Naruto: Copy System#649+650: Meltdown, Whitebeard vs. Blackbeard

Even with his near-invincible power, cutting a swath through anyone who stood in his way, Whitebeard still couldn't get close to Ace’s body. The Admirals were no pushovers, and the endless barrage of cannonballs was no joke.

Plowing through the storm of steel, Whitebeard began to show signs of injury.

Cannonballs rained down on him as if the Marines had an infinite supply. Akainu, despite having his face nearly caved in and deformed by Whitebeard's earlier punch, relentlessly blocked his path, fighting like a rabid dog.

——————

“I understand. Keep Whitebeard here at all costs.”

Sengoku was on a Den Den Mushi, receiving orders directly from the Five Elders.

With Ace dead, the Five Elders had given Sengoku a new mission: throw everything they had at Whitebeard and ensure he didn't leave this place alive.

Even if the Five Elders hadn't given the order, Sengoku would have done everything in his power to finish the job. He and Whitebeard were old rivals who had clashed for decades.

If there was a chance to finally put an end to him, Sengoku wouldn't hesitate.

"Purupurupuru!"

The Den Den Mushi rang again. Sengoku’s brow furrowed. What now?

He answered immediately, and a wave of pure rage washed over him.

"DAMMIT, BLACKBEARD! HOW DARE HE INVADE IMPEL DOWN!"

The news had just reached him. Blackbeard had broken into the great undersea prison and released the most notorious criminals locked within.

Sengoku’s world went dark. He knew how much it had cost them to capture those monsters in the first place. Now, all that effort had been undone by that bastard Blackbeard.

Years of hard work, all for nothing.

But that wasn't the worst of it. The real catastrophe would be the chaos those criminals would unleash upon the world.

'Looks like it's time for me to step down.'

Sengoku felt as if he had aged decades in an instant. This incident alone was enough to end his career. The Five Elders might not force him out, but Sengoku no longer had the heart to continue in his position.

"Well, no time to dwell on that now. I have to deal with what's in front of me."

Sengoku gave a bitter smile. He never imagined things would spiral into such a disaster. His grand plan to deal with the Whitebeard Pirates had backfired spectacularly.

In the end, the Marines had suffered the greatest losses.

And that bastard Blackbeard... Sengoku had completely misjudged him. If he hadn't made Blackbeard a Warlord, none of this would have happened.

"Garp, you should rest."

Sengoku glanced at Garp. He had wanted Garp to join him in finishing Whitebeard, but seeing the state his old friend was in, he held his tongue.

Garp's wounds weren't physical—they were wounds of the heart. It was better to let him be.

The cannonballs continued to pound Whitebeard as the three Admirals relentlessly attacked. They held back their most devastating moves, knowing that the full power of a Logia user could easily wipe out half of Marineford.

The island was already on the verge of collapse, another major blow and it would sink into the sea for good.

Sengoku joined the fray, adding his strength to the assault on Whitebeard.

"JOZU, WITH ME! WE HAVE TO HELP POPS!" Marco shouted to Diamond Jozu, and the two commanders charged toward their captain.

The battle raged on, unabated by Ace’s death. The Whitebeard Pirates wanted to retreat, but as long as their captain fought, they would not abandon him.

——————

"Why hasn't Shanks shown up yet? Isn't he going to use his 'face' powers?" Shin mused, his Observation Haki blanketing the entire area. He found no trace of the Red-Haired Pirates.

He did, however, spot Blackbeard’s crew. They were slow, but after all this time, they had finally arrived.

"Captain, this doesn't look like what we expected," Van Augur said to Blackbeard. The situation was completely different from what they had planned.

They had anticipated finding Whitebeard on his last legs, or perhaps even already dead.

But looking at him now, he was still a monster, holding his own against the Admirals and the Fleet Admiral without giving an inch. The man’s power was terrifying. Could they really take him on?

"...How?" Blackbeard's eyes were wide with disbelief, his mind completely blown.

