The shock of everyone else on the battlefield didn't affect Orochimaru at all. At this moment, the terrifying power within him erupted completely.
What is a divine dragon? Right now, he was going to show the world what a legendary creature really is—a dragon that can move mountains, split seas, and stir the winds and clouds.
"Die!!"
The Kusanagi Sword burst out from his stomach with a fearsome force, splitting the sky and tearing the sea apart.
The scene was beyond anything a normal natural disaster could compare to.
To be honest, this level of battle had already far surpassed anything in the pirate world. Orochimaru's strike directly touched the will of the world itself—the will still lingering on his body.
A divine dragon will either be suppressed or break free from its cage to rule the world.
And right now, Orochimaru had the strength to stir the will of the world all on his own.
Even if this world didn't accept him, the will of the world still had to bow down. This was the power of the strongest beings of this era.
Although Orochimaru had lost to Shanks, he had long since stepped into the ranks of the world's strongest.
At this moment, the Eight-Tails was roaring inside Killer Bee's heart. It had given Bee full control over its power and withdrawn its own will, yet it still felt that terrifying force.
"Bee!! Dodge… This is not an attack you can take head-on!"
But facing Gyuki's roar, Killer Bee didn't move to dodge. He wouldn't back down—not with the people behind him at stake.
Back in the North Sea, he had been the same.
He knew this world was complicated, and this era was complicated. His brain wasn't sharp enough, and he didn't have that much wisdom.
But he would never allow his men, or the soldiers who carried dreams of justice, to die in front of him.
"Compared to Shanks' Divine Departure, you're still far behind, Orochimaru!!"
Killer Bee grinned.
Back then, he couldn't dodge Divine Departure. Now, he could dodge this move from Orochimaru—but… he chose not to.
Killer Bee had been locked onto Orochimaru from a distance. An attack with this much preparation was basically a sneak attack.
Yet Orochimaru could still suppress him head-on. Their difference in strength was now crystal clear.
However…
The tentacles behind Killer Bee turned pitch-black, changing from soft and flexible to sharp like blades. His whole body took on a spider-like form.
"Gyuki… Eight-Sword Style!"
"Supreme Blade—Eight-Tails Consecutive Slash!"
Behind Killer Bee, a giant phantom appeared. Eight sharp blades emerged from behind the massive ox head, making the scene eerily strange.
In that moment, light flashed along all eight blades.
If Orochimaru's power surpassed his, then he would let Orochimaru witness his Eight-Sword Style—his technique—which was above Orochimaru's!
"Buzz!!"
The Eight-Tails Consecutive Slash came forth. Countless tentacles emerged from the phantom, blocking Orochimaru's attack. The same will of the world rose from Killer Bee's body.
The dense flurry of blade strikes forcibly stopped Orochimaru's heavy blow.
But blocking this attack wasn't easy. Cracks appeared on all eight tentacles, and the black flames on his body completely went out.
Of course, these were minor issues.
Because the strength of Orochimaru's attack… didn't seem as overwhelming as expected.
As Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword fell, Killer Bee finally saw him clearly above his head.
Orochimaru, now in dragon form, had one claw pointed at Killer Bee and the other at the sky. His raised dragon head radiated a natural authority without anger, and a trace of divinity emerged from his body.
"Divine Dragon: Mountain Starfall!"
As Orochimaru's claw slowly came down, the dark clouds above were pushed aside. From the sky, a massive mountain began to crash toward the battlefield.
The mountain was as large as an island.
How big was that?
Right now, Orochimaru's body length was about two thousand meters. That was after his recent power breakthrough, plus growth over time, and his dragon form being long and slender.
But this island… just its diameter alone was over fifty kilometers.
The sky was completely covered by it.
"Run!!"
"Get out of here!!"
At that moment, everyone panicked. The massive island was falling straight from the sky.
Orochimaru stared at Killer Bee with a cruel grin. This was the difference between a divine dragon and a tailed beast. This was the gap between them.
"Can you… really stop this?"
Orochimaru mocked. Forget whether Killer Bee could stop it — even he would have to run.
