The Battle Between Whitebeard and Blackbeard

The next day

"Hey, did you hear? Teach is challenging Pops!" "What? He's the vice commander of the Second Division! How could he do something so outrageously rebellious?" "What are you talking about? Teach just wants Pops to give him some guidance! Don't spread nonsense!" "Exactly! Teach is one of the founding members of the Whitebeard Pirates!"...

The news that Teach was going to fight Whitebeard reached everyone on the ship. Quite a few people felt that Teach was going too far this time, but most believed that Teach had displayed formidable strength, and Pops merely wanted to personally guide him.

"Teach, are you really going to fight Pops?" Thatch couldn't help asking during the meal.

"Ze-ha-ha-ha! Thatch, do you think I could possibly be Pops' opponent? I just want to see how big the gap is between me and the strongest fighter on this sea! And I'd like Pops to guide me a little while he's at it!" Teach said indistinctly as he chewed on cherry pie.

"I'm so jealous of you, Teach!" Ace's face was filled with envy. "Pops' guidance is incredibly precious! I don't know what you said to him, but he actually agreed!"

"Ze-ha-ha! You're overthinking it, Captain Ace! Pops is a very gentle man! If you want him to guide you, I'm sure he'd agree as well!" Teach swallowed the food in his mouth and patted his belly in satisfaction.

"Really?" A glint flashed through Ace's eyes. "As it happens, I feel like my development of the Fire-Fire Fruit has hit a bottleneck!"

"Ace!" Teach looked at Ace and slowly continued, "I think you should focus on training your physical techniques and Haki now! You've developed your Devil Fruit quite well, but your physical techniques and Haki are far too weak! That'll be a huge disadvantage in your future battles!"

Teach's serious expression sent Ace into deep thought. Then he couldn't help asking, "But I still feel that the fruit's power is greater!"

Teach sighed when he heard that. "The power of a Logia fruit is indeed formidable against people weaker than you! But it's only supplementary! What's truly powerful is you yourself!"

At that moment, Thatch also spoke up. "But I feel like my fruit lets me possess considerable combat power even without highly advanced physical techniques."

Teach rolled his eyes at him. "The fruit you ate is the Rumble-Rumble Fruit! Its destructive power is astonishing, and its speed is incredibly fast! It's one of the strongest fruits there is! But you still can't neglect training your physical techniques and Haki! Take the Navy's three Admirals, for example. They're all Logia users. Their physical techniques may be weaker compared to their fruit abilities, but that doesn't mean their physical techniques are garbage! Both of you, remember what I'm saying: you absolutely must train your physical techniques and Haki seriously!"

Ace and Thatch nodded thoughtfully. In fact, Thatch's physical techniques were quite good. He had only just eaten the fruit and had been shocked by its abilities. Like a child who had just received a new toy, he had looked down on the physical techniques he once possessed and focused only on how to train his fruit's abilities. Ace was different. Not long after setting out to sea, he had obtained the Fire-Fire Fruit. Combined with the absolute advantage Logia Devil Fruits provided in the early stages, those two factors had made him forget to train his physical techniques.

On an uninhabited island

Teach and Whitebeard stood facing each other while the other members of the Whitebeard Pirates watched from not far away.

"Gurararara! Brat! Are you ready?" Whitebeard held Murakumogiri in his hand, his entire body radiating boundless Haki!

"Ze-ha-ha-ha-ha! My blood's boiling right now, Pops!" Teach stared solemnly at Whitebeard. The aura Whitebeard released made the air around them feel oppressive.

"Be careful, Pops!" Teach shouted. The next second, he vanished from where he stood.

"So fast!" Marco, who was watching from the ship, let out a soft gasp. His brows then drew tightly together.

"Marco? What's wrong?" Ace asked, unable to suppress his concern when he saw Marco's solemn expression.

"Teach's strength far exceeds my expectations! I'm worried about Pops' condition!" As the ship's doctor, Marco was the person who knew Whitebeard's physical condition best, Whitebeard included. Whitebeard might have known it as well, but he didn't care.

"It's fine! Pops is the strongest man in the world!" In Ace's eyes, Whitebeard was an invincible existence!

Elsewhere

"Bang!" Teach's fist, coated in Armament Haki, slammed viciously into Whitebeard's body, but Whitebeard easily blocked it with the naginata in his hand.

"I used eighty percent of my strength in that punch!" Deep shock showed in Teach's eyes.

"Not bad power, but you're a little slow!" Whitebeard praised him. "Put some more force into it, brat! I won't hold back!"

Whitebeard raised his thick arm, clenched his fist, and punched Teach in the abdomen!

"Ah! That hurts!" Feeling the force strike his abdomen, Teach grimaced in pain. "So this is what they call double the pain? Pops, you're something else!"

Though Teach grumbled about Whitebeard, he knew perfectly well that Whitebeard had held back! The fact that Whitebeard hadn't coated his hand in Haki alone made that clear!

I can't hold back anymore! Pops' fists are no joke!

"Crack!"

The crisp sound reached everyone's ears. Ace said softly, "Did Pops use his ability?" But Izo, relying on his astonishing eyesight, saw everything clearly. Trembling, he muttered, "This is impossible. This isn't scientific!"

Marco couldn't help asking, "Izo, what's wrong?" Izo then looked at all the division commanders and shouted, "The one who used an ability just now was Teach! He possesses the same ability as Pops!"

"What?!"

Everyone was stunned. They looked at one another, collectively rooted to the spot.

"Gurararara! Not bad, brat! I don't know where you got this Tremor-Tremor Fruit, but it's certainly given me a huge surprise!" Whitebeard stared in astonishment at the white shock wave in Teach's right hand. There was no doubt that it was the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!

"Ze-ha-ha-ha! Use Pops' ability against Pops? I'm not that stupid! I still prefer this!" The instant Teach finished speaking, black ripples appeared in his left hand!

"A dual Devil Fruit user? Now that's a huge surprise!" Whitebeard threw his head back in laughter, then extended his own right hand. "Watch closely, brat! This is the true Tremor-Tremor Fruit!"

"Crack!"