Chapter 38 - 38: When Gods Battle!

**Previously**

"You're a long way from Navy H.Q... Kuzan," Luffy said as he narrowed his eyes. Just as he spoke thunderclouds began forming overhead and the wind began to pick up causing Luffy's coat to flutter in the wind.

"And you're a long way from the New World," Kuzan replied calmly as he stared at the Luffy.

"I'm making my way back there now," Luffy said calmly before a slightly excited smirk appears on his face. "You plan on stopping me?" he asked in a dangerous/excited tone as lightning flashed overhead followed by deafening thunder.

**Now**

"Would you calm down," Kuzan said with a sigh as he saw Luffy gearing up for a fight. "Like I told your crew, I'm just here on a stroll. I was not ordered here to capture you," he added before a yawn escaped his mouth. Luffy did not buy that explanation for one second. There was no way someone of Kuzan's status and power just happened to take a stroll and ended up crossing paths with Luffy and his crew. "Besides Luffy," Kuzan said getting Luffy's attention. "You know the motto of justice believe in," he said causing Luffy to look at him for a few seconds before he sighed in disappointment and began to cancel off his power.

"Why are you relaxing Luffy?" Nojiko asked as she stared at Luffy with a puzzled look on her face.

"What is his sense of justice?" Usopp asked seeing that it made Luffy relax.

"Lazy Justice," Luffy replied with a sigh causing his crew to sweat drop. Robin was still on the ground staring at the Navy Admiral. She did not believe that man would just leave them alone because he was lazy or was not feeling up to it. She had witnessed his power firsthand and knew just what he was capable of, so she was not going to just lower her guard. She also knew even though Luffy appeared as though he was relaxing, she can tell his guard was still up. Speaking of Luffy, Robin was seriously puzzled at the strange relationship that her captain and the admiral seem to have. Even though they were gearing up for a fight she can tell that the two of them appear to be friends in some weird way. It was an absolutely bizarre idea to think about.

"Anyway, what I was saying was..." Kuzan said knocking Robin out of her thought. "...hold on a minute," he said before he began lying down on the ground. "Being on my feet too long makes me tired," he said in a lethargic voice as he laid down on the grass. Luffy stared at the lazy admiral and shook his head while the rest of his crew sweat dropped.

"Then maybe you shouldn't sleep standing up," Usopp said as he folded his arms.

"As I was saying, I have no intention of capturing you," Kuzan said ignoring Usopp and surprising everyone. "So, you can all just relax," he added from his position on the ground. "I am only here to confirm the location of Nico Robin, who had not been seen since the Alabasta incident and as suspected she has been with you," he said causing Luffy to narrow his eyes. "I'll come up with some report for headquarters. Now that you added another crew member with a price on their heads your overall bounty is going to go up as well," Kuzan said as he held up his right hand as though he was about to start counting. "Let us see, 200 million," he said while pointing at Luffy, "plus 80 million," he said as he pointed to Zoro, "and now 79 million," he added as he moved his hand in Robin's direction before he spoke again. "That brings your overall bounty up to...um...Ah screw it, some big a.s.s number," he said lazily as he gave up on the math.

"Just do the math," Zoro said as he stared down at the man.

"Cut the bullshit Kuzan," Luffy said in a serious tone as he narrowed his eyes. "You and I both know the marines have people for that kind of work, they are not going to send an Admiral just to check up on the bounty of a pirate crew," he added as he looked down at the lazy admiral.

"You make it sound as though you are just any ordinary pirate," Kuzan replied as he stared up at Luffy with a slightly serious expression on his face as opposed to his usual dull expression. Luffy was about to reply to him but before he could he sensed a group of people coming up behind them. When he turned around, he saw a small group of people exiting the tree line. They had all looked like they went through hell and came back.

"Is it really true, are you really a marine?" one of the men among the group asked while looking at Kuzan.

"Who the hell are all these people?" Nojiko asked as she stared at the newcomers.

"Well, they are probably castaways who washed ashore," Kuzan said getting everyone's attention. "There was a passenger liner that was reported missing sometime about a month ago. last seen somewhere in this area," he said as he propped his head upon his hand. "I'm guessing it sank and these are the survivors," he added causing a few of Luffy's crew to look at the people in pity. Before Luffy could even give his crew orders they all sprang into action acting on their own accord. Chopper began examining the people and treating any wounds that he could with Nami and Nojiko helping him. Sanji and Usopp went in search of food for the people to eat. Luffy, Robin, and Zoro were the only ones who stood right where they were watching on, or in Luffy's case staying close to Kuzan just in case, the admiral decides to try something.

