123 Chapter 115

Hey guys! It seems like I was able to pull off a chapter, contrary to my belief that I won't be able to do so until May.

My exams are finally over, and I've been catching up on the One Piece (cuz I actually skipped all the way from Impel Down arc until Wano lol). Currently finished the Dressrosa arc just now; gonna take some time to fully catch up and refine the plot based on that.

And damn I gotta say, the part where Rosinante sacrifices his life for Law... almost made me cry there. And the Kyros and Rebecca scene at the end... bruh, who says that One Piece became disappointing in comparison to part 1? (Don't you dare say spoiler alert here lol, cuz you reading this fanfic means that you are risking it)

And that 1015th episode of anime, yooo!! It was lit beyond belief. Hype is insane.

Now, prior to continuing this fanfic, I would like to go over one thing: should I keep the title of this fanfic as "Struggle of the Weak"? After all, I can't really see what's so 'weak' about Rowan (the prototype of Rowan didn't have any special 'eyes' and Conqueror's Haki. Hell, the fruit I was going to give him in the Aurum city wasn't Bounce Bounce fruit, but more like Ball Ball fruit akin to Mineta's in MHA. The reason I decided against that, is when I realized that Rowan managing to overpower Arlong just by basic training for 4 years, indicates that there is something special about him. Decided to choose the 'plot armour' or 'destiny' route.)

Vote (comment must be "+1", anything else doesn't count as a vote):

1. Keep it the way it is

2. Change it to "One Piece: The Venture of Bounce Man"

3. Change it to "One Piece: The Rise of Grimheart"

4. Change it to "One Piece: I Reincarnated into the World of One Piece and My Name is Youchiha Bob?!!!"

5. Change it to "One Piece: The Will of BOB"

6: Change it to: "One Piece: The Struggle for Peace"

7. Other suggestions

I gotta say, this Marineford fight that I'm writing is giving me quite a headache. A literal chaos going on here. I'm gonna try my best to make this volume as smooth as possible. After this volume and one more, we'll be entering the New World.

Annnnd, I think that's about it! Right now, I have nothing but respect for Oda; I've got no idea how he's managing this insanely large world of One Piece. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this chapter, and uh... cya next week... or next next week... or next next next week!

___________________________

"Ultrasonic."

Without any sound, Rowan simply disappeared from his spot.

Only a mere fraction of a millisecond passed by, but Sakazuki, who utilized his Advanced Observation Haki, urgently raised up his Haki-imbued arms and generated a condensed mass of magma to brace for the impact—just in time.

In the eyes of the others, everything happened too quickly for them to perceive properly.

What they saw was Sakazuki being blasted upward to the sky all of a sudden, with Rowan having appeared at the former's position.

*BOOOOOOOOOOM*

The delayed boom of Rowan's attack only resounded after it has already struck Sakazuki, indicating just how fast Rowan's speed currently was.

And that was just the beginning.

Sakazuki, who was being propelled upward, didn't sit idly by, but quickly rotated his body before meeting fist to fist with Rowan, who once again, appeared in front of the former.

*BOOM*

Once again, the delayed sound of bounce, from Rowan's propulsion from the ground, was only heard after he reached Sakazuki. And now,

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The air between Rowan and Sakazuki seemed to be shaking violently. To others' shock, their fists weren't even touching.

"Too bad, Grimheart." Sakazuki growled as his fist continued to withstand Rowan's, "I've seen someone faster."

'Tch, his Armament Haki is definitely stronger than mine. Without Conqueror's Haki, I won't be able to sustain.' Rowan gritted his teeth as he watched the magma beginning to flow from Sakazuki's body, and onto his outstretched fist.

They couldn't afford to continue the Marineford war for a long period of time. Although his crew members were holding their own against the powerful foes, Rowan deemed that it is unlikely that they will be able to achieve victories and escape unscathed.

They've successfully retrieved Ace, which meant that one thing: they could escape any time they wanted, as long as the Whitebeard pirates were ready to leave as well. Newgate seemed to have understood that.