But right now, Orochimaru just wanted to taunt him.
Divine Departure? You can only take one strike. I've taken hundreds from that guy.
Still, he was secretly uneasy. The island he had dragged here was carrying an overwhelming amount of natural energy. As it came down, all that energy was crashing down with it.
But he couldn't back down. If Killer Bee didn't run, then neither could he.
Whoever ran first was trash.
But the pressure from the falling island was terrifying, especially the overwhelming natural energy. The sages already saw it as an incoming natural disaster.
"Run!!"
"Help me!"
Everyone rushed together, trying every possible way to escape the battlefield. The entire ice sheet was shifting.
Killer Bee stared at the sight in shock, completely frozen.
His scalp tingled… and he even felt a trace of fear toward Orochimaru.
This man really was, just like the rumors said, a destroyer of worlds. If someone like him was left unchecked, the world would definitely be doomed.
"Run!!"
Killer Bee instantly switched to his full Eight-Tails form. His huge horns dug into the ice, tails spinning at high speed, blasting out massive amounts of energy.
The ice began moving away at extreme speed.
On the pirates' side, White also began shifting the ice, but his power wasn't suited for this kind of work, so it was still too slow.
The pirates were panicking. Some even stuffed themselves into barrels.
No one knew why someone brought a barrel to the battlefield, but on the open sea, using one as a lifeboat was actually the safest choice.
"Hurry!! We'll see how lucky we are."
"Ross, check if we can make it out alive…"
They urged each other on. Some pirates had already used their Devil Fruit powers to escape to the edges.
Ross Jess looked up at the sky.
"No… it's too far. We can't make it!"
"I'll send you out."
At that moment, White had no other choice.
The others heard Haku's words but hadn't reacted yet.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them shook, and a huge ice pillar shot up. Countless ice pillars rose from the frozen surface, throwing the pirates outwards.
But it was still too late…
Orochimaru's strike looked slow only because everyone's reaction was fast.
In reality, all of this happened in just a few seconds. Almost everyone's faces twisted in panic as they ran for their lives.
By the tenth second, Orochimaru felt a terrifying pressure coming from above and decided to slip away too.
He grabbed two clouds and quickly moved aside.
The moment he dodged, an island the size of a meteor came crashing down. No—more accurately, this island was even more terrifying than the meteors of the ninja world.
That bone-chilling power instantly brought back memories for Orochimaru—it was the power of the Dragon Vein…
As he ran, he turned his head and caught sight of the island's appearance.
Although it was an island, it had a massive palace on top and several golden pirate flags planted around it.
"..."
The instant he saw it, Orochimaru seemed to realize something.
His expression shifted slightly, but then he immediately fled the battlefield.
By the twentieth second… after both sides had desperately pulled back from the center, the island fell.
The dark clouds in the sky also came crashing down, and at that moment, the entire sea went out of control.
The chaotic ocean boiled with massive waves and tumbling storm clouds. Thunder and lightning flashed across the sea, while waves over a hundred meters tall rolled violently.
A huge pillar of light burst upward from the sea, and at its center was a pitch-black rift in space. As the pillar rose, the sky took on a faint, blood-like red.
Countless Marines and pirates struggled to find safe ground. This was a true natural disaster—even Orochimaru, the one who caused it, kept far away.
Yet in everyone's eyes, this was Orochimaru's power.
The Marines were heavy-hearted.
Sasuke stared blankly at the scene… his heart filled only with despair. In this era, did he still have a chance?
"Bang!!"
Killer Bee's body slammed down hard.
His whole face was swollen, and blood was seeping from his arms and legs, but Killer Bee didn't really care.
It wouldn't take long for him to heal—the Eight-Tails' recovery ability also worked on Devil Fruit wounds.
"Didn't think Orochimaru was this strong… even with a sneak attack, I couldn't beat him."
Killer Bee looked past the barrier at the terrifying sight outside, like a disaster from the heavens.
"Not surprising. He's someone who could push Shanks that far. Even though he lost, he's still incredibly strong."
