Summary:
On Banaro Island, Portgas D. Ace and Marshall D. Teach will face off. Ace questions Teach’s Devil Fruit abilities, but Teach states that his fruit, Yami Yami no Mi, is said to be the strongest of the Devil Fruits and that Ace cannot kill him. Meanwhile, the townspeople see black smoke in the town and note that the pirates are still present, so they should flee. The rest of the Blackbeard Pirates flee, thinking that Teach is about to go mad.
Blackbeard sends out tendrils of darkness in all directions, enveloping buildings and terrifying the fleeing townspeople. Some citizens say the smoke reminds them of a hole in the ground, but they continue through the forest to the coast. Teach explains that his darkness is infinite gravity that sucks in everything, including light. Ace comments that the darkness isn’t coming to him, but Teach says that he isn’t attacking yet and is just demonstrating. Suddenly, Teach activates his “Black Hole” and sucks the entire contents of the city, including its buildings, into his darkness, making it disappear. Teach says that the darkness will pull in any object and crush it, and goes on to tell Ace that he will show him the city in its destroyed form. Teach then uses “Liberation” to send the destroyed pieces of the city into a circle around Ace and Teach. The civilians are stunned by the destruction of their city, but Teach simply brags about his abilities. Too late, however, he realizes the small flecks of flame from Ace’s “Hotarubi” explode and engulf him in flame. As Teach is writhing in pain trying to put out the fire, Ace says that he understands the power of Yami Yami no Mi, but says that if Teach is a Logia user, he should be able to dodge his attack. Darkness quickly absorbs the flame and teaches the stand, saying that its fruit can absorb everything, including strikes, thunder, flames, and most importantly pain, meaning it cannot parry attacks like other Logias. Regardless of this mistake, Teach claims that there is one more thing he can do and continues to pull Ace towards him using gravity. Teach grabs Ace’s shoulder and states that Ace must have noticed the ability and punches Ace hard in the stomach.
The ace is sent flying as Teach comments on how long it must have been since the last ace hit. Teach explains that he can absorb “devil power” so that while he is touching the devil fruit user, they cannot use their powers. Teach states that he has gained a power that cannot be defended against by Devil Fruit users who overestimate their abilities, to which Ace replies that only if he is caught. Teach states that Ace cannot escape and again pulls him forward with his gravity. Ace fires two flaming spears that pierce and burn Teach’s chest, but Teach delivers a powerful blow that nearly breaks Ace’s neck. Ace crosses his fingers and fires a flaming cross, but Blackbeard just smirks. As the explosion goes off, Van Augur comments that he thought a Devil Fruit user would be weak and helpless without his powers, but that Ace’s basic fighting strength is amazing and earned him the position of commander of Whitebeard’s division, which is another one of them. fateful crossroads. The civilians watch as their island is destroyed and Banana Rock falls, declaring that no human could cause such damage and that their entire island is in danger.
Ace falls as Blackbeard says that nothing stands a chance against the darkness and offers Ace a place in his crew as it would be a waste of his powers if he was lost. Ace refuses, saying that if he gives in, there will be no point in living. Teach laughs and says that survival matters in the world as Ace gathers fire around him before forming a large flaming ball. Teach states that only one of them can win, just as Ace declares his desire to make Whitebeard king. Their attacks collide with no visible result, the only indication being Ace’s hat lying on the ground. This incident is described as a trigger for a later event that will occur soon.