Vice Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates

Marineford,

"This is their plan. This is why they fought us. We have been tricked all along."

Bang!

Sengoku's fist smashed the table in front of him in pieces. The angry roar shook the room. The temperature dropped as everyone noticed the expression on Sengoku's face.

This war was to stop Straw Hat Pirates from rising. This war was to eradicate them before their threat levels could escalate.

But, the result was exactly the opposite. Now, they don't even need to defeat the Marine Admiral individually. Even if they use team effort to win against those Marine Admirals, they will be hailed as the Fifth Emperor crew.

"It was there all along and we missed it." Tsuru shook her head, feeling a bit disappointed in herself.

"From Nico Robin, Navigator Nami, Sniper Usopp, Swordsman Zoro, Vice Captain Liam, to their Captain Monkey D. Luffy. This war wasn't for entertainment."

"It wasn't for eradicating them. It wasn't even about making them famous. This war was all about improving their skills, experience, and strength. Vice Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates is scary."

"He knew our strengths and he made a perfect plan that will give them the most benefits. He targeted marines instead of the Emperors because he knew the differences in strength as well."

"Even now, they might not be able to win against an Emperor on their own but if they combine their forces, they can take down an Emperor. But, I feel like we are missing something, an important part of this whole war."

Hearing her words, Sengoku also thought about it for a moment. There were several thoughts, like hundreds of different possibilities running in his head.

Until Gion who was silently listening to their conversation spoke.

"But, to become an Emperor, you need a territory, right? So, even with their strength, can they still be an Emperor crew."

As soon as she said that, the bulb in Sengoku and Tsuru's heads rang at the same time.

"He wants territories from Grandline."

................

The sudden change in strength caused a sensation worldwide, especially in the eyes of the strongest in this world.

They could see the change that this incident would bring. Some were angry, some were fearful but some were excited.

A crew with two conqueror Haki users with both being able to use all advanced forms of Haki puts them at the same rank as an Emperor crew.

Because in every emperor's crew, there would only be one advance conqueror haki user and that would be the captain of the crew.

Straw Hats Pirates changed this. If anything, their crew was more like Roger's Crew with more than two Conqueror Haki users.

More importantly, two of them were proficient in using Advance Conqueror Haki putting them above the Yonko Crew.

Though none of that matters to Straw Hat Crew. At this moment, while their captain and vice-captain were busy fighting the admirals, four straw Hats charged toward an upcoming enemy.

At the front island of Enies Lobby, a marine wearing the coat of the Vice-Admiral walked without any care of the world. As he walked, the small grass on the island began to grow.

This person was none other than Aramaki also the one who attacked Straw Hat Pirates just before they entered the Grandline.

It was probably the moment that threatened the very existence of Straw Hat Pirates.

If it wasn't for Luffy's father and grandfather, they would've been buried deep in the sea.

So, one could imagine their attitude toward Aramaki. The moment Sanji sensed him, a flame of anger burned inside their hearts.

[World Class Steak]

A burst of lightning and fire appeared in the sky. When Aramaki raised his head, he saw a bright light coming towards him.

His Observation Haki gave away the position of Sanji despite his speed.

"You pirates have grown significantly stronger. But, if you think you can fight me now, you are damn full of yourself, pirate scums!"

Aramaki raised his arm and a large piece of wood burst out of his palm. It moved toward Sanji and strangled him before Sanji could land a kick.

Whoosh! Bang!

A sharp shuriken flew towards him at an extraordinary speed and struck his palm. Suddenly, the shuriken caught the fire from Sanji and exploded.

[Exploding Star]

Usopp was several hundred meters away from the battle but his Observation Haki and world-class eyesight gave him the perfect tool for such sniping.

Although the flames destroyed the wood, Aramaki covered his arm with Armament Haki and blocked the damage. The weak flame from the explosion wasn't enough.

Suddenly, he noticed something up in the sky.

"Look out for the thunder!"

[Thunder Storm]

Several bolts of blue lightning fell from the sky. Two massive black clouds were generating these lightning bolts.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Most of the lightning bolts struck the ground but some of them were able to target Aramaki.

[Forbidden Hate Forests]

His arms extended like branches, creating a large-scale forest around him. He turned those plants into large wooden blocks that stayed above his head.

Bang! Bang!

Those wooden blocks were able to withstand the massive lightning bolts. Seeing this, Armamaki turned his attention toward Nami who shot those lightning bolts from far away.

He turned a few plants into massive fists and charged toward them.

"You scums should die here."

His fist covered with Armament Haki certainly possessed a deadly threat to Nami. But before even it could reach her, two swords began to slice through those arms.

Sssssnnnngg!

[Two Swords Style]

[Tower Climb Ripple]

Zoro pulled his swords up. Both swords covered in Armament Haki released two powerful sword slashes that traveled toward Aramaki while cutting the wood from the middle.

Crack! Crack!

'Tch! That sword slash might damage me if I don't dodge it.' Aramaki also noticed the power of those slashes and quickly dashed out of the way.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Sanji's voice appeared above his head.

[Feast of the Sun God]

Instead of turning his lightning red, his flames had turned blue. Sanji's kick came down at his skull.

Bang!

Aramaki's face crashed on the ground. Although he had turned into the wood, the back of his head was still cracked due to the intense power of Sanji's attack.

But with the help of his devil fruit, he quickly recovered and transformed into a large wooden construct before standing in front of Sanji.

"Why couldn't I sense your presence?"

His eyes widened when Sanji answered him with his action. His body simply blurred as if he was teleporting and appeared next to Aramaki.

[Feast of the Sword Demon]

His body spun in mid-air as he gave a roundhouse kick to Aramaki while being in mid-air. His leg covered in blue flames burned his wood and his Armament-covered foot struck his neck.

Whoosh! Thud! Thud!

"Don't even think about it, Black foot!"

Aramaki shouted while flying away. His hands released several seeds that appeared around Sanji and covered him with hardened bark.

Even with his strength, Sanji wasn't able to break free. An extremely fast-paced attack rushed toward Aramaki.

[Burning Phoenix Shot]

When Aramaki landed on the ground, he quickly used his devil fruit's ability to heal himself. Just when he was healing himself, a sharp bead struck his forehead.

At first, he didn't understand what happened. That bead had traveled so fast that his Observation Haki wasn't able to feel it but if it was any other bullet, it would pierced through his forehead.

Boom!

Unfortunately, this was even worse. The inside of the bead triggered a powerful ignition and the entire bead turned into a massive burst out of flame.

The shape of the flame when it exploded was similar to that of a phoenix and it covered the entirety of Aramaki within it.

Originally, Aramaki thought he could use Armament Haki to deal with the damage and heal himself. But this flame wasn't normal. It was constantly burning him.

As if it had another source of power.

No! When he felt that intense heat, he noticed it was burning his body to create a continuous flow of fire.

That scared him. He instantly abandoned his body and that part of him burned into ashes.

"And, that's how you defeat an enemy. This is Captain Usopp's most powerful attack. What do you think, Nami?" Usopp immediately cheered the moment he saw Aramaki burned to ash.

But, just after he was burned into ash, Aramaki emerged from a small seed that turned into a large tree. His entire body had recovered completely but it wasn't easy.

His powers could keep him alive even in the most extreme situations but the usage of his devil fruit consumes stamina and the more he uses his devil fruit in powerful ways, the more stamina he requires.

Not to mention, he was severely injured by Garp and Dragon and hadn't recovered completely.

"Damn Straw Hats! Originally, I planned to capture you all but now, I just want to kill you."

Aramaki roared as his woods began to grow and turned into a large tree that could be seen from every part of the island.