"Strange."
Itachi felt the energy in the sky fading away. That power had clearly been aimed at them—but it was more flashy than useful. With one strike, the natural energy and pressure in the sky completely vanished.
Now, his full-body Susano'o had developed crystal-like energy chunks across its surface. These darker-colored crystals gave off an odd, twisted kind of natural energy. It felt... off.
"So this is Indra's power? Sage Susano'o—the true form of Susano'o."
Itachi raised his hand. His body didn't seem any different on the outside—but in reality, it had changed completely. An insane amount of power was building up inside him.
His five senses were pushed to their limits.
Every cell in his body was pulling in and pushing out natural energy. While the chakra inside him hadn't directly fused with the natural energy, it had increased more than tenfold. And once he used Susano'o, that chakra would fully merge with it.
What he now had was no ordinary Susano'o—it was something beyond. A Sage Susano'o.
"Shift the burden of the world's will onto Susano'o itself—
let Susano'o take that pressure."
"So this is Indra's power? The method the Sage of Six Paths left behind for Indra?"
Itachi spoke calmly.
But in truth, by now, Itachi had already gone far beyond what Indra had ever reached.
Sure, the Sage of Six Paths had left a backup plan in Indra's bloodline—but Indra never had the strength to activate it.
Now, in this new era, both Itachi and Nagato had pushed past their limits—
they had surpassed the ancestors themselves.
Itachi looked up into the distance. Beneath the mask of his Susano'o, his orange-red Mangekyou Sharingan was spinning, with a flame-like natural energy flowing from Susano'o's eyes.
Through the thick layers of clouds, Itachi saw a faint red glow on the horizon. The red will had shown itself—but it wasn't strong enough yet.
"It's already started?"
Itachi descended from the sky, and the Susano'o around him faded away.
Even though his power had grown a lot, seeing that red light still left him a bit shaken.
"Even now, I can only barely sense a tiny part of Shanks' power. How strong is that guy really?"
"And Shisui, who's always by his side…"
Itachi didn't feel any joy about getting stronger. If anything, after seeing the world of the top fighters, he felt a strange sense of awe.
Konan, Deidara, Kakuzu—even Kisame—all noticed something different about Itachi now.
He'd gotten stronger. A lot stronger.
"Did you find something?"
"The pirates have started moving. Shanks' power has already spread into East Blue.
It's time for us to move too."
Itachi spoke quietly.
After hearing him, everyone's expression turned serious.
"So it's finally starting?"
Deidara looked like he could barely hold himself back.
"Time's tight, but we've been ready for a while."
Kakuzu sounded calm, but he'd been waiting for this moment too.
From the day they first saw what the Revolutionary Army really was, from knowing they weren't trusted at first, to becoming one of the core members later on…
Now, they had fully cleared out the unstable parts of the Revolutionary Army.
This was it—the moment the Revolutionary Army would step onto the world stage. And Kakuzu had been waiting for that chance.
"So we're finally going to the battlefield? I mean, I know I'm not a good guy or anything, but…"
Hidan thought about all the stuff he'd done. Technically, he was basically a psycho killer.
But in truth, only maybe one or two hundred people had died by his hand.
Okay… yeah, that's still a lot.
But when you think about all the people who've died because of sages or wars…
Right now, Hidan felt like his own simple-minded evil was almost saint-like in comparison.
"Alright, just don't die out there.
Your powers don't guarantee survival on the battlefield."
Kakuzu held a Devil Fruit in his hand and ate it.
Looking at the Devil Fruit Kakuzu handed him, then glancing at Kakuzu—whose body had already gone back to normal—Hidan still looked unsure.
"If I eat this Devil Fruit… wouldn't that be betraying Jashin-sama?"
"Eat it or don't. Up to you."
Kakuzu scoffed. "If you didn't want it, then why were you using your powers to convert it earlier?"
Meanwhile, Deidara looked at Kakuzu, who had already eaten a Devil Fruit, then turned to the one in his own hand.
"As long as I eat this, I'll be able to cause explosions anytime, anywhere — no prep needed."
There was no doubt that eating a Devil Fruit would make Deidara stronger.
Thinking about the battles to come, Deidara clenched his teeth and bit into the fruit he had been holding for a while.
"Ugh!!!"
As he gagged from the nasty taste, all the chakra in Deidara's body was locked, and a new power started rising up and taking over.
At the same time, his chakra began pushing back into his body, causing a reaction.
Until now, using chakra had been more convenient for things like intel gathering and infiltration.
But when it came to real combat, their chakra-based power had slowly fallen behind the current era.
"So this… this is the power of the new age?"
A lump of white clay formed from Deidara's body and quickly turned into a huge sculpture.
