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[TIOP] Chapter : 104
🕑 Added 2025-04-26 15:11:38 +0000 UTCSengoku and his chief of staff, Tsuru, were both visibly shaken—they knew deep down that the situation was rapidly spiraling out of control.
"Sabo, watch out!"
Clang!!
"Huff.."
Just as Luffy and Ace shouted out in warning, Sabo—still wracked by a splitting headache—managed to instinctively block the strike from a marine. Sweat poured down his face as if he'd just stepped out of a torrential downpour, but he remained standing.
Breathing heavily, Sabo grinned warmly at the two familiar faces before him.
"Ace, Luffy... it’s so good to see you again."
That gentle smile—one they thought they'd lost forever—hit Ace and Luffy straight in the heart.
"Welcome back, brother!" Ace cried, tears brimming in his eyes.
Sabo’s expression hardened as he turned to face the assembled Navy forces.
"Now that I've regained my memories, I swear—I won't let anyone lay a finger on my brothers!"
Without hesitation, he stood between them and the enemy, his posture steady and fierce.
"Kid, this battlefield isn’t a place for you to play hero," growled Akainu, wasting no time as he hurled a magma-charged punch directly at Sabo.
Before the attack could land, a figure clad in a flowing green cloak appeared out of nowhere, effortlessly blocking the blow.
"Sakazuki, isn't it a bit disgraceful to bully someone so much younger than you?" the newcomer said coolly.
Akainu recoiled in shock.
"You—Dragon?! You dare show yourself here?!"
Indeed, standing there was none other than Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army!
Sabo stepped forward and introduced himself formally to the stunned crowd.
"Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Sabo, Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army."
The appearance of Dragon sent shockwaves through the battlefield.
Kizaru, recognizing the severity of the situation, swiftly returned to Sengoku’s side. Meanwhile, Dragon’s allies began to merge with the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates.
"Zehahaha! A real big shot showed up after all!" Blackbeard roared with laughter, clearly relishing the chaos.
"Fufufufu... This is getting so much more interesting!" Doflamingo cackled, eyes gleaming with madness. "Whoever orchestrated all this must’ve planned for everything! How could they pit so many forces against each other?"
Meanwhile, back on the Sabaody Archipelago, the reporters watching through Buggy’s live Den Den Mushi feed went absolutely wild.
Today was shaping up to be historic beyond imagination: not only had they witnessed the death of the legendary Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, but now they had caught the first-ever live glimpse of the elusive leader of the Revolutionary Army, a man who had lived in legend and secrecy—until now.
Back on the battlefield, Luffy, lying weakly on the deck, stared at the man with tattoos stretching across half his face.
"Is that man... my father?" he mumbled.
Ivankov blinked, utterly baffled.
"Seriously! Straw Hat Boy, aren’t you Dragon’s son? Why are you acting like you don’t know?"
Despite the storm raging around them, Luffy answered calmly,
"I've never actually seen my father."
"Eh?!" Ivankov nearly fell over in shock. He hadn’t expected Dragon to have kept himself hidden even from his own child!
"Then... how do you know he’s your father?"
"My grandpa told me," Luffy said simply, pointing across the battlefield to the Navy camp—specifically, at Garp.
"Pfft—what?!" Ivankov gawked at Luffy, then Garp, then Dragon, utterly dumbfounded.
The situation was so absurd it was almost comedic.
A grandfather who was a revered Navy hero, feared and respected even by Sengoku himself.
A father who was the most wanted revolutionary in the world, seeking to tear down the government Garp served.
And a grandson—a pirate—who dared to dream of becoming the Pirate King!
"What kind of family is this?!" Ivankov thought, completely stunned, his mind spinning.
Even Sengoku, normally the calm eye of any storm, found himself frozen in place, shocked beyond words.
With the arrival of the Revolutionary Army—especially the appearance of Dragon himself—the atmosphere in Marineford grew even more tense and unpredictable. The opposing forces now faced each other in a heavy silence, wary and on edge. For the moment, the battle came to a strange and uneasy halt.
"Ace, Luffy! Now's not the time for a reunion—we need to retreat!" Sabo broke through the awkwardness with a firm voice.
Though Sabo openly suggested a retreat, the Navy made no move to stop him. Even the hardline Akainu said nothing, fully aware that at this point, engaging the Revolutionary Army would only escalate things beyond control.
At the same time, the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates, battered and exhausted, knew better than to press their luck. The Revolutionary Army had already saved them by intervening for Ace’s sake—asking for more, like reclaiming Whitebeard’s body now, would be pushing their luck.
Marco and the others exchanged glances, silently agreeing. They would retreat for now, regroup, and plan another way to retrieve Whitebeard’s remains.
But the situation wasn't so simple for the Blackbeard Pirates. Having recently allied themselves with the Navy, they now found themselves stranded. If the Whitebeard Pirates aligned themselves with the Revolutionary Army and withdrew, Blackbeard’s crew would be left isolated—and vulnerable to becoming the Navy’s next target.
Seizing Whitebeard’s corpse now seemed impossible. Survival itself was becoming uncertain.
Faced with this grim reality, Teach knew his only option was to throw fuel onto the fire—to provoke another full-blown conflict. Only through chaos could he seize what he wanted.
"What’s wrong, Navy?" Blackbeard jeered, a cruel grin on his face. "Scared of the Revolutionary Army? The whole world is watching! Isn’t this the perfect opportunity? Take them out now, and the Revolutionary Army will be leaderless! What are you hesitating for?"
Sengoku and the others, who had been considering ending the battle, stiffened at his words.