Before Sakazuki's fist could overwhelm his, Rowan vanished once more.

Right after, Sakazuki, having foreseen the following event, enveloped his right arm with a gigantic mass of magma, before rotating his body to swipe it all around himself, and at the next moment,

the concentrated magma was splattered by the countless number of explosive blasts, which happened at an incredible pace that they seemed to have all occurred simultaneously.

*BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM*

The noises from the blasts only caught up after the attacks have been dealt with.

'Strength, speed, endurance, variability, reflex...' Sakazuki calmly assessed Rowan's capability, and frowned in displeasure, 'Balanced one, eh...'

Quickly shifting his gaze downward after a brief flash of red in his eyes, Sakazuki sent forth a huge mass of magma that seemed to have formed the shape of a hound.

"Hound Blaze!!"

"Sonic Blast!"

Sakazuki's magma has been splattered by Rowan's insanely quick punch, which was imbued by the black-lightning of Conqueror's Haki infusion.

*BOOOOOOM*

As their attacks canceled each other's, both of them landed back on the ground.

"Let's up the game, Akainu." Rowan stated as his gaze briefly shifted to Garp, who seemed to be contemplating if he should join or not. Sakazuki was enough to deal with.

Through the use of Advanced Observation Haki, Sakazuki felt a chill down his spine—Rowan's following attack was going to be on a scale different from the previous ones.

'The awakened ability of Magma Magma fruit... forget it.'

In the current war that many marine soldiers were involved in, the awakened ability of Logia fruit was technically unusable due to its wide range and destructive capability, unless Sakazuki was willing to sacrifice them altogether. Although Sakazuki considered such an option for a second, he gave up on such thought after seeing how Kuzan, whose ice can neutralize his magma to some extent, seemed to be busy dealing with two weaklings.

From Sakazuki's perspective, those marine soldiers still had some use in them.

"Dark Hound!!" Sakazuki's hand transformed into a claw made out of magma, before blasting toward Rowan in an attempt to burn latter, but Rowan already disappeared from the site.

'Magma really is dense.' Rowan thought as his eyes were locked onto Sakazuki's back, 'It's incredibly hot, so I am not able to directly attack unless I use the emission or the bounce. It's tough as well, so just the speed alone isn't enough to deal with it. Additionally, Akainu reacting to my speed... because of Kizaru perhaps.'

Sakazuki quickly turned and faced Rowan with the bubbling mass of magma expanding out from him, as if preparing for something big.

'Against tough opponent, I gotta use the consecutive bounce to generate a penetrating force.'

Rowan clenched his right fist tight, before blasting himself towards Sakazuki, who too have formed a gigantic fist of magma that seemed to be as big as Oars Jr.'s fist.

"Entropic Imbuement."

Rowan's appearance was quite terrifying. Black hardening, golden aura of emission, white steam from upregulated blood flow, and now, his clenched fist seemed to be glowing brilliantly, causing Sakazuki's eyes to narrow.

Not allowing any chance of beatdown just like the last time, Sakazuki's gigantic fist of magma began to turn black and be enveloped in a brownish aura, indicating the hardening and emission of the Armament Haki.

"Volcanic Obliteration!!"

The fearsome fist of magma began to approach Rowan at a rapid pace, however, Rowan didn't plan to dodge it.

*PAZZZZ*

The black-coloured lightning around Rowan's fist, the infusion of Conqueror's Haki, exploded in its potency as he blasted his fist forth,

"Juggernaut Drive!!!"

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The struggle between Rowan and Sakazuki was incredibly intense. Everyone in proximity was blasted back by the remnants of magma that splattered and the gushes of compressed air.

A slight smirk was formed on Sakazuki's face as he realized that Rowan's technique didn't seem to be as strong as his, until-

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Sakazuki's eyes widened as another wave of force, just as strong as the previous one, impacted his technique.

"Why, did you fail to foresee this future, Akainu?" Rowan grinned with his amber-coloured eyes adamantly staring at Sakazuki.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Rowan's punch continued to push its way through Sakazuki's gigantic fist of magma and close the gap produced by the clash between the emissions of Armament Haki.

