On the frozen sea near Marineford.
…
Griffin sat on the icy surface, eyes closed in meditation.
He couldn't go without sleep for years like Blackbeard, but staying awake for several days was something anyone with a bit of strength could manage.
Thump—thump—thump—
Up close, one could hear his heart beating with a vigor far beyond that of an ordinary person.
The enhancements from his Fruit Awakening continuously strengthened his body. If quantified numerically, his baseline value before awakening was fifty.
Now, his baseline value was in the sixties and still increasing, expected to plateau around seventy.
Taking the lower limit of top-tier power as a baseline value of one hundred.
Griffin could currently reach the top-tier stage in two states. One was through Fruit Awakening, which could push his strength to around one hundred and a few points.
The other was naturally using the Divine Weapon Forging of the Mangekyo or activating Susanoo, with values roughly between one hundred ten and one hundred twenty.
…
Simply activating the Mangekyo without using Mangekyo-level Pupil Techniques would yield a value around ninety.
Surpassing Vice Admirals and touching the edge of the top tier, that was also the state he could maintain the longest.
Fruit Awakening required expending a great deal of stamina, with a maximum duration of about half an hour.
As for Susanoo, it consumed Mangekyo Eye Power.
…
The ideal display of power would, of course, be combining Fruit Awakening with Susanoo and Divine Weapon Forging…
Stacking them might even allow him to match Akainu in terms of damage output.
But Griffin couldn't do it.
The body had its limits; it wasn't as simple as drawing a circle with one hand and a rainbow with the other.
…
In his Fruit Awakened state, he could at most activate the Three Tomoe. Using the Mangekyo would cause energy disruption, as his body couldn't withstand the impact.
In simple terms…
Griffin's physical hardware couldn't run too many software programs simultaneously; it couldn't handle the load.
Only after upgrading his hardware could he fuse these powers.
…
Wait…
If forcibly using them risked bodily explosion, could he use Izanagi to reverse that future?
Deal the damage in the first second, then reverse fate in the second second when his body was about to explode?
It seemed feasible…
Even if it wasn't, if he encountered an enemy he couldn't defeat even at full power, he'd have no choice but to try it—Heavenly Demon Body Disintegration, I get it.
…
As he pondered, a small boat drifted closer under the moonlight, and Griffin opened his eyes.
"Long time no see."
…
"Long time no see." Hawkeye narrowed his eyes slightly, noticing the twin swords behind Griffin.
"Did you kill Shiki?"
A Great Swordsman would never abandon their Famous Sword unless they died.
Back then, after cutting off his own legs to escape, Shiki had first retrieved these two swords before breaking out of prison.
There were no witnesses to Griffin and Shiki's duel, and Sengoku hadn't announced the news. Concealing intelligence was crucial, as it would help the Marines find the Float-Float Fruit first.
Only those who had seen Griffin in recent days and recognized these swords knew of Shiki's demise.
"Yes, it was a difficult battle. Shiki pushed me to the brink of death twice."
The second time might have seemed like Griffin ended the fight easily…
But if he had awakened any later, Shiki's final strike would undoubtedly have pierced his body.
He hadn't intended to use Izanagi at the time.
Just as Shiki had torn off the ship's rudder at the start, cutting off any escape route, Griffin had abandoned the use of the Sharingan after deciding to awaken his Devil Fruit in this battle.
If he fought Shiki with the mindset of having a fallback...
Only by wholeheartedly believing in Snowfall White Wolf, by understanding... could the awakening be completed!
...
"Hmm..."
Hawkeye's tone shifted slightly: "As a master swordsman from the old era with exceptionally high skill, what level do you think his swordsmanship has reached?"
Griffin thought for a moment before replying calmly: "He isn't a pure swordsman. In terms of swordsmanship alone, he's about on par with Vista."
...
"Flower Sword Vista... The last time I saw him was when I was still young."
"I remember you're only in your thirties, yet you speak as if you're old,"
Hawkeye stepped onto the ice: "Compared to you, I am indeed much older..."
His sharp, pale-yellow eyes fixed on Griffin as he spoke slowly: "Including Shanks, you've defeated many renowned Great Swordsmen."
"You know..."
Hawkeye rested his hand on the hilt of Black Blade - Night: "Right now, I really want to resign from the so-called Seven Warlords of the Sea and have a proper duel with you!"
"I saw that sword strike at Hachinosu Island—it was truly magnificent!"
...
Griffin shook his head and smiled faintly: "That wasn't pure swordsmanship, and I have no interest in the title of World's Greatest Swordsman."
"If my opponent were you, I'd find other ways to defeat you."
...
"Are you saying... you could easily defeat me?"
A dangerous glint flashed in Hawkeye's eyes.
Griffin stood up, his height nearly matching Hawkeye's.
The curve of Griffin's lips grew more pronounced, yet there was no trace of amusement in his eyes.
"Mental interference, artillery support, scientific weapons you couldn't imagine... Once a fight begins, I'll stop at nothing to kill you. I might even call for backup."
"After all, this is Marine Headquarters, isn't it... Mihawk."
...
Hawkeye's hand dropped from the sword hilt.
That would be meaningless. The kind of duel I want isn't like that.
He sat back down, using his cloak as a cushion against the cold: "Where will Shanks be executed?"
Griffin sat down again and pointed to a small island not far away: "It's all set up, just waiting for dawn to begin."
Hawkeye looked over. Even in the darkness, he could clearly see several people bound with chains on the execution platform—Shanks wasn't among them.
That's...
Yasopp and the others.
Before Hawkeye could speak.
"These guys went through the procedures at Enies Lobby and were sent straight here. That old man Sengoku said it's in case something happens at Impel Down—it could force Shanks to fall into the trap again."
"He certainly thought that through."
"Shanks will be transported here from Impel Down. If all goes smoothly, he should arrive around eight in the morning."
"Oh, by the way, are you planning to break him out?"
Griffin asked outright, just like that.
...
Hawkeye showed no surprise. He was one of the few people whose thought process aligned closely with Griffin's, unlike the boisterous norm of the sea.
"I hadn't considered it, but if Shanks called out to me, I might just take action."
Griffin stroked his chin thoughtfully: "Hard to say. I feel like that guy isn't as stubborn as a certain fire-playing kid..."
"Fire-playing kid?"
"It's nothing..." Griffin smiled. "If you want to fight, pick an Admiral to challenge. You helped me before, so I don't want to fight you."
Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. "If I have to choose, can't I pick a Vice Admiral? Must it be one of those three monsters?"
Logia Types of that level—just thinking about them was troublesome.
"Then Vice Admiral Garp?"
...
"That's not funny, Griffin."
Griffin laughed happily, pulling out a bottle of wine.
"We'll talk about it later. Let's have a drink first!"
The rule of the sea: when you meet, you either fight or drink—or do both.
——
——
——
Impel Down, Infinite Hell.
Footsteps echoed in the darkness.
Shanks, who had been feigning sleep, opened his eyes, his deep gaze fixed on the approaching shadow.
He's here...