The battle finally ended with a powerful strike from Orochimaru, giving both pirates and Marines a chance to catch their breath.
After the fight, the pirates returned once again to the small island from before, and Higgs, after a tough fight of his own, also arrived there.
At this moment, all the pirate captains finally understood just how terrifying Orochimaru's power really was.
That night, at the feast to regroup, the mood turned into everyone praising and flattering Orochimaru.
Haku sensibly sat at the edge with Ross Jess and the others, not joining in.
"Orochimaru's power is on a completely different level from ours. No wonder he could face Shanks as an equal."
One-Eyed Ghost Dragon still felt a chill—he might also be a dragon, but a chameleon dragon was nothing like a divine dragon like Orochimaru.
"And it looks like he's gotten much stronger. Now, Orochimaru should be qualified to challenge the Four Emperors, right?"
"Hard to say. After all… Orochimaru hasn't clashed with Shanks yet. If Orochimaru has grown stronger, then someone like Shanks should have gotten even stronger too."
Ross Jess sighed.
That was the gap between geniuses and ordinary people like them. But from being a nobody to becoming a great pirate able to face the World Government—that path, they didn't regret choosing it. Even if they died along the way, they wouldn't turn back.
"Hah? Shanks? You think Shanks can compare to our Orochimaru-sama?
Even Shanks can't reach Orochimaru-sama's level."
Hearing that, the group frowned and looked over. It was Suigetsu and Jugo approaching.
And of course, the one speaking was Suigetsu.
"Kid, don't underestimate what it means to be called the strongest."
Before anyone could reply, Higgs, who was sitting by the fire with his sword in his arms, opened his eyes.
His long, flat face was still wrapped in bandages, his hair was a mess, and his clothes were torn—he didn't look like a powerful fighter at all.
But the instant Higgs opened his eyes, just his gaze made the flames dim. Jugo felt his hair stand on end, as if an overwhelming threat had just locked onto him.
"Higgs… why scare the kids?"
Ross Jess and the others chuckled.
They had met Higgs once before and knew him by face.
They just hadn't expected that the once unremarkable street punk had now become such a powerful swordsman.
With no Devil Fruit powers, just the sword in his hand was enough to give him such incredible strength.
"Have a seat."
Haku spoke gently, making room for Jugo and Suigetsu.
"It's best not to badmouth Boss Shanks in public. If we hear it, that's one thing. But if certain strong people hear it, you might lose your lives," Haku warned.
The Red-Haired Pirates didn't care much about this, but for some strong fighters, it was a completely different story.
"But… can Shanks really stop Orochimaru as he is now?"
Kagero Pick hesitated. What they had seen today was simply outrageous.
Right now, the entire sea was being affected. With such terrifying power and destructive force, could Shanks really handle it?
"Hmm…"
Thinking about it, Haku went silent too.
Stop it?
From what he knew about Shanks, there was no way.
"No, Boss Shanks isn't good at that kind of thing.
But… if Orochimaru faced Boss Shanks, he'd never get the chance to use that move, and there's a good chance he'd die."
Haku said this with certainty.
After hearing his words, the other big pirates went silent as well.
When they thought about it, it was true.
Orochimaru couldn't withstand Shanks' insane attack power, just like Shanks couldn't block Orochimaru's massive area attacks.
But… Shanks could kill.
So not only Ross Jess and the others, even Higgs closed his eyes again, pulling back his aura.
They all kept an eye on Higgs—this guy wasn't simple.
But they didn't think Higgs was unworthy. He had led so many Mountain Bandits to block the Marines, then charged into the Land of Fire with a group.
After that, during the sages' counterattack, he had kept leading people against the Marines, constantly maneuvering and fighting. After all this time, even an ordinary person would have gotten stronger.
Higgs' strength wasn't just luck.
"Higgs, what are you planning to do next?"
Kagero Pick's gaze fell on what Higgs was holding. He knew it all too well—Shanks' bounty poster, the very first version.
"Me? I don't really have a plan.
