CHAPTER 5

East Blue, Island of the Nine Kings of Beasts, Eastern Coast of the Dense Forest.

Vice Admiral Garp's Navy ship had finally arrived at the shore of the Nine Beast Kings Island. By the time the ship had just emerged from the fog, Bogart and Garp had released their observation Haki to observe the Nine Beast Kings Island. The observations Garp and Bogart got instantly made them both break out in cold sweat. Garp and Bogart sensed that within this Island of the Nine Beast Kings there were countless extremely powerful beings, there were even Nine beings whose strength was comparable to that of a Yonkou.

" Damn! The creatures that exist on this island are very scary" thought Bogart whose back had gone numb from cold sweat through the feeling of fear.

" The creatures on this island are very strong… Upon returning from here, I must tell Sengoku never to seek trouble with this island. Otherwise, the Navy will be in very big trouble even if the World Government assists." Garp's face was serious.

At the same time the Navy Ship arrived on the coast, a sudden change in natural phenomena occurred with the previously clear sky immediately cloudy, followed by a very strong wave of King's Haki coming from the battle area or central region.

"What?!"

"W-what happened?"

"I-this…"

All the Soldiers except Garp and Bogart had fear on their faces. While Garp himself was showing signs of seriousness because Garp had already felt the impact waves of the three people's King Haki while being different from Garp, Bogart had shown a frightened face feeling the intensity of the King's Haki.

"Wow! Shukaku and Kurama must be having a disagreement. Hmmmm…. But who's going with them?" Ares muttered. Ares himself only guessed the owner of this King's Haki. However, Ares himself believes that two of these waves of King's Haki were caused by Shukaku and Kurama because the two of them usually when they meet will definitely disagree with each other and clash with each other's King's Haki after they learn it.

"Shukaku? Kurama? Ares, this wave of King's Haki, did those two take it out?" Garp asked seriously.

"Um…" Ares nodded, "Well, this incident itself has become commonplace on this island, Garp-san. Kurama and Shukaku themselves were the Nine Beast Kings who had the worst relationship. Whenever they meet or are having discussions, there will inevitably be confrontations to the point of releasing the King's Haki."

"I see." Garp nodded.

"Then, Ares-kun. Who is the other possessor of King's Haki?" Bogart asked curiously.

"...Well, this one I don't know. Probably one of the other Seven Beast Kings. Usually in confrontations only Kurama and Shukaku always release their King Haki. The other seven were rare except in arena fights. However…. Come to think of it, this likely belonged to Goku, one of the King of Beasts. Because he has a fiery temper—"

Before Ares's sentence was finished, suddenly Bogart, Garp, and Ares felt six waves of King's Haki suddenly break out. Bogart and Garp suddenly fell silent as they felt nine King Haki clashing with six King Haki clashing with Three King Haki. However, the confrontation of six King's Haki against three King's Haki ended quickly. The end of the conformation made the clouds in the sky immediately fade and the sky brightened instantly.

"Ha ha ha ha…. Unlucky! It was so intense." Garp who was previously serious immediately laughed happily because it had been a long time since Garp had felt the impact of a lot of King's Haki at once.

"Huuuu…. It's finally over." Unlike Garp who was full of joyb, Bogart finally heaved a sigh of relief that the confrontation was finally over.

"Garp-san, Bogart-san. Looks like the battle is about to start. Which one of you wants to go watch the battle?" Ares turned and looked at Garp, Bogart as well as a number of Soldiers behind.

"Ha ha ha ha…. This old man will definitely come along to watch. There's no way this old man isn't going to watch the fun." Garp excitedly pointed at himself.

"Me too" Bogart also expressed his opinion. Even if he felt a sense of dread due to the confrontation between the nine King's Haki, it didn't make Bogart feel like he didn't want to go watch. Moreover, it was extremely rare to see a battle comparable to a battle between Sea Emperors.

"Alright" Ares nodded and looked at the soldiers who were still standing there, "Do you guys also want to come watch? No need to worry about ship problems. This territory we occupy is neutral territory and there are no beasts present here. I can guarantee that, even if this ship is left alone, no one will steal or take it."

Garp immediately turned around and looked at his subordinate Soldiers, "You can choose to come along or not. It's all your choice. I won't stop it."

