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[TIOP] Chapter : 95
🕑 Added 2025-04-16 20:12:37 +0000 UTC"Jack, now’s not the time for games. Since you’ve stepped onto the field, make your stance clear!" Sengoku’s voice was sharp and unwavering. "Don’t forget—you’re still a marine!"
"Of course," Jack replied, his tone equally firm. Then, turning to Akainu with a faint smirk, he added, "That said, Admiral Sakazuki... I trust you'll be compensating me for the destruction of my house? Fair’s fair, right?"
Akainu’s eye twitched, but he remained silent. His silence, however, said enough—he’d pay.
Up on the execution platform, Ace’s heart sank.
Whitebeard was already wounded. Now, with Jack entering the battlefield—a man neither side could take lightly—the situation had become even more dire.
"Jack!" Sakazuki barked, snapping back into command mode. "Clear the giant’s body. It’s blocking the encirclement mechanism!"
Jack let out a dry chuckle, lifting a brow.
"You want me to move that? What do I look like, a wrecking crew?"
Akainu clenched his fists in frustration. Since Jack clearly wasn’t in a hurry to help, he took matters into his own hands.
"Meteor Volcano!"
From his fists, a barrage of molten lava fists rained down like a fiery storm, crashing onto the frozen harbor. The ice shattered violently under the impact, and the pirates—who had been using it as their last footing—were suddenly left scrambling for balance as the battlefield collapsed beneath them.
"Damn it! How are we supposed to break through this encirclement wall?!" the pirates shouted in frustration, dodging the hail of magma fists raining down from Akainu. All around them, the icy ground cracked and crumbled, leaving no safe haven as they scrambled for a solution.
Whitebeard stood still, eyes fixed on the wreckage of the Moby Dick.
His ship—his faithful companion through decades of storms and battles—was gone.
"Forgive me," he murmured in his heart. "I won’t be returning this time."
"Oooooooh!"
Just as the pirates were beginning to despair, a miracle stirred.
From within the encirclement wall, the seemingly lifeless body of Little Oars Jr. suddenly moved. With a groan of strained metal, his massive form shifted—wedged into the wall, he had left a breach wide enough to open a path.
"Zzzzzzt!"
In the very next instant, a powerful column of water erupted through the gap, crashing down with a thunderous splash right in front of the three admirals.
And then he appeared—soaked from head to toe, eyes burning with determination.
"Straw Hat Luffy?" Kizaru raised an eyebrow, his tone lazy and unfazed.
"How terrifying~"
Akainu sneered. "So the son of Dragon finally shows his face. No surprise he's reckless."
"Oh my~ Are you sure you're ready for this stage?" Aokiji added, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
Luffy stood there, breathing heavily, water dripping from his clothes.
Three of the Navy’s strongest stood between him and the execution platform. Between him and Ace.
But he clenched his fists tighter.
He had the key—Hancock’s gift. If he could just get past these three... he could reach Ace, unlock the chains, and give everyone a chance to retreat.
And more than that—he could bring back one of their greatest fighters.
"Give Ace back to me!" Luffy roared, charging headlong into battle against the three admirals without hesitation.
Whitebeard watched the fiery determination in Luffy’s eyes and cracked a grin.
"Reckless, just like Ace. Jozu—it's time. Let’s bring out our trump card."
"Got it!" Diamond Jozu replied, already preparing to move.
But Luffy, despite his resolve, was no match for the combined might of the Navy’s top powers. In just a single clash, he was knocked back—overwhelmed and vulnerable.
"You bastard! Don’t you dare touch Luffy!" The Pirate Queen’s voice rang out furiously as Aokiji moved in for a finishing blow.
"Boom!"
At the last second, a blur of blue flames intercepted the attack—Marco had arrived, catching Luffy mid-fall.
"You alright, Ace’s little brother?" Marco asked, concern in his eyes.
Luffy gritted his teeth, trying to stand. "I’m fine!" he growled.
Meanwhile, Sengoku, seeing the tide turning as more powerful pirates pushed through the encirclement wall, clenched his fists.
