So Chiyu and Franky took Franky's newly developed warship, brought only a small crew to handle the vessel, and headed straight for Red-Haired Shanks's home base.
A Yonko's base wasn't exactly a secret—people just didn't dare to trespass.
Franky's new battleship was much smaller than the War God, but blisteringly fast. He'd also fitted it with some kind of secret weapon, which had him grinning with anticipation.
They tore across the sea and soon closed in on Shanks's territory. Among the Four Emperors, Shanks probably commanded the smallest crew. His core officers numbered barely around ten; even counting their followers, they had only ten or twenty thousand—nothing like the massive armies the other Yonko could field.
On the other hand, Shanks ruled his men with loyalty and honor; their cohesion was tight, and betrayals were almost unheard of.
The moment Chiyu's ship entered the surrounding waters, a Red Hair patrol spotted them. Seeing the Undying Legion's insignia, they went pale and hurried a report to Shanks.
Shanks happened to be drinking with Dracule "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk. Hearing that Uchiha Chiyu had appeared, he paused mid-cup and asked, "How many?"
"J-just one warship. Only two standing on the bow—Uchiha Chiyu and the shipwright called Franky…"
"Two people?" Shanks and Mihawk exchanged a look and both frowned.
Mihawk said, "Uchiha Chiyu has the wind at his back—first he killed Kaido, then Big Mom. At this point nothing can stop him. It would be no surprise if he came to subdue our crew."
"But to show up alone—what is he playing at?"
Shanks burst out laughing. "I've met him once before. To be precise, we fought."
"Oh? That happened?"
"A long time ago. Back then almost no one had even heard the name Uchiha Chiyu. I went to the East Blue about something, heard Buggy was nearby, and thought I'd look up an old friend. I ran into Chiyu just as he was about to kill him."
"I remember that," Mihawk said. "That was when Chiyu was cleansing the East Blue."
"Right. Buggy and I bicker, sure, but I wasn't going to watch him die to Chiyu, so I stepped in. How did it end? In pure strength I was stronger at the time, but I lost the wager we made." Shanks scratched his head. "No helping it—if you bet, you pay. I had to let him do what he came to do. I told him, though, the moment he laid a hand on Buggy he'd be making me his mortal enemy, and one day I would personally avenge him."
Mihawk sighed. "A man like that doesn't care about speeches like yours."
"You're right," Shanks said with a nod. "He didn't hesitate—took Buggy's head off in one stroke. Either way, he and I agreed we'd fight again someday. Looks like he's here to make good on it."
"Even so," Mihawk said, "to walk into our base alone—he certainly has nerve."
"He does. Come on, let's go meet him."
Before long, Shanks, Mihawk, and the Red Hair officers—first mate and strategist Benn Beckman, sniper Yasopp, cook Lucky Roux, doctor Hongo, navigator Building Snake, musician Bonk Punch, fighter Limejuice, Howling Gab, Rockstar, and the rest—assembled to receive Chiyu's "visit."
"Uchiha Chiyu—long time no see," Shanks said with an easy grin.
"It has been a while," Chiyu replied, flat as ever.
Shanks laughed. "Even the last time we met, I knew you'd rise fast. I just didn't think it would be this fast. Right now you're the most-watched man in the world—and the one the World Government fears most."
"It's been long enough," Chiyu said. "Red-Haired Shanks, you haven't forgotten our agreement, have you?"
"Of course not. What, you want to settle it now?"
"It's time."
Shanks smiled slightly. "Fine. But since it's a wagered duel, we should have stakes."
Chiyu didn't waste words. "If I win, you tell me where the last Road Poneglyph is."
Shanks's eyes flickered. "And if I say I don't know?"
"I wouldn't have said it if I were going to back down."
"Hahahaha—good! If I get lucky and win, then I'm afraid you'll have to hand over the rubbings of the three Road Poneglyphs you already have."
Chiyu frowned. "You sailed with Roger and went to Laugh Tale. You already know where it is. You don't need the Road Poneglyphs."
"I don't," Shanks admitted, "but I have my own reasons."
Chiyu only had to think for a moment to understand. If Shanks wanted to help someone else, he could have just said so—he already knew where Laugh Tale was. If he wanted Chiyu's three stones, there was only one reason left: he didn't want Chiyu to go.
"Why?" Chiyu asked.
Shanks could tell Chiyu had seen through him. He smiled. "You're not a pirate. And I don't believe the person Captain Roger was waiting for is you."
Chiyu knew the tale: Roger reached Laugh Tale, learned the secret of the ONE PIECE, and laughed that he was too early—that the time wasn't right. Who the "savior" he awaited might be, no one knew. If the world had stayed on its original rails, it would surely have been Luffy. But things were different now.
"You're putting your chips on Monkey D. Luffy, aren't you?"
Shanks's eyes moved. "You even know what I'm thinking? People say Uchiha Chiyu knows everything, but this still surprises me—and earns my respect. Yes. I believe Luffy is the one Captain Roger was waiting for. He has the blood of D, the captain's hat, and most importantly, the same will."
Chiyu let out a cold, dismissive snort. "Prophecy, fate—none of that means anything to me. I'm here to break all of it."
"If anyone else said that, I'd call them insane," Shanks said with a laugh. "But from you—yes, I believe it. You have the power and the right. Then let's put all the stakes on the fight. You win, you go to Laugh Tale. You lose, and I'll put my full weight behind Luffy getting there."
