Chapter 288: Sabo vs. Akainu

Sengoku's words carried a clear subtext—Garp could have prevented all of this, and he couldn't completely wash his hands of the disaster unfolding today.

And there was one more detail left unsaid: Revolutionary Army Supreme Commander Dragon. Wasn't the primary instigator of this world-shaking war Garp's own son?

Yet endless frustration ultimately dissolved into a long, quiet sigh. Sengoku knew that laying blame on Garp at this milestone achieved absolute zero.

Only because Sengoku currently held no official military rank did he dare speak so candidly with Garp; he was addressing him strictly as a comrade-in-arms and a lifelong friend.

Had he issued such words in the official capacity of a superior, no one could guarantee the fallout—Garp might very well have reacted with extreme hostility.

"Forget it, forget it. Let Akainu nurse this headache himself," Sengoku dismissed with a wave of his hand, though he could clearly tell his earlier words had struck a sensitive chord in Garp's heart.

Noticing that Garp remained unusually silent, Sengoku paused before adding gently, "In truth, you can hardly be blamed. It was precisely because those boys possessed their own unyielding convictions that they were able to grow into monsters of this caliber..."

"The future of this world... I can no longer read it clearly."

Garp hadn't anticipated hearing such words from Sengoku's mouth. Casting a sideways glance at his old friend, his eyes drifted back toward Sabo's fiery frame on the battlefield.

"Yeah... What does the future of this world truly look like, and what variables dictate its path...?"

"Bwahahaha!" Old man Garp suddenly erupted into loud, boisterous laughter. "Since when did I become so sappy? Maybe there won't even be an 'after' for us anyway!"

"Look at the absolute scale of this campaign, Sengoku. I have a gut feeling that this isn't even the full-scale war yet—it's only going to expand further from here."

"In a cataclysm of this magnitude, who can truly guarantee they'll survive to see the end?"

"Garp..." Sengoku stared at Garp in shock. Seeing the resolute, uncompromising look in Garp's eyes, a deep chord resounded in his chest.

After a long silence, Sengoku let out a sudden, hearty laugh. "Garp, what if I tell you I believe neither of us is dying today?"

Garp offered a calm, silent glance. Sengoku refrained from pressing the matter further, rotating his focus back to the battlefield.

Sabo vaulted onto the high platform with unstoppable momentum. Akainu stepped forward to the absolute edge of the structure, his forearms transforming into twin columns of churning, superheated magma.

HUMMM...

Swirling layers of flame surged continuously from Sabo's frame. Behind his back, multiple fiery claws coalesced into a single, gargantuan Dragon's Claw that lunged toward Akainu with crushing kinetic weight.

KABOOM!

Akainu made zero evasion maneuvers, allowing the massive Dragon's Claw to swallow his position completely. The flaming claw was so immense that it encompassed the entire temporary high platform within its range.

This single strike was destined to be permanently recorded in the annals of history, etching an eternal, jaw-dropping shock into the minds of populations watching the live feed across the globe.

An individual could actually achieve a threshold of power this absolute!

"The Revolutionary Army's Second-in-Command! Dragon King Sabo!"

A thunderous explosion suddenly reverberated from beneath the flames as a massive surge of magma erupted upward.

"Great Eruption!"

A colossal fist forged of molten rock materialized before the eyes of the world. Fist met claw in a violent clash as flames and magma fused and spilled over the edges of the platform.

Gritting his teeth beneath the Dragon's Claw, Akainu's eyes snapped wide. This flame-forged claw was somehow even larger than his Great Eruption!

The reality left him in absolute disbelief. Sabo commanded the Flame-Flame Fruit beyond a shadow of a doubt, while his Magma-Magma Fruit represented a strictly superior elemental hierarchy—so how was this flame claw flatly matching his magma strike?!

ROAR... KABOOM!

The elevated platform suddenly groaned under the pressure. The structure had been engineered using reinforced metal plating and dense stone slabs, built to withstand even an Admiral's stray attacks without collapsing.

