"What a pity that the materials for Edo Tensei are limited… perhaps I could try using materials from other worlds instead…"
Orochimaru first shook his head with a hint of regret, then licked his lips and spoke again with clear anticipation.
Before Senju Hashirama rose to prominence, the Ninja World had endured countless years of war. Because of that, the whereabouts—and even the names—of many powerful figures throughout history had been buried by time.
Assembling an Edo Tensei army capable of fighting for Konoha in another world was no simple task. He couldn't just keep sending out the four previous Kage he currently had on hand.
But things were different in other worlds.
Although Kizaru would most likely never allow him to use former Marine Fleet Admirals or Admirals as Edo Tensei material, resurrecting those great pirates instead… Kizaru probably wouldn't object to having such a group as allies.
While Orochimaru was plotting how to begin localized Edo Tensei research in the Pirate World, the balance of victory at Red Port shifted rapidly toward the Dark Matter Pirates the moment Sakazuki—the Marines' top combat strength—fell.
"Puppet Mastery Technique!"
The Second Kazekage, Shamon, still with lifeless eyes, spread his arms and cast out countless chakra threads, which latched onto both the slave soldiers and the Holy Land Guardian Corps soldiers who were still battling. He then manipulated them into slaughtering one another.
The Third Raikage, his entire body wrapped in crackling lightning, charged straight into the densest cluster of slave soldiers. With no strong fighter to restrain him, the Third Raikage—whose offense and defense were united in one—was practically an unstoppable force.
But the one with the highest killing efficiency was still the Second Mizukage. His endlessly exploding Steaming Danger Tyranny was practically a meat grinder for small fry. In less than half an hour, Ghost Lantern Gengetsu had already annihilated over a thousand soldiers with ease.
Even the Second Tsuchikage, who was controlling the giant rock golem statue, couldn't surpass Gengetsu's kill count.
After Minato took Sakazuki and left the battlefield, control of the four Edo Tensei ninja fell into Esdeath's hands.
Having lost her main opponent, Esdeath quickly found new amusement—leading the Edo Tensei ninja to trample the remaining enemy forces.
She didn't bother with dignity either; whenever she spotted resisting soldiers, she casually froze them into ice sculptures.
The slaves, who were already far weaker than pirates in terms of combat strength, stood no chance against these monsters. No matter how strongly they longed for freedom, they could not possibly gain the power to defeat Esdeath.
With the slave soldiers no longer holding them back, the remaining Guardian Corps warriors were soon cut down by the pirates. Red Port quickly fell into the hands of the First Division.
"Click… To think we lost this many troops just taking a single fortress port. What a useless rabble."
Esdeath, having taken Red Port, did not rush to attack Mary Geoise. Instead, she chose to reorganize the First Division's forces.
Before the battle, the First Division—having gathered nearly half of the New World's pirate crews—had over a hundred thousand fighters. But after enduring consecutive brutal battles, the Red Port explosion, and being caught off guard by the slave army and then fighting for so long…
Nearly half the pirates had died on the spot. The number of lightly wounded was uncountable, but the number of heavily wounded was small—because in such chaotic battles, a seriously injured pirate had only one path: death.
Even if the enemy didn't finish them off, no one would come to treat them.
Most pirate crews did have ship doctors, but the Red Port explosion had not only killed many pirates who were landing at the time—it also caused a tsunami that sank the entire First Division fleet. Almost all ship doctors and non-combat personnel who remained on board were wiped out.
After regrouping, fewer than forty thousand pirates were still capable of fighting.
Fortunately, their morale wasn't too terrible—especially after they witnessed Akainu being ambushed and disappearing from the battlefield, followed by their allies slaughtering the enemy in a rampage. Even those with thoughts of retreat had to consider whether they could actually escape from Esdeath's grasp.
Just as Esdeath was about to lead the First Division to resume their advance, a flash of golden light appeared—Minato re-emerged on the battlefield.
The Blade of Love he had left behind earlier when extracting Sakazuki served perfectly as a Flying Thunder God marker.
"So it's you… Have you and Orochimaru already taken care of that magma man?"
Esdeath looked at Minato with mild surprise. In her Observation Haki, ignoring that strange space-teleportation ability of his, this blond kid's raw combat power might actually be slightly weaker than those four immortal monsters—not to mention compared to Sakazuki.
Of course, considering how young he looked, and the fact that he had only just begun to grasp all three forms of Haki, he would probably grow into someone interesting within a few years—an opponent worthy of her attention.
Realizing this, Esdeath's attitude toward Minato softened a little. She didn't even get angry that he had taken away her target.
Minato's potential was undeniable.
But at his current stage, even if he teamed up with Orochimaru and prepared traps in advance, there was no reason they should have been able to take down Akainu that quickly.
"I transported him to the seafloor…"
Minato answered honestly. He didn't think he had done anything wrong. A shinobi was supposed to use any means necessary to accomplish the mission. If the enemy had a fatal weakness to seawater, then it would be foolish not to exploit it.
"Tch. Always relying on cheap tricks… Then what are you coming back for?"
Esdeath snorted irritably. Had she known Orochimaru was planning something like that, she would never have handed over such a good opponent as Sakazuki for free.
"I'm here to deliver Lord Boros' orders. The Second Unit has already departed. Do you or the First Unit require any rest before continuing?"
Minato looked slightly awkward. He was just a ninja executing orders and had no desire to get caught in whatever conflict existed between Orochimaru and Esdeath.
When Orochimaru staged his coup, both Danzō and the two senior advisors had tried to recruit Minato. But after meeting with the Third Hokage once, Minato had decisively chosen Orochimaru's side—mostly because he didn't want to be caught in the middle.
"Are you kidding? I'm only warmed up. The Second Unit is led by BIG MOM, right? Tell her to hurry over and take over Red Port. I'm going to continue the assault on Mary Geoise!"
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