Deep in the New World, the red light had completely spread across the sky, turning it into a blood-red canvas. Streams of red dragon vein energy drifted across the air.
Amado looked behind him and let out a long breath.
"Finally shook it off!!"
"I *knew* that thing was alive. And Shanks still had me upgrade the ship…"
Back when Amado was upgrading the *Red Force*, he already felt something was off—mainly because the Divine Tree Organization was shady to begin with. That tree held remnants of some kind of will.
And that massive chunk Madara had Shanks bring back… the malicious energy it gave off was on par with a Tailed Beast. And on top of that, Shanks had him install a chakra propulsion system on the ship.
Chakra tech wasn't hard for Amado. He was the one who developed the chakra armor used in the Land of Snow.
But putting that tech into a ship? That was like building an arc reactor into Iron Man's suit—flooding it with pure energy.
They'd been hanging out near the dragon veins so much that now the amount of chakra stored in that ship was on the same level as Five-Tails or Six-Tails.
So why hadn't the *Red Force* shown any strange behavior before?
Well, it *was* the flagship of the Red-Haired Pirates. And their average IQ? Off the charts. If you dropped that ship in the Hidden Leaf and made it Hokage, it might run the place better than the Third did.
That's the level of brainpower we're talking about.
So the ship had just been pretending to be normal this whole time—partly because it had some level of intelligence, and partly because of Shanks' presence.
Otherwise, this thing would've turned into a mini Ten-Tails by now.
But when faced with such a large-scale descent of will, even the Red Force couldn't handle the pressure.
Of course, everyone was smart—once they realized where the problem was coming from, they ditched the Red Force immediately.
They weren't trying to sabotage each other, but just because they didn't, didn't mean the Red Force wouldn't. Trying to dump it? No way. The Red Force went straight for the weakest target—and locked onto Amado.
In the end, Amado had to run for an entire day before finally shaking it off.
As for the others, they had already scattered.
"It's still a Tree of God offshoot, and it just chased me alone."
Amado shook out his hand, and a chakra core fell from his sleeve. It was already smoking and completely fried.
This one was specially made to hold both Tailed Beast chakra and Dragon Vein chakra.
"But this place…"
Amado looked toward the island in the distance. The sky above it had been torn open, and some strange force was covering the whole island.
At that moment, the dozens of sages on the island also noticed Amado. The second he appeared, they locked onto him.
"That's Amado from the Red-Haired Pirates. Why is he here?"
Seeing him standing out on the sea, all the sages immediately became alert.
"He's looking straight at us. We've been spotted."
"Of course we were. He's the third official member of the Red-Haired Pirates, and also the most mysterious one."
Elder Murakami narrowed his eyes at Amado from afar.
Murakami had strong sensory abilities, which made his reaction all the more serious.
"His presence is faint, barely any life energy. He doesn't seem strong."
Hearing that, the other sages got even more serious. They weren't stupid—when something feels off, it usually means something dangerous. There's no way Shanks' crew doesn't have real powerhouses.
"That's the result of mastering *Seimei Kikan* to the limit—his life force is fully suppressed and only explodes when needed. That's the most powerful Taijutsu of the new era."
"As expected from a top-tier fighter from the Red-Haired crew."
Just then, one of the sages stepped forward.
Ever since they'd met Fukuda Kiyomu—the sage who had pushed the study of *Seimei Kikan* and Rokushiki to the limit—their understanding had grown a lot.
That was just Fukuda's level of influence.
His strength said it all.
"Such terrifying control… Can a normal person really suppress their life force to this level?"
"He's panting hard though. Looks like he's totally exhausted."
"He even fooled his own body."
The more they thought about it, the more unsettled the sages around Elder Murakami became. The pirate training system was totally different from theirs.
They could look down on most pirates, but someone from the Red-Haired crew? That was a whole different thing.
And Amado—this guy had a clear goal—he ran straight in their direction. That alone was enough to spook them.
They were only about a hundred kilometers apart. It *looked* far, but at their level, it wasn't. That distance already counted as dangerous range.