Yet as Akainu stood his ground to absorb Sabo's offensive, the platform reached its absolute load-bearing limit.

"Akainu! The Celestial Dragons' era ends today!" The flames wrapping around Sabo's arms flared violently, forcing the giant flame claw to expand further. The high platform split wide under the crushing weight, deep fractures webbed across its surface.

The Giant Vice Admirals below desperately wanted to scale the platform to assist, but the continuous spray of superheated flames kept them completely at bay.

"Is that so...?" Akainu's calm, cold voice echoed from within the inferno. A razor-sharp magma claw suddenly thrust out through the fire, shooting straight toward Sabo's heart.

"Hellhound!"

Sabo's eyelids twitched. Retracting his offensive instantly, he shifted into a tight defensive posture.

BANG!

A palm heavily coated in Armament Haki was shaped into a Dragon's Claw, parrying the strike head-on.

ROAR... KABOOM!

The immense force delivered by the magma blasted Sabo clear off the high platform, sending him crashing onto the plaza stone below. A dense cloud of smoke and fire obscured his landing zone, leaving every onlooker breathless with anxiety.

Just as the crowd began to fear the worst, Sabo rocketed back into the heavens once more. Six wings forged of pure fire fanned out behind his back as dense, shimmering Armament Haki coated the steel pipe in his hand.

"I'm heading out!" Watching Sabo launch himself back up, Akainu growled low and leaped directly from the platform to meet him in mid-air.

The Five Elders made zero move to check him. With their presence anchoring the rear, the Navy's administrative chain of command was completely redundant—it was time for Fleet Admiral Akainu to step onto the front lines.

BANG!

The two titans collided in open airspace. Sabo swung his steel pipe with crushing weight, treating every parry with absolute gravity. He harbored zero underestimation for Akainu's physical output.

At this tier of combat, Sabo understood that whoever sustained the first critical injury would inevitably lose the strategic initiative.

After exchanging dozens of high-velocity moves, Sabo caught a fleeting opening, whipping the tail end of his steel pipe around to strike Akainu flush across the cheek.

"What's the matter? Has your reaction time degraded since you took the Fleet Admiral seat?" Sabo mocked smoothly, maintaining a relentless sequence of strikes.

"Curse you!" Akainu's face contorted with rage, but beneath his anger lay a profound, creeping shock. Hearing reports could never match the raw reality of direct combat.

Every dispatch preached how terrifying the Legendary Four Brothers were, and while he had verified the intelligence reports, only now did he truly comprehend the mind-boggling growth of these young men.

It was terrifying beyond measure!

How on earth had they managed to achieve such a total, earth-shattering evolution in their strength within a mere two years?

While Akainu was caught in deep disbelief, Sabo seized another microsecond opening, driving a heavy Dragon's Claw strike squarely into Akainu's chest.

KABOOM!

"Gagh..." Akainu let out a muffled grunt as his frame was blasted backward through the air.

"FLEET ADMIRAL!!" The Marines stood paralyzed in utter shock.

The Revolutionary Army's Sabo was far too terrifying—was even their Fleet Admiral being outmatched on the field?!

"My, my, how scary... Dragon King Sabo..." Kizaru mused, watching the exchange in genuine surprise.

Even he hadn't anticipated Akainu being forcefully repelled like that.

Down at the base of the Red Line, amidst the ongoing clash between the Red Hair Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates, a colossal warship suddenly surfaced from the ocean depths.

"THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES!!"

As the protective coating bubble surrounding the Moby Dick shattered, the Whitebeard Pirates—who had remained dormant for two long years—officially re-emerged before the eyes of the world.

Gathered along the deck of the Moby Dick were the primary division commanders who had survived the Summit War of Marineford. Stepping smoothly to the bow was a tall man draped in a dark red captain's coat, a deep orange top hat resting on his head.

"I didn't expect such a lively crowd down here. I hope you don't mind if we crash the party," Ace said, slowly raising his head as a confident smirk curled his lips.

"Yonko... Flame Emperor Ace!" the crowd gasped in absolute shock.