Sakazuki's Haki-imbued magma fist began to crack, and upon the fifth impact, the whole wave of magma splattered all across. Sakazuki saw Rowan's fist right in front of his face, about to smash.

"GARP!!!" Watching the dire situation that Sakazuki was in, Sengoku shouted in a commanding tone.

Garp gritted his teeth before jumping in-between Rowan and Sakazuki with his right fist surrounded by black lightning,

"Roger...

—Fist!"

In a span of a second, Rowan found the very technique that caused severe damage to him, blasting towards him once again.

'Protect. If I fall here, my whole crew is done for. Protect.'

It was that damn technique that dealt critical damage to Rowan few days ago. Rowan concentrated as best as he could, for everything will go downfall if he becomes severely injured.

'Protect!' Upon Rowan's will, the space itself began to distort, and a transparent, liquid-like aura covered itself around Garp's fist, nullifying the extent of the infusion of the Conqueror's Haki, and severely weakening Garp's attack.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Rowan's punch and Garp's weakened fist struggled to blast each other, although they were not in direct contact due to the emission of Armament Haki.

Garp was intrigued upon noticing a strange force that weakened his Conqueror's Haki by a notable degree, but his attention was on the shocking fact that the very individual who was in a critical condition after the very same technique, was able to go toe to toe.

"It indeed is the Conquer's Haki infusion... how?"

Garp's eyes narrowed questioningly as he cocked back his other free arm,

"Newgate-"

"...Hm?" Newgate narrowed his eyes at a sudden mention of his name, before clashing his naginata against Sengoku's force impact,

"-Fist!!!"

Rowan felt a cold sweat, for the utilization of his unique Haki required the adamant will to 'protect,' which made it very difficult for Rowan to properly manifest in midst of the fight. Besides, the incredible potency of Conqueror's Haki infusion on Garp's punch wasn't something his Haki could nullify just like the last time. However, he grinned nonetheless,

"That was too close for my liking, Carina."

Unlike the last time, he wasn't fighting entirely alone.

*ZOOM*

From Rowan's back, Carina appeared all of a sudden, and let out a tongue comically before disappearing with a flash in an instant moment, along with Rowan.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Garp's attack exploded the empty air in front of him and continued to blast forth without a stop. Coincidentally, Garp's shockwave was heading toward Sengoku, who frowned as he quickly transformed his body into buddha form and lifted up his palm to counter Garp's technique.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOM*

As Sengoku was struggling against Garp's punch, Newgate let out a hearty laugh.

"Gurararara!!! How come you two are fighting against each other all of a sudden?"

With a tickmark on his forehead, Garp turned his head around to see Rowan catching a breath alongside Carina.

"Damn it... Kuzan and you said that Grimheart isn't capable of using Conqueror's Haki, much less the infusion." Sakazuki growled as he slowly stood up from his spot, "Did you two lie to me, Garp?"

Garp frowned in displeasure, "You think I would ever lie for something like that, Sakazuki? I have no idea how, but he... somehow awakened Conqueror's Haki and learned infusion, all within the past few days."

Although it seemed unrealistic, that was the only plausible explanation.

'Awakening Conqueror's Haki on the lowest floor of the Impel Down... you got to be kidding me.'

Just the thought itself made Sakazuki grimace at how much potential Rowan held.

Meanwhile,

"Carina, I can't face the two of them by myself." Rowan said to Carina as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Carina nodded with a grin on her face.

"Heh, just like the last time when we fought Baten?"

Rowan found himself grinning as well, "Yeah, just like the last time."

*ZOOM*

Noticing the incoming attack, Carina quickly grabbed Rowan and flashed away from their position.

"Grimheart!!!"

From the above, Garp abruptly entered the scene with his fist cocked back, and slammed to the empty position,

*BOOOOOOM*

Rowan, with Carina on his back, appeared behind Garp abruptly with an intention to target the latter's exposed back, however,

"Great Eruption!!!"

