Watching Ryujou leave, Santai Tsuchikata stood up once again.
Just over a month ago, he had crossed paths with Shanks in the New World.
Back then, Santai Tsuchikata had been played with like a fool by the entire Red-Haired Pirates.
And honestly, against the Red-Haired Pirates, he really had been no different from a clown.
But that wasn't the whole truth. As a "genius" among sages, Santai Tsuchikata had both great intelligence and strong willpower. That was why, even when facing the Red-Haired Pirates, he could keep pushing himself to his limits.
In the final moments, he had even broken free from Shanks' Haki suppression, truly shattering his own limits.
Still, his luck was terrible—first, he got beaten up by the Red-Haired Pirates, and just after returning, before he could fully recover, he ran into attacks from Nagato and Itachi.
But if you look at him among the sages as a whole, his record was absurd. Give it another hundred or two hundred years, when Shanks is gone, and Santai Tsuchikata's history would read—
Once faced the world's strongest pirate crew alone, forced Shanks, Uchiha Shisui, White, and others to all take action, and in the end walked away alive.
So even though in the moment Santai Tsuchikata looked like a complete clown, that was only because none of his opponents were ordinary people. And now, he had finally found an opponent who seemed a bit more human.
Yes, he meant Itachi.
From just their first exchange, Santai Tsuchikata had already analyzed him.
"Massive attack range and destructive power, perfect chakra control, a flawless fighter."
"Seems to follow the same path as the Sage of Six Paths… but unfortunately, in this world, there's only one Sage of Six Paths."
Sandai Tsuchikata spoke slowly.
Itachi's style was too perfect—and perfection also meant he had no obvious weaknesses.
Against weaker enemies, Itachi would completely crush them, leaving no room for resistance. Against stronger ones, he could use his strengths to drag the fight out.
Such an opponent was extremely troublesome, but… still better than the monsters from the Red-Haired Pirates.
Forget Shanks' overwhelming attacks—even Shisui was absurd. Shisui had once fought Orochimaru, and Orochimaru was the kind of man who could tank multiple Sage Techniques with his body alone.
Shisui also clashed head-on with Orochimaru using his Susano'o, without putting a single point into defense.
As for Zabuza and Haku? Same story.
Zabuza was an assassin ninja, all about offense, while Haku—who joined later—followed the Red-Haired Pirates' style too, with pure attack power maxed out.
Defensive methods? Either just dodging or taking the hit directly.
But Itachi's Susano'o actually had true defensive abilities.
"Bang!!"
The combined Sage Technique of two immortals was smashed aside by Itachi's Yatagami, and orange-red flames instantly ignited the Sage Chakra around them. The giant Susano'o came crashing down from the sky.
"Earth Sage Art: Heavy Press!"
Sandai Tsuchikata charged forward again, earthy-yellow chakra covering his body. His small figure formed a sharp contrast with the overwhelming presence of Itachi's Susano'o.
Rushing straight into it looked like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, but everyone here knew just how strong this man really was.
"Take my punch!"
No flashy sage techniques—just pure power. The earthy-yellow energy on Sandai Tsuchikata's body burst outward.
"Clang!!"
Susano'o was forcibly stopped, Sage Chakra on the Yatagami exploding outward, yet Sandai Tsuchikata didn't budge.
In that moment, Itachi felt like he had crashed into a mountain—no, something even more unshakable than a mountain.
"A different kind of power… completely unaffected by Indra's strength. This isn't just an ordinary immortal."
Itachi wasn't too surprised. The moment Sandai Tsuchikata blocked his first strike, Itachi already knew this man wasn't simple.
"But if this is all, it's not enough."
Itachi had also spotted Tsuchikata's weakness—his strength was great, but he clearly leaned toward defense.
His body was incredibly tough—so tough that even taking a Tailed Beast Bomb head-on wouldn't be strange.
But compared to his sturdy defense, Sandai Tsuchikata's offense was the real issue.
