The clash between Imu and Shimotsuki Ryōma radiated with a ferocious and overwhelming intensity.
Streaks of ghostly dark purple and dazzling violet-gold blade light shot outward like brilliant beams, slicing in all directions.
There were simply too many afterimages of the two combatants.
It looked as if hundreds of swordsmen were locked in a high-speed melee.
All that could be seen were lightning-fast afterimages darting back and forth through a blinding forest of blade light and sword aura.
The ground was splitting apart in massive, jagged swaths.
Field after field of spider lilies was reduced to a swirling storm of shredded petals and broken leaves.
Even the ancient estate, once nestled against the banks of the River Styx, had long since been reduced to rubble beneath the storm of blade light.
Time passed, bit by bit.
After four hours—
A blade light burst into existence, piercing through the heavens—a thousand meters tall, golden tinged with a noble hue of purple. It stood like a divine pillar, towering and overwhelming.
And right behind it, nearly half its size, came another blade light—coiled in black mist, glowing with sinister violet light. It surged upward from below, directly confronting the godlike slash with an upward sweep.
"Your time has come, Shimotsuki Ryōma. Being cut down by me… that's the greatest honor you'll ever know."
"So many gave everything for Wano… If this final battle earns it peace, I have no regrets, Sword Saint Imu."
[BOOM!!!!!!!]
The two colossal and terrifying blade lights collided head-on.
For a moment, it was like thunder splitting the heavens.
The black sky over the Underworld was instantly engulfed in an overwhelming white light.
It shone like a massive pillar piercing into the deepest reaches of the sky.
Every lost soul within nearly a thousand kilometers turned their terrified gazes toward the blinding sky.
Inside the Citadel of the King of the Dead, the many ghostly soldiers and commanders, underworld clerks and officials, and even the floating, scythe-wielding reapers—all paused as one to stare toward the blank white sky.
Many among them recognized the direction—it pointed to the Other Shore Garden, where Shimotsuki Ryōma resided.
But with the King of the Dead currently absent, and fearful of the awe-inspiring reputation Ryōma had built over centuries, not a single one of them dared venture over to investigate.
Meanwhile—
The blade in Imu's hand had vanished. It had once again reverted to Enma—but not the little girl version of Enma. No, this was the mature and elegant version.
"Father, you're incredible... You actually managed to kill that Shimotsuki Ryōma."
Enma covered her lips with one hand, speaking in awe.
"The matters of the Underworld can rest for now. What comes next depends on the state of the King of the Dead."
Imu, too, felt little joy from this victory.
At most, it felt like a rare chance to cross swords with a worthy opponent.
After all, the man had been a sword saint.
"All right! I'll take you home this instant, Father!"
Enma responded swiftly.
...
While Imu had just slain Shimotsuki Ryōma in the Underworld of the Starfish World...
Back in the ninja world, the situation remained deeply entrenched in chaos and peril.
The number of demons kept rising.
Explosive tags were dwindling.
And the chakra reserves of the shinobi were reaching their limits.
Worse still, many mid-tier demons had used all manner of bizarre, impossible magics to breach the defensive formations—causing heavy casualties that pushed the nerves of every ninja to their breaking point.
The only good news was that Uchiha Fugaku, Rasa, Jiraiya, and Ōnoki had somehow succeeded in slaying Akertos, the Demon of the River Styx.
But the death of Akertos didn't mean the battle was over.
They had to return to the Allied Shinobi Forces immediately, to join them in fending off the onslaught of demonic forces.
The only problem—
Was that their chakra reserves were nearly depleted.
Elsewhere—
If Uchiha Fugaku, Ōnoki, and the others were in a dire situation...
Then Crocodile, Esdeath, and Guren were in an utterly brutal one.
Crocodile now wore only a single tattered pair of black pants, hanging on with sheer will—his last defense of dignity.
Even the ornate rings that had once adorned his ten fingers were gone.
His exposed skin was scorched and frostbitten, burned and pierced in equal measure.
Head to toe, he embodied the very definition of battered and broken.
Not far away, Guren was in even worse shape.
Her massive Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox form could barely stay standing. All she could do was curl her tails around herself and Esdeath, generating layer after layer of ice to shield them—holding off the searing black fire and relentless waves of black frost crashing in from outside.
Inside, Guren felt utterly helpless.
Who would've thought that all her ice-based attacks would be completely ineffective against those two demons?
Only direct melee strikes—or when she wrapped her tails in Haki to lash at them—seemed to deal any meaningful damage.
After thinking it through, Guren had a guess: maybe it was because she had eaten the Zoan-type Human-Human Fruit.
That strange transformation had somehow made her body capable of hurting demons through raw contact.
As for Haki? She didn't really understand how it worked—but she knew it had an effect.
She had only recently started training in it, and while her stamina gave her plenty of it to use, the lack of experience meant the quality wasn't there.
Its defensive and offensive power just wasn't strong enough yet.
To make things worse, she had never been used to close-quarters combat.
...
Between the Land of Swamps and the Land of Demons,
There existed a desolate stretch of land that belonged to neither nation.
At this moment, that usually uninhabited terrain was being overwhelmed by a massive convoy of black-armored vehicles, rumbling in with an imposing presence.
Meanwhile, rows of heavy howitzers with long barrels were already positioned at the forefront, spaced 20 meters apart from one another.
Their massive, dark muzzles were all aimed squarely in the direction of the Land of Swamps.
—Meanwhile, on the other side, in the Land of Swamps—
The Shinobi Allied Forces were still desperately holding the line.
But their chakra reserves had already dwindled to the point where large-scale collaborative jutsu were no longer possible. All they could do now was rely on explosive tags to barely keep the demons at bay.
Unfortunately, even those were running low.
Fortunately, the return of Rasa, Uchiha Fugaku, and Ōnoki had helped ease some of the burden.
With the combined force of Gold Dust, Amaterasu, and Dust Release, they had slain countless mid- and low-level demons.
At this point in the battle, even elite shinobi with 'Kage-level' power like them were running on empty.
Uchiha Fugaku was in the worst condition. Not only was his chakra completely drained, but his vision had also begun to blur from the overuse of his dōjutsu.
"This is bad," Ōnoki said gravely, floating beside Rasa. "I can't use Dust Release anymore."
"I'm about the same," Rasa sighed. "Are these demons truly endless?"
Ōnoki shook his head. "I don't think so. That River Styx demon mentioned they were from the first level of the Underworld. There's no way the first level alone could contain an infinite number."
"Even if it's not infinite," Rasa replied, "this number has already exceeded what we can handle. Unless reinforcements from the other villages arrive soon…"
"They're probably on their way… but I'm not sure we'll last long enough for them to get here."
Ōnoki gazed down below, worry clouding his expression.
At that moment, many shinobi had no choice but to engage the demons in brutal close combat.
Some were slain by bizarre magical attacks. Others—were eaten alive, treated as nothing more than food.
"Our only hope now is the World Government's support… but who knows when they'll—"
Just as the weary Ōnoki muttered to himself, he suddenly turned his head instinctively toward the sky.
He could've sworn he heard a faint whistling sound.
[Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh——]
More and more shinobi heard the piercing sound of something slicing through the air overhead at high speed.
Before they could even react, the rear and mid-sections of the demon army erupted with thunderous explosions. Ball after ball of fire lit up the battlefield, and surging shockwaves of heat and force swept across the land—instantly annihilating swaths of mid- and low-tier demons.
And the piercing sounds in the air didn't stop.
"This! This—this is the World Government's support?!"
"They're here!!"
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