"So, what happened to you guys?" Sanji asked as he prepared some food on the grill.

"We were on our way back from a gourmet tour when a giant frog doing the front crawl crashed into the side of our boat shattering it," one of the survivors said causing Luffy to smirk.

"Come on, everyone knows frogs can only do the b.r.e.a.s.tstroke," Usopp replied not buying the story.

"That's Yokozuna," Luffy said getting their attention. "He is kind of famous in these parts," he added with a chuckle. After everyone finished eating Kuzan suddenly stood up causing Luffy to narrow his eyes.

"All you gather your stuff," he said to the passengers of the shipwreck. "I happen to know of an inhabited island not too far from here. You go there and ask them to help you out," he said causing the people to rejoice. The crew helped the people load their cargo into a small kart, once done Kuzan walked over to the edge of the island and stuck one of his hands into the water for a few seconds. While his hands were in the water a giant sea king launched out of the water sending everyone except Luffy and Robin into a panic.

"Hey! Get out of there!" Usopp yelled to Kuzan but the admiral did not move an inch.

"Watch out!" Nami and Nojiko yelled at the same time as they saw the sea king was moving towards the admiral.

"Ice Age!" Kuzan called out. No less than a second after he said that the entire ocean in front of him was frozen over. There was nothing but solid ice as far as the eye can see. Even the sea king which was about to attack him was frozen to the core. Everyone barring Luffy and robin had their jaws hanging loosely from their mouths and their eyes bulging out of their heads. Luffy had to admit that it was impressive, but he had seen far more impressive things in the New World.

"H-he just froze the ocean," Nami said in an utterly shocked voice.

"I-I can't believe what I'm seeing," her sister said as she dropped her three-section staff.

"To think that there were more monsters like Luffy out there," Usopp said in a low whisper but Luffy heard him.

"It'll stay like that for a week," Kuzan said as he stood up and walked back up to the group of stunned stowaways and pirates. "Head out to see in that direction," he said while pointing off in the distance. "And take your time, you should reach the island in four days. Do be sure to dress warm, it'll be a bit on the cold side," he added before he bent down and picked up his coat before he began walking away.

"Am I dreaming?" asked one of the castaways. "The sea is as solid as the ground. We can finally cross it and get off this island!" he said with tears of happiness streaming down his face. Luffy's crew helped the people get their cart with their cargo down to the ice before waving them goodbye. The crew was down on the ice with them while only Luffy and Zoro stayed up top. While all of them relaxed thinking Kuzan was gone, Luffy knew he was not that far from where they were standing. The crew then began making their way back up from the ice while Luffy and Zoro watched on. When they got to the top, they all began walking back inland with plans to head to their ship, but Luffy knew they were not going to get the ship so easily. As they walked about ten feet away from the shore, they all saw Kuzan sitting on the grass staring at them with a conflicted look on his face.

"What's wrong Kuzan, too tired to get back to Navy H.Q?" Luffy asked in an uncaring tone.

"You are as troublesome as your grandfather, Monkey D. Luffy," Kuzan said causing Luffy to flinch slightly at the mention of his eccentric grandfather. "Both of you are so hard to figure out," he said causing Luffy to chuckle with a slightly nervous tone.

"Luffy's grandfather?" Nami asked in a curious tone.

"Come to think about it, we don't really know anything about Luffy's family," Nojiko said as they all started at their captain.

"Your captain has a very complicated family tree," Kuzan said with a sigh. "Especially when it comes to his mother," he said increasing the curiosity of Luffy's crew. As he mentioned the Luffy's mother a loud thunderclap reverberated overhead, and thunder clouds began forming in the sky.

"Don't step out of bounds, Kuzan," Luffy said in a dangerous tone.

"Anyway, as I was saying," Kuzan said ignoring Luffy. "Your grandfather helped me out once, a long time ago. It is why I am here," he said before looking up and making eye contact with Luffy. "I wanted to see you and Nico Robin together with my own eyes," he said before a serious look came on his face as he stared at Luffy. "On second thought, maybe I should just kill you," he added causing Luffy's crew to place their guards up.

"Now come on, is that any way to treat the grandson of the man who helped you out?" Luffy asked mockingly as the wind began to intensify with the storm that was brewing overhead.

"The government may not think much of your crew, but they do consider you a threat in the same league as the Four Emperors," he said causing Luffy's crew to feel insulted. "But I know better than that. You may be few in numbers but with the assembly of rouges you have gathered here, this crew will likely be a serious problem in the future especially with you as their captain," he said earning an excited smirk from Luffy. "Considering the circ.u.mstances regarding your initial bounty, the numerous actions you have taken, and the speed of your overall progress; I've fought outlaws all of my life but thinking about how you bunch will turn out scares the hell out of me," Kuzan admitted as he continues to stare down Luffy.