Deidara was enjoying himself — this power felt great.
"This is way more useful than chakra."
"Kakuzu, what's your ability?"
"Earth Grudge Fear — the Thread-Thread Fruit. I can turn my body into threads, and also control others using those threads."
As he spoke, one of Kakuzu's threads shot into the sky and grabbed onto a cloud.
"I can do stuff like that too."
Kakuzu didn't fully understand what his fruit's power really was yet, but now that Earth Grudge Fear had turned into a Devil Fruit ability, it clearly wasn't something simple anymore.
The others exchanged glances with their teammates.
Not all of them had eaten their fruit yet, but they were all carrying one. Once they ran out of chakra, the fruit would let them stay in the fight.
"In that case, let's move out!"
"Kakuzu, you go rally the main force and get ready to support the front lines."
Nagato and Itachi headed straight for the Land, and the others began moving too.
As for Konan, she stayed behind to keep an eye on Obito and Black Zetsu. Black Zetsu's mind had broken down and he was still caught in Itachi's genjutsu — but he could snap out of it at any time.
As for Obito, he still had several Grail Stones attached to his body. If even one of those exploded, it could swallow up space itself.
Obito looked at Konan and waved his hand, showing that he had no intention of doing anything.
That thing had hurt both Shanks and Orochimaru — Obito wasn't about to mess around with it.
Elsewhere, in a unit heading toward the Land…
A Marine squad led by several Elders had stopped above the sea.
"Senior Okita, there's someone below."
A young Elder looked down — a chunk of ice was floating on the water, and it looked like there was someone frozen inside.
"Someone's there?"
An old man walked over.
He was also one of the World Government's Elders — an aged man, not weak by any means.
Most of the World Government's Elders were like him: old, with no other paths left to take.
They could only rely on the power of the Earthly Immortal Kingdom if they wanted to make another breakthrough.
Only at their age did they truly understand that sometimes hard work alone was far from enough—talent also created a huge gap between one immortal and another.
Noticing something happening, several old immortals from other ships flew over.
When they saw the giant block of ice on the deck, and the man frozen inside it, they were all a little surprised.
"Isn't that Santai Tsuchikata?"
"He's still alive. As expected of one of the strongest of the younger generation."
Sensing the life energy inside the ice, the immortals were amazed.
Santai Tsuchikata's talent was definitely top-tier, and he was also very hardworking.
It had to be said, Fukuda Kiyomu did have some ability—at least even under such deep hatred, the immortals still had someone as strong as Santai Tsuchikata among them.
"I heard this guy went to find Shanks. Didn't think he'd actually survive, though it looks like he's badly injured."
One immortal began melting the ice around Santai Tsuchikata, and the moment it was gone, thick Sage Chakra instantly surged from his body.
Strong life force was drawn out from deep inside him, and Tsuchikata's eyes snapped open.
The twisted Sage Chakra spread out at once, shattering the battleship's deck until several immortals stepped in to block the outburst.
"So I made it out alive…"
Seeing the still somewhat familiar faces in front of him, Tsuchikata let out a sigh of relief.
Although these people were immortals of the Earthly Immortal Kingdom, immortals wouldn't kill each other unless there was a deep grudge.
And the only deep grudge was probably their hatred toward Fukuda Kiyomu.
"So it's you, Okita."
Tsuchikata exhaled deeply, while Okita's face wore a gentle smile.
"Tsuchikata, don't be so reckless next time. Live on, and you'll have the chance to take revenge."
"If it comes to it, why not come try the Earthly Immortal Kingdom? It's united now, and Master Genichi's path has been completed."
"Is that so?"
Hearing this, Tsuchikata didn't feel much, but he was still happy for them.
"Looks like Master Genichi really has found a path for everyone."
As Tsuchikata was reflecting on this, a sudden sense of danger struck him. His pupils shrank, his senses expanded instantly, and dense Sage Chakra burst from his body, shooting into the sky.
"Watch out!!"
Tsuchikata stomped his foot, shattering the battleship's deck as earthy-yellow ripples spread out. In the next instant, his figure turned into an earthy-yellow flash rushing into the sky.
It all happened too quickly for anyone to react, and by the time they did…
A massive sword light in the sky sliced through the clouds, followed by orange-red flames, crashing down with unstoppable force.
"Clang!!!"
The clear ringing echoed in the sky as the earthy-yellow energy forcefully blocked the strike midair, making the whole world dim for a moment.
Above the torn clouds hovered a winged Susano'o, its entire body radiating twisted Sage Chakra, overlooking the sea like a god or demon.
Under its overwhelming presence, every immortal felt a fated shackle locking down their power.
"Ashura and Indra!"
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