"Good."
The moment their talk ended, the air itself went taut—one spark away from detonation.
How strong was Red-Haired Shanks, really? Almost no one knew. Unlike Kaido or Whitebeard, he hadn't spent a lifetime wading through battlefields; as a Yonko, he didn't need to swing his sword often.
Even so, Mihawk couldn't help worrying. The two had crossed blades many times, but after Shanks lost his arm, Mihawk refused to continue—an unfair match, in his eyes.
In pure swordsmanship Mihawk still considered himself a hair superior. But battles aren't just swordplay. Shanks's greatest strength, most likely, was his Haki.
"Since I came to fight you," Chiyu said, "I'll let you choose the format."
Shanks raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"You're down an arm."
Shanks barked a laugh. "Pity me? I know you're not that kind of man. Still, I accept. How about this—one strike decides it."
"Fine," Chiyu said with a nod.
Everyone's hearts clenched. One blow—this single exchange could set the course of the world.
If Chiyu won, he'd likely get the location of the final Road Poneglyph—or at least the clue—making his arrival at Laugh Tale almost a foregone conclusion.
If Shanks won, whether Luffy became Pirate King or not, Chiyu would lose his chance forever. And all of it would be decided not by a drawn-out war, but by one move.
Chiyu knew exactly which move Shanks would throw.
Divine Departure.
A technique passed down from Pirate King Gol D. Roger himself—one only Shanks had truly inherited.
In the original tale, Roger shattered Kozuki Oden with that strike—Oden, whose strength surpassed even Kaido's. And when Shanks used it himself, he obliterated Kid's entire crew in a single blow. The power of that strike was beyond belief.
But Chiyu did not flinch.
In the same heartbeat, both men unleashed Conqueror's Haki. A savage pressure roared skyward; the sea heaved into mountains; the storm clouds themselves seemed to explode.
Their Haki collided and split the heavens. Shanks, already famed for his Haki, wielded perhaps the strongest Conqueror's Haki alive—and only the Chiyu of today could stand beside him.
The shockwave alone knocked out weaker Red Hair pirates and turned into something almost tangible, setting the deck to groaning and cracking.
Shanks drew his sword—Gryphon—and wrapped it in Armament and Conqueror's Haki. Black-and-crimson lightning howled off the blade. Chiyu drew as well—but not Enma, his strongest.
He chose a lighter blade he'd acquired long ago: Yubashiri. A fine sword, nimble and elegant, but a far cry from Enma—or from Gryphon.
Seeing Chiyu's choice, Shanks couldn't help a flicker of surprise. "He has far stronger weapons, yet he goes with that? It's a good blade, but it won't match Gryphon… Trying to prove he can win with room to spare?"
Even so, with the enemy before him, Shanks's will didn't waver. He laughed, a flash of the swagger from his days roaming the seas behind Captain Roger. "Come then, Uchiha Chiyu! Taste the technique I learned at the captain's side—Divine Departure!"
In an instant, Divine Departure, wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, erupted. A tidal shockwave ripped through the sea ahead, blotting out sky and sun. Everything in its path was cleaved to pieces—unstoppable, the kind of strike that would make gods avert their gaze.
It was, without question, the most powerful single technique Chiyu had ever seen—greater than Kaido's final "Shōryū: Kaen Hakke," greater than Big Mom's "Bahoho: Misery."
Chiyu didn't hesitate. He unleashed his own ultimate—Divine Art. A technique of his own creation, a power beyond both worlds.
He fused all three colors of Haki with his swordsmanship and the awakened might of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, and folded in every shred of strength from his previous life.
His strongest sword art—God, World-Ender—merged with the awakened fruit's ultimate—Thunder God Realm, Final Judgment. Two apex finishers became one, a true ultimate: God—Extinction of Heaven and Earth. The will housed in that slash was simple: destroy the world, then rebuild it anew.
The sword alone could cleave mountains and unmake the sky. With the awakened thunder layered in, the lightning took on the will of a god—its own domain, its own judgment, weighing sin and passing sentence. The fusion reached a power fit to break the old world and birth a new one.
The two strikes crashed together.
For a moment—then all at once—the sea detonated. Towering waves hundreds of meters high rose higher than any tsunami and came hammering toward both ships.
The blast chewed everything to pieces—sky, earth, and ocean. In the blinding white, no one could see or hear. It felt like dying and being reborn, like watching the world end and begin again, like ages passing in a breath—
At last, the fury stilled.
Chiyu and Shanks stood again on their respective decks. Chiyu hadn't moved an inch. Shanks's clothes hung in tatters; his lone arm was cross-hatched with sword wounds and scorched by thunder.
Not just the arm—his whole body had been wrecked by Chiyu's strike. Anyone else would have died eighteen thousand deaths. But Shanks was still on his feet. A thin line of blood finally slipped from the corner of his mouth.
"Captain!"
"Shanks, you—"
Shanks let out a bitter laugh. There was no real pain in his eyes, no regret—only a strange, solemn pride. "I lost, Uchiha Chiyu. I didn't think you'd surpass Captain Roger's Divine Departure…but you did. You really have changed the fate of this world. In other words, even what Captain Roger foresaw back then no longer holds."
"A bet's a bet. I'll tell you everything I know—about the final Road Poneglyph."
~~~
Last 3 Chapters!