"Nice to know we can put the fear of God into the heart of an admiral," Luffy said clearly not taking Kuzan seriously.

"You do know who she is, don't you Luffy?" Kuzan asked as he turned his attention to Robin.

"I am well aware of who she is and what she has done," Luffy replied as he tightens his grip on his golden staff. "She is a member of my crew and she's a friend. So, if you want to get to her you are going to have to kill me," Luffy said causing his crew to smile.

"She has lied, cheat, and betrayed every single organization she has been a member of," Kuzan said as he slowly stood up to his feet. "Not one single solitary member has ever escaped except for her," he added as he cracked his neck. "What makes you think that she won't do the same to you?" he asked. It was a valid question in his mind but Luffy did not care.

"Cause with me she doesn't have to be afraid of you or the government," Luffy said with a smirk. "I already showed her that I can destroy a buster call and I am guessing that I am about to show her that I can protect her from an admiral too," he said before a loud thunderclap echoed throughout the sky and lightning flash overhead.

"You know I can't just let you leave the island," the admiral said as he narrowed his eyes.

"And you know I can't let you touch my crew," Luffy countered before he reached up with the right hand grabbed his captain's coat and pulled it off. He then walked up behind Robin and placed it over her shoulders. He then walked by Nami and placed his straw hat on her head. "You all get back to the ship and get as far away from the island as possible!" Luffy ordered as he walked up and stood a short distance away from Kuzan.

"But Luffy..." Nami began in a worried voice.

"You all are strong yes," Luffy said with a sigh. "But you are not on this level as yet," Luffy said honestly causing them to look down at the ground. Zoro clenched his fist in frustration over the fact that he was still too weak to stand by his captain's side. "The log pose should be pointing to Water 7, head there. I'll catch u!" Luffy said as he motioned to leave. The crew then took off in the direction of the ship.

"You don't really think I am just going to let them go, do you?" Kuzan said before holding up his right hand. Five arrows made of ice began to form in front of him. Before he could fire it out, however, a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck him in the middle of his head with enough power to destroy the upper half of his body. The entire upper half of Kuzan's body burst apart in a shower of ice causing the five arrows to break apart as well.

"I'm your opponent," Luffy said in a cold voice as he watches Kuzan reform from the waist up. Thanks to his observation Haki Luffy could tell his crew was running through the forest almost making it to the ship. When Kuzan was fully reformed the right half of his hair and body were covered in frost and Luffy could see his breath every time he exhaled.

"That hurt a bit," Kuzan commented as both he and Luffy stared each other down for a few minutes all the while the temperature in the surrounding area began to drop, and the lightning storm overhead only intensified causing lightning to strike down randomly all over the island and parts of the frozen ocean. Kuzan then bent down and grabbed a hand full of grass from the ground before throwing it out to the side and blowing a breath of cold air on it freezing the blades of grass into a long sword.

"Ice Saber!" he called out as he held the saber in one hand. His hand then turned black with armament haki along with the sword. Seeing this, Luffy held his staff out in front of him and channeled his armament haki into it turning the golden staff black as well. Without any warning, the two of them then dashed towards each other at moderate speed with their respected weapons drawn back. When they were about five feet apart from each other they swung their weapons at each other. When the black staff contacted the black saber, a loud explosion occurred which created a powerful shockwave that shook the entire island. Luffy and Kuzan stared at each other as they engaged in a battle of strength. Seeing that it was going nowhere, they both pushed off each other and put some distance between themselves. Stopping about twenty-five feet away from each other, Kuzan dropped the saber and held his right hand out towards Luffy.

"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!" He called out causing a massive wave of ice in the shape of a pheasant to emerge from his hand and rushed towards Luffy. The pheasant had to be at least fifty feet wide and twenty feet tall. Raising his staff and pointing it towards the incoming ice bird, Luffy began channeling a large around of Lightning into his staff.

"100,000,000 Volt Thunder Dragon!" Luffy called out casing a massive serpentine dragon-shaped blast of lightning emerges from the tip of the staff and rushes towards the oncoming ice bird. The giant dragon made of lighting broke the ground apart as it rushed towards the pheasant while Kuzan's ice bird froze the ground as it rushed towards the dragon. When the two attacks collided, a giant explosion occurred that sent tremors well beyond the island.

