Starfish World.
First half of the Grand Line.
Three Marine warships floated on the sea, surrounding a prison ship at the center.
They "watched" as the massive "Gate of Justice" slowly opened before them.
These ships had come from Enies Lobby, escorting a group of otherworldly criminals just sentenced by the Supreme Court.
Their destination: Impel Down behind that great iron gate.
On the foredeck of the prison ship—
Laskey sat cross-legged on a chair, trimming his nails carefully with a clipper.
Around him stood members of CIPHER POL-9, all dressed in black suits.
In fact, escort operations such as this were not their responsibility at all.
Normally, the Navy would handle them entirely.
But among the prisoners this time, there were several special cases.
Ones that required Laskey's personal oversight to guarantee absolute security.
Namely, the Sage Mimoza, Safary, Molmon, and Hodolew—four magicians from World No.0008, codenamed the World of Falmart.
It was worth noting that the Supreme Court of Enies Lobby had ruled that Hodolew's daughter, Tuka, did not need to be confined within Impel Down.
She was sentenced instead to six months in the women's prison of the Baltigo White Soil Prison.
Aside from this, Louise's mother, Lady Karin, her father Duke de La Vallière, and her second sister Cattleya, were all judged guilty of minor offenses.
They too were sentenced to six months of confinement in the Baltigo White Soil Prison.
After their release, they could apply to return to the Kingdom of Albion in the Zero Magic World, or remain on Starfish with free movement.
However, their noble status was revoked. From then on, they would be commoners.
This left Duke de La Vallière in utter despair—his family's title, built up over more than ten generations, destroyed in a single stroke.
His heart filled with hatred for his youngest daughter, Louise.
He even cursed her openly in the Supreme Court, declaring he would sever all ties with her.
Though Lady Karin's face grew grim, she said nothing in her defense.
Thus Louise, this time, had indeed committed a grave mistake—one that destroyed the ducal title of House Vallière.
As for the rest of Louise's companions, every single one of them was sentenced to imprisonment within Impel Down.
Hodolew, as the primary instigator, was sentenced to death. His execution would be announced publicly across all worlds under the World Government's rule.
For this matter, someone had to bear the ultimate responsibility with their life.
As for Louise, her value determined that—even though she was in truth the most responsible—she could not be made the scapegoat.
Meanwhile, Hiraga Saito, Tabitha, and Kirche were sentenced to confinement in Level 3 of Impel Down—
Their sentence: ten years.
But for non-Starfish natives, the survival rate here was the highest of all "Hells" except for "Eternal Hell."
The World Government had no desire for Hiraga Saito and his companions to die.
Finally, there was Louise.
This Void Mage was sentenced to "Eternal Hell."
At the main gate on the sea level of Impel Down—
Director Columbus, accompanied by Deputy Director Magellan, Chief Warden Taklama, the newly promoted Chief Warden Moria, and the newly appointed Head Jailer Hanzō, who had just joined the staff of Impel Down, stood ready to receive Louise and her group, escorted here by Laskey and his men.
Now stripped of her staff and prayer book, with seastone chains shackling her hands and feet, Louise had lost all her usual lively arrogance.
Her face was blank, her head lowered, silently following the others forward.
These past few days, she had cried until no more tears came, raged until she could rage no longer.
In the end, she had accepted this cruel reality, her heart sinking into complete despair.
Behind her, Hiraga Saito's state of mind was calmer, though his worried gaze never left her back.
Because he knew—soon, he would no longer be able to see her at all.
Right now, Hiraga Saito was filled with regret. Regret that he had not stopped Louise back then.
"You've worked hard, Captain Laskey. From here on, leave it to us."
Director Columbus stepped forward with a genial smile.
Seeing Laskey respond with only a cold nod, he said nothing more and turned to issue his orders.
"Moria, Taklama, Hanzō—get to work!"
"Yes, sir!"
The three men, clad in black warden uniforms, answered in unison.
First, Taklama stepped forward.
He fitted green collars around the necks of Louise, the Sage Mimoza, and the others, then spoke out coldly, laying down the rules one by one: "First, obey the wardens' orders. Second, offer no resistance to the wardens. Third, do not attempt to leave this prison without permission!"
The next moment, the green rings at their necks glowed brightly, then dimmed back to normal.
"My turn now. I'll be holding on to your shadows for safekeeping. Don't forget—without your shadows, the moment sunlight touches you, you'll be reduced to ashes, Kishishishi~~~"
The massive Moria bared his teeth in a grotesque laugh, holding in his hand a gigantic pair of scissors.
At his words, the faces of the Sage Mimoza and the others changed drastically.
But all they could do was watch as he reached down, tugged their shadows up from the ground, and snipped them free with swift strokes of his blades, carrying them off.
Last came Hanzō. He made no dramatic moves.
He simply placed the curse seal of the "Binding Jutsu" upon Louise and the rest.
With that, he could at any moment activate his ninjutsu to seize control of their bodies, rendering them utterly immobile.
"All right then. Take them to the 'baptism.' Conveniently, the water in the pot was just boiled—it's still clean enough."
Magellan's deep voice resounded.
...
"Ahhhhhh!"
"Saito!! It hurts so much!!!"
"Uuuhhh~~ I was wrong, I know I was wrong—ahhhhhh!"
"Louise!"
Inside the "Baptism Chamber" on the first floor above the sea in Impel Down.
Louise, Hiraga Saito, Tabitha, Tiffania, the Sage Mimoza, and the others—
All of them were shoved by the warden chief, Hanzō, off the high platform into a scalding pool of boiling water over 100 °C.
Soon, the five minutes were up.
The wardens waiting outside the massive cauldron lifted long fishing nets and scooped Louise and the others out of the boiling water.
By this point they had completely lost consciousness, their skin crimson all over, releasing faint waves of visible steam.
