At Marineford, the mountain behind.
A ball of flame shot into the sky, stopping when it reached a certain height. The volume of the flame abruptly expanded more than tenfold, resembling a small sun.
And Ace's voice rang out from within it.
"You old geezer, take this!"
"Meteor Shower!!"
As the words fell, the flame violently exploded. Clusters of fire, each several times the size of a basketball, rained down, densely pouring towards Garp.
However, facing this sky full of fireballs, Garp bared his teeth.
"Tch!"
"What Meteor Shower, you just come up with some flashy and fancy names!"
"Ace, remember this, your own fist is what's most useful!"
Garp clenched his fist, coating it with Armament Haki, and punched straight out.
A powerful shockwave surged from Garp's fist, and the instant it collided with the falling flames, it extinguished the clusters of fire one after another.
And this shockwave, its momentum undiminished, continued to blast towards Ace.
!!
Ace's expression changed slightly, but he quickly devised a countermeasure. Raising a single hand to the sky, a huge spiral of flames, many times larger, materialized around him.
Immediately after, these flames continuously converged towards a single point. In just a moment, a gigantic fireball, blazing like the sun, appeared above Ace's head.
Terrifying waves of heat radiated outwards, their immense force not only sweeping through the mountain behind but also affecting the areas of Marineford town.
But whether it was the residents living there or the Marines, they only calmly looked up at the massive fireball above before ceasing to pay it any attention.
Some people didn't even lift their heads.
They were used to it. Having seen it so often, naturally, they were no longer surprised.
In the beginning, when the mountain behind frequently caused such commotions, they were all incredibly curious, often going out to see if some 'strange phenomenon' had appeared in the sky over there.
Things like a sun, a god of lightning, a giant...
No matter how rare, seeing it enough times naturally made it boring.
Moreover, they all knew that was the training ground for the Navy's Canglan Squad, and the commotions were basically caused by them.
The Canglan Squad—a name renowned throughout the world. Living in Marineford, they naturally couldn't be unaware of it.
All members were Rear Admiral rank officers or higher, the significance was obvious, and most people knew that many members of the Canglan Squad possessed combat strength exceeding their ranks.
Whether for the Marines or the residents here, the stronger the Canglan Squad, the happier they were.
Because this was their Navy's combat power. Although it didn't have much to do with them directly, how did that saying go?
A sense of collective pride!!
The stronger the Canglan Squad, the more they benefited from the reflected glory, right?
The scene returns to the mountain behind.
"You old geezer, take this!!"
"Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor!!"
Ace roared loudly, and under his control, the massive sun in his hands plummeted downwards.
The enormous 'small sun' clashed with the shockwave Garp had unleashed earlier, producing a terrifying residual ripple.
The resulting blast of air, even from such a distance, rustled the clothes Garp wore below.
Soon, this 'small sun' directly shattered the shockwave, its own power only slightly diminished as it continued to hurtle towards Garp below.
Garp's grin widened even further.
Looking at the 'small sun' crashing down towards him, he simply clenched his fist again, assuming the same stance as before.
"Ace, it's still that same saying!"
"Flashy and fancy!!"
"Bone... Impact!!"
Garp punched out, an incredibly terrifying shockwave erupting from his fist. This punch was on an entirely different level from the previous one, many times more powerful.
In an instant, it clashed with Ace's 'small sun', and in the blink of an eye, it shattered Ace's technique, turning it into fine fragments of flame that vanished in mid-air.
But the power of Garp's shockwave showed no sign of weakening, like a primordial beast, roaring as it charged towards Ace.
Ace: !!!
Rumble—
A tremendous sound came from the heavens, accompanied by continuous waves of residual force spreading outwards.
On a nearby mountain peak, Kyle and Zoro were currently standing there.
The incoming residual blast wildly lifted their clothes, but their stances remained utterly unmoved.
Looking ahead, Zoro suddenly spoke up:
"That guy Ace hasn't been idle these past three months either; the power of that move is quite a bit stronger than before!"
Although Ace's technique was still easily crushed by Garp, the aura this move emitted was considerably more powerful than what Zoro had witnessed three months prior.
"That guy really has been quite diligent these past few months!"
Kyle nodded, a smile on his lips.
Unlike the others who were mostly out on missions, Kyle spent most of his time at Navy Headquarters now.
And Ace hadn't gone out on a mission for several months, so Kyle naturally had some understanding of his growth.
These past months, Ace had been fighting almost every day, but he never sought out Kyle; instead, he went to Garp and Zephyr.
Kyle wondered if it was because he'd traumatized him with his lightning the last time they fought.
Kyle figured that probably wasn't the case, right?
After all, that was his overflowing love for his Otousan!
Compared to Ace, Kyle's state was much more relaxed.
Carefree, at ease, staying at Navy Headquarters, occasionally taking the Sea Train to Water 7 for fun, or vacationing elsewhere.
The rest of the time, he trained alone or practiced with Garp.
There was no helping it. At his current strength, going out on missions no longer served any purpose for him.
Because the essence of undertaking missions was to confront powerful opponents; pressure was needed to more easily achieve breakthroughs.
But the problem was—
Given his current strength, how many strong people in the world could still put pressure on him?
Even when he fought Kaido for three days and three nights, it had only cost him a bit more effort. There was pressure, but not much.
So, for him, relying on powerful opponents to apply heavy pressure for a breakthrough was unrealistic.
Fortunately, at Headquarters, he had Garp, a top expert in Haki, to guide him.
Over these three years, Kyle had frequently sought Garp's advice on Haki training.
Now, even without using his Devil Fruit abilities, his Haki was enough to rank among the world's top tier.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen the others in several months. I wonder how strong they are now?"
Zoro spoke up again.
"Those guys, huh!"
"When they came back before, I got a general idea. The others are in similar situations; there's not much difference in their improvement."
"The only one is that guy Luffy. After he came back last time, his strength jumped up another big notch."
"His current strength..."
Kyle's words suddenly paused. He stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, then suddenly spoke:
"He should rank in the top three among your group, or maybe even higher, it's not impossible."
---