From the distant ice, Mihawk strode gracefully forward as calm and poised as if taking a leisure stroll.

Akainu gritted his teeth and roared angrily, "Mihawk, I thought you were different from these pirates. What, are you trying to save Red Hair now? Do you want to die here with him?"

Hawkeye's expression remained indifferent. "Akainu, we've long been enemies. The system of the Shichibukai has been abolished. Stop spouting such naive words. Besides, death holds no fear for us."

Garp clenched his fist, his face revealing an uncharacteristic ruthlessness as he declared firmly.

"Sakazuki, kill Red Hair. I'll take care of the so called world's greatest swordsman."

Akainu was momentarily stunned as he was taken aback by Garp's words.

Who would've thought, with those silly personallity of yours, you'd be the true embodiment of Absolute Justice?

I Love it!

Akainu couldn't have asked for better words from Garp.

Immediately, he unleashed another massive magma fist into the icy crater beneath him.

Though Mihawk's face remained calm, his demeanor grew solemn.

"MarineHero Garp, I know your ways. While you don't share the obsessive kindness of Admiral Zephyr who refuses to kill, you're also not one of Akainu's faction among the Marine's elites. Why have you changed so much? Ah, is it because the death of Sengoku?"

"Silence! Pirates—all of you deserve to die!"

A flash of killing intent crossed Garp's eyes as his massive body erupted with a world-shaking aura.

Boundless golden light burst forth from his body, rising over the sea like a blazing sun.

Mihawk's sharp, golden-yellow eyes contracted violently, his calm shattered.

"Is this… Sengoku the Buddha's Devil Fruit Ability?"

BOOM!!

Garp instantly expanded, transforming into a golden Buddha over ten meters tall.

His posture was ferocious as his aura far more overwhelming than Sengoku's had ever been.

His glass-like golden body was coiled with bulging muscles, radiating limitless power.

"Buddha Impact!!"

The golden Buddha slammed down a palm, unleashing a massive circular shockwave that shattered hundreds—no, thousands—of meters of ice.

The sea trembled as if struck by a magnitude-10 earthquake.

The sheer force compressed the atmosphere, layer upon layer, until it cracked under the pressure.

The shockwave's power was inescapable—even Armament Haki struggled to defend against it.

"Guh—!"

Mihawk, caught at the epicenter of the golden shockwave, spat out a mouthful of blood.

His body was tossed like a leaf in a storm, battered relentlessly by the raging force.

Behind Garp, Akainu's eyes widened in disbelief.

Is that Sengoku's Buddha Fruit?

Even when Sengoku used it, it was never this strong!

And what's with those bulging muscles? It looks nothing like some benevolent Buddha!

"Divine Departure!!"

Just as Akainu was marveling at Garp's golden Buddha form and the world-shaking shockwave, the ice beneath him exploded.

Shanks, wielding his broken sword Griffin, slashed through the storm of Conqueror's Haki lightning.

His overwhelming haki surged forth like a steamroller, crushing Akainu and sending him flying!

Shanks landed on a shattered piece of floating ice, his lips twitching involuntarily as he took in the sight of the golden, muscle-bound Buddha.

"Am I dreaming? Didn't Sengoku die? The World Government indeed holds some secrets about the Devil Fruits. Powerful logia-type abilities like magma, ice, and light have been under their control for centuries. Do they possess inheritance technology like Alabasta, or can they quickly locate reborn Devil Fruits in specific areas whenever a user dies?"

Shanks himself had never eaten a Devil Fruit—not out of some stubborn insistence on training his body and Haki alone.

The truth was, he had never come across a particularly powerful ability.

The pinnacle logia-type abilities had already eaten by then.

As for formidable paramecia types like the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, they weren't easy to find either.

And those rare mythical zoan types? Finding a powerful one was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Once, out of curiosity, he had asked Roger why he never ate a Devil Fruit.

Perhaps it could have alleviated his strange illness.

After a drunken night, Roger confided in Shanks that his strength had already reached its limit.

Even if he ate a Devil Fruit, it wouldn't boost his power.

Roger's Haki was so overwhelmingly dominant that it would completely overshadow any Devil Fruit Ability.

Yet, there was one Devil Fruit Roger had desired—one said to grant nearly infinite Life Force.

With that, even if his illness remained incurable, Roger could have endured it indefinitely through boundless vitality...

"The Devil Fruit Roger wanted seems to be the one Caesar possesses."

Every person has an ability that suits them.

Devil Fruit Abilities aren't strictly hierarchical; their strength depends on the user's compatibility and development.

Take Whitebeard, for instance—he seemed born to wield the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

Someone with fiery-tempered like Akainu was meant for the Magma Fruit.

And now, Garp appeared even more suited to the power of the Buddha Fruit than its previous user, Sengoku!

But this was a different form of Buddha.

The Wrathful Buddha, the Golden Vajra!

Standing over ten meters tall, this enraged deity no longer relied solely on shockwave attacks like Sengoku once did.

Bolstered by Garp's strength, the muscular Buddha had become a primordial beast, a savage god charging straight into Mihawk's sword aura.

His golden fists transformed into countless afterimages, threatening to tear the very sky and earth apart.

BOOM!

The terrifying force of his fists felt like the collapse of the heavens, crashing onto Mihawk's black blade with such overwhelming might that the swordsman coughed blood and was sent flying once more.

CRASH!

The golden Buddha stomped, creating a massive pressure in the air as he shattered the sound barrier.

His fist descended like a meteor toward Mihawk's airborne body.

Gritting his teeth, Mihawk's small frame erupted with a razor-sharp aura.

His presence surged wildly, yet it differed from typical Conqueror's Haki.

This energy was lethally focused—not dispersing outward but condensing into his entire being, merging with his weapon, the black blade Yoru.

"Black Blade Ultimate Art! Sky Splitter!"

Mihawk roared, his black blade Yoru humming and trembling in his grasp.

A hundreds-meter-long terrifying slash erupted, cleaving through anything as it collided with Garp's golden giant fist!

BOOM!!!