The reinforced stone paving the plaza was instantly shredded into countless fragments, unable to withstand the onslaught.
As for the Marines and pirates who were too close—
Those without Haki were torn to pieces.
Only a lucky few who had Armament Haki managed to survive.
"How sinister! Who the hell taught you this underhanded move?!"
Kizaru grumbled as his light-formed body allowed the wind blades to pass harmlessly through him.
But then he remembered—
The original idea for this technique...
Had come from him, back when he was bragging to Dragon about crazy concepts like self-destructing clones and electrified lightning doppelgängers.
He had just been talking nonsense—
Yet Dragon had actually developed the technique!
Its practicality in battle was... questionable.
But its ability to mess with people? Perfect.
"Kizaru-senpai... are you really choosing to fight against me? Against the Revolutionary Army?"
Dragon reappeared, his coat now discarded to avoid any hindrance in battle.
Kizaru's eyebrows arched slightly.
"Fight against you?"
Then, without warning—
His body burst forward—not at his usual speed, but with an aggressive, unrelenting force.
"What—?!"
Dragon's battle instincts, honed through countless life-or-death fights, should have kicked in immediately—
But for a brief moment, his mind went completely blank.
The sheer pressure rolling off Kizaru was overwhelming—
His thoughts stalled for a fraction of a second.
And that fraction of a second was all Kizaru needed.
By the time Dragon snapped back to reality, Kizaru was already in front of him—
Completely ignoring his defensive stance, Kizaru's hand shot out and clamped around Dragon's throat.
Then, with a burst of force—
He slammed Dragon into the ground and dragged him forward at high speed.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! THUD!"
The Marinford plaza was ripped open, a deep trench carved into the stone as Dragon's body was used like a battering ram.
And when they finally reached the plaza's edge—
Kizaru hurled Dragon straight into the reinforced alloy wall.
"CRACK!"
The ultra-durable metal shuddered from the impact.
Dragon coughed up a mouthful of blood, unable to withstand the relentless assault.
Then—
A voice whispered in his ear.
"I'm not fighting against you... I'm fighting against the world."
Kizaru barely held back a shudder of embarrassment from how edgy that sounded.
Good thing this wasn't being broadcast live—
If those idiots in the chat group heard him say something this cringeworthy, he'd never live it down.
But—
In the world of pirates, the more dramatic the words, the more powerful they became.
Especially for someone like Dragon, who had been corrupted by Kizaru's nonsense long ago.
A moment ago, his face had been full of shock—
Now, his eyes showed understanding—
And... relief.
"I see... Kizaru-senpai... You truly haven't changed."
All this time, he had never wavered.
He had simply chosen a different path.
And that was fine.
Even if the Revolutionary Army lost, Dragon could entrust the future to Kizaru.
"Dragon-san! DRAGON CLAW!"
Unfortunately, not everyone could hear Kizaru's whispered words like Dragon did.
To Sabo, Dragon was both mentor and father figure. Seeing him get brutalized like this, Sabo was consumed by rage and rushed in recklessly.
In his desperation to save Dragon, Sabo pushed himself beyond his limits. His strike, wrapped in jet-black Armament Haki, even made Dragon raise an eyebrow.
If he had known getting beaten up would help Sabo improve this much, he wouldn't have needed Kizaru to do it for him!
"BAM!"
Unfortunately, Sabo was still far too weak compared to Kizaru. Even with his huge improvement, his powerful attack was casually blocked by Kizaru with a flick of his hand.
It was like an adult playing with a child—the gap between them was insurmountable!
"Dragon Roundhouse Kick!"
But Sabo refused to give up. Rather than backing off, he grabbed onto Kizaru's arm and used it as a pivot point to swing his leg toward Kizaru's head.
"That's enough~"
Kizaru didn't like bullying the weak.
At least, not when people were watching.
But since Sabo was the one picking a fight, he couldn't be blamed for teaching him a lesson.
Before Sabo could land the kick, he ended up just like Dragon—
With Kizaru's hand around his throat, his body was slammed into the reinforced alloy wall.
