The war on Onigashima had already begun.
And on another front, far from Wano—on the pirate stronghold known as Hachinosu, the Beehive Island—an unprecedented upheaval erupted on this very day.
It wasn't a Marine siege.
Nor was it the collateral damage of a clash between Emperors.
It was the fury of a single old man—
—and the iron fists he had wielded his entire life.
Monkey D. Garp had arrived.
No fleet to herald his coming.No army to shake the seas.
Just a single warship… and a handful of figures standing upon its deck.
Garp himself—and several elite members of the covert Marine unit, SWORD.
Their objective was as simple as it was absolute:
Rescue Koby.
Garp's "leave of absence" had never been an empty gesture.
He couldn't stand by and watch Kuzan drift further down a misguided path.
Nor could he accept that Koby—a young man he had once placed such high hopes in—had begun to show increasingly extreme tendencies after the Marines' independence… even hinting at fracture and instability.
To fall into the hands of Blackbeard or Kuzan—becoming a bargaining chip, or worse, a puppet—
That was unacceptable.
Garp would handle it himself.
One he would knock back to his senses.
The other… he would drag back.
Intelligence suggested that Blackbeard himself had already departed for another island in the New World, intending to profit from the chaos of the clash between two Emperors and the Worst Generation.
He had expected to intercept the three captains emerging from Wano.
Instead, he would find Trafalgar Law waiting.
Which meant that remaining on Beehive Island were the core forces:
The newly joined "Aokiji," Kuzan…The "Plague Doctor," Samuel Kronos…The colossal Sanjuan Wolf…"Rain" Shiryu…"The Corrupt King," Avalo Pizarro—who had fused with the island itself…And several other high-ranking officers.
A perfect situation for Garp.
Avoid Blackbeard's troublesome abilities.
Confront Kuzan directly.
That had always been the plan.
Infiltration.Ambush.Overwhelming force.A descent from the heavens.
Garp's tactics mirrored his personality—
Brutal. Direct. Uncomplicated.
By the time Kuzan sensed something was wrong—
Garp's fist had already smashed apart the island's central district.
And upon landing—
He treated the towering Sanjuan Wolf like nothing more than a speed bump.
Instantly crushed.
From the very beginning, the battle was completely one-sided.
The pirates stationed on the island—along with their lower-ranking officers—were utterly powerless before Garp's monstrous physique and supreme Haki.
Even infamous captains worth over a hundred million berries—
Couldn't withstand a single punch.
Screams echoed through the fortress.
Bones shattered.
Chaos spread.
"Parasitic Spores!!"
Samuel Kronos attempted to unleash his fungal abilities—spreading infection and interference.
But Garp simply overwhelmed it with sheer Haki.
The creeping mycelium—capable of incapacitating powerful fighters in seconds—
Was annihilated instantly by Garp's dense, near-tangible aura.
When Samuel attempted to close in and deploy a "spore bomb"—
"I'm not here to play gardening with you!!"
Garp's fist struck before he could act.
A crushing blow to the chest.
Samuel spat blood as he was sent flying—crashing through a wall, unable to rise.
"GARP!!!"
Avalo Pizarro roared, manipulating the island itself.
Massive stone hands surged upward, attempting to swallow Garp whole.
Garp's response?
One punch.
No matter how massive the rock, no matter how twisted the terrain—
It shattered under his Haki-coated fist.
Pure violence crushed all tricks.
And then—
Just as Garp was about to reach Koby's likely location—
The one he had truly come to face stepped forward.
The air froze.
Temperature plummeted.
From a veil of ice mist—
Kuzan emerged.
Casual clothes. Slightly disheveled curls.
Expression unreadable.
But in his half-lidded eyes—
There was only cold resolve.
"…Garp-sensei."
His voice was low. Flat.
"Kuzan!"
Garp stopped, chest rising and falling.
"Look at yourself! Running with someone like Teach? Is this the justice you once stood for?!"
"Justice…?" Kuzan let out a faint, self-mocking breath.
"My justice… stayed behind on Punk Hazard—along with this leg."
"Now… I just walk my own path."
"A crooked path! A rotten path!"
Garp roared, Haki exploding outward.
"You think that's an excuse?!"
"…Excuse?"
The temperature dropped further.
Ice crystals formed, spinning around Kuzan.
The ground crackled as frost spread.
"No," he said quietly.
"It's reality."
He raised a finger.
"Frozen Capsule."
No warning.
No probing attack.
This was absolute freezing.
Frost surged outward in a fan-shaped wave—freezing everything in its path.
Even the air solidified into jagged ice.
Garp didn't retreat.
He couldn't.
Ice rapidly engulfed him—
Layer upon layer—
Until his entire body was sealed within a massive crystalline prison.
Even his raised fist.
Even his furious gaze.
Frozen in time.
Kuzan lowered his eyes.
No one could see what lay within them.
Around them, Blackbeard's crew exhaled in relief.
Pizarro even grinned.
