STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!
Garp was kicked backward several steps by the powerful double-foot strike. His chest felt a burning and numbing sensation.
Luffy's body was covered in lightning and scorching flames. An ordinary person would have been completely numbed.
Luffy used the force to retreat, pressing one hand to the ground. He launched himself into the air like a projectile.
"Don't die on me, you bastard grandfather!"
He brought his hands together in front of his chest. Black-red Haki gathered madly, with even more violent golden thunder and red flames jumping within.
"White: Raika Inseki!"
He swung his arms forward. Countless shock waves entwined with thunder and fire, like falling meteors, overwhelming bombardment down toward Garp below.
"This old man won't die! But you—if this is all you've got, don't blame this old man for locking you up in the same place as Ace!"
Garp looked up at the sky. Facing this devastating blow, he laughed with heroic spirit.
His fists, like tireless pile drivers, punched upward again and again.
Each punch was simple and unadorned, yet contained the terrifying power and condensed domineering aura to shatter mountains and split seas.
"Genkotsu: Rensei!"
BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM!
The collisions exploded into a shower of sparks and flames.
Garp's fists didn't even directly touch the shockwave. Just the external Haki released with his fist strikes was enough to completely dismantle these devastating attacks.
After throwing dozens of punches, clearing the last of the meteors, Garp's figure flashed again. Using Geppo to accelerate twice in mid-air, he instantly broke through the explosion's aftermath and appeared before Luffy!
"Brat, treat me as an enemy! Take this fight seriously!"
He He roared. His fist, crackling with chilling black and red lightning, tore through the air and slammed toward Luffy's face!
"White Balloon!"
Luffy reacted quickly. His abdomen instantly swelled into a giant white balloon.
THUD!
Garp's fist hit the balloon, producing a dull thud. The immense force made his arm tremble slightly. His attack was hindered.
But just as Luffy thought he had successfully defended and was about to return to normal to counterattack—
"Too naive!"
Garp let out a low growl. His pushed-back fist shot out again, even faster!
This time, it was no longer a straight punch. It cleverly bypassed the balloon's defense range, aiming straight for Luffy's side abdomen!
Luffy's pupils contracted. He quickly contracted his body, again covering his forehead with Haki and thrusting forward forcefully.
SMACK!
Garp's other hand, like an iron vice, grabbed Luffy's wrist, which was trying to block, preventing him from effectively defending.
At the same time, the fist that had bypassed the defenses and landed solidly on Luffy's side abdomen.
PFFT!
Luffy spat out a stream of gastric juices. His body arched like a shrimp. Severe pain spread throughout his body instantly.
"Your Conqueror's Haki talent is strong. But that talent was inherited from this old man!"
Garp, not letting up, put force into the hand grabbing Luffy's wrist, swinging him toward the ground. His other fist again is full of overlord color, preparing to deliver a heavy blow!
"White: Kaiten Muchi!"
Just as he was about to be slammed into the ground, Luffy endured the severe pain. His body spun rapidly like a top. His ungrabbed leg, like a steel whip, swept toward Garp's neck with afterimages.
Garp was forced to release Luffy's hand and block with his arm.
THUD!
The leg whip collided with his arm. Haki flew in all directions.
But just as he neared Luffy, the spinning leg whip figure suddenly disappeared, leaving Garp striking nothing.
That was an afterimage created using rubber elasticity and high-speed movement.
Luffy's real body lowered himself, narrowly dodging Garp's follow-up pursuit. At the same time, his battle-axe right foot, again covered in thunder and fire, from an incredible angle, on Garp's head, which was slightly leaning forward due to the missed attack.
"Got you this time!"
At the same time, a gleam of light flashed in Luffy's eyes. He manipulated the remaining building debris around him. The bricks and wood were instantly assimilated to rubber, twisting and deforming, combining into a giant slingshot.
He placed himself like a cannonball on the slingshot, aimed directly at Garp, whose movements were stagnant due to the head Strike!
"Gomu Gomu no White Rocket: Raika Kansatsu!"
The elastic potential energy, compressed to its limit, was released in an instant. Luffy's figure turned into a meteor, wreathed in crimson lightning and flames, shooting towards Garp's chest at a speed exceeding any previous attack.