Buzz!!
The air trembled as the crystals on Itachi's Susano'o shone even brighter, with orange-red chakra rising like flames.
The sky began to change color, the clouds above boiling and churning.
Itachi silently looked down, raising the Totsuka Blade in his hand. Tangible chakra fell from the clouds, gathering onto the blade.
"But since I know my weakness, how could I not have a way to handle it?"
Itachi closed his eyes and spoke calmly. At the same time, Susano'o's eyes turned into the Mangekyou pattern.
"Susano'o: Totsuka Sword Art—Tsukuyomi World!"
He had been in contact with Shanks, with that power beyond the world itself, long before Shanks appeared here. There was no way Itachi would be that simple.
From the start, he had never planned to follow the normal path.
By following the normal path, no matter how far you went, it was impossible to fight someone like Shanks.
Back then, the reason Itachi stayed silent was because the crow he controlled had been cut down by a single slash from Shanks—and that slash even sent a shock through the mental link, injuring Itachi's real body.
And that was just an unintentional strike from Shanks.
But it was exactly that—cutting his real body through the Genjutsu's mental connection—that made Itachi truly understand how terrifying Shanks was.
Thankfully, Itachi's mind was strong enough not to break on the spot. Still, that one slash was enough to make him fall completely silent.
Later, when he saw Shanks kill the sealed Eight-Tails with a single slash, Itachi wasn't surprised at all. He even thought about sending Hidan to test him, but the moment Hidan saw that slash, he decided he valued his life more.
From then on, Itachi started studying how to deal with such a monster.
In the end, the only way was to steal.
The normal path was a dead end, so the only option left was cheating.
And now, the power on both Nagato and Itachi could be considered stolen—completely stolen.
But in truth, Itachi still had other means.
Before, he might not have been able to use this move, but after gaining Indra's power, he had the qualification to wield this kind of ultimate strength.
As soon as he used it, the entire sky went black.
The will of the world descended from above, spreading across the battlefield.
Ordinary marines were instantly dragged into the Tsukuyomi world and put to sleep. Some with weaker mental strength among the ability users even fainted outright.
In the darkened battlefield, the only light came from the swirling orange-red clouds in the sky and the Totsuka Blade in Itachi's hand.
From atop the towering Susano'o, the scarlet Mangekyo eyes stared down at the gathered sages.
"An attack equal to the world itself—can you survive it?"
Buzz!!
The entire sky began to sink, leaving the sages staring in shock.
At the moment the will of the world descended, their power also started to rise sharply.
"Synchronized Ascension—how did he figure out this secret art!?"
"Mental suppression combined with Synchronized Ascension…"
The sages watched in disbelief at this terrifying sight.
When the will of the world descends, everyone under it grows stronger—but inside this domain, they were also being suppressed by Itachi's Tsukuyomi world.
They couldn't gain anywhere near the same boost.
Once the power boost reached its unbearable peak, that was when the world-level attack would fall.
"Impossible… to run into a monster like this!"
Even the Third Tsuchikage was stunned.
The original Itachi was already absurd—no weaknesses at all, a perfect all-round warrior.
But now…
"The era has already changed."
Crack!!
Cracks began to spread along the Totsuka Blade—it was nearing its limit.
The crushing force of the will of the world's descent wasn't something easy to withstand, even for a Susano'o empowered by Indra's strength.
"Let me see if you high-and-mighty sages can withstand a blow as great as the heavens."
The next moment, the cracked Totsuka Blade came crashing down from the sky, its beam of light merging with the one above to form an even more terrifying sword strike.
The orange-red blade of light fell with the sinking clouds. This strike wasn't fast.
The orange-red clouds were slowly torn apart in midair, like paint spreading in the sky. Beneath this beautiful yet terrifying attack, the sages had already gathered together.
"Tsuchikata! Help us!"
An old man spoke. By now, all the sages had gathered, their sage chakra merging with the will of the world.
