"Damn lowlifes, what are you trying to do?!" Gunko shouted angrily.
Not only were they continuously attacking to prevent her from healing, but now they had brought her to this strange place... What were these bastards planning?
Several of Meiser's Clones ignored her and turned to the Clone squatting on the ground, asking, "How are the preparations?"
"Everything's ready."
The squatting Clone stood up and pointed at the guard lying on the ground. "The Eight Trigrams Seal technique is prepared."
Now they just needed to activate the Sealing Technique to seal this guy away.
"Will this technique really work?" one Clone frowned.
"Can't confirm if it's effective, but there's no more suitable Sealing Technique available," another Clone replied helplessly.
After all... their main body had only learned so many Sealing Techniques from Konoha!
The most effective among them were the Reaper Death Seal and the Eight Trigrams Seal!
The Reaper Death Seal could summon the Shinigami by sacrificing one's own soul, having it pull out and devour the enemy's soul,
thus killing the enemy.
But the problem was... his own soul would be taken along too!
The risks of this technique were too great. Even with a pair of invincible Pupil Techniques, Meiser wasn't eager to test whether he could defeat the Shinigami.
Moreover... it was uncertain if that Shinigami could cross dimensions to claim souls here, so Meiser had ruled out this Sealing Technique.
Thus, the Eight Trigrams Seal became the best choice!
Although this technique was primarily developed to deal with Tailed Beasts—entities composed of Chakra—whether it could seal someone without Chakra remained unknown. But they had to try, right?
As for why they didn't directly pull the enemy into his own body...
Don't joke around. Without knowing the enemy's exact nature, recklessly sealing someone inside his body was highly unwise.
He might be immortal, but if those around him were killed, they would stay dead. So, from the start, these Clones had no intention of letting the main body use his own body to seal this enemy.
"Hurry up and act! This guy heals quickly!" the Clone maintaining the Earth Release Technique urged.
Why were these guys chatting now?
Every second counts, you bastards!
The Clones discussing immediately turned to Gunko and noticed her condition.
"Her limbs have regrown this fast?" one Clone frowned.
They had been attacking the enemy non-stop along the way, and yet she was almost fully healed again?
"Enough talk, let's do it!"
"Alright."
This time, without further delay, the Clones immediately used Lightning Release and Water Release to slice Gunko's body apart, then began activating the Sealing Technique.
"Bzzz~"
Invisible strands of Chakra threads flew out from the Sealing Technique formula, piercing directly into Gunko's body, and started pulling her into the seal!
Feeling a pulling force, Gunko's expression turned horrified as she exclaimed, "Bastards, what are you trying to do?"
At that moment, she recalled their earlier words.
Sealing...
Could these guys have mastered some kind of Ninjutsu capable of sealing her abilities?
No, she couldn't just wait for death—she had to—
Thud!
A fist imbued with Haki smashed into Gunko's head, shattering half her skull.
Her Clone sneered coldly, "Just stay put!"
If this woman escaped, all their efforts would be in vain!
So... she better stay right here!
Suddenly, the pulling force intensified, yanking Gunko into the air.
Gunko: !!!
Using her Observation Haki to discern the situation, Gunko cried out in terror, "Are you planning to seal me inside that?!"
Spotting the unique sealing formula on the guard with her single eye, her expression twisted into a ferocious glare.
"Exactly, that's the one!" Meiser's Clone confirmed.
"Are you kidding me?!"
Gunko roared furiously, her eyes turning red with rage.
To be sealed into the body of such a lowly being... it was utterly disgusting!!
She was a lofty Celestial Dragon—how could she be sealed into an inferior's body?!
No, absolutely not!!
Driven by this thought, Gunko struggled violently, desperate to break free from the damned Sealing Technique.
But with her body severely damaged, she couldn't escape.
Even when she tried to use her Arrow Fruit powers, the Clones restrained her with Ninjutsu, leaving her no way out.
It's over...
Watching the sealing formula draw nearer, Gunko realized she couldn't break free.
Just then, thick black smoke began to billow from her body, as if she were about to transform.
Simultaneously... the dark substance surging around her grew increasingly dense!
Seeing this, the Clones exchanged puzzled glances.
What's going on?
Is she transforming?
After a quick mutual look, they instantly reached a consensus!
"We can't let her complete the transformation—seal her now!"
With that, the Clones sprang into action, jointly activating the Eight Trigrams Seal.
"Put more power into it! Force her into the seal!!"
"Right!!"
Hum!
The Eight Trigrams Seal's power surged abruptly, dragging Gunko—still mid-transformation—directly into the seal.
Poof~
Watching the dissipating black smoke, the Clones wiped nonexistent sweat from their brows and remarked, "Phew, good thing we stopped her transformation."
Though unsure of the specifics, it was better not to risk letting her transform—or they might have been the ones at a disadvantage.
"I can't believe it actually worked."
One Clone stroked his chin and mused, "Was it because of that dark substance on her?"
Hearing this, the others paused briefly before adopting thoughtful expressions.
"That woman was indeed using the black substance to regenerate her body," one Clone noted.
"Seems like that's exactly what was happening."
"So you're saying... this woman might be composed of this black substance?" one of the Clones speculated. "And since this black substance is an energy entity, that's why it could be sealed by the Eight Trigrams Seal?"
"Not impossible."
After some thought, the other Clones felt this possibility was quite high.
After all, the Eight Trigrams Seal was specifically designed to seal energy aggregates like Tailed Beasts, so the likelihood of the target being some special energy entity was very substantial. Then, the Clones glanced at the motionless guard lying on the ground and asked, "What should we do with this guy?"
If we leave him here, he might get killed.
"Of course we should take him to a safe place," another Clone replied. "Otherwise, all our efforts might go to waste."
"You mean..."
"Mhm." The Clone nodded. "That arrow woman possesses Super Regeneration with undying properties, so even if the vessel dies, she might not necessarily perish."
On the contrary, if the vessel dies, there's a chance this being could revive and break free again.
To prevent that from happening, it's better to take this guy to a safe place.
"True enough."
The Clone maintaining the Earth Release Technique stood up and said, "I'll handle this guy. I'll take him to a safe spot. I observed several places on the way here and know where's relatively secure."
"Alright!"
After watching him leave, the remaining Clones exchanged glances before turning their attention to where Saint Rimoshifu had been sent flying. "Should we seal that guy too?" one Clone suggested.
Although he's been thoroughly beaten, there's still a possibility he could get back up!
So he wondered if they should capture him first.
The other Clones thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes, let's go check it out."
"If we can find him, we might as well seal him too, to prevent him from releasing that black creature again."
"Makes sense!"
"By the way, we should grab a guard while we're at it."
"Understood!"
Soon, several Clones left the area, quickly running into the distance.
Just as they were about to depart, one Clone looked back toward Pangaea Castle and muttered, "Why do I feel like we're being watched by a venomous snake?!"
Was it just an illusion?
Finding nothing unusual, the Clone turned and left.
Meanwhile, at Pangaea Castle where he had been looking, a woman stood at the pinnacle, her gaze strangely 'fixed' on the direction where the group had departed.
"They actually severed my connection with Gunko..." Imu frowned slightly. "How did they manage that?"
Though she could still sense Gunko's life status through their contract, she could no longer establish communication or descend using the other's body...
What exactly happened?
Recalling what she had seen through Gunko's perspective earlier, Imu murmured, "A Sealing Technique, is it..."
So such marvelous abilities exist in this world.
At this moment, Imu felt a flicker of interest in Meiser's capabilities.
As for Gunko?
Since she couldn't die anyway, Imu didn't pay it much mind.
As for that Sealing Technique...
Imu pondered for a moment before murmuring, "Though I don't understand how that Sealing Technique works, if we eliminate the vessel carrying the technique... could we rescue the person?"
With this thought, Imu locked his Observation Haki onto the clone carrying Gunko.
After "seeing" the clone place the guard on the ground, Imu declared, "Let's use Gunko for an experiment."
If killing the vessel of the Sealing Technique could save the person, he would have found a way to counter this man's technique.
If not... he'd just consider it a wasted pawn, as he couldn't think of a better solution at the moment.
As for Saint Rimoshifu?
That little favorite of his had already been rescued by people he sent ahead, so he wasn't worried about the Blood-Eyed Ninja's clone capturing him.
After a moment's consideration, Imu contacted Saint Sommers and gave him the order.
"Huh?"
Saint Sommers, receiving Imu's command, froze for a second before rubbing his temples in frustration.
"Make me do it?...
I'm not like that cold-blooded Gunko!
What if killing that guard doesn't save Gunko—then it'd be like I'm the one who killed him!!
But I can't disobey Imu's orders, so..."
"My apologies, Gunko," Saint Sommers said helplessly.
This... is all Imu's command!
As a member of the God's Knights, he had no choice but to follow orders!
So he could only offer an apology.
"What are you talking about?!" Saint Rimoshifu, who was being dragged along, snapped. "Hurry up and get these off me!"
Restrained by Seastone Handcuffs, he couldn't quickly heal his wounds.
"I'd like to remove them, but I don't have the key," Saint Sommers replied flatly.
His Devil Fruit Ability wasn't the type that could unlock handcuffs, so he couldn't help Saint Rimoshifu.
Saint Rimoshifu:...
The man opened his mouth but ultimately closed his eyes in exasperation.
What a mess...
If he'd known things would turn out like this, he wouldn't have charged out to attack the Blood-Eyed Ninja. Wouldn't it have been better to stay back and attack using Nightmare Creatures?
Even if the Blood-Eyed Ninja's ability countered his by awakening those in their sleep from a distance, it wouldn't have mattered—he could just keep hypnotizing them, right!
With that thought, Saint Rimoshifu sighed silently.
Just then, as Saint Sommers dragged him, Saint Rimoshifu was thrown to the ground, making him grimace in pain.
"What now?" Saint Rimoshifu grumbled. Dragging him was bad enough, but now throwing him on the ground... what's the deal?
Was this old guy trying to settle a personal score under the guise of duty?
At that, Saint Rimoshifu's expression turned hostile.
"We have guests," Saint Sommers said, staring ahead.
Saint Rimoshifu: ???
What do you mean, guests?
Filled with confusion, Saint Rimoshifu instinctively looked up ahead and then fell silent in shock.
Because he saw several Blood-Eyed Ninjas appearing in front of them!
Why are they still coming after me?!
Seeing those familiar faces, Saint Rimoshifu felt a headache coming on.
Even in this state, they won't let me go?
"Are you determined to kill him, you bastard?!"
Saint Rimoshifu was absolutely furious.
After glancing at Saint Rimoshifu who had been thrown to the ground by Saint Sommers, Meiser's Clone turned his gaze to Saint Sommers.
Then he said, "Hey, mister in sandals, where do you think you're taking our prey?!"
"Of course I'm taking him for treatment," Saint Sommers said, narrowing his eyes.
As he spoke, Saint Sommers scanned the several people before him, thought for a moment, and concluded that these were likely Clones of the Blood-Eyed Ninja.
Recalling the intelligence about the Blood-Eyed Ninja's Clones, Saint Sommers relaxed considerably.
At least Clones don't have Undying Bodies!
"Taking him for treatment?" Meiser shook his head. "That won't do."
He was planning to seal this guy who had eaten the Kirin Fruit—how could he let this man take him away?
Just then, Meiser noticed the special symbol on Saint Sommers' arm.
"Hmm?"
This is...
If he remembered correctly, both the Arrow Woman and the Kirin Man had this symbol on their arms, so... this man in sandals must also possess an Undying Body?
Thinking this, Meiser's eyes became alert.
What kind of ability user is this guy?
The other Clones also noticed Saint Sommers' peculiarity, and their expressions turned equally wary.
Noticing the Clones' vigilance, Saint Sommers shook his head, his expression turning somewhat helpless.
Then his face suddenly turned serious as he raised his head and stared intently at the Clones before him!
Seeing this, the Clones immediately tensed up.
Although they weren't afraid of death as Clones, they at least needed to gather information about this man before dying!
At that moment, Saint Sommers spoke.
"Blood-Eyed Ninjas," Saint Sommers said in a serious tone, "Do you... believe in love?"
Meiser: ???