Just as Lola said, Moria was not killed by the explosion.
After all, he had once fought Kaido head-on in the New World many years ago. His strength had declined for various reasons, but he was not someone that could be taken down so easily.
Whether or not Moria possessed Observation Haki was uncertain, but the danger instinct he had honed through countless battles—though weakened—had not completely disappeared. Sensing the swelling clay dolls radiating danger, Moria immediately stuffed Perona and Hogback into the Shadow Box and ran toward the edge of the island with it in his arms.
Middle age spared no one. The once slim Moria was now fat and bulky, unable to run fast at all.
Hearing the explosions erupt around him, Moria hardened his expression, gritted his teeth, bent his arm back and leaned his body backward. His waist and arm exerted force at the same time as he hurled the Shadow Box forward like throwing a shot put.
The Shadow Box spun through the air, flying into the distance, while Moria continued his desperate sprint. The scorching flames chased him from behind, and moments later, he was swallowed by the blaze.
In the withered forest near the island's edge, a pitch-black box fell from the sky, snapping several branches before dropping into the woods. It tumbled along the ground until it struck a boulder and came to a stop.
The moment it stopped, the Shadow Box dispersed into a swarm of bats, revealing Hogback and Perona sitting back-to-back inside, both of their eyes spinning.
The circling bats quickly converged into a dark human silhouette. In the next moment, the pitch-black figure regained color—Moria, severely burned, appeared beside Perona.
Had he not possessed the ability to swap places with his shadow, Moria would have died in the sea of flames today.
"This isn't… over!"
Talk was talk, but the heavily injured Moria had no intention of fighting the one who ambushed him.
First, his injuries were too severe, drastically lowering his combat strength.
Second, the enemy could fly, and he could not.
After resting a while to catch his breath, Moria grabbed Perona with one hand and Hogback with the other, heading toward the shore. He needed a safe place to treat his wounds and rest for some time.
Meanwhile, he sent out a Shadow Doppelgänger and swapped one of his eyes into it, ordering it to search for Absalom and scout the island's situation.
…In the Sky, on the Bird's Back
Deidara suddenly heard the mechanical voice of the system in his mind:"Defeated Moria. Points + …"
Moria's act of fleeing counted as conceding in the system's eyes.
With the points awarded, Deidara no longer circled the island searching for Moria's whereabouts. He flew back to Kakuzu and the others.
"How did it go?" Kakuzu asked concisely.
"Got the points," Deidara answered just as concisely.
The explosion had engulfed nearly two-thirds of the island, wiping out all the zombies within it. The shadows trapped inside their bodies returned to their owners—though not all of them.
Brook's shadow and several others still had not returned. Seeing everyone else regain their shadows while they remained without theirs made them extremely anxious.
Their expressions revealed their thoughts clearly. Due to their previous agreement—information in exchange for the defeat of Moria—Kakuzu said:
"Moria has been defeated. Anyone whose shadow hasn't returned, go look for it on the island."
The moment he finished speaking, some people bolted into the island like wild horses. The Straw Hat crew split into two teams—Luffy and Zoro accompanied Brook to search for his shadow.
Robin wanted to walk around and explore. Nami joined her to look for possible treasure.
Two beauties together—Sanji immediately volunteered as their bodyguard.
Chopper and Usopp evaluated the danger levels of both groups. Luffy's group meant fighting…
OK, no need to think further—they instantly chose Robin's group.
Franky stayed behind with those who hadn't left to repair a ship. Moria was only defeated, not killed, so they needed to seize this chance to build a ship and flee.
Building a ship from scratch was impossible, but repairing a broken one was doable in a day with hundreds of people.
As for which ship to repair—
There was only one wreck nearby: Brook's rundown ghost ship.
Franky went alone to inspect the repairs needed, while the others went into the forest to chop wood.
Seeing people gradually disperse, Kakuzu signaled to his companions.
If they didn't leave now, when would they?
Taking advantage of Luffy being distracted, Kakuzu urged everyone to hurry.
Riding Deidara Airlines, the group vanished in the blink of an eye.
…Dressrosa
With the effort of Minato's many shadow clones, Minato reaped great rewards. Not only did he sell the seized artificial Devil Fruits for a large sum, he also uprooted the Donquixote Family, earning a substantial amount of accumulated points.
The last of the Donquixote executives, Pica—who held out the longest—was provoked into appearing when Nagato used Doflamingo's corpse. In the end, Shisui hypnotized him with genjutsu and defeated him.
After wiping out the Donquixote Family and leaving the island in ruins, Minato and his group set off.
The citizens of Dressrosa, with their memories restored, learned of the many atrocities committed by the Donquixote Family and sincerely wished to thank the heroes who saved them.
But their saviors had already flown away. They didn't even know whether their gratitude had reached them.
The citizens felt deeply regretful.
On a mushroom-shaped rock at the island's edge stood the Three Sannin and several others.
Jiraiya whispered to Shisui, "Shisui, give us a ride."
Shisui replied, "Lord Jiraiya, I'm sorry. I cannot. You're in the Navy faction, and I'm in the Pirate faction. I can't do anything that would aid the enemy."
As he spoke, four Susanoo avatars flew past the Sannin, disappearing into the distant clouds moments later.
Jiraiya stared blankly, clearly discouraged.
Orochimaru, however, wasn't surprised. A friend yesterday could be an enemy today. Shisui was kind but not stupid—he wouldn't help a direct competitor.
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade."Buy a flying carpet. It's cheap, and not slow."
Tsunade thought for a moment and nodded."Alright. Jiraiya, buy a flying carpet."
Naturally, Jiraiya had no objections and prepared to open the shop menu.
Watching them, Orochimaru sighed. He walked over to Jiraiya, leaned close to his ear, and whispered:
"If you don't confess now, you won't get another chance."
Jiraiya froze, stiff as a board. Several seconds later he recovered."I know… but I… I don't know how to say it."
"Need help?" Orochimaru asked.
Jiraiya looked at him suspiciously. What help can a single-dog like you offer?
"I'll transform into you and confess to Tsunade on your behalf," Orochimaru said with a low chuckle.
Jiraiya smiled faintly."Get lost."
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(End of Chapter)