"You humans can never defeat a Supreme Demon—that's a truth proven time and again through countless wars!"
Nahamah glared coldly at Sakazuki, who was rocketing upward by spewing lava from his lower body.
At the same time—
A jet-black wave of fire surged violently from Nahamah's left hand.
The terrifying heat caused the air around them to boil once more, churning violently and becoming distorted and blurry.
"There's nothing in this world that's absolute except justice. And justice… belongs to humans alone!"
"If you cannot understand that—then I'll gift you a crushing, total defeat!"
Sakazuki's right arm swelled furiously as he roared, massive amounts of magma and black smoke blending into a colossal lava fist.
[BOOOOOOOOM——————]
The black flames collided head-on with the magma.
A storm burst forth in an instant, the deafening blast shaking the battlefield.
The surrounding air was instantly vacuumed out, forming visible shockwaves that swept across the entire field like wild gales.
However, the result was completely beyond Nahamah's expectations.
The magma fist wasn't swiftly devoured by the black flames.
Rather—it was more accurate to say that the rate at which the flames consumed it couldn't keep up with the magma's rapid regeneration.
It was like a magma-formed fist, charging through wave after wave of black flames—dead set on landing a solid punch!
"That guy's hiding inside it!" Nahamah instantly realized.
At the same time—
Kuzan activated his awakened ability without hesitation.
"Ice Age!!!"
Lilith, his opponent, was the first to sense the shift in the atmosphere.
The entire ground began to rumble violently with a deafening rumble, and then—towering glaciers began to rise one after another.
At the same time—
A massive vortex-shaped blizzard rapidly formed overhead, so immense that even from the surface of the moon, the change on the battlefield could be seen.
Lilith glanced up at the swirling snowstorm pouring from above, then looked down at the glaciers now radiating intense cold.
"You foolish human. Are you trying to freeze me—the Demon of Demonic Ice?"
She couldn't hold back a burst of laughter as she spoke, half covering her lips with a hand, her voice trembling with mockery.
"Ahahaha! Ahahahahaha!"
Kuzan had no interest in explaining himself.
As the blizzard completely engulfed the land, his figure disappeared—without a trace.
"Huh?"
A moment later, Lilith sensed something was off.
Behind her, Kuzan—now sheathed in layers of frost—swiftly reformed from the storm.
Somehow, an ice blade had already appeared in his hand, which he brought down hard toward the back of her neck.
But the savage strike sliced through nothing but air.
Lilith had dispersed her body into frost, scattering herself across the raging storm.
Clearly, they could both elementalize!
At the same time, Lilith morphed her left arm—entirely forged from black ice—into a brutal, spiked black spear and drove it straight at Kuzan with lethal force.
The next instant—
Black ice spear and white ice blade crashed together.
[Clang!]
Cold energy erupted in a wave, ice shards bursting in all directions.
A shockwave of raw force surged outward in a perfect circle, sweeping across the battlefield.
Lilith's crimson eyes, filled with the purest, most vicious hatred for humanity, locked onto Kuzan's gaze—calm and resolute.
"Don't get cocky! You humans are only fit to amuse me with your screams, your wails, and your despair—before you die!!"
For some reason, Kuzan's gaze ignited Lilith's fury.
In an instant, countless sharp black-ice spikes materialized in midair, spreading like a web of dark, icy thorns across the storm-shrouded sky.
Meanwhile—
Sakazuki's rage erupted with every magma-infused punch he hurled, pouring relentlessly into the black flames that Nahamah released.
At the same time—
Dozens of volcanoes had quietly risen from the earth, and now erupted in unison, sending one searing magma pillar after another into the sky, closing in around Nahamah and cutting off every escape route.
Elsewhere on the battlefield—
The exhausted Allied Shinobi Forces had mostly succeeded in retreating behind the defensive line established by the 3rd and 5th Divisions to regroup and recover.
Three artillery regiments stationed farther behind continued to bombard the demon horde's rear and middle ranks, engulfing swaths of mid- and low-tier demons in relentless, explosive fire.
High above, four warships belonging to the Air Force Headquarters joined the assault, unleashing a nonstop barrage of cannon fire onto the demons below.
"Report! Ten units of 'Conqueror' have arrived—awaiting orders!"
Charlotte Oven and Dalmatian received the message almost simultaneously.
"What the hell are you waiting for? Push forward and slaughter those damned demons!!"
Charlotte Oven roared furiously.
Sea Stone bullets could knock demons down—but not kill them outright.
These Conquerors, with their Flash-Flare capabilities derived from General Borsalino, were sure to be devastating against demon targets.
Moments later, whether it was Ōnoki, Jiraiya, or the army soldiers still locked in fierce gunfire, all witnessed the same thing:
From their own lines emerged figure after figure—each towering 5 meters tall, with dual horns and flowing blue hair.
War machines modeled after the clone of the 'Corrupt King', Avalo Pizarro.
Twenty Conquerors.
[BEEEEEEEP————]
[BEEEEEEEP————]
[BEEEEEEEP————]
Blinding, golden beams of condensed light began to gather in the mouths of these Conquerors.
...
With the timely arrival of Sakazuki and Kuzan—
alongside the deployment of the First Main Battle Corps—the situation on the shinobi front finally stabilized.
