On the battlefield,
Aoki, whose abilities remained unknown,
Five monsters who directly summoned Susanoo,
And five others who hadn't made a move yet but were likely no less formidable.
The only possible weak point seemed to be those two women.
Sengoku's gaze suddenly fell upon the two Tsunades.
If Tsunade knew they were being targeted as the breakthrough point,
She'd probably be furious enough to blast someone with a Monstrous Strength Punch.
But now,
It was clear they couldn't target those two women.
Just dealing with these five giant monsters was headache enough.
"Everyone, retreat for now!!"
"These enemies are beyond your capabilities!"
Upon hearing Sengoku's command,
The Marines behind him immediately obeyed and withdrew,
Even the Vice Admirals were no exception,
All choosing to retreat,
After all, this battle was no longer something they could interfere with.
Only Sengoku, Garp, and the three Admirals remained on the battlefield.
The five of them stood solemnly, blocking Aoki and the others.
"Sengoku, stopping these people is impossible!"
"I'm not even confident I can take down that guy called Madara Uchiha!"
"As for the others~"
At this point, Garp also fell silent.
He couldn't even handle one of them,
And the other four were equally helpless.
As for Sengoku,
He was deeply wary of Aoki's abilities.
The terrifying giants summoned by Madara Uchiha and the others
At least allowed them to see the attacks,
But Aoki's attacks were different.
Even though he was just standing there,
They were assaulted by an invisible force,
And their Observation Haki couldn't detect anything at all.
Seeing that they couldn't stop Aoki and the others,
Sengoku felt a massive headache.
If they simply let Aoki's group leave like this,
The Celestial Dragons would hold him accountable, and even as the Fleet Admiral, he couldn't bear the consequences.
After all, this time, a Celestial Dragon had been killed.
Just as Sengoku was still hesitating,
Aoki suddenly looked toward Madara and the others.
"Everyone, get on the ship!"
"Leave the rest to me!"
As soon as Aoki finished speaking,
Madara and the others instantly dismissed their Susanoo and returned to the ship,
Leaving Aoki alone to face Sengoku and the others.
"Huh?"
"What's going on?"
"They seem to be retreating!"
Watching as everyone suddenly returned to the ship,
Sengoku and the other four were stunned.
At that moment, several small Truth-Seeking Balls appeared around Aoki's wrist.
As Aoki slowly raised his hand,
The Truth-Seeking Balls began spinning rapidly around his wrist,
A dazzling golden light instantly burst forth,
And a massive golden light sword materialized before everyone's eyes.
"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!!"
The moment the light sword formed,
Aoki swung it without hesitation toward where Sengoku and the others stood.
Wherever the light sword passed, everything was instantly split in two.
The terrifying force made Sengoku and the others' pupils contract sharply,
But the light sword was simply too fast.
There was no time to dodge.
As the light sword closed in on them,
Sengoku transformed into the Great Buddha, shielding Garp and the others.
"Damn it!!"
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!!"
The light sword made contact with Sengoku's body,
Countless sparks flew from the golden Great Buddha.
Relying on his formidable Armament Haki and the defensive power granted by his Devil Fruit,
He managed to halt the advancing light sword.
Just as Sengoku thought he had succeeded,
He noticed that Aoki had already left the ice surface and returned to the ship,
Gazing coldly in their direction.
Boom!!
A terrifying explosion instantly engulfed Sengoku and the other four.
The entire sea was split in two by this single strike,
And this was only a fraction of the power Aoki could unleash.
At this moment, even Aoki himself didn't know
Whether his full-power strike
Could split the entire Pirate World in two.
But obviously, now wasn't the time to test it.
After all, besides completing the mission,
The Pirate World held many treasures, including Devil Fruits,
Which could be exchanged for points back home.
Perhaps even the Three Ancient Weapons could fetch a decent amount of points.
"Is this the power of the Tenseigan?"
"It feels even stronger than the Rinnegan!"
At this moment, Madara Uchiha was mesmerized by the power of the Tenseigan.
Although he had already awakened the Rinnegan,
Madara realized that the power of the Rinnegan paled in comparison to the Tenseigan.