From everything he knew, Whitebeard's health was failing. This war should have been the end of him. But right now, it didn't look like Whitebeard had suffered any critical damage at all.

The situation had gone completely off the rails, leaving Blackbeard at a loss for what to do.

'I bet Blackbeard is totally freaking out right now.' Shin watched as Blackbeard’s ship lingered at the edge of the bay, hesitating to make a move, and couldn't help but smile.

Originally, Blackbeard was supposed to be the biggest winner of this war. Now, that chance was gone.

In this war, there were no winners. Everyone was a loser. As for Shin? He was just a spectator. He hadn't gotten involved in the slightest.

"Shin, why don't we just step in and wipe them all out?" Hancock suddenly suggested.

"And what good would that do us?"

Shin replied with a small smile.

Hancock was taken aback for a moment. What good would it do?

Thinking it over, she realized it truly offered them nothing. What was the point in fighting the Marines, the Whitebeard Pirates, and the Blackbeard Pirates?

The title of Pirate King? Shin had no interest in it. Ruling the world? He had no ambition for that either. Being a king was too much work, and ultimately pointless. As long as you had the strength to crush anyone who called themselves a king, you were already above it all.

"So, it's meaningless for us. That's why I'm not getting involved. This world is just a stop on our journey."

Shin would leave this world eventually. He couldn't stay in the world of One Piece forever. The System's power was probably almost recharged. In a few more years, at most, it would have enough energy to travel to another world.

After spending so many years here, Shin felt it was about time to move on. Unfortunately, he didn't have the power to traverse worlds at will just yet. That kind of power was still a distant dream.

The ability to freely travel between worlds... that was power on the level of true immortals. Not the fake kind from Naruto—genuine immortals who transcended reality itself.

Shin didn't even know if he'd ever reach that height.

Well, everything depended on which worlds he'd visit in the future. With the System as his ultimate ace in the hole, danger didn't scare him.

The stronger the world, the faster he'd grow. After all, he could copy anything.

<><><><><><><><>

"We're making our move."

Blackbeard stared at Whitebeard battling the Admirals and spoke in a low, determined voice.

"Are we attacking the Marines or Whitebeard?" one of his crew members asked. If they were going to act, they needed a clear target. They couldn't just attack everyone.

Both the Marines and Whitebeard were his enemies, but for now, Blackbeard decided to deal with Whitebeard first.

"Hopefully, the Marines will stay out of this. We're taking on Whitebeard. I want to see how much longer he can last."

Blackbeard's target was Whitebeard. Even now, he hadn't given up on the idea of obtaining the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. He had to get that power, and Whitebeard had to die. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.

If Whitebeard survived, he would undoubtedly hunt Blackbeard to the ends of the earth. Just staying alive would become a struggle.

As for the Marines, Blackbeard wasn't too worried. Although he had released countless criminals from Impel Down, those same criminals were now drawing the Marines' attention.

As long as he didn't go out of his way to provoke the Marines, he should be fine for now. But Whitebeard was the greatest threat.

"Don't be afraid. I know what state that old man is in. He's at the end of his rope."

Blackbeard tried to rally his crew, afraid their fear would get the better of them.

In the original story, they'd waited until Whitebeard was practically a corpse before striking. But now, though Whitebeard was injured, his wounds were far from fatal.

Blackbeard felt fear twisting in his gut—and if he was scared, his crew was terrified.

Still, Blackbeard charged forward, his men following close behind. Besides himself, only six others remained. Originally there'd been nine, but Hancock had killed Shiryu and Shin had taken down Catarina Devon, thinning their ranks considerably.

——————

"The Blackbeard Pirates are on the move. Their target must be Whitebeard," Robin, with her excellent eyesight, noticed Blackbeard's actions.

"I think Blackbeard's lost his mind, choosing to make a move now," Shin commented, watching the scene unfold.

Blackbeard was indeed being foolish. If Shin were in his shoes, he would have cut his losses and left.

'Greed is a deadly sin. Whitebeard is much stronger than you think.'