Luckily, Kizaru held back.
If he had hit Sabo with the same brutality as Dragon, the kid would probably lose his memory again on the spot.
---
[Random Viewer Trying to Suck Up to Luo Feng: HOLY SH*T! Kizaru is OP!]
[Esdeath: My dear seems to have gotten even stronger?]
[Haibara Ai: Both the one attacking and the one getting attacked are monsters… A normal person would've been turned into paste by now, right?!]
[Tony Stark: Oh, this kind of fighting style isn't really my thing… Hmm, better have J.A.R.V.I.S. record it for later.]
[Kobayashi: This is as terrifying as when Tohru gets pissed…]
[Fubuki: So fast! That speed is unreal!]
[Orochimaru: Heh… What an incredible physique. No wonder Manda kept talking about him… I suddenly feel inspired to refine my Edo Tensei technique.]
[Xiao Mei: He's way stronger than the Clan Leader… So this is the power of warriors from other worlds?]
The chat room was flooded with messages—
But Kizaru didn't exactly have the time to chat.
"Kuma, you bastard! Get the hell out of my way!"
Ivankov tried to rush in to help Dragon, but for some reason, Bartholomew Kuma was dead set on stopping him.
Even though Ivankov could sense that something was off about Kuma, he still cursed at him in frustration.
"Charge! Crush the Marines!"
From a distance, Belo Betty saw everything unfolding.
Unfortunately, she was too far away to intervene directly—
All she could do was amplify the morale of the Revolutionary Army using her Cheer-Cheer Fruit.
"Well done, Kizaru! Hurry up and secure the Pure Gold!"
Sengoku was thrilled as he continued his clash with Whitebeard.
Before the battle, he had assumed that even though Kizaru was stronger than Dragon, defeating him would still take considerable time.
All he could do was pray that the Five Elders had a little patience.
But Kizaru had just delivered a huge surprise—
If they secured the Pure Gold, the Marines' honor would be preserved—barely.
And if they managed to eliminate both the Whitebeard Pirates and the Revolutionary Army, then this War of the Best would be a resounding victory.
With such a massive prize, the Five Elders wouldn't care about the Marines' earlier mistakes.
---
"Marco!"
Whitebeard had, of course, noticed Dragon getting practically one-shot by Kizaru.
Just moments ago, he had been overjoyed at successfully rescuing Ace—
But now, he had no choice but to call for his most trusted son, First Division Commander Marco, to step in.
Most of the new generation of pirates feared Akainu more than Kizaru.
But to the old guard, that "Navy Monster" wasn't someone a hotheaded brute like Akainu could even compare to!
At that moment, Marco was soaring above the battlefield like a hawk, monitoring the fight and ready to assist any of his Whitebeard Pirates comrades in danger.
Naturally, he had also seen Dragon's devastating defeat.
By the time Whitebeard's shout rang out, Marco had already moved.
He shifted mid-air from his full Phoenix form into a hybrid state—
Then launched himself like a meteor, delivering a ferocious flying kick straight at Kizaru's back!
The Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Phoenix, as a Mythical Zoan, didn't have overwhelming attack power—
But with Marco's raw strength, even without his Devil Fruit, he could kick over a battleship.
"Tch, another one lining up to get beaten..."
Kizaru's body began turning into light—
Because that's just how busted the Glint-Glint Fruit was.
Even though Marco had Armament Haki, he still wasn't faster than light.
"Crack!"
But what Kizaru didn't expect was—
Somehow, while being choked out, Sabo had managed to slap a Seastone cuff onto Kizaru's wrist.
Even with his Stand abilities boosting him to ridiculous levels—
Kizaru still felt his strength plummet.
He instantly lost about 30% of his power—
Which meant, right now, he was about as strong as he was before he got his Stand.
"This is for Mr. Dragon! You're finished!"
Sabo was gasping for air, but his face was lit up with triumph.
It was a good thing he hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit yet—
Otherwise, he never would've had the chance to get those Seastone cuffs onto Kizaru.
"Phoenix Brand!"