This strike concentrated all his current power.
Haki, lightning, and fire. It also seized the fleeting opening created by Garp's injury!
BOOM!
The crimson lightning and fire shockwave solidly engulfed Garp's figure. The terrifying energy erupted, forming a thick beam of light shooting into the sky, stirring up a massive vortex in the clouds above!
The stray lightning and flames scattered like fireworks, casting everything around in flickering light and shadow.
"Just retire already, you bastard grandfather." Luffy landed on the ground, slightly out of breath, staring at the center of the energy burst.
This attack should...
But his pupils Suddenly, he shrank back.
"Genkotsu..."
A low, pressure-filled voice came from within the not-yet-dispersed pillar of lightning.
The hand that had just punched Luffy's abdomen suddenly reached out from the energy current and clenched tightly!
CRACKLE!
Inside the massive shockwave, this invisible grip actually forced open a gap, revealing the black-red lightning jumping around the fist!
Then, the fist slammed down, cleaving through...
A shockwave that could destroy an island from within!
"Ginga Bunretsu!"
That fist, wreathed in ultimate Conqueror's Haki, shattered all obstacles and arrived before Luffy's face in the blink of an eye.
Luffy only had time to cross his arms, covering them with Busoshoku Haki to protect his chest.
THUD!
The oppressive force pressed down on his arms.
An indescribable, immense force arrived. Luffy felt his arm bones groan under the strain. His chest seemed about to be crushed. His entire body turned into an afterimage, flying backward into the ground.
KABOOOOM!
The ground was blasted into a massive crater dozens of meters in diameter. Cracks spread like a spiderweb to the edge of sight.
The surrounding buildings remnants, under this terrifying aftershock, collapsed and shattered like sandcastles. The kicked-up dust shot into the sky like a... tsunami, covering a small half of the sky.
Garp slowly walked out of the dissipating thunderfire beam. Several wounds had burst open on his bare upper body and determined face. Blood flowed. But he seemed unaware. He just looked at the huge pit and laughed boldly, "Puhahaha! If you want this old man to retire, this isn't nearly enough, brat! You're still far from this level of Haoshoku Infusion!"
He could feel that the concentration and destructive power of the Haoshoku Infusion in that punch just now were indeed good.
They reminded him, after a long time, of the power of old friends.
No wonder the remnants of that bygone era were being defeated one after another.
His grandson was truly surpassing the previous generation, now trying to leave him—the wave before—behind on the beach.
CRASH.
The stirring smoke was suddenly dispersed by an invisible force.
At the bottom of the deep pit, Luffy's figure slowly stood up.
The ground beneath his feet undulates like elastic rubber.
His body was covered in hairline wounds. A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. Clearly, he had suffered serious internal injuries from that Ginga Bunretsu.
His strongest Raika Kansatsu had only managed to make Garp bleed and injure him.
Luffy was inwardly awed.
He had been mentally prepared. Garp's physique was at a monster level. To defeat him with one strike was wishful thinking.
This fight was destined to be a protracted fight of endurance, will, and recovery.
And in that regard, Luffy, with the strong vitality of his rubber fruit and Nika Form, had absolute confidence!
But the most important thing now was not defeating his grandfather, but buying time until his crewmates sent the signal to withdraw.
"You're still far from defeating this old man."
Garp grinned, shaking the blood drops off his arm. "The Straw Hat crew has no way to escape the Navy's encirclement. Just surrender, Luffy. While this old man still has some influence in the Navy, at least I can keep you alive."
His words carried a barely noticeable trace of fatigue.
"Then I'd just become like you?"
Luffy looked up and said.
Garp was stunned. He gritted his teeth. "What's wrong with becoming like me?!"
"Losing your freedom like you—what's the difference between that and dying?!" Luffy shouted.
Garp opened his mouth.
Finally, all his lecturing and anger turned into a complicated sigh, which then turned back into grinding teeth. "You really are my good grandson!"
To use this kind of argument against him at a time like this.
Just then, Rayleigh, who had been around with Kizaru, calculated the time.
Luffy could now prepare to withdraw.