Sakazuki roared as he blasted magma toward Rowan, who utilized bounce up in the air to dodge it. Rowan was simply too quick.

"From what I can see, Sakazuki's magma is very dense and heavy. It grants him the tough defence, but renders him slow in return." Rowan muttered as he and Carina nimbly dodged around the blast of magma, before foreseeing Garp's incoming attack with his superb Observation Haki.

"Garp is the real problem. He's literally known as the Marine Hero, and I doubt that we've seen his full capability yet." Carina grabbed Rowan and flashed away once more, causing Garp's punch to blast the clusters of magma that Sakazuki shot.

*ZOOM*

Sakazuki gritted his teeth as he produced an intense mass of magma all around his body in an instant moment, only to see that Rowan was utilizing the incredible force of bounce to repel all magma around him and Carina.

Carina used the moment to flash away from the site after exchanging eyes with Rowan.

*BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM*

"3 Layers Convergence, 300 Hit: Speed Drive."

As if mimicking the vibration of the Tremor Tremor fruit, Rowan's extended fist began to blast the bounce forces at such a terrifying speed, as if there existed no delay between each consecutive bounce.

*BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM*

"Grimheart...!!!" Sakazuki roared in fury as Rowan instantly bulldozed his way and impacted Sakazuki's magma-coated body.

*BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM*

The magma around Sakazuki's body began to ripple and splatter around from Rowan's attack. In response, Sakazuki raised his free hand, where the magma bubbled to form a shape akin to a ferocious hound,

"Hound Blaze!!!"

Rowan, in response, grinned as well.

"I too have two arms, you know." He raised his other hand as well and slammed it against the incoming magma hound,

"50 Layers Convergence: Terrablast."

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Rowan and Sakazuki clashed face to face, and the whole area around them began to get destroyed helplessly. As many marines and pirates withdrew from their proximity, their techniques knew no stop as they continued to exert force on one another.

Garp watched the scene with a stoic expression as he opened his mouth to Carina, who was standing next to him,

"How's Ace?"

"He will be fine as long as we make a safe escape." Carina replied with a cold tone. From Garp's question alone, Carina sensed that Garp, for whatever reason unknown to her, wished Ace's successful escape.

'His main goal of fighting against us is to prevent the marines from suffering a heavy loss.' Carina thought to herself and turned back to where Garp was, only to see that he has propelled himself to where Rowan and Sakazuki were clashing. 'If so... we should play shrewd.'

'If these two continue to fight like unbound bulls,' Garp grimaced as he gazed at numerous marine soldiers nearby who failed to withdraw, 'the weak will suffer.'

Garp quickly interrupted Rowan and Sakazuki with an incredibly powerful fist of his own, demolishing the magma and subduing the consecutive bounce forces.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Rowan quickly retreated from the two of them before he suffered grievous injury, and huffed slightly with sweat dripping down from his face. Even so, he expressed a light smile that caused the two powerful individuals to express annoyance.

*ZOOOOM*

At the next moment, the incredibly large iceberg that was lifted up by Jozu, appeared on top of Garp, Sakazuki, and many other marine soldiers with a purple flash.

*ZOOOOM*

And to many's shock, another iceberg of a similar size appeared and piled up on top of the previous one.

*Zoom*

Carina, while huffing heavily in exhaustion, teleported back to Rowan's side.

"Are you alright, Carina?" Rowan muttered as he momentarily gazed at Carina with concern in his eyes, 'She over-exerted herself already.'

Carina nodded as she raised up her hand and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Garp's frowned as he faced the incredibly large icebergs dropping onto him.

"I can't afford to dodge that, can I..." Due to the impact of Rowan and Sakazuki's clash, many marine soldiers weren't able to move out of the site; Garp had no choice but to confront the icebergs head-on.

While huffing slightly and frowning as the injury dealt by Rowan's initial attack stung, Sakazuki was about to unleash his technique to burn the falling icebergs, but halted upon noticing Garp's stance.

'Seems like there's no need for me to act.'

"...Hm?" Rowan's eyes sharpened as he felt a chill down his spine, "There's something stronger than that 'Newgate Fist' thing he used?"