In the canon, a dying Whitebeard still had the strength to beat Blackbeard to a pulp. In his current state, he would utterly demolish him. Moreover, the hatred the Whitebeard Pirates felt for Blackbeard probably surpassed their hatred for the Marines.

The Marines were their natural enemies, but a traitor like Blackbeard was the one they despised the most.

Given the chance, they would ignore the Marines and focus all their fury on him.

"TEACH." Whitebeard spotted Blackbeard, his furious roar echoing across Marineford.

Kizaru was forced back by the sheer force of his presence. Nobody was foolish enough to face the full wrath of an enraged Whitebeard.

Whitebeard didn't forget Ace's body. He grabbed it and handed it to Marco.

Marco understood his father's meaning, immediately transformed, and flew into the sky, heading into the distance. He had to get Ace's body away from here. Ace was already gone, they couldn't let the Marines take his body.

"That bastard Blackbeard."

Sengoku’s eyes burned with a deep-seated killing intent. After so many years, this was the first time he had been so thoroughly outsmarted.

To be played by a man like Blackbeard... it was humiliating.

——————

"Zehahaha! Pops, long time no see." Blackbeard ignored Sengoku’s glare and greeted Whitebeard.

"Teach, you broke the rules of my ship. You deserve to die."

Whitebeard threw a ferocious punch at Blackbeard. In terms of size, Blackbeard only came up to Whitebeard's waist. The sight was like an adult fighting a child.

Blackbeard's expression changed, but he didn't dodge. He wanted to see just how much strength Whitebeard had left.

"<Dark Water!>"

This move could pull enemies towards him, and anyone touched by the darkness would have their Devil Fruit abilities sealed. It could also absorb the attacks of Devil Fruit users.

The two attacks collided, and Blackbeard was sent flying, along with the rest of his crew. With a single punch, Whitebeard displayed his near-invincible power.

"Hmm?"

Whitebeard suddenly felt something was wrong. His power had been sealed. The ability of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was temporarily unusable.

'So this is the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit...' Whitebeard realized. This ability was truly the bane of every Devil Fruit user on the sea.

Sealing Devil Fruit powers with a touch—anyone who relied on their fruit would be helpless the moment Blackbeard grabbed them.

"Zehahaha! Pops, you can't use the Tremor-Tremor Fruit now, can you?" Blackbeard said, getting up, his face covered in blood.

Whitebeard's punch had hit him hard. Fortunately, Blackbeard was durable, and the Dark-Dark Fruit could absorb some of the damage. If it had been anyone else, they would have been killed on the spot.

"For this Devil Fruit, you would kill your own brother? Answer me, Teach."

Whitebeard's face was as cold as ice as he questioned Blackbeard.

"Brother? Pops, you don't really think I saw them as brothers, do you?" Blackbeard said, his face twisting into a vicious sneer as he pointed at the Whitebeard Pirates.

Whitebeard's brow furrowed. "Were the men on this ship not good to you? Teach, you disappoint me more than I can say. You've committed the most unforgivable sin of the Whitebeard Pirates."

Whitebeard could forgive any crime his sons committed, but killing a brother was something he would never tolerate.

Blackbeard hesitated at those words, a memory surfacing.

Honestly, everyone on the ship had treated him well. There was a time he'd even imagined spending his entire life aboard that vessel.

But everything changed when he saw the Dark-Dark Fruit.

The ambition he'd buried deep inside roared back to life. The crew had a simple rule: whoever found a Devil Fruit got to eat it.

Thatch had discovered the Dark-Dark Fruit, so it was his call.

Unless he decided not to eat it himself, it might go to someone else—but there was no guarantee Blackbeard would ever get his hands on it. So in that moment, Blackbeard made his choice.

He murdered Thatch and abandoned the Whitebeard Pirates.

"Pops, you were good to me, but you can't give me what I want. I'm going to become the Pirate King. From now on, this will be the Era of Blackbeard."

At this point, Blackbeard stopped hiding. He let his ambition show—dark, oppressive energy radiating from him like a physical force.