"Haah, haah..." Less than five minutes into his fight with Aokiji, Akainu was already breathing hard.
He had taken no direct hits, yet blood kept spilling from the corner of his mouth.
Aokiji was clearly holding back. Otherwise, Akainu might already have been dead.
Akainu had once spared Aokiji's life. Now Aokiji chose to spare his.
"Kuzan, is that all you've got? If you can't even kill me in this state, I worry for the Navy's future."
Akainu drove a Magma Fist toward Aokiji's face. Aokiji shifted aside, dodged the punch, and kicked him away.
The instant Aokiji's foot struck, Akainu turned to magma. It did him no good. He was still sent flying.
"What is this? Seastone! You fitted yourself with a Seastone prosthetic?"
Akainu was surprised. He had never expected Aokiji, a Devil Fruit User, to wear a Seastone prosthetic.
"Only the sole is Seastone. I'll say it again, Sakazuki: surrender."
Akainu rose from the ground, dust coating his graying short hair.
He was only in his fifties, yet his hair had gone almost entirely gray. It showed how badly his body had deteriorated.
"Save your breath. Kill me if you want, but you'll never take me alive."
After a lifetime in the Navy, Akainu would never allow himself to be arrested by it.
Aokiji, however, wanted to capture him for now. They had once been comrades, and Akainu had spared his life. Aokiji could not bring himself to kill him like this.
If Akainu had stood any chance of destroying the Endpoint, Aokiji would have killed him without hesitation. But now Akainu posed no threat at all.
While Aokiji hesitated, an unidentified object came hurtling through the sky.
Thinking it was an attack from Akainu, Aokiji instinctively turned elemental and raised an arm to shield his face.