Sengoku stood on the Execution Platform, looking down at the Straw Hat Boy had fought his way from Impel Down to Marine Headquarters.
His gaze turned cold.
Two newly arrived executioners stood on the Execution Platform, their long swords raised once more, the tips aimed at the back of Ace's neck.
Luffy looked up at the two swords.
He didn't have time.
"Stop--!!!"
Luffy flipped in mid-air, kicking his rubber legs at the two executioners.
But in that very instant—
The Sengoku began.
He clasped his hands together, and his body swelled and deformed in an instant.
Golden light surged from his body, and he transformed into a gigantic Golden Great Buddha.
The Buddha Form was over ten meters tall, its golden body majestic and solemn, and its enormous palm slammed down towards Luffy.
"You brat!!!"
The Buddha Form, an incarnation of the Sengoku, struck down with a single palm.
The giant golden hand was bigger than Luffy caused the surrounding air to explode.
Luffy had no time to dodge in mid-air and was hit squarely by that palm strike.
" Gum-Gum Balloon!!!"
At the last moment, Luffy took a deep breath, and his body swelled into a sphere.
A giant golden hand slammed onto his swollen body, the elasticity of the rubber dissipating some of the impact.
But the impact was still too great. Luffy was sent flying and crashed into the edge of the Execution Platform, leaving a human-shaped dent in the stone slab.
But Luffy didn't let go.
His rubber fingers were still caught in the cracks in the stone edge of the Execution Platform Execution Platform, and he was hanging precariously from the edge.
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and his body trembled violently from the enormous impact.
"I... haven't..."
Luffy gritted his teeth, exerted force with his arms, and pulled himself back onto the Execution Platform.
He stood on the Execution Platform, before the giant Buddha Form, an embodiment of the Sengoku period.
His body was covered in wounds—wounds from Impel Down, wounds from the battlefield, and the fresh wound from being slapped by the Buddha Form —layers upon layers of blood staining his clothes red.
But he stood on the Execution Platform.
He stood in front of Ace.
" Ace --!!!"
Luffy grinned, a smile brighter than ever before.
But the Buddha Form's hand from the Sengoku had already been raised again.
This time, Luffy has no room to dodge.
The Execution Platform is only so big, and Ace is right behind Luffy; he can't hide.
If that palm strike landed, Luffy and Ace would both be smashed into mincemeat.
" Straw Hat Boy - It's Over!!!"
The palm of the Buddha Form from the Sengoku crashed down.
However, at this moment, the Execution Platform could not withstand the enormous force and emitted a piercing, twisting sound.
The stone pillars began to crack, the stone slabs began to crumble, and the entire Execution Platform began to disintegrate and collapse from the middle.
Luffy and Ace thus escaped Sengoku's attack.
He and Ace fell together from the Execution Platform, which was tens of meters high.
At the moment they fell, Luffy's body reacted instinctively.
He took a deep breath, and his body instantly expanded into a sphere, tightly enveloping Ace above his rubber body.
Ace was pinned down by Luffy, his wrists still bound by Seastone chains.
He looked at that face so close to his, a face covered in scars yet still grinning at him.
" Luffy... you idiot..."
Ace cried.
Luffy did not answer.
He simply shielded Ace with his body, and the two of them fell together from the collapsed Execution Platform, crashing to the ground below.
The rumble of the collapsing Execution Platform had not yet subsided when, on the other side, the battle between Whitebeard and Akainu had reached its climax.
Akainu stomped on the blade of Whitebeard's Murakumogiri, his magma-like right foot hissing and burning against the blade.
Akainu looked up and glanced sideways at the Whitebeard, a cold smile playing on his lips.
"Old man, that's enough."
Whitebeard looked up at the Marine Admiral had stepped on his weapon.
Instead, the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile.
"Is it your turn to lecture this old man now?"
"Ignorant and arrogant."
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit began to gather on Whitebeard's right fist.
The translucent vibrating ball spun rapidly on the knuckles, distorting and distorting the surrounding air, producing a muffled buzzing sound.
Akainu was equally determined; his right arm was completely transformed into magma, with dark red magma churning and boiling on his fist, the temperature so high that even the ice beneath his feet began to melt and smoke.
The Magma Fist was also coated with a layer of jet-black Armament Haki, and with this double enhancement, the power of this punch was enough to melt a mountain.
" Magma Fist!!!"
" Tremor Fist!!!"
The two fists collided violently in mid-air.
Magma and vibration.
High temperature and impact.
Dark red and translucent.
Two completely different forces are locked in a fierce struggle at the point of collision.
The magma wanted to melt and the vibrations wanted to shatter the magma; neither could prevail over the other.
Then--
"Boom--!!!"
The point of impact exploded.
The shockwave spread wildly in all directions from the two people as the center.
A large section of the ice surface was overturned, with ice shards and lava fragments flying through the air.
The nearest warships were tilted by the shockwave, and the soldiers on board were thrown about.
The smoke cleared.
Akainu took two steps back.
The Whitebeard remained completely still.
Is that all you've got?
Whitebeard's voice was filled with undisguised sarcasm. He reached out and grasped the hilt of the Murakumogiri that Akainu had stepped on, and pulled the naginata back out.
The blade still bore traces of lava scorching, but he didn't care at all.
"Lava brat, what did you just say to my son? That I betrayed them?"
Whitebeard walked step by step toward Akainu.
Each step on the ice created a crack, and each step carried a suffocating sense of oppression.
"My greatest pride in this life is these sons."
Who do you think you are, to presume to sow discord?
Akainu steadied himself, his face so dark it could drip water.
His Magma Fist solidified again, this time the magma was even hotter than before, and its color changed from dark red to a dazzling bright white.
" Meteor Volcano!!!"
Akainu unleashed both fists simultaneously, his Magma Fist exploding in mid-air, transforming into dozens of magma meteors that hurtled towards Whitebeard.
Each meteor trailed black smoke, turning the sky a dark red.
The Whitebeard neither dodged nor avoided the attack.
He thrust the naginata to his side, clenched his fists, and simultaneously pounded the air on both sides with force.
"Snap--!!!"
The sound of the atmosphere breaking apart was louder than ever before.
The shockwave spread spherically from Whitebeard's center, and all the magma meteors that collided with it exploded in mid-air.
It turned into countless tiny fragments of lava, which scattered on the ice surface, hissing and burning out countless small holes.
The Whitebeard emerged from the lava debris unharmed.
He stomped his right foot on the ground and charged towards Akainu.
He twirled the Murakumogiri in his hand, the blade imbued with the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, and slashed towards Akainu's neck.