This brought a sigh of relief not only to the likes of Rasa, Ōnoki, and Jiraiya, but also to the upper echelons of the World Government, who could now redirect their attention to other pressing matters.
Among these was the operation led by Shiryu, who had been dispatched earlier by Sakazuki, together with the Sixth Main Battle Corps.
They swiftly cleared out the lords of several small countries surrounding the Land of Fire,
along with the families of these local rulers.
These territories were then handed over to the officials of the Other Worlds Strategic Committee, who arrived shortly afterward to take control.
From there, the Committee selected cooperative individuals from among the prestigious clans in the area to assist in managing the cities, towns, and villages.
The whole process unfolded far more smoothly than expected.
Resistance was negligible.
This time, however, Shiryu didn't rush to kill.
He showed considerable restraint, personally executing only the lords of those small nations.
Had it been the old him, he would've likely butchered everyone in the palace without hesitation.
But now…
Shiryu had finally learned to restrain his thirst for blood.
Meanwhile—
Led by Terumi Daichi as the commander-in-chief, with Suikazan Fuguki as deputy, the reinforcements from Kirigakure had arrived at the battlefield in the Land of Swamps by dawn the next day.
Meanwhile—
The Konoha delegation, after attending Princess Otohime's speech in the Second Special Zone, their opinion of the World Government rose notably.
Following an exhausting journey by land and sea, they finally arrived at the mainland of Starfish.
Their next stop would be a space shuttle bound for Wano Island,
where they would tour the future territorial zones designated for major shinobi clans,
as well as several key locations like Umigakure, Sword Hall, etc.
The World Government clearly intended to wage war against the demons while simultaneously accelerating its integration of the shinobi world.
Of course, this urgency was also influenced by the fact that the demons hadn't exerted much pressure up to this point.
However, a single request from Orochimaru threw the Other Worlds Strategic Committee into indecision.
They had no choice but to escalate the matter to the Five Elders.
Orochimaru expressed his desire to join the Academy of Sciences—ideally, the Bioengineering Division.
He didn't even bother hiding his ultimate goal: the pursuit of immortality.
Frankly, he had no interest whatsoever in the environment of Wano Island, nor was he concerned about Umigakure, which was clearly destined to become a massive organization in the future.
Even though, as the Fourth Hokage, he was certain to hold a high position within it.
That said, Orochimaru didn't make his request publicly.
Instead, he discreetly shared his thoughts in private with an accompanying official.
This immediately piqued the curiosity of Saint Marcus Mars, who began a deeper investigation into Orochimaru's background.
What he found was truly fascinating.
Orochimaru was indeed a scientific-type talent.
Not only had he mastered a vast array of conventional ninjutsu, but he was also proficient in almost every forbidden jutsu within Konoha.
Most importantly, his capabilities in biotechnology were—at the very least—impressive.
And so, Orochimaru was the first to leave the group. He no longer continued toward Wano Island, but instead diverted to Impel Down, where the Bioengineering Division of the Academy of Sciences was located.
However, Orochimaru's request regarding longevity and immortality came at just the right time—prompting both the Five Elders and Imu to remember that several high-ranking military officers were already advancing in age.
Edward Newgate was 55.
Monkey D. Garp, 59.
Sengoku, 60.
Even for Starfish natives, the age of 60 was a turning point—physical strength would gradually begin to decline thereafter.
Fortunately, the Bioengineering Division had already made certain advances in studying the cells of Kibutsuji Muzan and the Elf race from the Zero Magic World.
Although true immortality was still a long way off, when it came to life extension and restoring youth, Director Fritz expressed a great deal of confidence.
Moreover, the recently delivered live White Zetsu specimens and Hashirama Cells from the shinobi world immediately attracted intense interest among researchers.
The powerful vitality within both types of cells—along with their tree-generating properties—left figures like Caesar, Queen, and Arata Soue astonished.
Even Kibutsuji Muzan requested a sample, curious whether it might allow him to master chakra and Wood Release in one stroke.
It was under these circumstances that Orochimaru arrived, warmly welcomed by everyone at the Bioengineering Division.
After all, he was someone capable of providing deep insights into this area of study.
At the same time, Orochimaru himself was gaining access to vast new knowledge, encountering bizarre materials he had never seen before.
It was a perfect match.
He felt as if he had entered a dreamlike paradise.
In just one day, Orochimaru had cast aside all thoughts of Konoha—and even the shinobi world itself.
Fourth Hokage?
What was that supposed to be?
All he knew now was that he was a mid-level researcher at the Bioengineering Division!
Next, he would climb step by step to senior researcher, then PhD-level, and finally become Director of the Division, with constant access to the World Government's top-secret scientific data!
But then—a certain document titled 'The Origin and Nature of Chakra, and Its Connection to the Ōtsutsuki' landed on the desks of the Five Elders, the High Command, the Academy of Sciences, and other upper-level departments.
And just like that, the World Government's stance on chakra made a complete 180-degree shift.
Even Kibutsuji Muzan immediately abandoned the idea of acquiring chakra.
Only Orochimaru was left dumbfounded.
Far away in the Teigu World, Imu looked at the holographic virtual display containing the handwritten contents he had penned himself, and sighed: "Chakra is indeed useful... but the hidden dangers within it are far too great. Until this issue is resolved, it's best for the upper ranks to keep their distance."
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---