The faces of the soldiers immediately filled with joy. It's rare in the navy to find a leader like Garp who doesn't really care about rank or title. Garp always considered every subordinate as equal and also always treated his subordinates very well. Therefore, every subordinate that this Garp had were subordinates who had been with him for a long time. These Soldiers are also very happy to follow Garp, because while with Garp it is very difficult for them to get life threats.

Finally after Garp's approval, all of his subordinate Soldiers came to watch the battle.

"Ares, how far is the location of the battle?" Garp asked casually.

"The location itself is in the middle of this island. The distance between our current location and the battle site itself is 45 kilometers. However, don't worry..." Before Ares finished his sentence, Ares immediately released his devil fruit power and slowly floated into the air. At the same time, Ares also immediately enveloped Garp, Bogart and the other Soldiers using his abilities and slowly floated in the air.

"W-what?"

"W-wait… Am I floating?"

"Wow…. We fly"

The faces of the other soldiers were full of shock when they saw their bodies floating in the air. Meanwhile, Garp and Bogart realized that the devil fruit that Ares ate was different from Shiki's devil fruit. Shiki's own devil fruit can only make inanimate objects float in the air by touching it while for Ares' devil fruit, even without touching the target, Ares can make whatever he wants float even living things.

"What's that big building in the middle of the island?"

"Yes, yes, the building is huge. At least the building is over 100 meters high."

By that time everyone had floated up to a height of 100 meters. Everyone could see the battle arena's grandstand which was very tall as well as huge.

"Ares, what building is that?" Garp suddenly asked curiously.

"The building you saw was the battle arena grandstand. There the audience can sit and watch the battle unfold. Then, let's go there. During the trip, you can see the various natural beauties that exist on this island. I guarantee you will be amazed to see it."

Ares started to control everyone and started flying towards the direction of the battle arena. While the Soldiers enjoyed the natural scenery of the Nine Kings of the Beast, Garp himself focused on the materials used as raw materials for the spectator stands.

" What materials were used to build the stands? That material is very strong even stronger than Sea Stone" Garp narrowed his eyes then looked at Ares, "Ares, what materials did you guys use to build the tribune?"

"Material? Ah, it uses Obsidian stone"

"Obsidian?" Garp asked confusedly then looked at Bogart, "Bogart, have you heard of it?"

"No. I've never heard of it at all." Bogart shook his head in confusion.

"Obsidian itself is a very hard material. The hardness of this material is even stronger than that of sea stone. About the manufacturing process, sorry, Garp-san. I can't tell him. Because it is a secret belonging to this island. I cannot reveal this secret to outsiders."

"Ha ha ha ha…. No problem, no problem." Garp just laughed at this. While Garp wanted to know the manufacture of the obsidian, Garp certainly didn't want to force it to get it. After all, Garp himself knew what kind of trouble he would get if he insisted on getting it.

"Ares-kun. If I may ask, why can't I sense that there are other humans on this Island besides you?" Bogart suddenly asked curiously. Even Garp was curious about this question.

"There is no human other than myself on this island, Bogart-san or it can be said that I am the only human on this island"

"Ha? Only you?" Garp was very surprised to hear this.

"Didn't I explain it to all of you? To be able to enter this island, one must be a pure or good-hearted human or it could be the creatures that live on this island take us inside."

"Then, did you come to this island using the first method or the second method?" Garp asked curiously.

"Maybe I use the first method, Garp-san. Because by the time I woke up at the age of 5, I suddenly woke up on this island."

" Woke up on this island? Is it possible that Ares is not a native of this island? In that case, was it possible that Ares arrived on this island because someone was swept away due to serious problems?" Garp thought seriously then asked, "Ares, do you know what happened to you before you arrived on this island?"

"What happened before?…..I'm not really clear what happened. It's just that at that time, I was sleeping at home and suddenly heard a loud noise coming from my house. Furthermore, I wasn't very clear what was going on and suddenly I woke up on this island."

"Noisy noise?" Bogart and Garp narrowed their eyes seriously as they had already thought of the reason why Ares was on this island.

"Ares-kun, if you may know. What was the name of your hometown before?" Bogart asked again.

"My hometown before? Its name is Matali Village"

"Matali Village?" Bogart and Garp frowned because they had never heard the name of this village.

