You caught one shot? What about the second?

As Whitebeard's words fell, with a whoosh, the golden giant Buddha landed beside Garp.

He stared at the twisted, mangled wreckage of the warship before him, his expression stiffening slightly.

After a while, his brow gradually relaxed. No matter what, the remaining Heavenly Tribute had been preserved. The method had just been rather humiliating.

"Sengoku." Garp turned toward the still-churning sea. "Switch with me. You take Newgate; I'll deal with that bastard Ron."

Sengoku's gaze fell on Ron, and then his expression suddenly changed.

Garp keenly noticed Sengoku's abnormality and instinctively followed his gaze toward the sea.

At that moment, the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon opened its mouth. A massive dark-red energy sphere gathered and expanded within it, emitting a low hum.

On the several chakra arms extending from either side of its body, a magma fireball had formed in every palm.

"Damn it." Sengoku gritted his teeth, his voice filled with fury suppressed to the extreme. "Without realizing it... we fell into his trap. That bastard Ron has seized our weakness."

More precisely, he had seized Sengoku's weakness.

Only Sengoku took the mission of escorting the Heavenly Tribute so seriously.

If this shipment of Heavenly Tribute were lost under his watch, the World Government's accountability, the instability of his position, the ruin of his prospects—Sengoku could foresee those consequences, but he was unwilling to bear them.

And Garp?

If it was lost, then it was lost. They could hold him accountable however they pleased. Even if he were demoted to an ordinary Marine, his heart would not so much as ripple.

That was where the problem lay.

If Sengoku dodged, the remaining Heavenly Tribute would inevitably be reduced to dust.

If he did not dodge, he had to take all of Ron's attacks head-on.

This was an open scheme.

Straightforward and aboveboard, with no tricks or conspiracies whatsoever.

Sengoku had to make a choice.

"That bastard." Sengoku forced the words through clenched teeth.

"Sengoku..." Garp glanced at Sengoku's stiff profile and hesitated. A moment later, he suddenly smiled in understanding. "You always say I like to act recklessly, but aren't you the same?"

"It's coming!" Sengoku suddenly shouted.

Boom—

In an instant, the long-gathered Tailed Beast Bomb and magma fireballs shot forth simultaneously.

The sea surface was torn apart in an instant.

An incomparably huge chasm stretched from beneath the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon's feet all the way to the beach. Seawater was forced surging to either side, exposing the sand and reefs below.

Walls of white waves rose high, like two enormous gates cleaved apart.

Hah!!!

Sengoku thrust his palms forward. From the golden giant Buddha's palms came the shrill blast of shockwaves.

Then they crashed into the Tailed Beast Bomb and magma fireballs at tremendous speed.

Boom!

A deafening explosion rang out in every direction.

Terrifying aftershocks spread outward like a tsunami.

At the center of the explosion, fire and smoke intertwined into a massive sphere, swallowing all light.

"Garp!" Sengoku's voice pierced through the roar of the explosion.

That palm shockwave had not completely neutralized Ron's attack. It had merely slowed the Tailed Beast Bomb and destroyed some of the accompanying magma fireballs.

The dark-red energy sphere continued advancing slowly, radiating a heart-pounding pressure.

"Leave it to me!"

Garp answered as he rose, his figure leaping into the air amid the fading light of the explosion. Haki instantly covered his fists, and then he swung them.

Fist Bone Meteor!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!

In midair, Garp swung his fists so rapidly that only afterimages remained.

Every punch unleashed a terrifying shockwave, pouring down upon the Tailed Beast Bomb like a meteor shower.

The moment the shockwaves collided with the Tailed Beast Bomb, blinding white light and deafening thunder erupted.

Boom~~~~

Boom~~~~

Explosions rang out one after another, and the aftershocks spread outward like ripples.

All the magma fireballs were destroyed.

But the Tailed Beast Bomb was still advancing.

Sengoku did not sit idle. The golden giant Buddha expanded once more, growing taller as he thrust both palms forward and stood directly in the Tailed Beast Bomb's path.

Bang!!

The giant Buddha's palms pressed against the dark-red energy sphere.

His body was driven backward step by step by the Tailed Beast Bomb's impact, plowing two deep trenches into the ground.

Aah!!!!

Sengoku's roar echoed across the area. His ten fingers sank deep into the energy sphere as Haki rapidly spread over it.

Then he suddenly exerted force, twisting the Tailed Beast Bomb's trajectory to one side.

Whoosh~~~

The deflected Tailed Beast Bomb could no longer be stopped, howling toward the mountain range on the other side of the island.

A moment later.

Boom!!!

An explosion abruptly erupted, and the entire island shook violently.

In the distance, a huge mushroom cloud shot into the sky. The shockwave swept in every direction with shattered rocks and dust, blanketing the entire island in a thick layer of grit.

Sengoku panted, his face utterly expressionless.

Garp, however, imitated Sengoku's usual tone and scolded, "Hey, that was too reckless, Sengoku. If that thing had exploded beside you, you definitely wouldn't have been able to take it."

"You idiot... the battle isn't over yet!" Sengoku desperately wanted to retort, but this was clearly not the time.

In that brief gap, a light, casual voice drifted over from the sea.

"What are you two muttering about? My second round is ready. What about yours?"

Sengoku swept his sleeve, stirring up a violent gust that blew away the smoke and dust filling the area.

Out at sea, the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon had its mouth open, and a Tailed Beast Bomb even larger than the last had formed within it.

The good news was that no magma fireballs had formed on its chakra arms this time.

The bad news was that every one of those palms had formed a Tailed Beast Bomb.