"Watch and learn, bounce brat." Garp's fist began to crackle in black lightning as the red emission around his arm began to expand domineeringly, much to Rowan's shock.

'Expansion just like his other punches... and emission of Armament Haki? No... it's similar, but at the same time, different. The flow of Armament is more concentrated and uni-directional, as if its goal is... internal destruction.'

The potent and unique application of Armament Haki by Garp baffled Rowan, who observed such a scene with his amber-coloured eyes.

'Expansion along with the internal destruction... is that the variation from the simple emission of the Armament Haki? Just how much Haki would I need to recreate that technique?'

The highly concentrated Conqueror's Haki around Garp shook the very air itself. As all the attention was gathered upon him, Garp blasted his punch forth,

"Xebec Fist!!!"

What could be said? All that was present in everyone's eyes at the next moment...

—was the whole sky bursting open as the icebergs have been disintegrated into nothing.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The incredibly loud noise thundered across the whole sky.

From the sheer force, the clouds instantly condensed into liquids and poured over the Marineford as the heavy rain, before it abruptly halted and revealed the bright sun—much to Moria's dismay. And at the same time,

"S***." Rowan couldn't help but curse as Prominence, which the Grimheart pirates kept hidden, has revealed its glorious view.

"You gotta be... *Huff*... f****** kidding me." Carina slouched her posture in an exaggerated fashion.

Even worse, Nami could be seen to be standing on the deck with Rowan's eyes.

Leaving Cocoyashi without her or Nojiko, and leaving first in Alabasta—the purpose of all those actions was to ensure that the world doesn't notice his close ties with them. If Nami's bond with him is revealed, its consequences will be beyond what Twin Cats pirates are capable of handling.

Besides, his crew member, Prominence, was about to get attacked; that's when Rowan noticed Sakazuki, whose eyes narrowed toward Prominence.

"Meteor Volcano!!!"

_________________

*Click*

"Thank you." Ace muttered in a hoarse voice as the cuff opened with a clicking sound, finally freeing him from it.

Nami smiled, but her eyes wavered as the hole in the sky clearly showcased the devastating battlefield at the Marineford.

'What's going on? The intense air pressure just now burst open the whole sky. At this rate...' Nami gazed at the battlefield with keen eyes, before grabbing onto the steering wheel of Prominence with one of her hands.

"I can see why Nami-san is called 'Cat Burglar.'" Jinbe smiled, before turning to Ace with a serious face, "Ace-san, we... owe a big one to Rowan-san and his crew."

"Indeed Jinbe, we do." Ace nodded with a complicated expression.

Ace reminisced upon that night in Nanohana, where he had the chance to speak with Rowan.

'I truly owe a big one to Rowan.' Taking a deep breath, he stood back up with a usual grin back onto his face, "I'm going down. How about you, Jinbe?"

Jinbe nodded with an evident determination, "Of course."

"Neigh~!!!" At the next moment, Farul dashed through the dense clouds and landed onto the deck of the floating Prominence, and puffed out the steam from his nostrils.

Farul was ready to carry Ace and Jinbe to the Marineford below—only to see the bombardments of magma approaching Prominence rapidly.

"I knew it!!!" Nami shrieked comically as she began to turn the steering wheel of Prominence, trying to tilt the ship just in time to dodge Sakazuki's attacks.

"Never mind." Ace muttered as he faced the clusters of magma. Rolling his shoulders, Ace gazed at Farul with a grin, "Yo Farul, can you catch me when I am falling?"

Farul tilted his head in confusion but nodded nonetheless.

"I trust in you." Ace gave a thumbs-up before jumping straight down from Prominence, toward the rapidly-approaching clusters of magma, much to Nami and Farul's shock.

"Neigh~!!!" With widened eyes, Farul signaled Jinbe to get on top of his back. Right after Jinbe complied, Farul began to sprint down toward Ace, who was—

"TEKKEN!!!!!"

*BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM*

—destroying all clusters of magma with furious punches as he was freefalling from the sky.

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