"Sengoku, look out!"
The instant Kaido lunged, Garp felt a profound shift. He immediately sensed an incredibly powerful form of Haki erupting from Kaido, so strong that it briefly reminded him of a legendary figure from his past.
"How is this possible!"
Above, Sengoku was watching as Kaido's Thunder Bagua collided with his Buddha Impact. In an unbelievable sight, Kaido shattered the Buddha Impact in less than half a second of resistance. He then appeared before Sengoku with lightning speed.
"What!"
Kaido didn't hesitate. His Hassaikai, crackling with black and red lightning, struck Sengoku's golden Great Buddha form. Even though Sengoku managed to block his chest with his Armament Haki-coated hands, a chilling crack, crack, crack echoed out.
"Ugh!"
In the eyes of every shocked and worried Marine, and under Garp's furious gaze, Fleet Admiral Sengoku was defeated in a single blow by the Four Emperors captain, Kaido. Sengoku spat blood, his eyes rolled back, and he flew backward, smashing into the remaining Marineford headquarters building. The force of the impact utterly destroyed what little was left of the structure.
"!!!"
"H-how is this possible?"
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku was actually beaten by Kaido in one attack..."
At that moment, the faith of every Marine seemed to crumble. Their highest idol, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, had fallen.
Even the Three Admirals wore grim expressions.
The pirates, on the other hand, were stunned and disbelieving. While they should have been overjoyed, the one who had defeated Sengoku was not their beloved old man, Whitebeard, but an enemy: Kaido of the Beasts.
Just as the Marines' morale dropped to its lowest point, an angry roar ripped through the battlefield.
"Kaido!"
A mountain of sheer power instantly pressed down from the direction of the ruined Marineford building, washing over the entire battlefield. The sky abruptly turned blood-red, and the sea around the island instantly grew turbulent.
Everyone looked over in horror. The source was Marine Hero Garp, standing in front of the completely destroyed headquarters below the execution platform. His face was a mask of pure rage, his fists were tightly clenched, and he was slowly walking through the retreating Marines. He was emitting a powerful wave of Haoshoku Haki, with red lightning overflowing around him. With every step, the very earth seemed to tremble.
"So... powerful!"
"Vice Admiral Garp!"
"What kind of power is that!"
"Mr. Garp is furious!"
"Great, Mr. Garp is finally going to fight!"
Seeing this display, the Marines instantly regained their fighting spirit. However, the high-ranking Marine officers' expressions immediately turned grave. One by one, the Vice Admirals understood what was happening and roared out orders.
"All Marines, listen up! Get as far away from Vice Admiral Garp as you can!"
"From this moment on, you have only one mission: survive!"
The sudden, desperate command stunned many of the Marines, leaving them confused. But they wisely obeyed, fleeing in all directions and clearing the center of the main square in mere moments.
Kaido watched this with excitement. He descended from the sky, landing heavily in the Marineford square directly in front of Marine Hero Garp, and grinned.
"Oh, Marine Hero Garp, are you angry? But anger is the most useless power on this sea!"
Boom!
As his words ended, Kaido's own Haoshoku Haki erupted, generating red lightning identical to Garp's, swirling violently around his body.
It wasn't until he came to this world that Kaido truly understood that the so-called Haoshoku coating had different levels. There were two main levels.
The first level was the most common black and red mixed Haoshoku coating, which manifested as black-red or red-black lightning. This was the level he and Luffy had used when they fought in the main story. The black portion represented Armament Haki, and the red part was the Haoshoku itself.
To determine the exact strength, one had to look at which color was dominant in the lightning. If black was dominant, representing Armament Haki, the Haoshoku coating was still considered basic. If red was dominant, representing Haoshoku, it was an advanced stage of the coating. However, this only represented a minor quantitative change, not a substantial leap in power.
The second level, however, was entirely different. This top-tier Haoshoku coating generated lightning that was completely red. This was the level of Haki used by Whitebeard and Roger during their battles, by Red Hair Shanks when he scared away Admiral Aramaki, and by Rayleigh when he deterred Blackbeard.
This pure-red lightning signified that the coating was generated entirely by the strongest form of Haoshoku. In terms of both offense and defense, it existed on a completely separate plane from the lower-grade Haoshoku coating. This was why Big Mom felt that Whitebeard and Red Hair Shanks ranked above her and Kaido among the Four Emperors.
Previously, Kaido had not mastered this supreme Haoshoku coating, but his breakthrough in the "Greater and Lesser Heavenly Cycle Self-Rotation Method" from the first to the second layer had caused a sudden, massive increase in his mental energy. This chain reaction directly broke the final restriction that had held him back, allowing Kaido to finally reach this absolute level of power.
Now, in the very center of the Marineford square, two monsters—two individuals who represented the pinnacle of mortal combat power and two opposing forces—stood in a terrifying confrontation.
"Indeed, this brat has also reached this level!"
On the other side of the battlefield, Whitebeard was also taken aback by the power of the Haki radiating from Kaido.
Just then, a blue, flaming figure flew toward him, enduring the crushing aura unleashed by Kaido and Garp's Haki, and landed beside Whitebeard.
"Pops, this is a great chance! We have to take Ace and leave while we still can!" Marco's voice was laced with desperation.
Whitebeard looked at his favorite son. "No... Marco, I might have to stay here."
It wasn't that Whitebeard didn't want to leave. His eyes were fixed on Blackbeard, whose newly awakened crew members were surrounding them from all directions.
"From now on, I might not be able to protect any of you. The next journey will be yours to walk alone."
"Pops!" Marco couldn't hold back his tears.
"Hey, hey, hey, Captain Marco, you look absolutely pathetic right now!" Blackbeard saw the scene and laughed cruelly.
"Teach!" Marco wiped his tears away and glared fiercely at Blackbeard, shouting his name with a rage he'd never felt before.
"Go. Don't waste time, Marco. Take Ace and get out of here!"
"I understand, Pops!" Marco flapped his wings, which were burning with blue flames, and flew toward Ace.
Blackbeard made no move to stop him. From the very beginning, his only goal had been Whitebeard's Devil Fruit.
At the same time, Garp looked at the Haki radiating from Kaido. His anger was intense, yet his expression had become solemn. But what did that matter?
"Kaido, you've gone too far with your nonsense. This old man is in a very bad mood right now!" Garp said, clenching his fists until a cracking sound echoed. Dark Armament Haki covered his fists as he fixed his icy gaze on Kaido. "This old man will make you understand that the Marine's justice is not something you can trample on!"
"Fist Impact!"
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