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"Is that... the Marine base?!"
A massive mushroom cloud, followed by a surge of rising dust, almost completely enveloped the entire island. Such a spectacular scene left no doubt in anyone's mind, something catastrophic had happened there.
On a nearby island close to Island 66, Ace and his three companions, who had just arrived, suddenly stopped in their tracks. They stared ahead in shock.
The dust obscured everything on the island, they couldn't see a thing.
But the intense tremors hadn't ceased at all. Through the smoke, they could vaguely see a massive crater at the center, spreading out in all directions!
"The entire island's been destroyed! Was it Master who did this?"
Ace asked in a trembling voice.
"Most likely. That guy really goes overboard when he gets serious." Qin Lin shook his head and sighed in silence.
They all knew full well, when Madara, that old bastard, makes a move, it's never going to end easily. Unless the entire world is turned upside down, he won't rest. Still, since it was His Majesty's order, they couldn't stop him.
Dust and smoke billowed upward, obscuring the view of the island. For a moment, the four of them didn't know whether to advance or retreat.
At that moment, several coughing figures leapt out from the smoke. Ace's eyes narrowed, and when he saw who it was, he shouted in surprise:
"It's them!"
It was the rest of the Spade Pirates crew who had escaped. Right now, their hearts were filled with terror and disbelief. No matter what, they never expected that cold, middle-aged man would be capable of going toe-to-toe with a Marine Admiral.
What's more, judging by the situation, that guy actually had the upper hand.
"That's great! Master saved you guys?" Ace ran over, helping them out as he said excitedly.
"Master? That guy!?"
They were stunned.
"Yeah, that's Master Madara!" Ace said.
They exchanged glances, surprised that Ace had actually taken that man as his master. But thinking about it, being recognized by such a powerful figure could only be a good thing, both for Ace and for them.
"That's Master!"
Just then, Ace spotted Madara as the dust began to settle.
There he stood silently in midair, arms crossed, his Rinnegan eyes coldly overlooking the battlefield.
Suddenly, a lava blast shot out and struck Madara heavily, knocking his figure backward.
"Master!" Ace cried out in worry and moved instinctively, ready to rush into the smoke.
"Don't go!"
Qin Lin and the other three reacted swiftly, grabbing Ace and holding him back.
"But Master--!"
"Madara won't be harmed. His strength is beyond anything you can imagine!" Qin Lin said loudly.
In the sky, Madara, who had been tumbling from the lava blast, suddenly came to a halt.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, he had to block with his arms, and as a result, both arms were badly scorched.
"You think I'm just anyone? An attack like that… and you dream of defeating me?"
Akainu's furious voice echoed out from the smoke. The scorching magma heat was so intense, it felt like it could reach them from thousands of meters away.
Immediately after, a huge barrage of magma blasts shot out from his position, heading straight toward the airborne Madara.
Madara's face was now devoid of expression. He slowly lowered his arms and shook his hands.
"A bit painful."
With those three words, his expression turned icy cold.
At the same time, his hands rapidly began to regenerate. In just a few short seconds, they had already mostly healed. After capturing Senju Hashirama and transplanting his cells, Madara had awakened the Rinnegan, and with it, this rapid regenerative ability.
No matter how serious the injury, as long as he wasn't killed instantly, he could recover swiftly.
"Immune to physical attacks? You mean there's no move that can actually hurt you?"
"In that case, you can just stay suspended in the air!"
Madara's gaze suddenly turned cold, and his hand slowly rose.
Dense black specks quietly appeared, floating up from his palm. A rough count revealed, there were twelve of them.
"Chibaku Tensei (Catastrophic Planetary Devastation)!"
With a loud shout, the black spheres rapidly flew up into the sky.
In the distance, Qin Lin and the other two immediately saw the flickering black dots, and their expressions changed drastically.
"Run!!"
The three of them grabbed Ace and dashed frantically to a farther location.
"Buzz!"
In the very next moment, the twelve black dots erupted with an unimaginably terrifying gravitational pull. In the sky, twelve twisted vortexes emerged, drawing in all the surrounding air, dust, and smoke. The force of the pull only grew stronger.
Even Akainu's molten attacks were instantly dragged in, converging into a blazing fireball.
And then,
"Crack! Crack!"
The ground began to rupture. Mountain stones, shattered debris, the ruined Marine base, everything started to levitate and spin rapidly toward the twelve black dots in the sky.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Amidst a series of crashing sounds, within a few seconds, twelve black spheres had formed, orbiting each other in a circular ring formation in the sky.
Akainu's face changed drastically, this terrifying pull was something even he couldn't resist. And unlike the gravity acting on the ground and other objects, the force targeting him was even more intense.
"What the hell is this?!"
Madara slowly descended, bringing his palms together.
"Ha!"
With a loud cry, the gravity acting on Akainu surged even more.
In the blink of an eye, Akainu's body began floating upward. He tried to use Geppō (Moonwalk) mid-air, but it was completely useless. The rising debris repeatedly struck him, throwing off his balance and making it nearly impossible to maintain control.
The combined gravitational force from the twelve black spheres was far beyond what he could resist.
A few seconds later, Akainu's body slammed hard into one of the black spheres. Immediately after, stone after stone smashed into him, pinning him tightly to the sphere.
Five seconds later, Akainu was no longer visible.
"Crack!"
Island 66 completely shattered at that moment. Even the surrounding region connected to it was torn apart, leaving behind a deep, horrifying trench.
Thirty seconds later, twelve massive black spheres hovered in the sky. Below, Island 66 was gone, replaced by rolling ocean waves filling in the void.
"You must be enjoying dancing in the sky, right?"
Madara stood upon the ocean surface and said calmly.
Suddenly, he clapped his hands again. The twelve black spheres trembled violently, then with a loud boom, merged into a single body, stacking atop the one Akainu had been absorbed into.
Ten seconds later, a massive black sphere had formed in the sky.
Under Madara's control, the orb slowly floated higher and higher. By this time, night had fallen. The sphere eventually settled at the edge of the sky, becoming a clearly visible full black moon.
After glancing at it once, Madara turned and walked away.
Not long after, at Marine Headquarters,
"BANG!"
Sengoku slammed his fist down hard on the table.
"What did you just say?! Akainu failed… and was turned into a black moon hanging over the sea?!"
(End of chapter)