Lin Xuan tilted his head. "Got any other tricks besides being a little hot? If this is all you've got, I'll gladly take that Admiral position."
Akainu clutched his chest, gasping for breath.
The attacks he took such pride in could not land, the elemental transformation he relied on was countered by Haki and that strange sword energy, and even his strength in close combat was outmatched by this boy.
This helplessness on every front gave him his first taste of humiliation in his life.
Around the plaza, the Marine officers who had been ready to provide support at any moment now stood as though frozen by a spell, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
They could have called that earlier slash that sent Akainu flying a surprise attack.
But this series of head-on clashes, and even suppressing Akainu while he was fighting at full power, went completely beyond their understanding.
"Is... is he really human?"
A Rear Admiral's voice trembled, and the sword in his hand shook. "That's Admiral Akainu! He's actually... being beaten back?"
"Hahahahaha!"
Among the crowd, only Garp laughed without a care.
Ignoring the Famous Sword Lin Xuan had tossed him that he still held, he planted one hand on his hip, pointed at the devastated battlefield in the distance, and shouted to the ashen-faced Sengoku, "See that, Sengoku? That's what I was talking about! That spirit, those skills-he's far better than that brat Sakazuki who only knows how to scowl! If he can't become an Admiral, I'll be the first to tear Marine Headquarters down!"
Sengoku no longer had the energy to scold Garp.
As he watched the boy standing on the stone pillar, his heart filled with an emotion called shock.
Sixteen years old.
Suppressing a Marine Admiral.
The word genius was