Teach was right about one thing—the eyes of the world were fixed on Marineford.
If the Navy backed down without even a show of resistance, their reputation would be in ruins.
Sakazuki, Sengoku, and others all glared at Blackbeard with barely concealed fury.
"Tch. I told you from the beginning—he’s nothing but trouble," Jack muttered, pouting slightly.
"Fleet Admiral, what are your orders?" One of the officers asked, voice tight with tension.
Everyone stood poised, awaiting the command. If Sengoku gave the word, they would throw themselves into battle—even against the odds.
But Sengoku hesitated. Scanning his forces, he saw that aside from Kizaru and Akainu, even Aokiji bore fresh wounds. His troops were exhausted, bloodied, and far from at full strength. Facing the Revolutionary Army now would cost dearly.
Akainu, seeing Sengoku's hesitation, stepped forward, his expression like iron.
"Sengoku-san, for the Navy’s honor—we must not retreat without a fight!"
"My, my... what an awful situation," Kizaru said lazily, his sarcasm barely hiding his concern.
Jack, meanwhile, shrugged casually.
"Honestly, Whitebeard’s dead; one of the Four Emperors is gone. Mission accomplished. We should conserve our strength for the scramble over the New World," he said bluntly. "If anything, I'd rather see us throw that traitor Teach back into Impel Down along with the other prisoners instead of fighting the Revolutionary Army right now."
"Silence! You're just a Rear Admiral!" Akainu snapped at him.
Jack, unfazed, raised an eyebrow.
"Fine by me. In that case, you lot can finish the rest of the battle yourselves. I’m sitting this one out—unless, of course, you decide to attack Blackbeard instead."
Akainu’s hands twitched with suppressed rage. For a moment, it looked like he might lash out at Jack. But he reined himself in, knowing they couldn’t afford to lose a key fighter in their current state.
Sengoku turned toward Garp, who had remained silent throughout it all.
"Garp," he called softly.
Garp didn’t respond, but Sengoku understood.
If he ordered the battle to continue, Garp, as always, would stand with him.
They were both marines to the bone—warriors who had spent their lives serving justice.
That loyalty was something Jack still lacked, Sengoku thought grimly.
It was one of the many reasons he believed the young rear admiral still had a long way to go before he could truly be called a protector of justice.
Just as Sengoku was about to make his decision, Akainu suddenly made a move, charging straight toward Ace, who was deep in conversation with Sabo.
Caught off-guard by the sudden assault, Ace had no time to react—but Sabo, standing directly in front of him, saw it coming.
"Dragon Claw!"
Without hesitation, Sabo lashed out, intercepting Akainu’s strike in an attempt to shield Ace.
"How dare you!"
Marco and the captains of the Whitebeard Pirates roared in fury the moment they saw Akainu’s treachery. Even the cadres of the Revolutionary Army surged forward, rallying around Sabo to stop Akainu's surprise attack.
But the chaos only escalated.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
At the same time, Admiral Kizaru sprang into action, launching a blinding assault—not at Sabo or Ace, but at Luffy, who was being supported by Ivankov.
"You're asking for death!"
Dragon, seeing Kizaru aiming for Luffy, flashed forward in an instant to block the attack.
However, Kizaru was almost unimaginably fast. Even Dragon’s future sight wasn't enough to stop the laser barrage in time, as Aokiji had appeared before him.
Just as the golden beams were about to reach Luffy, Jinbei and Ivankov leapt in front of him without hesitation, shielding him with their own bodies.
The cost was immediate and brutal.
Kizaru’s laser pierced through all three of them like paper.
Jinbei, being a fishman, managed to avoid a fatal wound. But Ivankov collapsed from the devastating hit.
Meanwhile, back at the center of the chaos, Akainu’s true target had never been Sabo. Brushing Sabo aside with sheer brute force, he summoned his magma-powered Hellhound—and hurled it straight at Ace.
Though Sabo’s intervention had given Ace a precious moment to brace himself, Akainu’s relentless blow still struck viciously, shattering Ace’s defense—and bruning one of his arms to ashes.
"Ace!"
"Luffy!"
"Ivankov!"
The cries of horror from their comrades echoed across the battlefield.
The three admiral’s ambush had succeeded in creating devastating damage.
But now, deep inside enemy lines, escaping would not be easy.
"Ice Age!"
Aokiji unleashed a massive wall of ice, freezing the advancing enemies in their tracks and covering Kizaru and Akainu’s retreat.
Even so, when Akainu stumbled back to Sengoku's side, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth—a rare sight from the iron-willed admiral, proof that even he could not entirely shrug off the counterattacks he had endured from the Whitebeard commanders, Sabo, and Dragon.
Kizaru, thanks to his strong observation Haki and speed, returned without visible injuries. Yet his grim expression told another story—he, too, had been pushed to his limits.
Dragon, checking over Ivankov’s wounds with a dark expression, turned his cold gaze back to Sengoku.
"Sengoku… do you intend to continue this madness?" he asked grimly.
Although Dragon had failed to block Kizaru’s attack fully—partly because Aokiji's interference delayed him—he could tell that Kizaru’s stamina had been significantly drained from the war and defending Mariejois. If another full-scale battle erupted, Kizaru likely wouldn’t last.
As for Luffy and Ivankov, though their wounds looked serious, thankfully, the vital points had been missed.
Still, Luffy's situation was precarious; after exhausting all his strength earlier, even minor injuries could become life-threatening.
Comments
Andre Wiranto
If so, he sure takes his time😂
Andre Wiranto
Will Shanks come like in the canon?