I just want to go back to the Land tavern owner and have a free drink, hehe."
Higgs mumbled sleepily.
Kagero Pick wanted to ask more, but Higgs' snoring had already started.
He was exhausted. In the past few months, he'd barely had any real rest.
"We might need to lay low for a while, but we should still keep an eye on the Marines' movements. The longer we wait, the more Marines will gather."
They drank as they talked, all of them a bit worried. As for Haku, he was different from the others—he drank milk.
And as for Orochimaru, surrounded by pirate captains, he was just humoring them. In short, he had already started pretending to be clueless.
He knew there was something on that island. Well, maybe not exactly what it was, but it was definitely not something simple.
That terrifying power was definitely not caused by him, but who knew if he might still be blamed for it later.
So right now, Orochimaru just played dumb, acting like he knew nothing.
Of course, even if he did know, he'd still pretend he didn't. That way, if he was found out later, it could be called an accident, not something he did on purpose.
Although he could claim it was an accident, Orochimaru knew very well—who would actually believe him?
Now that Danzo was dead, there was no way he could pin the blame on him. And looking at the situation in these waters, Orochimaru already knew he had messed things up again.
"Golden Lion..."
"That guy Dark seems to be hiding in the South Seas… No, something's off, really off."
"..."
Something came to Orochimaru's mind.
The last accident in the Land of Wind was also related to Dark.
If it weren't for Dark back then, neither he nor Shanks would have been injured so badly.
And now, on this battlefield, Shanks's power had already reached here, and Orochimaru was also present… and then such a major accident happened.
"Could it be that guy Dark again?"
Orochimaru thought to himself.
But after downing several barrels of wine, Orochimaru stopped thinking about it. Anyway, he had beaten the Eight-Tails badly today, and that felt great.
In reality, though, this really was related to Dark.
After Dark accepted Jigen's offer, Jigen gave him all his resources.
Dark was in charge of distributing them properly to strengthen the entire Golden Lion Pirates.
Dark even learned the identity of Jigen Otsutsuki's clan, and because of that, he knew Jigen wasn't lying—Jigen really was the person in this world most likely to challenge Shanks.
That was when the Golden Lion Pirates' grand plan began.
The Devil Fruits didn't even need to be discussed—Jigen had long been prepared. He even had the Ten-Tails in his hands, and could create Devil Fruits at will as long as there was enough ninjutsu.
And the most important part of Dark's plan was to strengthen Jigen's power.
The Ten-Tails in Jigen's hands had no Otsutsuki will, so it wasn't rejected by this world.
Dark's method was to give the Ten-Tails Jigen's own will, then have it stay on Sky Island to keep absorbing natural energy. As the God Tree absorbed more and more power, it would grow and fuse with Jigen's will.
Next, Jigen would use the shared will to merge his body with the God Tree, perfecting his physical form. With this combined will and the resulting overwhelming power...
If it worked, he could challenge Shanks—and might even have more than a fifty percent chance of winning.
Even Dark himself thought this kind of power would be terrifying. The method he used was the same as when Orochimaru once merged with the Dragon Vein.
And so, Jigen's Ten-Tails became a God Tree infused with the will of the "Golden Lion."
But somehow, while it was being raised, Orochimaru ended up pulling it over.
At this point, Jigen still had no idea, and who could have guessed that someone in the ninja world could even do such a thing.
Orochimaru himself didn't even know how he had sunk the Golden Lion's main base. He had simply chosen the most convenient method.
That was the real reason.
The "Dragon Vein" power in Orochimaru and the Grail Stone's power were too close in nature, and the Golden Lion's base had been on the largest and most powerful Skypiea island.
That perfect compatibility led to this so-called coincidence.
But sometimes, coincidences don't come alone.
At this moment, on the Marines' side—
The Marines had found an island to rest on, and at the same time, news arrived that the Revolutionary Army had launched a surprise attack on them.
This time, Ichidai Kiyomu had also taken action, bringing twelve Guardians of the World Government directly to the area.