"Bogart-san, Garp-san. You don't have to think about it. My own village is in a very hard to reach place. Even at that time our village did not have a Marine base guarding it. Besides that, I also don't blame the Navy for not being able to help. You two don't need to think about it anymore."

"No, no, Ares. We have to think about this. In this way, we the Navy know what things we have to fix. We also know that there are still many islands that have not received our protection." Garp shook his head with a face of disapproval.

"Ares-kun. I also agree with the opinion, Vice Admiral Garp. It's true, our Navy doesn't have the same concept of justice as you described earlier. However, the purpose of the formation of the Navy itself is to protect the community from pirate attacks. Hearing your report, we the Navy know that there are still many things that we need to fix."

"So. Well, it's up to you. But, good luck." Ares smiled a little and didn't really mind it.

********

Nine Beast Kings Island, Battle Area.

Son Goku suddenly opened his eyes and glanced at the stands located in the eastern forest area while laughing happily at the group of people floating above the stands with his best friend Ares, "Hahahahaha…. Ares, you're finally here. Come on down quickly. We will start this battle"

"Ares, let's hurry down and destroy the idiotic face of that rotten Monkey. I can't wait to immediately fight against the Rotten Fox!" Shukaku shouted in a provocative tone.

"Ha? Desert Cat, what did you call me earlier? Do you think you can win over me?" Kurama said in a disdainful tone while looking at Shukaku.

"Bastard! Just wait a minute. I will definitely destroy that rotten face of yours, Rotten Fox!" Shukaku said angrily hearing the nickname Kurama said to him.

Garp, Bogart and the rest of the Soldiers were finally able to see the Nine Beast Kings. Their body size is almost the same as the size of the stands. Because of this size problem, they are not sitting in the stands but they are sitting at the entrance to the arena which is in their respective territories.

"Wait a moment. I will arrange the seats for my comrades first before I go down to battle"

"Battle? Ares, will you be competing in this battle?" Garp was surprised to hear this.

"Um…. I will be competing against Goku today." Ares nodded, "Then guys. I will arrange for you to sit in the audience seats. You can watch the battle there." Ares immediately used his ability and arranged for Garp and the others in the stands in his territory. Since there were no humans other than Ares living in the dense eastern forest, the spectator stands in that area had no one sitting there. Every beast would definitely go sit in their respective territory's spectator stands.

"Ares, good luck," Garp said excitedly.

Ares chuckled and said, "Thank you. I hope you enjoyed today's battle."

Ares then flies to the battle arena where there Goku is waiting for him with a look full of respect because his opponent this time is his best friend Ares and also the one who teaches how to use Haki abilities. Ares slowly descended from the sky and landed on a field only 20 meters from Goku then Ares raised his head and asked, "Hey, Goku. What happened? Why are Shukaku and Kurama going to fight after this?"

"As you know, that the two always meet and have different opinions. Due to some previous troubles, the two took the road to battle."

"Oh? The hallmark of the two of them" Ares also shrugged his shoulders casually then looked at Goku, "Alright. Are you ready for this battle?"

"Ha ha ha ha…. Ready. I will definitely be able to beat you today" Goku said confidently but Goku continued back, "However, Ares. Can you not use your devil fruit abilities during battle?"

"Ha? Why?" Ares asked in confusion.

"Do I need to explain it to you? Unlucky! Your devil fruit ability is very scary. If you use that devil fruit ability, you can easily win this battle" Goku said irritatedly remembering Ares' ability to use his devil fruit ability.

"How embarrassing you are, Rotten Monkey. Is this what a fighter says? Begging Ares to restrain him using his devil fruit ability? You are so disgraceful" Shukaku will not let go of this moment to mock Goku who previously made him angry.

"Ha? Then why am I begging? How about after this battle, you fight Ares and let Ares use all his abilities? Do you dare, Foolish Desert Cat?" Goku said in a disdainful tone while looking at Shukaku.

"Hey, Hey. Why should I be included? Now is the battle you will have, while after this I still have to fight against the Rotten Fox. Wouldn't it be unfair for me to have a match against Ares when I had just fought that Rotten Fox?" Shukaku looked at Goku with a look of scorn and pride.

Along with the verbal warfare carried out by Goku and Shukaku. Garp and Bogart who were listening to the sentence Goku had just said were taken aback.