**With the Crew**

The crew had made it back to the ship safely, but they were forced to dodge multiple lightning strikes. They were all currently standing on the deck staring at the island as the ship sailed away from the island in the direction the log pose was pointing. The waters around the island were extremely rough and violent causing the ship to be tossed around like a rag doll on the water. They were some ways away from the island but could still experience the effects of the clash that was taken place.

"I hope Luffy is okay," a worried Chopper said. Before anyone could say anything to reassure the little reindeer, they all saw a giant bird made of ice and a giant serpentine dragon made of lighting charging towards each other. When the two creatures collided, it created a large tower of ice and lighting seemingly battling for dominance. Then suddenly the entire ocean around them shook as the shockwave from the clash had reached them.

"Just what is this!?" Usopp asked as he felt the ocean tremble.

"When gods do battle the world itself trembles with fear," Robin said as she stared at the tower of lighting and Ice.

**With Luffy**

Luffy watched as his lightning dragon slowly overpowered Kuzan's pheasant and made its way towards the admirals who easily jumped to his left dodging out of the way. As soon as Kuzan moved out of the way allowing the dragon to crash and explode into the ground, he turned his attention to where Luffy was standing. When he looked over however he saw that Luffy was gone.

"Looking for me?" Luffy asked from behind Kuzan. Turning his head slightly, Kuzan saw Luffy standing behind him with his haki covered fist drawn back. Faster than he could react, Luffy punched the admiral squared in the jaw sending him rocking away towards the trees. Teleporting and appearing above Kuzan as he was flying towards the tree line, Luffy covered his foot in haki and brought his heel down onto the admiral's midsection.

"Storm Breaker!" Luffy called out as he slammed his heel into Kuzan's stomach at lightning speed sending the admiral crashing into the ground with such force that it created a small crater on impact. Landing on the ground beside the crater, Luffy looked down and saw Kuzan lying there staring up at him.

"You added haki at the very last second before I hit you," Luffy noted as he stared down at the admiral laying on the ground.

"Well, that last attack would have broken a few ribs if I hadn't," Kuzan said in a lazy tone while remaining on the ground. "But even so, you shouldn't let your head down," Kuzan said while narrowing his eyes.

"Ice Time Capsule!" He called causing a wave of rush from his body along the ground towards Luffy. Widening his eyes slightly, Luffy did not react in time as the wave of ice reached the bottom of his feet. The ice froze the bottom of his feet over and quickly began working itself way up Luffy's body until he was completely frozen in a block of ice. Letting out a sigh, Kuzan slowly stood up and cracked his joints.

"I doubt that would be enough to actually kill you," he said as he stared at the frozen Luffy only to see the block of ice smoking and slowly melting away causing him to raise an eyebrow in slight confusion. It did not take more than three seconds for the ice to completely melt away revealing Luffy standing there perfectly fine, with a bored look on his face.

"That was cold," he commented as he stared at Kuzan. The two stared at each other for a few minutes before Kuzan made the first move.

"Ice Spike!" Kuzan called out as he raised one foot in the air and stopped the ground causing multiple ice spikes to burst out from the ground around Luffy stabbing him in all directions. Luffy just stood there perfectly fine, completely unbothered by the fact that he had about six ice spikes stagging into his midsection. He then calmly walked through the ice spikes as though they were not even there.

"Fighting a logia user is always a pain," Kuzan said with a sigh while scratching his head causing Luffy to chuckle at him.

"I think it's time we get a bit more serious," Luffy said as lightning began sparking around his body.

"It'll be a pain but okay," Kuzan said in a lethargic tone as the temperature in the area dropped come more and the ground around him began to turn to ice. Luffy then raised his hand up to the sky and spoke.

"Judgement!" He called out causing a giant pillar of lightning to come down from the sky in the direction of where Kuzan was standing. Seeing that he was in danger the admiral jumped back about twenty feet allowing the giant pillar to strike down the ground where he was standing. The moment the pillar of lighting touched down it destroyed everything in the immediate area around it while at the same time piercing a ten feet wide hole in the ground. When the pillar disappeared, Kuzan saw a ten-foot-wide hole that seemed to go right through the island with molten rocks along the inside of the hole. Turning his attention to Luffy, the admiral kneeled down and pressed both of his palms on the ground and smoke.

"Arctic Freeze!" Kuzan called out dropping the temperature even further causing the ground itself on the entire island to free along with tress and pants on the island. He then stood up and held both of his arms up towards Luffy.

"Falling Glacier!" he yelled freezing the water moisture in the air above Luffy creating a massive block of ice that began falling towards Luffy. Making a fist, Luffy reared his arm back covered it with lighting before punching the air above him.

