Inside the castle banquet hall,
"Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~"
"Here's to Binks' Sake~"
"Through storms and towering waves~"
"Under clear skies, my beloved flag flies high~"
"Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~"
Pleasant singing echoed continuously through the ruined castle.
The Straw Hat crew, having just experienced a great battle, and the rescued pirates gathered together, singing the cheerful pirate song.
Everyone was immersed in the joy after the fierce battle.
At that moment,
Two figures slowly walked in from outside the castle.
Seeing the two,
Luffy couldn't help but laugh: "Hey hey hey, Zoro! Sanji! Come quick!"
"It's party time!!"
"Look at my body—it doesn't hurt at all!"
Hearing Luffy's call,
Everyone at the party also turned their gaze toward the entrance.
Seeing Zoro and Sanji entering,
The crowd cheered and laughed.
Among the crowd,
Robin's eyes fell on Zoro.
When Zoro bore all of Luffy's pain,
Robin knew through her ability.
But looking at Zoro now, who seemed completely unharmed,
Robin couldn't help but frown.
'Did I hear wrong?'
Just as Robin was puzzled,
Luffy hopped over to Zoro and Sanji,
And with a smile, tried to pull them into the party.
"Swoosh!"
"!!!!"
Just as Luffy's hand reached out toward Zoro,
The silent Zoro suddenly drew his sword,
A sharp blade flash instantly struck Luffy.
In an instant,
Everyone in the banquet hall widened their eyes in shock.
No one had expected
That Zoro would actually draw his sword against Luffy.
Nami and the others wore expressions of disbelief: "Hey hey hey!!! Zoro!!"
"What are you doing?!"
Facing Nami and the others' questioning,
Zoro remained expressionless, staring at Luffy, who had already been struck by his blade.
He raised his Wado Ichimonji once again.
Seeing this, Nami and the others rushed in front of Luffy,
Trying to stop Zoro.
But before they could reach Luffy,
Sanji, standing nearby, leaped into the air,
Instantly launching a kick that sent them flying back.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!!"
"Sanji!!! Zoro!!! What's wrong with you?!"
"Wake up already!!"
By now, everyone understood—
Zoro and Sanji were definitely being controlled by something.
Luffy also grew serious,
His gaze turning toward the direction of the castle entrance.
"Was it you who turned my friends into this?!"
"I will absolutely!"
"Knock you all flying!!"
Upon hearing Luffy's words,
everyone present only then noticed that many figures had appeared at the entrance,
precisely Aoki and his group who had followed Zoro and the other two.
Facing Luffy's threat,
Aoki paid no mind at all.
The current Luffy was far too weak.
Even Fifth Gear Luffy
would be utterly insignificant before them.
Before Aoki and the others could speak,
Luffy instantly activated Second Gear.
"Gomu - Gomu Jet Pistol!!"
Both fists aimed at Aoki and instantly blasted forward.
An attack that seemed extremely fast to ordinary people,
but before Aoki and his group,
it was like slow motion.
"Almighty Push!!"
Aoki had no time to play childish games with Luffy.
The power of the Rinnegan erupted instantly.
Luffy's thrown fists didn't even touch Aoki before they were instantly repelled,
and along with Luffy himself,
he was directly blasted away by the Almighty Push.
Luffy, who had been blasted away, tried to get up and continue fighting,
but Minato and Tobirama instantly appeared on either side of Luffy,
immediately restraining him.
Meanwhile, Robin in the crowd, upon clearly seeing the faces of Aoki and the others,
instantly paled.
"Why?!"
"Why would powerful individuals like you target us?"
Robin had already recognized the identities of Aoki and his group,
the mysterious force that had killed the Celestial Dragons at Sabaody Archipelago not long ago.
But what Robin never expected was
that these people had set their sights on them.
Facing Robin's inquiry,
Aoki had no intention of answering at all.
He directly approached the still struggling Luffy,
and without hesitation, shoved a Spirit Orb into Luffy's chest.
The moment it was inserted,
Luffy calmed down.
Seeing this, the others tried to resist,
but were easily subdued by Hashirama and the rest.
Aside from the Straw Hat crew,
the others were of no importance to Aoki and his group,
so they simply let them all leave.
As Aoki inserted Spirit Orbs into each of them one by one,
the entire Straw Hat crew was completely controlled by Aoki.
Just as the final Spirit Orb was inserted,
[Ding! Task one completed!]