"Enough. Start the execution—now!" He barked at the executioners.
"Bang! Bang! Agh—!"
Suddenly, two sharp sand blades sliced through the air, cutting down both executioners where they stood.
Sengoku’s eyes narrowed. "Who dares?!"
His gaze swept across the battlefield—there, standing coolly in the square with a cigar clenched in his teeth, was Crocodile.
"You?!" Sengoku growled. "I thought you had a grudge against Whitebeard. I figured keeping you around might be useful. Never imagined you’d side with him!"
But before anyone could respond, a sudden blur of motion—and Crocodile’s head was severed clean off, sailing through the air like it had been sliced by an invisible blade.
"Fufufufu… You treacherous reptile," came a familiar, mocking voice.
"So you ran off to team up with Whitebeard? I’m so jealous."
Emerging with a grin and threads dancing in the air was none other than Donquixote Doflamingo, the cunning Warlord and user of the String-String Fruit.
"I don’t team up with anyone!" Crocodile growled, his severed head reassembling from swirling sand as he stared down Doflamingo without flinching.
"Gurgle... gurgle..."
Suddenly, bubbles rose from the harbor—now free of ice—and a massive ship surfaced, lifting from the depths with a ghostly grace.
"Another ship?!" Sengoku’s face darkened as he watched it rise. "So they had one hidden beneath the sea this whole time..."
"Gurararara! I never said I only brought one ship!" Whitebeard laughed, his voice booming across the battlefield.
"No! It’s an enemy ship!" a naval officer shouted in panic. "Where are the artillery crews? Sink it before it reaches the wall!"
But Sengoku’s eyes sharpened with realization. "You fools! Forget the ship—stop Oars Jr now! That’s the real threat!"
"Too late, Sengoku!" Whitebeard roared triumphantly. "Oz—now’s your moment!"
The massive Little Oars roared in response. With a powerful heave, he lifted Whitebeard’s ship and hurled it over the towering encirclement wall. Pirates aboard shouted in exhilaration as the vessel landed directly inside the square—delivering them behind enemy lines.
"They did it..." Garp muttered, watching the scene unfold with a mix of awe and frustration. "We underestimated them. What we thought was a cage might just turn into their advantage."
"Garp, we can’t just sit back anymore." Sengoku growled, rolling up his sleeves and preparing to enter the fray himself.
Meanwhile, Whitebeard stood tall, voice echoing like thunder across the battlefield.
"Ace! You still have your head, don’t you? Hang on—we’re coming!"
He raised his massive arm and bellowed to his crew:
"All of you—CHARGE! Marineford is ours to take!"
The pirates erupted in cheers, their morale soaring as they surged forward with renewed fury.
But just as the pirates made it inside, Little Oars—who had opened the way—was overwhelmed by the navy's concentrated assault and collapsed once more.
"Back off, kids!" Whitebeard roared as he raised his massive naginata. With a mighty swing, a shockwave tore through the frontlines, sending all marines below the rank of vice admiral flying like leaves in a storm.
Just as Whitebeard prepared to charge ahead, a sudden blur cut across the battlefield—Jack appeared, intercepting him mid-strike.
"I can't let you attack the navy unchecked, Whitebeard!" Jack shouted. "Galaxy Fist!"
The sudden counterattack sent ripples of surprise through both pirates and marines. After all, everyone had just witnessed the terrifying scale of Whitebeard’s strength—who would dare challenge him head-on?
"Gurararara! Not bad, kid!" Whitebeard laughed as he shattered Jack's powerful technique with a single punch. He then raised his naginata once more, unshaken and ready to strike again.
Suddenly, Aokiji launched himself from behind Jack, seizing the opportunity.
"Let’s see if vibrations can be frozen..." he muttered, encasing Whitebeard in a thick layer of ice.
For a moment, everything stilled.
But then—CRACK! The ice shattered as Whitebeard broke free with sheer force.
"So much for freezing him..." Aokiji muttered, adjusting mid-air. With a flick of his arms, he conjured two long spears of ice.
