Summit War 15: God's Knights! Gunko!

At the bay, Garp's fists were still in the same position as when he was exchanging blows with Whitebeard, but his expression had completely darkened.

It wasn't the solemnity one feels when facing a powerful enemy, but a deeper kind of gloom, like seeing something that shouldn't be there.

He recognized the cloak, and even more so, the ancient emblem on the cloak's collar.

The God's Knights.

Back then, the flames of God Valley burned for three days and three nights. On the ruins where the Rocks Pirates were destroyed, he saw people wearing the same cloaks standing behind the Five Elders, like a group of silent ghosts, who did not make a move from beginning to end.

But the eyes of that group of people are exactly the same as those of the woman standing here today.

"Garp, do you know her?" Whitebeard noticed Garp's unusual behavior, and the shockwave from Murakumogiri subsided slightly.

Garp didn't answer, but clenched his teeth, the veins on his forehead bulging as if they were about to burst.

He knew all too well what the God's Knights meant— Imu's gaze was already fixed on this war.

Natsu stood on the broken walls of the fortress, coldly surveying the entire battlefield.

The navy's elite force truly lived up to its reputation—none of these officers, drawn from all over the world, were fresh-faced recruits.

At first, the Whitebeard Pirates were able to tear through the defenses with sheer courage, with the Division Commander and their vassal fleets pressing forward wave after wave, but the Marines held on.

It wasn't the Admiral who helped, but the officers and veterans who used their flesh and blood to forcefully plug the breach.

The defenses are shrinking, being rebuilt, and being pushed back little by little.

Uchiha Kei, along with Yaoyu and Yakumi, led twenty clan members to hold back more than a dozen remaining Pacifista and more than a dozen Headquarters Vice Admiral. More than twenty Kage Level combatants were like nails driven into the key points of the battlefield.

However, the navy, relying on sheer numbers and pre-prepared fortifications, gradually reduced the pirates' space to maneuver.

Natsu withdrew her gaze and clasped her hands together.

"Wood Release: Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique." Four Wood Clone identical to his original body emerged from his shoulders, Hand Seals simultaneously as they landed.

"Wood Release: Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence." A vast sea of trees burst forth from beneath the ice, their thick roots arching through the stone slabs and frozen soil like the spine of an earth dragon. The branches of the giant trees spread wildly toward the naval defense line, overturning all the gun emplacements, bunkers, and firing positions along the way.

The forest is growing much faster and more rapidly than it did a few months ago in the Sabaody Archipelago.

"Borsalino! Marco is yours!" Akainu's roar drowned out the rumble of the forest.

He strode to the forefront of the naval defenses. The stone slabs beneath his feet melted into dark red pools of lava the moment he landed, and surging lava poured out from his body, forming a scorching wall of fire in front of him.

The branches of the forest crashed into the wall of fire, instantly carbonizing and disintegrating in the high temperature, but more branches bypassed the wall from the side and continued to spread deeper into the defense line.

Akainu gritted his teeth, his right arm transforming into a gigantic magma fist that blotted out the sky—"Great Eruption!"

The Magma Fist shot out like a volcanic eruption, cleaving a large swathe of trees that was rushing towards it in half.

A streak of light swept through the air just as Akainu finished speaking.

Kizaru appeared in front of Marco, the beam of light from his index fingertip had just dissipated, and his usual nonchalant expression still lingered on his lips, but his attack speed was at least three points faster than before.

Marco wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his blue wings unfurled again, and the flames of the Phoenix danced twice on his shoulders.

"They really change personnel frequently." Light blasts and blue flames exploded overhead.

The battle is about to break out again.

Sakazuki did not hesitate for a moment.

Behind him, a large part of the forest had burned into a dark red lava pool, and the churning lava reflected the light and shadow on half of his face.

He stepped over the still-burning logs, his military boots crushing the charred bark, each step leaving a hissing scorch mark on the ice.

His gaze never left the greyish-white figure atop the fortress.

Uchiha Natsu.

Akainu gritted his teeth, and as he ran, his right arm transformed into magma, shooting out like a volcanic eruption, carrying terrifying heat capable of instantly vaporizing steel.

"The Hound Dog!"

At the same time, the Gunko in the distance released their bowstrings, and three arrows wrapped in Armament Haki streaked through the air, blocking Natsu's escape routes on both sides.

Natsu did not take the hit head-on. The afterimage of the Body Flicker Technique was still lingering on the top of the fortress when he himself had already retreated more than ten meters away, his hands simultaneously flying to Hand Seals.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" A water dragon hundreds of meters long burst forth from beneath Aokiji's frozen ice, its head held high, carrying with it a massive amount of seawater as it crashed head-on into Akainu.

Everyone present knew what would happen to Devil Fruit User if they were splashed with seawater.

But Akainu didn't even blink. The magma on his right arm rapidly sculpted as he ran, the surging lava twisting into a ferocious dog's head, which he lunged at the water dragon head-on.

"Dog Bite: Crimson Lotus!" The lava and the water dragon collided violently, and the entire battlefield was engulfed by the scalding white mist that erupted from the explosion.

Within the white mist, Akainu unleashed his full Observation Haki, instantly locking onto the moving figure.

Without pausing, as the stone slab beneath his feet shattered, he burst forth from the white mist, his right arm transforming once more into a lava dog's head, lunging straight at the grayish-white figure.

"Hound Dog!!"

Natsu's Sharingan precisely spotted the rapidly enlarging magma dog head within the white mist.

His hands didn't stop; the two techniques were completed almost simultaneously.

"Wood Release: Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!" A row of thick wooden pillars burst forth from the ice, forming a heavy wooden barrier in Akainu's path of attack.

"Wood Release: Wood Release: Flying Wood!" Immediately afterwards, several sharpened giant logs shot out from the side, aiming straight for Akainu's waist and abdomen.

The lava crashed against the wooden wall, and flames and sawdust exploded into a blinding halo.

Akainu burst out from the wood chips, his left fist blasting the incoming Wood Release: Flying Wood into countless fragments, and his right fist smashed towards Natsu again.

His fighting style has always been the same – no need for fancy moves or repeated probing, just the most direct way to corner his opponent and then crush them.

"Wood Release: Wood Release: Wood Release: Wood Release: Hōbi Technique!" Natsu's hands didn't stop; a new hand seal was completed at the same moment Akainu broke through the Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall.

A giant wooden shield shaped like a fanged demon's face burst forth from the ice, its thick wooden layers emitting a dull thud as Akainu's Hound Dog rammed into it.

The magma hound's head frantically tore at the wooden shield, sending wood chips and sparks flying everywhere. A charred pit was burned into the shield, but it was ultimately not breached.

As Akainu frowned, he caught a glimpse of several arrows with semi-transparent trails flying around the edge of the shield and heading towards Natsu from a blind spot.

The Gunko has made its move.