"El Thor!" he yelled as he punched the air releasing all the lighting, he built up in his arms causing a giant beam of lighting to shoot out of his arm and enveloped the entire block of ice that was falling towards him causing it to evaporate in an instant. Luffy was prepared to turn and say something smug to Kuzan but his observation haki alerted him to danger behind him. Turning his head slighting to look behind him, he saw Kuzan rising up from the frozen island with a cold look on his face and his haki infused fist already making its way to Luffy. Similar to what Luffy did to him, Kuzan delivered a haki infused punch to Luffy's face sending the captain tumbling along the ice.

Stopping himself from tumbling further, Luffy positioned himself right way up and stabbed his staff into the ice to stop himself. Once he came to a stop, he narrowed his eyes and stared at Kuzan before he pulled the staff out of the ice and turned his body into lighting and dashed towards Kuzan at lighting speed. Kuzan covered both of his hands with Haki and held it up in front of his face in time to block a haki infused kick from Luffy but the kick had too much power behind it. It sent the admiral skidding back fifty feet along the ice. When the admiral looked up at his opponent the only thing, he saw was a black bolt of lightning coming towards him. Knowing that it was too close to fully dodge, he turned his body slightly to the right allowing the bolt to pierce through the side of his abdomen. Blood sprayed out from the wound and fell on the ice. Placing one hand over the wound, he froze it in ice stopping the bleeding temporarily.

"Haki infused lightning," Kuzan said as he looked up at Luffy who was calmly walking towards him. "Quite a deadly combo," he added.

"I am a deadly pirate," Luffy said while walking towards the injured admiral.

"It would have been a big problem for me if you were serious about killing me," Kuzan said with a sigh causing Luffy to chuckle.

"I would have been in some trouble if you were serious about capturing me as well," Luffy said with a chuckle as he stopped in front of the admiral. "I think it's best we end this now before one of us does end up dead," he added as he ran his hand through his hair.

"I agree," Kuzan said lazily as he looked around at the storm clouds. "You feel it don't you?" he suddenly asked in a serious voice while looking at Luffy.

"Yeah, a big storm is coming," Luffy replied as he narrowed his eyes and looked out at sea. "The effects will be felt in all corners of the world," he added causing Kuzan to nod. "The peace that the Government is trying so hard to protect is about to come to an end," he said with a sigh.

"It has only been four years since THAT incident and we are already heading towards another," Kuzan said with a sigh while Luffy smirked thinking back to the incident. "And I got a feeling that like four years ago you are going to be in the center of all this trouble," he added causing Luffy to chuckle.

"As nice as it is to reminisce about the good old days," Luffy said as he summed a thundercloud down from the sky. "I have to get to my crew. I'll be seeing you," he said as he hopped onto the thundercloud.

"I'll be seeing you a lot sooner than you think," Kuzan replied causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow. Putting it off to the side, Luffy and the thundercloud took off into the sky leaving the admiral back on the island. Luffy then reach his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper, it was his own Vivre card. He had the large piece to his card on the ship inside his thundercloud throne so the small piece he had in his hand was pointing in the direction of the larger piece on the ship. Following the card's direction, Luffy found his ship and his crew in little to no time. Turning his body into lightning he teleported himself down to the deck of the ship scaring his crew.

"Did you miss me?" he asked with a smirk on his face as he appeared on the deck.

"LUFFY!" yelled most of his crew except Zoro and Robin who smiled when they saw their captain. Chopper was the first to launch himself into Luffy with tears streaming down his face. Soon everyone else ran towards their captain.

"Did you win, Luffy?" Usopp asked while looking at Luffy.

"There was no winner or loser as neither of us was serious about killing each other," Luffy replied as he reached up and grabbed his hat off Nami's head and placed it back on his.

"So Aokiji is still alive?!" Nami asked sounding slightly scared.

"Yeah, I like Kuzan," Luffy said before prying himself off Chopper and walked towards Robin who was wearing his captain's coat. "You don't have to worry about him," he said as he took his coat off her.

"Yes, captain!" Robin said with a small smile.

"Well then, let's get going to Water 7!" Luffy ordered before making his way to his throne.

"AYE, CAPTAIN!" His crew yelled back.

**Chapter End!**

Author's Note: Hello all! I am kind of back! I hope! My writer's block is not fully gone I don't why I just lose all the will to write whenever I sit down to write a chapter for this story. I wrote part of this chapter a few months ago and another part couple of weeks ago and finally finished it today. So please be advised that part of it may be good while part of it may suck.

In trying to get rid of my writer's block I decided to try and write a new story. It's a Naruto Fanfiction for anyone who is interested. Naruto has the First Hokage's wood release and was raised by Tsunade and Shizune. Check it out on my profile if you are interested.

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