"I can't!!"
Seeing the scene before him, the Sandai Tsuchikata roared in anger.
An attack of this scale was already on the same level as when he once faced Shanks—it could kill people.
"It's going to kill us!"
The Sandai Tsuchikata roared, but… he didn't run.
Back when he faced Fukuda Kiyomu, he didn't run.
When he faced the Red-Haired Pirates, he didn't run either.
And now… even as he said they would die, the Sandai Tsuchikata still didn't run.
"Guess… I'm just not used to running away, even from someone like Shanks."
The Sandai Tsuchikata wore a bitter look. If this were his prime, he could at least buy them some time.
But now…
"Just my luck to be stuck with such a useless bunch."
He struck the Yatagami, using the rebound to launch himself toward the Totsuka Blade's slash.
Bang!!
His heart began to pound, and the strength in his body exploded again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
His heartbeat grew faster and faster.
Pfft!!
In the next moment, his wounds burst open again, blood spraying everywhere.
And in that final instant, the Sandai Tsuchikata slammed straight into Itachi's attack.
Boom!
The will of the world descended, crushing down with immense force. The massive beam of light pressed down on his arms.
At the same time, the sage chakra in his body held back Itachi's strike as much as it could, but… it was useless.
This was the kind of attack that had to be avoided—at least for fighters on their level.
And what Itachi did was… make the attack so wide that even strong fighters couldn't dodge it, or force someone like Shanks—who disdained dodging—to take the hit.
"In this world, only one person could take this blow. And that person… isn't you."
Itachi let out a quiet sigh.
The terrifying will of the world pressed down, carrying power "stolen" from the world itself.
The moment it crashed onto him, the Sandai Tsuchikata's mind went blank.
He threw himself right into Itachi's attack.
"I… I can do it too…"
"I'm not… I'm not going to run."
Crack!!
The sound of bones breaking in his hand.
The next moment, that huge force smashed straight into the Sandai Tsuchikata's face.
His already dizzy mind went blank, and he passed out instantly.
His eyes stared lifelessly at the sky, mouth wide open, drool mixed with blood spraying out.
He wasn't like a kite with its string cut anymore — he was pinned down by Itachi's strike, crashing down like a meteor.
The sound of air tearing around him didn't wake him. Sage chakra kept spilling from his body, and once again, he fell into the state of "death."
This time, there were no memories, no last burst of strength before dying.
Because the one he faced was no longer Shanks, no longer the Red-Haired Pirates.
"Sage Kingdom Barrier! Open!!"
At the final moment, the half-transparent barrier of the Sage Kingdom finally opened with the combined power of the sages.
Sandai Tsuchikata fell inside the barrier.
The next instant, a sword light stretching over a kilometer long and nearly two hundred meters wide slammed into the barrier.
Along with the sword light came countless torn clouds.
These orange-red clouds spread across the barrier. With the force of Itachi's strike, the whole barrier began to crack, and at that same moment, the Totsuka Blade in Itachi's hand shattered like glass.
The broken blade fragments fell into the sea along with pieces of the orange-red clouds. The whole ocean was dyed orange-red, boiling as if it had caught fire.
The sky turned bright again.
Beneath the shattered barrier, five or six sages had already passed out, bound by the power of Itachi's Susano'o.
On the other side, Nagato broke free from the power of the land-based Sage Kingdom, looking drained as he flew onto a warship in the battlefield.
By now, the sea was filled with broken ship parts and bodies floating on the water, their fate unknown.
This was war…
Looking at the other sages and Devil Fruit users who had been defeated along with the Six Paths puppets, Nagato felt little emotion.
Some burdens were always meant for people like them to carry.
At that moment, a fleet appeared on the sea, and a cloud drifted over in the sky. Kakuzu dropped down from above, landing beside Nagato.
"Take the Devil Fruit users and sages with us. We're heading to the Land battlefield."
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