Chapter 607: Gate of Joy Opened! A Single Punch Brings the Overlord of the Universe to His Knees
Thanos twisted his wrist, letting the double-bladed sword slide cleanly off Garp's fist before reversing the blade to cleave at the old man's neck.
Garp tilted his head, the steel skimming past his ear. He immediately drove his knee up toward Thanos's abdomen.
Thanos pushed down with his left arm, forcefully blocking the strike, while the blade on the other side spun around for a return slash. Garp raised his elbow to take it head-on.
Clang!
The metallic screech shattered every remaining pane of glass on the street. In the distance, a squad of Chitauri soldiers who had just rushed the intersection were blasted off their feet by the expanding shockwave.
One of the soldiers scrambled up, raising his weapon to fire, but Thanos cast a freezing glare in his direction. "Fall back."
The soldier stiffened, dragging his comrades backward to flee.
Garp was highly amused. "Oho, you know how to keep your lackeys in line. You've got way more discipline than that overgrown guard lizard, Kaido."
Thanos didn't reply. Tightening his grip on the double-bladed sword, his attacks suddenly accelerated.
Forward slash. Spinning sweep. Downward cleave. Upward thrust.
Every single strike perfectly sealed off Garp's evasion routes. Garp threw punch after punch, relying purely on raw force to smash the blades away. But Thanos's technique was far too steady. He anticipated Garp's power generation, stepping in just before the fists launched, nearly burying his blade into Garp's chest several times.
The light in Garp's eyes burned brighter as the fight dragged on. "You've got more than just brute strength—you actually use your head!"
Thanos deflected Garp's right fist with a heavy parry, slamming the pommel of his sword brutally into Garp's chest.
Thud!
Garp stumbled back three steps, leaving deep craters with every footfall. Thanos pressed the advantage, thrusting the blade forward.
Garp stomped both feet into the ground. A storm of lightning erupted from his body.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode, engaged.
Blue arcs of electricity wrapped tightly around him, and Garp's speed skyrocketed. The blade stabbed into empty air.
Thanos's pupils shrank.
In the very next instant, Garp was already at his flank. "Fist Bone: Void Splitter!"
A Haki-coated fist slammed squarely into the side of the golden armor.
Dong!
Thanos was shunted half a step sideways, a noticeable dent appearing on his armor. Before he could swing his blade back around, Garp flickered continuously through the lightning.
Left hook to the chest plate. Right straight to the pauldron. A brutal knee strike to the stomach. Finally, a devastating uppercut clipped Thanos squarely on the jaw.
Thanos was knocked backward, his boots carving deep trenches into the earth as he skidded back several meters.
Garp shook out his fists, laughing uproariously. "This armor is sturdy as hell! Feels great to punch!"
Thanos raised a hand, wiping the purple blood from the corner of his mouth. There was no rage on his face—only a much more terrifying, calculated coldness. "You are indeed stronger than I anticipated."
Garp grinned widely. "Then you better adjust your expectations, because I haven't even gotten serious yet."
Thanos abruptly slammed his blade into the ground, dropping his center of gravity to launch a low, explosive dash. Garp prepared to swing, but Thanos altered his trajectory at the absolute last microsecond. The double-bladed sword thrust upward at a severe diagonal angle.
Squelch!
The tip of the blade pierced straight through Garp's shoulder. Blood sprayed into the air.
Garp's movements halted for half a beat. Thanos immediately grabbed the old man's wrist with his left hand, his right arm flexing with monstrous strength to hoist Garp completely off his feet.
Boom!
Garp was hurled into the collapsed ruins of a nearby building. Walls shattered one after another as tons of rubble rained down, completely burying his body.
From a distance, the Chitauri soldiers let out deafening, fanatical screeches, waving their weapons to cheer on their invincible master.
Thanos pulled his blade from the dirt and walked slowly toward the rubble. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried across the ruined street. "A mortal shell can never withstand the absolute truth of the universe."
For a brief second, the rubble was dead silent. Then, Garp's roaring laughter erupted from underneath.
"Truth?"
A massive boulder was punched into the stratosphere. Garp stood up from the wreckage, the through-and-through wound still visible on his shoulder. But the injury was already knitting back together at a terrifying speed. Flesh squirmed, new skin stretched over the wound, and even the bleeding stopped almost instantly.
Garp rolled his shoulder, his smile growing unhinged. "Your 'truth' hurts less than getting bitten by my damn grandson."
The fanatical cheering of the Chitauri abruptly ceased. For the first time, a shift in expression crossed Thanos's stoic face. He stared at Garp's completely healed shoulder, his eyes growing incredibly heavy. "An exceptionally rare regenerative mechanism."
Garp dusted himself off, walking step by step out of the debris. "Ever heard of the Sage Body? Doesn't matter if you haven't, you're about to feel it in your bones."
With that, he clenched both fists and lowered his stance. The chakra within his body began to flow with intense, chaotic density.
"Eight Inner Gates."
Thanos tightened his grip on his sword. "The energy inside you is unnatural."
Garp chuckled darkly. "Sixth Gate, Gate of Joy... Open!"
BOOM!
A brilliant geyser of green steam exploded from Garp's body. The surrounding rubble was blasted into the air, crushed into fine powder by the sheer ambient pressure. Garp's aura skyrocketed, and the entire street began to tremble.
Staring at him, Thanos stripped away the last remnants of his underestimation. "You are burning through your own lifeforce."
Garp cracked his neck left and right. "My body is tough. Burning it for a little while won't kill me."
Thanos leveled his blade horizontally with both hands, the ground beneath his feet fracturing. "Then I will chop you entirely to pieces."
Garp's laughter rang out like a thunderclap. "Bring it on!"
In the next blink, he vanished from his spot. It wasn't teleportation; it was pure, unadulterated speed. The air itself detonated under his feet as the street collapsed into a massive crater.
Thanos reacted with blinding speed, raising his blade horizontally above his head. Garp was already there, his right fist raised high.
"Fist Bone: Daytime Tiger!"
The fist descended. Thanos's arm muscles bulged grotesquely, using his blade to absorb the apocalyptic strike head-on.
Boom!
A cataclysmic shockwave exploded between them. The surrounding ruined buildings were flattened, and the Chitauri soldiers were blown away before they could even scream.
Thanos's boots sank deep into the earth. His golden armor shrieked under the localized compression. The double-bladed sword vibrated wildly, being forced down inch by agonizing inch.
Garp, looking utterly elated, continued to press the attack downward. "What's the matter? Is this all the strength you've got?"
Thanos's arms shook, purple blood leaking continuously from his mouth. For the very first time, sheer disbelief surfaced in his eyes.
This outlander old man had no Infinity Stones. He had no divine artifacts. He had no advanced armor. All he had was his fists. Yet, those fists were literally crushing his sword.
Thanos roared, his arms exploding with force as he tried to throw Garp off. But mid-air, Garp added even more power.
"I told you!" Garp bellowed. "We can figure out how this ends after I'm done beating you to a pulp!"
Dong!
The full shockwave of the Daytime Tiger detonated. The ground beneath Thanos utterly disintegrated, driving the warlord deep into a massive crater. The double-bladed sword was ripped from his grasp, sent spinning through the air before burying itself into a distant pile of rubble, the hilt still vibrating madly.
Garp landed, the green steam billowing heavily around him as heat radiated from his clenched fists.
Down in the crater, Thanos was on one knee. His chest plate was severely caved in, and purple blood dripped endlessly from his mouth. He looked up at Garp, and his gaze had completely changed.
Garp flashed a feral grin, curling a finger toward him in provocation. "Get up, purple freak. I haven't even started having fun yet."
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