He swung his sword to push back Kizaru's lightspeed kick and shouted toward Luffy:
"Luffy, time's almost up!"
Luffy quickly turned his head toward Rayleigh.
Rayleigh's face held a calm smile. His silver hair danced in the wind. "Don't forget, you have more important things to do. That is also my wish!"
His gaze meaningfully glanced in the direction of Impel Down.
Luffy understood Rayleigh's meaning.
Rescue Ace!
"You think you can escape from this old man? Then try it, brat!"
Garp stomped his feet into the ground, planting himself in a secure lunge. His Haki again rose. He was like an insurmountable wall of sighs. "This time, I won't let you slip away!"
Luffy let out a low growl. "I have things I must do."
The white steam around him suddenly converged. His skin color returned to normal. His hair fell.
He actively switched from He transitioned from the depleted Gear 5 form to the more speed- and stamina-balanced Gear Second Plus state.
Blood-colored patterns and Haki reappeared from his body, but their color was deeper.
His legs bent slightly. His body leaned forward, like a cheetah poised to pounce.
"Gomu Gomu no Hakoku PLUS!"
Luffy roared. His legs unleashed terrifying power. The ground exploded. His entire body shot into the sky like a shooting star!
High in the air, his right arm did not enlarge as usual. Instead, it began to compress rapidly inward!
The elasticity of his rubber and the power of his muscles were pushed to their limits. The air around his arm distorted from the highly concentrated energy.
What was that?
Hakoku?
Garp's eyes narrowed. He knew this move well.
Giant warriors of Elbaf, even Big Mom and Kaido, had used similar techniques.
But Luffy's Hakoku seemed... a bit different.
Other people's Hakoku expanded power. His was extreme compression?
"If you're going to block me,"
Luffy grinned at Garp, "then fall!"
The fist in his hand conti
Nuously compressed, the space around the fist began to ripple erratically. Even denser, dark red lightning erupted uncontrollably, crackling!
Danger!
An extreme sense of danger instantly seized Garp!
All the power of this strike was compressed into a single point. Its penetrating and destructive power were likely far beyond any previous attack.
It was in that moment, his attention drawn—
The seven-times compressed Gomu Gomu no Hakoku PLUS was complete!
BOOM!
The power compressed to its limit was released in an instant!
Luffy's figure and fist almost merged into one, transforming into a thin but extremely concentrated dark red beam. At a speed beyond visual perception, it descended from the sky, striking Garp with unparalleled precision.
Garp only had time to cross his arms, pushing the Busoshoku and Haoshoku Haki he had cultivated his entire life to their limits, constructing an almost absolute defensive barrier in front of him!
"Tekken: Shūkyoku" Heki!"
THUD.
The compressed Hakoku energy firmly nailed on Garp's defensive barrier.
Black-red lightning exploded crazily.
The ground beneath Garp's feet silently caved in, forming a regular circular deep pit. Garp himself was hammered down into the earth by this concentrated impact.
PFFT!
Blood finally sprayed from Garp's mouth.
Fine cracks appeared on the defensive barrier he had constructed. Though not completely broken, the horrific impact had already penetrated his body, causing real internal injuries.
He was carried down by this force, until with a rumble, he completely disappeared from the surface, falling to the bottom of an unknown deep hole.
Faintly, the sound of underground water being forced out by the impact could be heard.
"Rayleigh! I will definitely do it!"
Luffy steadied himself in mid-air, not even taking time to check on Garp. He turned and shouted toward Rayleigh at the top of his lungs.
Before the words faded, using the elasticity of the rubber ground when he landed, combined with the explosive power of his muscles, he shot like a fully fired bullet toward the rendezvous point agreed upon with his crewmates. His speed was so great it left only a red steam trail in the air.
"Bastard brat."
At the bottom of the deep pit, Garp struggled to stand, but felt his internal organs churning with intense pain. For a moment, he was somewhat weak.
He looked up at the disappearing meteor in the sky and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, both helpless and proud. "You've really grown up."
But just as Luffy shot away like a red meteor, seemingly about to escape from this core battlefield—
A freezing breath enveloped the area without warning.
The moisture in the air instantly condensed into ice crystals. The temperature plummeted.
"Ice Age."
***
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