"Fukuda Kiyomu, what's your take?"
Murakami frowned and looked to Fukuda Kiyomu beside him.
Even Fukuda wasn't sure. His face was tense.
"We're already in Shanks' range of influence. Be careful.
I can't see through his strength either, but for him to show up now… it probably isn't just a coincidence."
Fukuda Kiyomu looked up at the sky—it had already turned red.
Under the pressure of that kind of power, even the barrier protecting the whole island was starting to rise in strength.
Even though they weren't within the territory of the Surface Immortal Nation, having so many immortals gathered in one place naturally caused some of that power to gather.
And the moment the sky turned red, the power from the Surface Immortal Nation on the island surged sharply—even the energy inside Fukuda Kiyomu began to stir.
"You all should go now. The power of the Surface Immortal Nation has responded. If we don't act, that power might disappear."
After saying that, Fukuda Kiyomu closed her eyes again.
The power of the Surface Immortal Nation didn't have much to do with them directly.
But the moment Amado showed up, the gathered energy from the Surface Immortal Nation would definitely be disrupted.
At that moment, Murakami also realized something was wrong.
Amado carried a strong force tied to the will of the world, and such a force was a direct threat to the Surface Immortal Nation's presence.
In other words, Amado didn't even need to fight—just standing there was enough to cause the gathered power of the immortals from the Surface Immortal Nation to collapse.
"I'll go."
A young man stepped forward, a small drum hanging at his waist, long hair flowing behind him.
The young man didn't say much.
With one step forward, the entire ground shook.
Boom!
A second step.
Boom!!
The island trembled, and even the surface of the sea began to ripple.
As his bare feet landed on the sea, rings of ripples spread out.
Buzz!!!
The entire sea surface began to tremble.
"Drum sound!"
With the trembling waves, countless musical notes started to float in the air.
Looking at the notes rising from the sea, Amado suddenly realized something.
His whole face turned purple like pig's liver—like all life had drained from it. He looked up and followed the trail of notes.
A long-haired young man was walking toward him, slowly, one step at a time, across the surface of the water.
"AHHH!!!"
In that instant, Amado's expression twisted in fear, cold sweat pouring down his iron-blue face.
"I… I might die here."
Under normal conditions, maybe he could barely hold his own. But right now, his chakra core was almost empty.
Why did things have to go this bad now?
But just then, Yoshimura suddenly stopped in place, the look in his eyes growing even more serious.
"He didn't dodge."
"Not a single one missed!"
Countless thoughts flashed through Yoshimura's mind. His Observation Haki was easily among the best of the sages.
On top of that, his sage techniques could keep him safe—otherwise he wouldn't have come out at all.
But in Yoshimura's mind, every single attack he made, Amado didn't dodge. Not once. Not even a twitch.
"Again!"
Yoshimura took a step, and in the next second, he vanished from where he stood.
*Bang!*
As the note behind Amado vanished, Yoshimura reappeared right behind him.
*Screech!*
Yoshimura lightly tapped the water with his right foot.
A drumbeat blasted out, and the entire sea shattered under its force. The shockwave burst from beneath his feet as Yoshimura kicked toward Amado.
Amado's expression didn't change. He didn't even lift an eyelid. He just gave a slight smirk—almost like mocking Yoshimura.
*BOOM!!!*
The massive force split the sea in half. A rainbow shimmered in the air above the shattered water. The ocean was literally split open by Yoshimura's kick.
And Amado? Still no reaction.
A moment later, Yoshimura landed back on the surface of the sea.
Amado was still far away, but Yoshimura had clearly seen his face.
That face... looked almost exactly like his own.
Yoshimura's expression grew heavy. Cold sweat ran down his forehead.
He had tested again, but still got nothing. No reaction from Amado at all.
Yoshimura looked even more serious.
"No reaction at all... that guy's Observation Haki is definitely stronger than mine. He's waiting for me to strike first."