An emergency Marine meeting was held, with Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto all present.
Ichidai Kiyomu's expression was serious, with none of his usual relaxed demeanor.
"This time, we were attacked by the Revolutionary Army not because we were too weak, but because their top fighters were sent out."
"This battle has already become a major war for the World Government. We have mobilized the best fighters from the Five Great Nations.
At the same time, the Sages among the Guardians have handed out all the Senjutsu techniques we'll need."
"Was it Uzumaki Nagato who made a move?"
Killer Bee asked.
"Nagato?"
"Another member of the Uzumaki clan… the red-haired clan."
"Besides Shanks, another Uzumaki clan member has made a move. Do we really have the strength to deal with that?"
"Damn it… Orochimaru alone was already a nightmare, and now we have to face a powerful Uzumaki on top of that…"
"..."
Hearing that Nagato had stepped in, the others didn't even feel like listening to the rest of the report.
"Quiet!"
Ichidai Kiyomu slapped the table. Even the Guardians didn't look pleased.
As for the Marine commanders' reactions, he had expected them. After all, even they were shaken by the news.
"Uzumaki Nagato's power is immense. We've confirmed his identity—he is the reincarnation of Asura. And the other top fighter of the Revolutionary Army is none other than Uchiha Itachi, the reincarnation of Indra."
When Sasuke heard the name "Itachi," he froze for a moment.
The Revolutionary Army's strongest fighter… the reincarnation of Indra.
At that moment, Sasuke deeply felt his own weakness and helplessness.
Or maybe… he had always been this way.
Not a prodigy, no special gifts, no great luck…
What did he have to fight with?!
Then Ichidai Kiyomu's voice continued.
"Asura and Indra's powers are unbelievably strong. These two were the ancestors of the Uzumaki and Uchiha clans, the sons of the Sage of Six Paths.
But even when facing such overwhelming power, we must stand firm…"
Ichidai Kiyomu went on to explain.
The Sages understood well how terrifying Asura and Indra were, but most Marines and shinobi had no idea.
So Ichidai Kiyomu directly shared all the records about Asura and Indra, along with the Sages' research on them.
The more he spoke, the heavier the Sages' expressions became.
But for everyone else, their eyes only grew more confused—including Killer Bee.
Listening to Ichidai Kiyomu go on and on, Killer Bee turned his head to look at Kakashi.
Kakashi was already asleep.
Naruto was asleep too.
The only one still awake was Sasuke, and the more he listened, the more uneasy he felt. The Uchiha clan was doomed, his brother was the founder of the Uchiha clan, and he was using the Uchiha clan's power… how was he supposed to fight like this?
But Killer Bee didn't care about that. He was feeling sleepy too. Everyone's nervousness and fear had nothing to do with this Asura and Indra business.
"Um… Ichidai Kiyomu-sama, I want to ask something…"
Chojuro couldn't hold on any longer, almost falling asleep before suddenly waking up and asking his question.
"What is it?"
Ichidai Kiyomu and the other sages looked at him in confusion.
"Well… between Asura and Shanks, who's stronger?"
Chojuro's question instantly woke everyone up.
This was what they really cared about. They were afraid the Uzumaki clan would produce another Shanks, and none of them had the courage to face that.
Yeah… Killer Bee wouldn't dare either.
"Well…"
"Seems like Shanks is stronger."
"Phew…"
"Scared me for a second…"
"I thought the Red-Haired clan had given birth to another monster…"
"Nearly scared me to death…"
"Good thing it's not a monster like Shanks…"
Hearing this, everyone let out a sigh of relief, and the pressure instantly disappeared.
Seeing this, the sages froze for a moment. Wait… have their standards really gotten this high?
At that moment, not just Ichidai Kiyomu, but even the dozen or so guardians looked a little awkward, as if they'd just embarrassed themselves in front of this group.
Of course, Sasuke also let out a sigh of relief. Good thing his brother wasn't that strong.
"That's good… but… the Uchiha power inside me can't be used anymore."
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