At once, the wardens carried out what seemed like a well-practiced routine—dousing them first with cold water, then injecting them with syringes filled with green liquid.
Their bodies began recovering at astonishing speed.
Afterward, they were separated by gender and taken into different changing rooms, stripped of their soaked clothing—
And dressed in clean "zebra-striped prison uniforms."
Finally, they were sent down to their respective levels of Hell, to receive the true punishment of the World Government!
...
"So, their strength as 'Main Gods' is only on par with a General?"
After hearing Enma's report, Imu appeared deep in thought.
He wondered: since they were gods, why were they so weak?
"Oh, right. Father, the Sage of Six Paths asked me to consult with you. How should we deal with this 'Goddess of the Underworld,' Hardy?"
Enma looked at Imu with a beaming smile.
"There's no rush. Doesn't he have the 'Amber Purifying Pot'? Just seal Hardy's soul into that first."
With that said, Imu glanced across the table at Enma. "What do you think? Do you need an extra hand?"
"Mm…"
Enma fell silent in thought.
She understood that what he was really asking was whether she wanted Hardy to serve as her subordinate in the Underworld.
"Of course, the more capable people we have, the better. Not to mention, the Underworlds we'll need to manage will only keep increasing. Right now, we already control five, with two more about to fall under our rule."
Imu nodded in agreement.
"So, you wish to keep Hardy?" Imu asked.
"No, I don't like her!"
Enma shook her head firmly, even as she muttered inwardly: 'She's far too beautiful—and she actually likes women!'
'Not only that, she's always flaunting the word 'god' on her lips, carrying herself as if above everyone else!'
"..."
After listening to her inner voice, Imu was left speechless.
Still, he made no objection. He already had other plans for how to deal with these so-called Main Gods.
He just wasn't sure if it would work—something he'd need to discuss with Truth later.
"In that case, we'll wait until all the Main Gods of the Falmart World are captured before deciding."
"Go back and tell Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo not to interfere in Shiki's battle. All he needs to do is recover the Main Gods' souls."
The reason Imu said this was simple.
Since gods like Hardy possessed strength only on par with Generals, then let the military handle them.
Through these clashes with enemies of equal rank, their wills would be tempered, and their growth accelerated.
"Yes, Father!"
The moment Enma heard Imu's command, she stood and conjured a 'Black Gate' leading to the Teigu Underworld.
She waved a quick farewell, then stepped briskly inside, vanishing without a trace.
Imu's gaze lingered on her fading silhouette for a moment before shifting to the 'Star Map' panel that surfaced before his eyes with a mere thought.
Today was December 31st, Year 1503 of the Sea Circle Calendar.
Which meant tomorrow would mark the first day of the new year.
And with it, the appearance of a new Dimensional Gate access.
This was important, for he had already unlocked the Dimensional Gate he had kept in reserve—
World Gate No.0009.
And Umigakure had already dispatched two ninja squads to scout it.
But with the World Government's attention consumed by the Nuclear World and the Falmart World, and no significant reports coming back from there, he had paid little mind to it.
...
Gate of World——
World Gate No.0007, the Nuclear World.
The air here seemed saturated with the scent of gunpowder.
But the wars between nations had already drawn to an end.
With the annihilation of countless armies, large-scale battles had all but disappeared.
Only scattered resistance groups remained, clinging to their resolve to strike back at the invaders, launching fearless guerrilla strikes against the auxiliary legions.
Yet the national leaders, now under shinobi control, had already begun contacting one another to discuss a joint surrender to the World Government.
Japan, Tokyo.
Above Ginza 6-chome, several steel warships, styled after battleships, hovered in the sky.
At the center, however, floated an aerospace carrier with dozens of modern fighter jets parked upon its deck.
It was none other than the flagship of General Shiki, of the World Government's Air Force Headquarters.
At this moment, clad in a blue coat of justice over a black suit, Shiki stood with arms crossed, cigar smoldering between his teeth.
Lifting their heads, they watched as two Osprey transport aircraft descended onto the deck before them, the roaring winds whipping wildly as they landed in sequence.
[Whoosh————]
The left hatch opened, and a figure was the first to step out.
"Greetings, General Golden Lion. I am Uchiha Madara of Umigakure."
Madara walked up to Shiki, looking up at him as he introduced himself.
"Not bad. You're quite strong!"
Shiki gave a sharp grin as he sized up the much shorter Madara, offering his praise.
His gaze then shifted to the second Osprey, where another figure stepped out—Senju Hashirama.
"So you're the one they call the 'God of Shinobi,' Senju Hashirama. I'm very eager to see what you can do!"
"General Golden Lion, I too look forward to the coming battle. To think our opponents are gods from another world—this is truly wonderful! Hahahahaha!"
True to himself, Hashirama laughed boldly, full of hearty enthusiasm.
And to Shiki, who was a pirate at heart, such men were exactly to his liking.
"Shihahaha! I like your spirit—it reminds me of another man I once knew."
"May I ask, aside from us, which other Generals are here?"
"They're already here!"
Shiki tilted his chin, signaling them to turn around.
Madara and Hashirama immediately spun on their heels.
Hovering above them was a transport vessel belonging to the Air Force Headquarters.
"This aura! So many powerful auras!"
The instant their Observation Haki swept over it, both men's faces hardened.
For within that vessel, they sensed not one, but four overwhelming presences—equal to, or even surpassing, their own!
Hashirama suddenly broke into a grin.
For among them, he felt one aura that was all too familiar.
Madara, however, froze in place, his expression turning pitch-black.
For he too had sensed an aura he knew beyond all doubt.
The next moment—
A thunderous laugh erupted across the entire ship like a crashing wave.
"Worororo~~~"
"Madara, how many days can you fight now?"
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