"A master of Seimei Kikan and the Rokushiki techniques... one mistake and I could die in an instant."
Just this kind of probing had left Yoshimura drenched in sweat.
If Amado had dodged his attacks, it would've made sense. But in Yoshimura's own foresight, Amado hadn't dodged even once.
That was the scariest part.
At the same time, Amado was just as confused about what Yoshimura was doing.
"Still not attacking?"
It was the first time Amado realized how painful waiting for death could be.
As expected, world nobles were all insane.
"Playing with the weak, huh? These people really do act like they're above everyone else."
Thinking back on what the sages had done, Amado had absolutely no fondness left for them.
Not that he ever thought of himself as some noble person either.
"In that case..."
Amado suddenly tossed away the last two chakra cores from his body.
Against a top-tier sage, these things could only buy him a few extra seconds at most.
"Come at me already."
As soon as he said that, his whole presence changed.
At that moment, every sage watching started to feel the tension rise—for Yoshimura's sake.
"Yoshimura got completely shut down."
"He didn't even make a move—that means the other guy's Observation Haki is way better than his. Yoshimura must have sensed serious danger, maybe even... couldn't properly use his Haki at all."
"His Observation Haki got totally crushed. He couldn't move at all. That level of Haki is insane.
Is this the kind of strength the Red-Haired Pirates have?"
No one thought Yoshimura had a problem. No one thought Amado did either.
There were no weaklings here—everyone present was a top-tier sage. The rest of the sages were still leading the pirate crew this way.
But these ones—they were the best of the best.
Not everyone gets access to this much Dragon Vein power. Even among sages, there's a pecking order.
That's why no one dared to look down on Amado. And everyone knew just how strong Yoshimura was.
At that moment, even Yoshimura could feel that Amado had changed.
"His presence is completely overwhelming me. I can't move at all."
"Elder Murakami!!"
Yoshimura gritted his teeth and shouted.
There was no way he wouldn't fight back—but the moment he did, he called out Elder Murakami's name.
Right after, the soundwaves shattered—and Yoshimura made his move.
At that exact moment, Elder Murakami, who was still on the island, also rushed out. If Yoshimura was calling for help, that meant something serious was happening.
He didn't have to say it directly—Murakami could tell.
"Boom!!"
Yoshimura vanished from where he was. Suddenly, a hundred clones appeared over the ocean, and a deafening shockwave spread across the sea.
Yoshimura was no longer testing the waters—he was going all out.
He didn't dare hold back!
He was using his Observation Haki to the limit, looking through countless futures—
And in none of them...
Did he dodge it.
Didn't dodge it.
Still didn't dodge it!
Amado didn't avoid a single one.
But the danger Yoshimura felt only kept growing—it was getting worse, to the point where he felt death closing in.
"Thousand Echo Roar!"
"Massive Shock!"
Yoshimura appeared in the sky. A devastating kick came crashing down, shaking the air with surging natural energy.
The sea over several kilometers collapsed and shattered. Cracks split the air itself, and even the island protected by a barrier began to fracture.
That overwhelming power—terrifying sage energy—combined with the Dragon Vein's force, broke through all of Yoshimura's limits in that moment of life and death.
"Boom!!"
Amado's small figure was instantly swallowed by the terrifying attack, disappearing into the explosion.
But right then, Yoshimura felt a chill run down his spine—a terrifying force had locked onto him!
At that moment, everyone on the island finally saw what was really going on.
The broken sea surface sank again. Red sand fell from the sky. Over the Yoshimura area, a huge monster that looked about 70–80% like a ship dropped from above. It carried terrifying Dragon Vein chakra and an overwhelming, hateful will that loomed over Yoshimura below.
It moved fast—so fast it wasn't just about speed anymore. The strange and terrifying power that came with it was so intense it even seemed to drag down the will of the world with it.
Elder Murakami, who had just reached the airspace above Yoshimura, felt a chill run through him. The overwhelming fear of life and death made his power burst out all at once.
"Fukuda!!"
"Help me!!!"
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