The battle grew more intense by the moment.
Teach's potential was terrifying. At sixteen, he had reached the top of Sky Arena, already possessing combat strength on par with an Elite Vice Admiral.
He had the solid foundation he had built at Sky Arena, the rapid growth of the past few years, the boost from the Gravity Field, and the simple modifications the Munch-Munch Fruit had made to his body.
Even without using his Devil Fruit powers, Teach was as strong as a Top Combatant.
Among people his age, Teach was already close to Hades in his youth.
And Teach had his Devil Fruit powers on top of that.
Boom!
Teach had forgotten one thing: even if he could divide his attention, moving and reshaping the Dark Jade still took time.
For a top-tier monster like Garp, an instant was enough to do a great deal.
Garp's furious punch, laced with terrifying Red Lightning and surrounded by distorted air, crashed down on Teach's head like a meteor.
Instinctively, Teach raised an arm shrouded in Haki and black mist to block it.
Garp was too fast, quicker than Teach could reshape the Dark Jade.
The Dark Jade offered formidable defense, provided it could intercept the attack.
This time, Garp gave him no chance.
The ground beneath Teach was destroyed by the terrifying force, shattering into countless pieces.
Teach plummeted as though he had been punched into a bottomless abyss.
His right arm twisted out of shape, and searing pain shot through his body.
"Argh!"
The bone-deep pain tore a cry from Teach before he could stop it.
For decades, Garp had honed his terrifying strength and explosive power by striking Navy Warships day after day.
Combined with the Internal Destruction technique of Armament Haki, he unleashed all that power into Teach.