"Ugh!"
Phil's Tekkai was forcefully broken, sending him stumbling backward.
Clutching his stomach, cold sweat pouring from his forehead, he opened his mouth.
He wanted to speak, but no words came out.
Gasps erupted from the crowd, and Zephyr also looked over.
Seeing Phil's predicament, he said:
"Phil, step down for now."
"Y-Yes... cough... cough!"
"Sakazuki, huh? Not bad. For a Logia user, your combat skills isn't lacking."
"Next, I'll personally—"
At that moment, Garp, standing to the side, perked up with interest and cut in before Zephyr could finish:
"Hahahahaha, now this is interesting."
"Zephyr, let me take this one!"
Zephyr thought for a moment.
"...Alright."
"Sakazuki, any objections?"
Sakazuki, eager to experience the gap between himself and a top-tier powerhouse, would never refuse:
"No problem."
After replying, he adjusted his stance.
He locked eyes with Garp across from him.
Garp crossed his arms over his chest, grinning broadly as he said to Sakazuki:
"Come on, kid."
Sakazuki instantly activated his Crimson Lotus form.
With a powerful stomp, an eruption-like shockwave blasted out from beneath him.
Faster than before—noticeably faster.
"Great Eruption!"
He appeared right before Garp, hurling a magma-fueled punch.
As if expecting it, Garp raised his left arm and countered directly.
Their fists collided.
Boom!
A surge of impact burst from Sakazuki's fist, and magma exploded toward Garp.
However, the shockwave from clashing with Garp stirred up a violent gale, scattering the magma.
The wind forced nearby soldiers to shield their eyes and brace themselves.
Garp, meanwhile, remained unfazed, still grinning.
"One more!"
Boom!
Boom!
BOOM BOOM!
...
Their figures darted across the training field.
Fists clashed repeatedly, afterimages flickered, and violent magma bursts erupted.
The trainees had to retreat again and again, afraid of getting caught in the blasts.
But only Sakazuki knew the truth—in this short exchange of blows, the massive energy drain of his Crimson Lotus mode was pushing him to his limits.
Crimson Lotus drew upon the eruptive nature of magma, circulating it through his body.
It gave him a huge temporary boost in strength.
But it also consumed his stamina at an alarming rate.
After this prolonged clash, he was nearly spent.
Any longer, and he'd be carried out on a stretcher.
As their movements crossed paths again, Sakazuki dropped out of Crimson Lotus mode.
His right arm transformed into molten magma, and he slammed a fist into the ground.
Garp, watching Sakazuki punch the earth, paused without moving:
"Relying on your Devil Fruit, huh?"
Suddenly, he sensed something.
Soru!
Boom!
A blast of magma burst from beneath the ground, erupting upward!
The epicenter—exactly where Garp had just been standing.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
...
In an instant, eighteen magma jets exploded from underground.
Is that all? Garp, who had dodged to the side, thought.
"Dark Hound!"
Before Garp could react, from the erupting magma beside him, Sakazuki's figure emerged—his right hand shaping a tightly compressed, focused mass of seething lava.
He slammed it directly into Garp.
The magma erupted, engulfing Garp in an instant.
"Hiss!"
"That strong?!"
"Incredible!"
"This is..."
Gasps echoed from the surrounding trainees.
Even the nearby officers looked astonished. Zephyr, on the other hand, smiled in admiration:
"Meticulous tactics. Step-by-step execution. Not bad at all."
After the strike, Sakazuki dropped out of magma form.
He stood still, waiting for Zephyr to speak.
Meanwhile, the figure wrapped in magma on the ground...
Boom!
The magma burst apart, revealing Garp inside—completely unharmed and roaring with laughter.
"That packed a punch! Kid, once you graduate, join my ship! Hahahahaha!!!"
"That's enough, Garp! Don't go corrupting the youth!"
Zephyr's face darkened with exasperation and quickly intervened.
He couldn't let such a promising soldier be led astray by Garp:
"Alright, Sakazuki. Fall in."
"Yes, sir."
The assessments continued without pause...
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