoubtedly prepared something devastating as her finishing move.
What happened next confirmed his darkest suspicions.
Big Mom's Ikoku had torn through both the mirror dome and stone giant together, showing absolutely no restraint despite them being her own beloved creations.
After being led around by Kizaru for so long, even a clay figure would have accumulated some anger, let alone Big Mom with her notoriously volatile temperament.
The Ikoku, empowered by pure rage, carried devastating force. A direct hit would have seriously injured even someone of Kizaru's caliber.
Fortunately, this veteran possessed unmatched speed when properly motivated.
Although surrounded on all sides with no apparent means of escape through light transformation, Kizaru had identified the single flaw in this seemingly perfect killing formation.
He used Ama no Murakumo Sword's razor sharpness to pierce directly through the rock Homie Gaia, then continued drilling downward without losing momentum.
Big Mom's attack followed almost immediately afterward, grazing the edge of his dispersed form.
Even that glancing contact had been enough to cause significant damage.
Although he had elementalized and scattered parts of his body as much as possible in advance, Kizaru still sustained injuries that would have been far worse for anyone lacking his particular abilities.
Of course, compared to Garp, who had been systematically beaten bloody by Naruto throughout their extended bout, he looked remarkably well-preserved.
After that narrow escape, seeing the shattered mirrors and pulverized rock rapidly regenerating, Kizaru hadn't wasted the opportunity. He slipped through the momentary gap, once again transforming the battle into an elaborate game of aerial tag.
Big Mom rode her thundercloudZeus in desperate pursuit, occasionally manifesting mirror barriers directly in front of Kizaru's flight path. Anyone with even slightly slow reflexes would have been bounced back into her waiting grasp.
The two combatants had fought and chased in this manner, gradually returning to the main battlefield from their distant confrontation.
Garp and Naruto exchanged meaningful glances, both realizing their own encounter was rapidly approaching its conclusion.
On the Charlotte family's side, witnessing Mama's terrifying figure return to the battlefield filled all her children with genuine security and relief.
Even Katakuri, normally composed beyond measure, felt the familiar comfort of his mother's overwhelming presence.
"Sorry about this, kid," Garp said, his weathered features growing serious as he prepared for their final exchange.
"Since you don't plan to surrender..."
"This old man has no choice but to go all out."
Garp's entire body suddenly erupted with overwhelming presence, his Conqueror's Haki rising like invisible flames that made the air itself tremble.
"No, perhaps I should be the one apologizing!" Naruto replied with matching intensity, unleashing an even more terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki that instantly blanketed the entire battlefield.
Even Big Mom and Kizaru nearby froze under this crushing display of willpower, momentarily forgetting their own ongoing battle as the raw force of two legends preparing for their ultimate clash washed over them.
"Really... monsters," someone below muttered quietly, though everyone within earshot agreed wholeheartedly with the assessment.
"Don't die, old man." Naruto's face bloomed with the fierce smile of someone who truly relished combat, chakra rapidly surging toward his open palm.
Familiar proportions began taking shape, crafted from equally familiar materials.
A small black sphere materialized in Naruto's grasp, its surface crackling with barely contained energy.
The moment that ominous orb appeared, Garp's expression shifted to one of grave seriousness.
Besides the Marine hero himself, every powerhouse present suddenly felt their danger instincts screaming warnings about the terrifying destructive potential contained within that deceptively small attack.
"Retreat! Evacuate the wounded! All hands to the ships!" Vice Admiral Tsuru's voice cut through the chaos with military precision.
Zephyr landed a devastating Smash Blaster that drove Hancock back several steps, then immediately disengaged from their battle to help coordinate the evacuation of wounded soldiers.
Hancock glanced at the ominous black sphere floating in the sky above, then surveyed the retreating Navy forces. Ultimately, she chose not to take advantage of their vulnerability to finish them off while they fled.
Instead, she turned her attention to her two sisters.
Both Sandersonia and Marigold bore various injuries from their extended combat. Despite their experience with Naruto's brutal training regimen, their natural talent remained far inferior to Hancock's prodigious abilities. The fact that they had fought Navy Headquarters' elite Vice Admirals to an even standstill was already an impressive achievement.
Looking further across the battlefield, many other warriors of the Kuja Pirates had also sustained injuries during their prolonged exchange with the Pacifista units.
Hancock hesitated for several heartbeats, internal conflict playing across her features, before finally addressing her sisters with quiet determination.
"Take the others to the coastline and board the ship. Return directly to Amazon Lily."
Sandersonia was the first to react to her sister's unexpected command.
"Sister? What are you planning to do?"
Marigold's concerned gaze also fixed on Hancock, clearly sensing something troubling in their leader's demeanor.
"I... I want to stay here. I want him to give me an explanation personally."
Seeing their big sister apparently controlled by what could only be described as "love-brain syndrome" at such a crucial moment, Marigold opened her mouth to voice strong objections but found herself blocked by Sandersonia's restraining hand.
The second sister understood the deeper implications.
Hancock staying here was actually the safer option.
She had essentially burned all bridges with the World Government by abandoning her Seven Warlord position during active combat. Returning to Amazon Lily now would only bring disaster to their homeland.
In the original timeline, when the Seven Warlords system was eventually abolished, Hancock had become a wanted pirate facing attacks from both Navy forces and Blackbeard's crew at Amazon Lily itself.
Only Rayleigh's intervention had saved Hancock's life, and even then, she'd been forced to promise undoing various petrifications in exchange for protection.
After that crisis, Hancock had chosen to stay away from Amazon Lily, and the Navy had indeed stopped focusing their attention on the isolated island nation.
After all, Amazon Lily was such a closed society in the dangerous Calm Belt region. Without the Empress situation drawing their interest, the Navy had little reason to bother with it.
"Sister, we'll wait for you at the perimeter," Sandersonia said with meaningful emphasis, then led the other warriors toward the docks.
Hancock initially didn't grasp the full meaning behind her sister's words, but after a few seconds of reflection, understanding dawned.
It seems they still don't believe I can actually keep that man here this time!
A cross-shaped vein pulsed visibly on Hancock's forehead as indignation flared. She looked up just as Naruto's devastating attack collided with Garp's legendary iron fist.
Garp's punch rocketed through the air like a comet streaking across space, accompanied by a thunderous roar as it struck toward Naruto with the accumulated force of decades of training and experience.
On Naruto's side, he appeared remarkably confident in his technique, simply releasing it with casual, almost dismissive ease.
When the Rasenshuriken collided with that iron fist, the result resembled the violent birth of a new star. The impact bloomed into a terrifying explosion that dominated the sky above them.
Compared to the mountain-peak-sized fireball that erupted from their collision, the solitary figure plummeting from the midst of that inferno appeared heartbreakingly small and fragile.
Every powerhouse remaining on the scene immediately extended their Observation Haki to investigate the outcome.
The falling figure was unmistakably Garp.