Marco had noticed as well—
He had only planned to force Kizaru back, but now—
Now, he could end this!
If they could take down Kizaru, their chances of rescuing Ace would skyrocket.
And they'd reduce the casualties among their comrades!
"How naïve…"
Kizaru let go of Sabo and Dragon—
And spun around just in time to grab Marco's massive Phoenix talon.
Marco's eyes widened in shock.
Before he could react—
Kizaru swung him around like a whirlwind, spinning him dozens of times before hurling him straight into Sabo!
Sabo—who had barely caught his breath—
Was nearly knocked unconscious from Marco crashing into him!
Fortunately, at the last moment, Dragon stepped in, blocking the impact.
Before Kizaru could finish off the two annoying brats—
Dragon let out a resigned sigh and finally pulled out the Pure Gold.
Knowing Kizaru's true motives was good—
But having his grand battle turn into some kind of staged performance still felt awkward.
"Stop! If you move, I'll destroy it!"
Dragon's fingers tightened around the Pure Gold.
Because of their years of teamwork, he didn't even need to look at Kizaru to know what he had to do.
Before Kizaru could speak, someone else panicked first—
Delocas, who was locked in combat with Akainu but still keeping an eye on Dragon—
Or more specifically, on the Pure Gold.
"You bastard! You promised to give that to me! Dragon!"
Delocas barely got the words out before Akainu's magma fist slammed right into his face.
If he weren't a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user with ridiculous durability, plus an awakened fruit—
He'd probably be dead on the spot.
---
Meanwhile, Kizaru casually raised his left wrist, showing off the Seastone cuff.
"Ahhh, don't worry. I'm completely helpless now~ I don't have the strength to fight anymore."
The cuff was from Impel Down—
Famous for being unbreakable.
Even Golden Lion Shiki, one of the strongest pirates in history, had to cut off his own legs to escape from them.
---
"Yeah, like hell we're buying that!"
Marco finally managed to climb off Sabo, groaning in frustration.
Even as a Mythical Zoan, tough as he was—
That Kizaru windmill throw had almost turned him into an idiot.
He shot Sabo a resentful look.
"If you had proper high-quality Seastone cuffs, why the hell didn't you say so earlier?!"
The Whitebeard Pirates weren't exactly short on rare items—
They could've gifted him ten or twenty of those without a problem.
But now?
Sabo had used some cheap knockoff version, which locked Kizaru but not fully—
And Marco had almost paid the price for it.
Sabo, who was still catching his breath after getting nearly crushed to death, was just as confused.
Even though Kizaru had been handcuffed, he still didn't seem weakened at all.
Marco's resentful glare made Sabo feel completely wronged—
But he had no way to explain it either!
"Hm? Kids should stay quiet when the adults are talking."
Kizaru shot Marco a sideways glance, his tone lazy as ever.
Marco instantly shut up, not daring to say another word—
Not because he was afraid of pain—
But because if Kizaru swung him around like a ragdoll in front of tens of thousands of Whitebeard Pirates and allies again—
That would be humiliating beyond belief.
Then he realized something even worse—
Him standing there silent and intimidated—
That was even more humiliating than getting beaten to a pulp!
A true man of the sea could lose his head but never his pride!
And he was Whitebeard's First Division Commander—
His pride was also Whitebeard's pride!
Marco was about to speak up—
But before he could—
Dragon suddenly smirked and casually tossed the Pure Gold to Kizaru.
Marco's mind snapped.
Back when Dragon and Delocas were arguing, Whitebeard had explained what Pure Gold was.
Marco had already planned—
Once Ace was rescued, he'd find a way to trade for the Pure Gold.
Even if it meant allying with the Revolutionaries, even if it meant fighting the World Government and the Navy together—
If it could restore Whitebeard's health, the Whitebeard Pirates were willing to pay any price.
And now—
Kizaru had it.
How the hell was he supposed to get it back now?!
"Kizaru has lost his Devil Fruit powers! He's no longer a threat! Focus on saving Ace first!"
Dragon pointed toward the execution platform, shouting at Marco.
°°°
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