"Twin Ice Spears!" he cried, thrusting them at close range.
But Whitebeard was faster.
"Too green, Ice Boy!" he bellowed. With a powerful sweep, he deflected the spears and drove his naginata forward—piercing straight through Aokiji’s body, turning the tide once again in an instant.
"Yes! Even someone with special abilities can’t survive a direct hit from Dad’s Haki-infused strike!" A nearby pirate shouted with excitement, watching the clash unfold.
"Don’t celebrate too early!" another voice countered.
It turned out Aokiji had used his Observation Haki to anticipate Whitebeard’s attack before it even landed. By turning his body into ice in advance, he’d hollowed out the area struck by the naginata, cleverly avoiding a fatal blow.
"Shigan bullets! Watch out, Aokiji!"
Just as Aokiji reformed, Diamond Joz charged from behind Whitebeard, smashing through the residual ice with brutal force. But before the blow could connect, Jack’s Shigan bullets intercepted, halting Joz’s advance.
"Phew… these captains are seriously troublesome," Aokiji muttered as his icy form reassembled beside Jack.
"Dad, go ahead. I’ll handle things here," Joz said, his eyes locked on Aokiji and Jack.
"Be careful," Whitebeard nodded, then turned and marched toward the execution platform with unstoppable resolve.
Just then, Akainu stepped forward, blocking his path.
"Whitebeard, I can’t let you continue. If we do, you’ll reduce all of Marineford to rubble!"
"Then I suggest you enjoy the show, little candlelighter," Whitebeard replied with a menacing grin.
Meanwhile, Kizaru effortlessly knocked Luffy aside with a blazing kick.
"Courage is admirable, kid—but without strength to match, you're just another fool rushing to his death," he said coldly.
Whitebeard caught Luffy mid-air before he could hit the ground.
Watching the exchange, Jack muttered under his breath, "Tch… Is Kizaru secretly working with Dragon or something?"
Aokiji, dodging a powerful swing from Joz, glanced sideways and said seriously,
"Stay sharp. You’re not facing some small fry here."
"Hey~ hey~~, I’m leaving this spot to you two. I’ve got somewhere else I need to be," Jack called out casually, turning away from Aokiji and Joz and heading toward the chaos surrounding Whitebeard and Luffy.
Aokiji, assuming Jack was going to stir up trouble for Whitebeard, let him pass without a second thought. Joz, however, knew better. After all, it was Jack who had quietly tipped them off earlier. Trusting him not to harm Whitebeard, he didn’t intervene either. And so, Jack slipped away effortlessly.
"Hellhound!"
Akainu hurled a molten punch forward, forming a flaming lava hound that lunged straight at Whitebeard.
"Gurararara!" Whitebeard laughed heartily and met it head-on with a thunderous punch of his own. Not only did he obliterate Akainu’s lava beast, but had the admiral not dodged in time, he might have been sent flying as well.
"Gurarara~ magma boy! I thought you were supposed to guard the gate—why are you running now?" Whitebeard mocked as Akainu retreated.
Meanwhile, Marco, unchallenged for the moment, transformed into a blazing phoenix and soared toward the execution platform, intent on rescuing Ace.
“Tch... huh?”
Bang!
A shadow suddenly leapt into the air—and Marco was struck mid-flight, crashing hard to the ground.
"It’s Vice Admiral Garp!"
"The Hero of the Navy—he’s finally stepped in!"
"Didn't I just say, I'll intervene?" Sengoku chuckled, watching his old friend take action. With Garp in play, the execution platform was now all but untouchable.
The atmosphere shifted.
Even the hardened captains of the Whitebeard Pirates stiffened, their expressions turning grim. They had faced admirals, warlords, and even monsters—but this man, Garp, was something else entirely.
Whitebeard turned his weary gaze toward the platform, blood trailing from the corners of his mouth—evidence of the toll the battle had taken. From Squardo’s betrayal to the endless clashes, his strength was ebbing.
"If you want to get past here," Garp declared, lowering himself onto the seat once held by the three admirals, "you’ll have to kill me first, you little brats!"