But then—
"DON'T LET YOURSELF BE BOUND, YOU IDIOT!!!"
The voice exploded like thunder—
From within the ice.
"Didn't I teach you to LIVE IN THE PRESENT?!"
"HAAAAH!!!"
BOOM—!!!
The ice shattered.
Garp stepped out—
Completely unharmed.
Kuzan's pupils shrank.
He launched ice projectiles in rapid succession.
Garp didn't even look.
A tilt of the head.
A shift of the body.
Every attack—effortlessly evaded.
His gaze never left Kuzan.
"Kuzan… listen carefully."
The moment the final word fell—
The ground beneath Garp exploded.
He vanished.
A blur.
Crossing the distance in an instant.
Kuzan's Observation Haki screamed in warning—but it was too late.
A massive, Haki-coated hand—
Clamped onto his face.
Garp's eyes were inches away.
No killing intent.
Only anger. Pain.
"Lost and wandering… you've grown weak."
And then—
He slammed Kuzan into the ground.
BOOM!!
The island trembled.
Even now—aged and diminished—
Garp stood at the very peak of the world.
Every punch could shatter mountains.
His Armament Haki was perfected—
Even tinged with the faint presence of Conqueror's infusion.
He abandoned defense entirely.
Relied on pure instinct and overwhelming offense.
Kuzan, meanwhile, fought differently.
He avoided direct clashes.
Instead, he controlled the battlefield—
Ice walls, spikes, birds, blades—
A relentless storm of freezing attacks.
Restrict movement.
Drain stamina.
Create openings.
His Logia abilities were used masterfully—
Dispersing into ice at critical moments—
Reforming from impossible angles.
At first—
Garp dominated.
His fists broke through defenses, striking Kuzan again and again.
Blood stained Kuzan's lips.
His footing faltered.
"SEE THAT, KUZAN?!"
Garp roared.
"THIS is what you abandoned!"
"Come back! Come with me! Apologize to that brat Gern Reginald Sigmar—and you'll still be a Marine Admiral!!"
"You really do just say whatever comes to mind, don't you… Garp-sensei."
Kuzan wiped the blood away.
His gaze hardened.
"Some paths… can't be walked back."
"And besides…"
"I'm living exactly how I want now."
The battle reached a stalemate—
Though Garp still held the advantage.
Meanwhile, the SWORD unit successfully located Koby in a hidden prison.
Injured. Exhausted.
But alive.
"Vice Admiral Garp! Captain Koby has been secured! We can retreat!"
Rear Admiral Prince Grus shouted.
"…Stubborn brat."
Garp exhaled.
He glanced back at Koby—relief flickering briefly.
The objective was nearly complete.
This place—
Was no longer safe.
"Prepare to—"
Before he could finish—
Everything changed.
Koby suddenly tore free from his comrades.
As if he'd heard something—
He turned toward a burning alley.
"Help me! Someone—please help me!!"
A young girl's desperate cry echoed from within.
Koby froze—
Then his eyes ignited with righteous instinct.
Without hesitation—
He ran.
Straight into the trap.
"KOBY! STOP! IT'S A TRAP!!"
But he couldn't hear them.
Or rather—
His mind had already collapsed into chaos.
Emotion over reason.
Impulse over thought.
Behind him—
The air rippled.
A transparent figure emerged.
Shiryu of the Rain.
Invisible.
Silent.
His blade, Raiu, coated in Haki—
Pierced forward.
A perfect assassination strike.
"KOBY!!!"
Garp roared.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!!!"
He blasted Kuzan away with a single punch—
Then vanished—
Crossing dozens of meters instantly.
And placed himself—
Between Koby—
And death.
"—!!!"
The blade pierced through flesh.
Through chest.
Out the back.
Blood sprayed.
Garp trembled—
Coughed blood—
But his hands clamped down on the blade.
Koby turned—
Saw him—
And broke.
"…Garp… Vice Admiral…?! This is my fault—!!"
Garp ignored him.
He looked at Shiryu.
"You little thug… from Impel Down…"
His fist swung.
BOOM!!!
Shiryu's face shattered under the impact.
He flew backward—
The blade ripped free from Garp's body.
Garp caught it mid-air.
Turned it.
And drove it downward—
Toward Shiryu's skull.
But—
The island moved.
The ground surged like waves—
Pizarro's power.
Shiryu was swept away.
The battlefield split apart.
Garp staggered.
Blood poured from his chest.
But he stood.
Shielding everyone behind him.
Before him—
Kuzan.
Samuel.
Shiryu.
Pizarro.
All gathered.
Surrounding him.
Garp breathed heavily.
Blood soaked his body.
Yet he stood tall.
Unyielding.
"…You foolish student…"
he muttered.
Kuzan stared at the wound—
At the blood—
Something flickered in his eyes.
Then—
It froze again.
"…I was worried about you."
he said quietly.
"And even now… you're still saving others."
"…You really haven't changed at all."
The cold surged once more.
...
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