"Is Ares really that scary when he uses his devil fruit powers?" Garp muttered under his breath as he set his focus forward. Garp himself when he saw Ares' operation in using the devil fruit himself felt nothing special. However, hearing that Ares was really scary using a devil fruit opened a new perspective in Garp's mind. If other people like his subordinates were to say this, Garp himself didn't really care. However, since it was one of the Kings of Beasts that Garp himself felt the strength they possessed was comparable to his own, Garp felt extremely shocked.

"Boy, are you Vice Admiral Garp?" Suddenly from the right side, a voice called out to Garp.

Garp immediately turned around and looked at Gyuki who was staring at him, "Do you know me?"

"Yes. I know you. It's not just me, we Kings of Beasts know you because Ares often talks about you for what you've always done the past few years."

"Ha ha ha ha…. I didn't expect it to be so famous even on this island." Garp himself felt very proud of his presentation which was known to this island.

"My name is Gyuki. I am one of the Kings of the Beasts occupying the eastern Lake region and also one of Ares' friends. Nice to meet you"

"Nice to meet you too" Garp smiled kindly and then asked, "By the way, Gyuki. What does the previous word mean? Who said that Ares is really scary when using his devil fruit abilities?" Garp asked curiously.

Gyuki sighed, "Before that, Garp. By the time you came here, you must have seen Ares' devil fruit abilities, right?"

"Um…. Ares has shown it. His devil fruit abilities are the same as those of one of the Great Pirate Captains of Antiquity. However, the devil fruit abilities themselves have some differences. Ares' devil fruit is stronger than the devil fruit of the Ancient Great Pirate Captains I know."

"Very nice. Then, do you think that the Great Pirate Captain you know is very strong with that devil fruit ability?"

"Um… It's very powerful indeed. With his devil fruit ability, he can become one of the Great Pirates of the past."

"Then Garp. If you fight against that person in battle. Do you think you can win against him? A one-on-one fight at full power?"

Garp frowned seriously as he fell silent for a while then said, "It's hard to say. However, I have confidence that I can win against him. But the chances of me winning are very slim."

"So. Then, Garp. You must have known my power through your Observation Haki, right? What do you think, Garp. If the two of us fight one-on-one at full strength. Who will win?"

Garp again frowned seriously and was silent for a while then said, "Same as before. I find it difficult to predict my victory because I do not know the abilities you have. However, I have confidence in my ability to win. However, the chances are very slim, less compared to fighting the previous person."

"Well. Garp. Ares's power is very strong. If Ares only fought using his Haki and physical strength, he would probably be comparable to us and you. Meanwhile, if Ares fought using all the abilities he had, really. Even all of us Nine Monstrous Beast Kings won't be able to fight it."

"What?!" Garp, Bogart and the Marines who heard this were shocked.

"A-are you serious?" Garp asked nervously.

"Um…" Gyuki nodded and said, "I'm not lying, Garp. Ares' true strength lies not in his physical abilities and Haki, but in his ability to use his devil fruit abilities. Ares is very scary when he uses his devil fruit abilities. Even if he wanted to, Ares could be able to beat us one-on-one in less than a minute if he seriously used his full potential. Now, you know why Goku asked Ares not to use his devil fruit ability, right? Because if Ares uses that ability, Goku will definitely lose quickly."

"....." Garp fell silent hearing this. Garp couldn't believe that 15 year old Ares was only two years older than his grandson and one year younger than the other grandson, possessing a combat power that was so terrifying it was even comparable to himself multiplied by nine.

"What you saw earlier was just the basic operation of your devil fruit ability, Ares." Gyuki paused for a moment and then looked towards the front "Good. Finally the boring verbal confrontation was finally over. The match will start soon. You take a good look. You can see it live. But, well, if you're lucky you get to see Ares use his devil fruit ability, otherwise you can't see him, that means you're out of luck today. However, I hope you will still be able to enjoy the existing battles."

Garp, Bogart, and the others finally woke up from their thoughts and then looked towards the front where the verbal confrontation by Goku, Kurama, and Shukaku finally ended and the battle was about to begin. The thoughts that weighed on Garp were finally dispelled, after all as long as Ares didn't become a Pirate, wouldn't that be a no-brainer? With that thought, Garp's previously serious face immediately broke into a smile as he couldn't wait to watch the battle that lay ahead.