Brothers are bound heart to heart, and you play mind games with your brothers?

At that moment, whether it was Sengoku or Garp, their expressions became exceptionally stiff.

Sengoku fell into deep conflict.

Should they dodge, or not?

If they dodged, all their desperate efforts to block the first wave of attacks would have been for nothing. The remaining Heavenly Tribute would be reduced to ashes in the second bombardment, leaving not even scraps behind.

If they did not dodge... with this many Tailed Beast Bombs, let alone the Heavenly Tribute, even he and Garp might be buried here.

"Hahahahaha!!"

Suddenly.

Sengoku burst into laughter without warning.

Yet there was no joy in that laughter, only an indescribable bitterness and relief.

After several seconds, it was replaced by a deep sigh.

"Forget it..."

"Eh?" Garp turned to look at Sengoku. What was wrong with this guy? Had he been dealt too great a blow? Sengoku, don't be like this. You're scaring me!!!

Of course, someone else's emotions were also especially complicated.

That was Whitebeard, who was currently standing atop the only reef by the shore.

He was staring up at Ron over the sea, the muscles in his face twitching slightly as the corners of his mouth unconsciously pulled downward.

"Ron, you bastard! I'm still here! Are you really not going to spare a thought for me at all?"

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!!"

The moment the explosive blasts rang out, Whitebeard knew that Ron, that bastard, truly did not consider him human at all.

The moment the seven Tailed Beast Bombs fired simultaneously, Whitebeard also leaped into the air, jumping toward the sea and toward the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon.

"Ron, you bastard, catch me!" Whitebeard shouted.

Ron froze for a moment. He had been gathering power, preparing for a third round, but hearing that shout made him pause.

One of the chakra arms swiftly extended. Its golden energy hand shot out like a giant python, accurately grabbing Whitebeard around the waist in midair before rapidly retracting and pulling him to Ron's side.

"Rumble!!!"

At the same time, violent explosions erupted across the island one after another.

The seven Tailed Beast Bombs struck the ground almost simultaneously. Flames surged into the sky, dyeing the entire heavens dark red.

Mushroom clouds blossomed one after another, while shockwaves swept through everything, carrying shattered stones and scorched earth with them.

The aftermath came sweeping over them, raising enormous walls of water that crashed toward the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon.

"Why did you come over here?" Ron asked in surprise.

The muscles in Whitebeard's face twitched. Just listen to that—was that even something a person would ask? If he had not come over, was he supposed to wait to get caught in the blast?

"What do you think?" Whitebeard snapped back irritably.

"Hahahaha!" Ron chuckled. "Sorry, I just wanted to test its power. I had absolutely no intention of stealing your opponent."

"Huh? You idiot, what the hell are you talking about?" Whitebeard roared furiously. "I think you wanted to kill me along with them!"

Ron paused, then immediately defended himself. "No... I just thought it shouldn't affect you."

After all, this was the man who would one day be known as the "Strongest Man in the World." A few Tailed Beast Bombs should... be something he could withstand, right?

"What do you mean, it shouldn't affect me?" Whitebeard's voice changed from rage as he pointed at Ron's fox face. "I'm made of flesh and blood too! I can die too! You idiot!"

At that moment, Whitebeard finally understood. Ron, that bastard, looked harmless and easygoing with that smiling face, but he was far more dangerous than anyone else in the Rocks Pirates.

At least the others wore their hostility openly. But this brat Ron's attitude was basically, "Whoever you are, die together with the enemy."

"Hahahaha!" Ron was amused by Whitebeard's furious appearance.

"Can you stop laughing? That smile of yours gives me the creeps, bastard."

After a pause, Whitebeard added, "Also, those two bastards, Stussy and Kaido, have run off. If we don't catch up now, we'll have to figure out how to leave on our own later."

Ron instinctively looked back. At the edge of his vision, a tiny auxiliary ship was speeding away at full sail, nearly becoming an indistinguishable black speck.

"What the fuck?"

Ron blurted out a curse. Brothers are bound heart to heart, and you play mind games with your brothers?

"You seem surprised?" Whitebeard remarked blandly.

"Uh..." Ron hesitated for a few seconds, then chuckled. "Not really."

It really was not surprising.

Ron was well aware of the Rocks Pirates' terrible habits.

On the contrary, if someone actually waited where they were for you to return despite the danger, you should not sigh that they had turned over a new leaf. You should be wary of whether that bastard had been possessed.

"Do you still want to test your power?" Whitebeard asked again, his gaze sweeping over the island.

Ron gently shook his head.

He had actually finished testing it.

With his current strength, the Tailed Beast Bombs were already enough to inflict effective damage on Garp and Sengoku.

There was little point in continuing to fight here. Sengoku and Garp were no pushovers either. If they truly fought to the death, Ron's side might not gain much of an advantage.

"Then let's go," Whitebeard said slowly. "If we wait any longer, we won't even know which direction to start chasing from."

"Yeah."

Ron answered, pushed off with his feet, and began sprinting rapidly across the sea.

A moment later.

Smoke and dust lingered over the battered battlefield, refusing to disperse for a long time.

The air was thick with the stench of scorching and gunpowder, mixed together so harshly that it made people cough.

Sengoku, whose clothes did not have a single intact patch left, sat atop a charred boulder. Wounds were scattered across his body, and his eyes were dull and lifeless. He said nothing, merely sitting motionless as he stared at the gradually calming sea in the distance.

Garp, whose clothes were equally tattered, stood beside Sengoku with his hands on his hips, gazing toward the sea. However, he was clearly in much better spirits than Sengoku.

"Sengoku, what are you so depressed about?" Garp said with a grin. "It's not as if we've never failed before. If you're worried about being held accountable, just pin it all on me."

At that, Garp's expression suddenly turned more serious, and his gaze darkened slightly.

"Still... we underestimated that bastard named Ron."

Indeed, with a lineup of Whitebeard, Kaido, Stussy, and Ochoku, they would certainly have fled in disgrace.

But no one had expected a bug like Ron to appear—someone who was not afraid of seawater and could even treat the ocean's surface like solid ground.

Because of that one person, the entire battle had been completely rewritten.

Sengoku still did not speak.

He merely slowly raised his head to look at Garp. His lips moved, then closed again.

From this day onward, the name "Ron" would be marked with a heavy red circle on Marine Headquarters' list of high-priority targets.