[Please complete the other two tasks as soon as possible]
[Upon task completion, rich rewards will be given]
The familiar notification sound of the Chat Group suddenly echoed in the minds of Aoki and the others.
Hearing the sound,
Aoki also breathed a sigh of relief.
As for the protagonists of this world, the Straw Hat crew,
after all, they were characters from an anime he had once followed.
If possible, Aoki wouldn't directly kill them,
so he thought of the ability of the Tenseigan,
the Spirit Orb used to control others.
The current Spirit Orb had already been enhanced by Aoki once more,
not only impossible to remove,
but once inserted into the body, the person would completely become Aoki's most loyal subordinate,
not dull like in the original story.
"Task one completed~"
"Next, it's the other two tasks!"
Regarding the remaining two tasks,
everyone gathered to discuss for a while,
debating which task to complete first.
In the end,
after weighing the pros and cons,
they decided to first complete the task of going to Laugh Tale.
Once the four Red Poneglyphs are found, the location of Laugh Tale can be obtained.
Currently, Aoki knows the whereabouts of three of the four Red Poneglyphs. All he needs to do is retrieve them.
After making this decision, everyone prepared to rest for a day before continuing their journey.
As for the Straw Hat crew at present, they are naturally the perfect laborers.
Being the protagonists of the Pirate World, who could be more suitable for this role than the Straw Hat crew?
While everyone was resting, Tobirama's gaze fell upon Brook.
Seeing Brook, who was merely a skeleton yet behaved just like a normal person, Tobirama grew increasingly curious about the power of Devil Fruits.
This kind of power was truly astonishing.
After studying for a while, Tobirama wanted to first obtain a Devil Fruit to examine it closely.
As the day passed, Aoki looked at the Black Blade Shusui hanging from Zoro's waist and couldn't help but think of the former Dragon-Slaying Swordsman, Ryuma.
"Second Hokage, try to see if you can resurrect this person!"
At that moment, Aoki suddenly pointed to a pile of ashes outside the castle—the remains of Ryuma's body, which had been defeated in battle with Zoro and had since been burned to ashes.
Besides testing whether Edo Tensei could be used in this world, another reason was to witness the true level of the former Dragon-Slaying Swordsman.
This also intrigued Tobirama.
With a swift movement, he appeared beside the pile of ashes. As Tobirama formed hand seals, a special array instantly enveloped the ashes.
"Edo Tensei!!"
In the moment after Tobirama completed the seals, countless paper-like substances surged from the ashes, slowly forming a figure.
The body was no longer the decayed, aged form but instead appeared as it had during the peak of life.
"Huh?!"
"What is this?! I've been revived!!"
Looking at his own appearance and surveying the surroundings, Ryuma was utterly astonished.
He had truly been revived?!
This wasn't some crude resurrection like stuffing a corpse with a shadow, but a genuine revival in his peak condition.
Seeing Ryuma revived, Zoro immediately returned Shusui to him.
Taking Shusui, Ryuma's gaze suddenly fell upon Zoro.
"You are the swordsman I entrusted Shusui to?"
Yes, senior. But since you have been revived now, I should return Shusui to you~"
Looking at Shusui in his hand, Ryuma smiled and shook his head, then threw the blade back to Zoro.
"Take it, kid!"
"Since I entrusted it to you, treat it well!"
After handing Shusui back to Zoro, Ryuma's gaze shifted to Tobirama and Aoki.
"You revived me..."
"You must have some purpose, right?"
Regarding Ryuma's question, Aoki straightforwardly stated his goal: to witness the true strength of the former Dragon-Slaying Swordsman.
Ryuma naturally agreed gladly.
As a renowned swordsman of his era, he would never refuse a duel with a strong opponent.
An intense battle was inevitable.
The fight was conducted between Hashirama and Ryuma.
A thrilling and exhilarating battle left everyone cheering in awe.
With the Edo Tensei body providing unlimited stamina and immortality, Ryuma managed to fight evenly with Hashirama purely through his swordsmanship.
Aoki also witnessed the former power of this Dragon-Slaying Swordsman.
Wano Country's unique Haki Flow Sakura, the swordsmanship of a Great Swordmaster,
In terms of strength, Ryuma was undoubtedly among the top tier in the Pirate World.
As the battle concluded,
Aoki and the others curiously asked Ryuma about the cultivation methods of Haki.
This unique power system was quite remarkable,
Bringing it back would certainly enhance Leaf's national strength.
While Aoki and his companions were resting in the Florian Triangle,
At Marine Headquarters.
"What?!"