Noticing this, Hashirama beside him
Suddenly remarked quietly, "Madara, could it be that the difference lies in the person?"
Hearing Hashirama's words,
Madara grew furious, almost rolling up his sleeves for a fight.
But after Aoki's strike,
The frozen sea surface had completely thawed.
"Let's go!"
"Complete the mission as soon as possible, then gather Devil Fruits from around the world!"
"After that, we can return!"
Upon hearing Aoki's words,
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Tobirama, who was most interested in the power of Devil Fruits, immediately stood at the bow of the ship and performed a Ninjutsu.
Water Release・Wave Riding Strike!!"
Beneath the moving ship,
A powerful current instantly lifted the vessel, propelling it forward at incredible speed,
Several times faster than before.
The group soon vanished into the vast sea.
"Gulp…"
"Jackpot, jackpot, jackpot!!"
"This is absolutely huge news!!"
Watching Aoki's group safely depart below
And glancing at the spot where the explosion had occurred, unsure of Sengoku and the others' fate,
The news reporter in the air couldn't contain his excitement as he looked at the photos in his hands.
He quickly flew away from the scene.
Out at sea,
Large numbers of Marines began searching for traces of Sengoku and the others.
Soon,
The news of the Marines' defeat reached the higher-ups of the World Government.
Seeing that Sengoku, Garp, and the three Admirals were now missing and likely dead,
And that the Marines had suffered heavy losses,
The higher-ups knew this was a major crisis.
They urgently forwarded the intelligence to the Five Elder Stars.
"Are these criminals really that powerful?"
"Even Sengoku and Garp are no match for them?"
"It seems the seas are about to become turbulent again~"
"What about the Celestial Dragon incident? Should we just let them go?"
Faced with this question,
The Five Elder Stars fell into collective silence.
If even Sengoku, Garp, and the three Admirals were no match,
Who else could they send?
Sending anyone else would be no different from sending them to their deaths.
"It seems the only option now is to suppress the matter."
"Tell those idiots not to leave the Holy Land recently!"
"Stay put and behave!"
There was no other choice now.
The five of them couldn't leave either,
As they had to remain by Imu-sama's side.
Soon,
The Five Elder Stars' orders were passed down.
The Celestial Dragons in the Holy Land protested loudly,
But the Five Elder Stars turned a deaf ear.
As for those Celestial Dragons who openly defied the orders and left the Holy Land,
The Five Elder Stars made no move to stop them.
After all, if they wanted to seek death, there was no stopping them.
Just one day after the Celestial Dragon was killed,
The latest issue of the World Economic News caused an uproar across the world.
"Holy crap! A Celestial Dragon was killed?!"
"Is it real?! Let me see!"
"Heavens! Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Hero Garp, and the three Admirals failed to capture them and are now missing?!"
"Who are these people?! They're terrifying!"
The news published in the newspaper
Contained all the details of yesterday's Celestial Dragon incident,
Including the entire process of the battle at sea.
For a time, the entire world went into a frenzy.
Everyone scrambled to buy this issue of the newspaper,
Eager to see who had committed such a world-shaking act.
However, the newspaper only contained photos of Aoki and the others,
With no additional information.
Even with just the photos,
Aoki's picture attracted countless fans worldwide,
From young girls to beautiful women,
All captivated by Aoki's looks.
This infuriated a certain narcissistic cabbage-headed pirate in the Grand Line,
Who grew particularly resentful of Aoki,
Swearing to find him and settle the score.
In the New World,
Within the territory of the Red Hair Pirates,
"They're really causing chaos~"
Looking at the newspaper in his hand,
Shanks couldn't help but comment.
Daring to kill a Celestial Dragon
Was simply too bold.
But what truly caught Shanks' attention
Was the terrifying strength of this group.
They had managed to defeat Sengoku, Garp, and the three Admirals and leave unscathed.
"The seas are about to become chaotic again!"
On the Moby Dick,
"Pops!!"
"Look at the latest newspaper!!"
"Something huge happened!"
Hearing his sons' shouts below,
Whitebeard, who had been recuperating, glanced over
And took the newspaper from them.
The moment he saw the contents,
Whitebeard's eyes widened in shock.
"Gurarara!!! This really is huge news!"