Kakashi spoke calmly. Orochimaru's power was great—he knew that well.
A hardworking, determined genius with good luck, who built his strength by risking his life—of course he'd be strong.
It was only natural.
"If the past Great Ninja Wars had been like this… just thinking about it is terrifying."
A jonin from Kirigakure sighed. His strength wasn't great, which was why he'd survived until now, but he had still experienced the ninja wars.
Compared to this kind of war, the old ninja wars weren't even close to real battles.
Just one fight like this was enough to wipe out a whole country—true, total destruction.
Thankfully, it was over the ocean. If it had been on land, in a heavily populated place, it's hard to imagine the consequences.
"This is what pirates are like. If they control power like this, the world will be doomed sooner or later."
"Pirates must be wiped out!"
"Especially someone as strong as Orochimaru, we have to keep him in check…"
"…"
Everyone spoke one after another, fear and anger mixed in their voices.
But not everyone felt the same way.
Sasuke was quietly taking care of Naruto, his thoughts drifting far away. He needed power.
He didn't have Naruto's talent, nor his bloodline or background.
Even though life at sea, being hunted by pirates, had greatly pushed his potential, it still wasn't enough—far from enough.
Right now, Sasuke wanted power more than anything, a power like a natural disaster.
Even if it meant paying a price, he would get it.
The new era had arrived, and the people around him were leaving one by one. He couldn't wait any longer.
Meanwhile, the Nine-Tails inside Naruto had also fallen into thought.
If in the past he could still mock the Eight-Tails with confidence, now he no longer had that right.
"That guy… how did he get so much stronger?
That's not a normal tailed beast state at all. How is that possible?"
The Nine-Tails felt something was off.
Being surpassed felt worse than death to him.
As for taking risks?
At this moment, the Nine-Tails quieted down and began to reassess Naruto.
Although the seal had greatly weakened his sense of Naruto, he could still feel some things.
If Haku was the number one genius in the world, then Naruto was definitely second or third—and he also had the Uzumaki bloodline.
In every way, Naruto was better than Killer Bee.
After thinking it over, the Nine-Tails silently reached out his paw and lifted his own seal.
Once the seal was undone, he returned to that dark, damp water prison.
Ashura's chakra also flew back.
At that moment, the Nine-Tails saw the terrifying state of the battlefield. This era really did seem different now.
Looking at the still-unconscious Naruto, the Nine-Tails sighed.
"As I thought, without me, this brat still can't match a genius like Haku."
The Nine-Tails spoke with a sigh, completely unaware that he had actually been holding Naruto back.
In this battle, both the pirates and the Marines suffered losses, but the one who had it worst was Naruto.
In fact, no one even knew why he ended up in such a bad state.
Of course, Naruto wasn't the only one—another person also had it rough. When that island came crashing down, even Orochimaru was stunned.
It wasn't just any island—it was a sky island.
A sky island formed from the explosion in the Land of Wind, and because of the Grail Stone, its size had grown larger.
And since the sky island was up in the air, when natural energy burst out, it absorbed even more of that power.
As for Golden Lion, up in the sky he naturally chose an island with the highest natural energy as his base.
He even stored everything there.
To avoid spies, he ordered the entire Golden Lion Pirates to head out—no one was allowed to stay behind.
And then… the Golden Lion Pirates became the biggest losers of this battle. Countless treasures, over a hundred Devil Fruits, and even another "Ten-Tails" without the Otsutsuki will that Jigen had hidden were all sent straight to the bottom of the sea.
Beneath the waves, schools of fish swam toward the Ten-Tails. All kinds of sea creatures gathered around this "God Tree" that the ocean didn't reject, biting into it greedily.
As these fish ate the God Tree, their bodies slowly began to change, just like when White Zetsu was first born.
When the sea finally calmed, a monster rose from the water. Through the dark clouds above, it saw that streak of red in the sky… and its direction was the New World!
Then the strange creature—half fish, half man—dove back under the waves.
The schools of fish began to move again… carrying the "God Tree" toward the New World.
The new era was only just beginning!
---
You can read 50 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu