Facing the grotesque-looking zombies before him, Jin grinned, excitement flashing in his eyes.
Just how strong were these so-called "great figures of the past"?
"Ninja boy, let us witness the power of ninjutsu!" John shouted.
As he spoke, he drew a slender katana, his aura steadily rising.
"Then that depends on whether you're worthy of seeing it," Jin replied with a sharp smile.
The moment his words fell, his body shot forward.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of a zombie clad in blue armor.
"Monstrous Strength Fist!"
Bang!
A terrifyingly heavy punch slammed into the zombie's chest, crushing the armor inward.
Whoosh—!
BOOM!!
Like a fired cannonball, the zombie was blasted backward, smashing straight through a massive boulder in the distance!
Yet the remaining zombies acted as if they hadn't seen it at all.
Without hesitation, they raised their weapons and slashed toward Jin.
Jin's eyes flickered rapidly—
the Sharingan precisely captured every attack trajectory.
With a backward step, he avoided the strikes, then lunged forward again.
His blade flashed.
Slash!
Wind-attribute chakra wrapped around the strike—
Crack!
The slash cleaved straight through armor and body alike!
"Ugh…!"
The blue-armored zombie was sent flying, crashing into another zombie and carrying him straight into a decorative rock formation, shattering it completely.
"This…!"
John stared in disbelief.
Even under their combined assault, the ninja could still overwhelm them so easily?!
Was his strength really this terrifying?
Boom!
The zombie who had been blasted earlier shoved aside the boulders pinning him down.
He looked at his chest—his armor had been deeply caved in.
"If I were still alive…" Kevin muttered,
"…that blow would've killed me."
But unfortunately, as a zombie, death no longer came so easily.
As long as there was no fatal structural damage, the shadow could still drive the body.
"Damn it!!"
The zombie crushed beneath the rubble roared angrily, throwing the damaged one aside.
From the shoulder down, half of that zombie's body was already gone—cleanly split by Jin's slash.
"…That was a terrifying attack," he muttered.
Though he felt no pain, he knew clearly—
he could no longer fight.
Yet Jin showed no satisfaction at all.
Instead, he looked… disappointed.
"This is really…"
"…kind of underwhelming."
He leapt backward, widening the distance.
"What do you mean?" John asked.
"You're too weak," Jin said bluntly.
"I honestly think you're not even as strong as Ryuma."
"Were you really powerful figures in the past?"
Why was their performance this poor?
Hearing this, the zombies didn't get angry.
Instead, they looked oddly wistful.
"After all…"
"…we're already dead."
If they were still alive—if it were their true selves—
fighting together, they would've killed this ninja long ago.
But they were dead.
Long dead.
Even resurrected, they could no longer retain their former peak.
Techniques, Haki, refined skills—everything that defined their strength was gone.
All that remained was a sturdy corpse and fragments of memory.
Their true power now depended entirely on their shadows.
And unfortunately…
their shadows were weak.
"Kid, if you'd met the living me, you'd already be dead!"
"That's right—I was invincible in my era!"
"Hahaha! Like any of us weren't!"
The zombies burst into loud laughter, venting their emotions wildly.
"Alright, brothers—enough talk!"
"Take him down!"
"Yeah!!"
Led by the red-armored zombie, they charged again, murderous intent surging.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Poof!
White smoke exploded outward.
Two identical figures appeared beside Jin.
The general zombies skidded to a halt, staring in shock.
"C-clones?!"
"It's real—actual shadow clones!"
"So this really is a legendary ninja…"
"Hey, ninja guy—got any other ninjutsu?"
Jin: "..."
Why did even zombies turn into chatterboxes?
A group of horrifying undead acting like curious fans—
the feeling was… extremely strange.
"I'm done playing with you."
Jin's gaze turned cold.
"I'll send you on your way."
The two clones stepped forward simultaneously.
"Fire Release — Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
"Wind Release — Great Breakthrough!"
"Combination Ninjutsu — Wind-Driven Flame Annihilation!"
BOOOOOOM!!!
The already scorching flames were violently amplified by the wind chakra.
In an instant, the fire turned blinding white—
a torrent of destruction roaring toward the zombie generals!
Everything along its path ignited.
The ground burned.
Even steel let out shrill cries as it warped and melted.
The generals froze in horror.
"W-white flames?!"
The entire space ahead was completely engulfed—
there wasn't even a gap to escape through!
Charge forward—and they would be reduced to ash.
Without hesitation, John and the faster zombies leapt backward, vaulting over the massive wall behind them.
The slower ones weren't so lucky.
BOOM!!
"AAAAAH!!"
The moment the flames touched them, their bodies ignited violently.
Even their armor twisted, glowing red, then began to melt.
BOOOOM!!
The flames didn't stop—
they slammed straight into the towering outer wall!
CRACK!!
The insanely thick structure glowed red-hot…
then melted—
and finally exploded apart!
BOOM!!!
"What kind of monster is this?!"
Watching from afar, Perona was completely stunned.
This attack was far more terrifying than anything before.
Steel melting?!
Just how high was that temperature?!
"That was good," Jin said calmly, nodding in satisfaction.
"Combination jutsu really is stronger than ordinary Fire Release."
He dispelled the two clones.
With that single attack, the battlefield was basically cleared.
"Your so-called zombie generals aren't much," Jin said, glancing toward a nearby structure.
"They couldn't even survive one hit."
Perona didn't dare respond.
She hid silently, terrified he'd sense her presence.
She'd deliberately taken a long detour, phasing through walls to observe from the side—
and still witnessed something nightmarish.
If that attack hit me…
I'd definitely die…
She even felt that—even in ghost form—
this man might be able to kill her.
"…Terrifying," John coughed weakly from the ground.
He was the only survivor of the attack.
But survival was temporary.
Half his body was gone, the rest still burning.
"There's still one alive?"
Jin walked over, slightly surprised.
"You're tough. That didn't kill you."
Then he glanced at the stone behind him and understood.
He'd used it as partial cover.
Still, the final blast had ignited him anyway.
"I never thought… the great Treasure King… would end like this…"
"…Oh?"
At the word treasure, Jin's eyes lit up immediately.
Now that caught his interest.
He squatted down, smiling warmly.
"So—where's your treasure?"
"If you tell me, maybe I'll let you live."
"No need," John said calmly.
"I can't move anymore. Even if Lord Moria intervenes… I won't survive."
With his body burned like this, even a zombie couldn't recover.
And honestly—
did he even want to keep existing like this?
"Kid," John suddenly lifted his head.
"I don't remember exactly where my treasure is… but I can give you a clue."
"My burial items included a strange bracelet. On it—"
His words suddenly halted.
His expression turned blank.
"…I can't remember that part."
His memories weren't fully restored.
"Then keep talking," Jin urged.
"I don't have that memory."
"Then why the hell bring it up?" Jin snapped.
John suddenly grinned mischievously.
"Even if I don't remember… you can search for it yourself. I left everything—"
Before he could finish—
the flames consumed his throat completely.
No more sound came out.
Yet John's grin widened, as if he'd succeeded in annoying Jin one last time.
Soon, his body turned to ash and vanished.
"…Why don't you just say you left the One Piece behind while you're at it?" Jin muttered.
"Trying to mess with me before dying—pulling a Gol D. Roger, huh."
If this guy weren't already a zombie—making medical ninjutsu useless—
Jin would've taught him why the flowers were so red.
Watching the shadow drift away, Jin shook his head.
"No idea whose shadow that was… acted like some shameless old uncle."
After confirming there were no survivors, he turned and headed in the direction Nami and the others had left.
"This monster…" Perona swallowed hard.
"No, I have to report this to Lord Moria immediately."
If this continued, there wouldn't be many zombies left at all.
And—most importantly—
that pirate crew's treasure absolutely couldn't be ignored.
…Though she'd let someone else handle that.
If she ran into that ninja again, she was done for.
With that decision made, Perona recalled all her ghosts.
Her spirit body shot into the sky, racing toward Moria's mansion.
Meanwhile, inside the castle—
Luffy and the others entered a devastated hall.
"It's really dark…"
"I'll light it up!"
Fwoosh!
Flames illuminated the interior, revealing the chaos.
"What happened here?" Zoro frowned.
"This place is wrecked."
Burn marks. Slash marks. Water stains.
"…Jin was probably fighting here," Robin said calmly.
Fire and water traces together—those were unmistakably his ninjutsu.
"Did we arrive too late…?" Zoro muttered.
"Probably not," Franky said, holding a torch.
"We were close when we heard the explosions."
"So he should still be nearby."
"Eh?" Franky suddenly frowned.
"Where'd Curlybrow go?"
Zoro scowled.
"Oi, cook! Where'd you disappear to?!"
No response.
Everyone's expressions changed.
A grown man—gone without a sound.
"Ehehehe~"
"Who laughed?!"
The sudden chuckle made everyone tense.
"Hey—there's a pig head over there!" Luffy shouted.
He dashed over and grabbed Putchikake.
"Look! This thing's moving!"
"…It really is."
"So it's a zombie too."
"That laugh must've been him," Franky said coldly.
He slammed Putchikake to the ground.
"Pig-head, talk!"
"Did you take our crewmate?"
"And where did the ninja go?!"
"Hehehe~ I'm not telling you anything," Putchikake sneered.
"You'll get nothing from me!"
"Is that so."
Franky cracked his knuckles—
and beat him mercilessly.
"Stop—stop!!"
"Then talk!"
"O-okay!" Putchikake screamed.
"I don't know how your crewmate vanished—but I know where the ninja went!"
Everyone's eyes sharpened.
"Talk."
"That tunnel behind me," he said quickly.
"Go through it and you'll find them."
"They all went that way."
Franky glanced at the dark tunnel, then looked at Luffy.
"What do you think?"
"Let's check it out," Luffy said simply.
They had no other clues.
If they wanted to find Sanji, finding Jin came first.
Zoro scanned every corner—even the ceiling—but found nothing.
"Guess we don't have a choice."
They entered the tunnel.
As they ran, one person suddenly vanished again.
"…Where's Zoro?" Robin frowned.
"Same as Curlybrow," Franky said grimly.
"Gone without a sound."
"What's going on…?"
Hearing this, Putchikake nearly laughed—
then remembered the beating and held it in.
But his eyes glanced upward.
The three-sword swordsman was right there.
Unfortunately—
they couldn't see him.
Hehehe~
"Pig-head," Franky growled.
"You definitely know what's happening."
"I suggest you stop playing tricks."
"I'm just a harmless specimen!" Putchikake protested.
"I really don't know anything!"
From above, his gaze flicked toward the captured swordsman again.
But no one noticed.
"Then where did they go?" Luffy asked innocently.
"…Maybe they were strangled silently," Robin said calmly.
Franky: "..."
"Can you not say things that terrifying so casually?!"
"And with that expression!"
He turned away, shivering.
Robin only smiled faintly.
After surviving twenty years in the darkness,
being "a little black-hearted" was simply how she lived.
With a 79 million Beli bounty, temptation was everywhere.
Franky sighed, scanning the tunnel again.
"This place really gives off a creepy feeling…"
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