By this point, Gato knew there was no going back for him.
Not only was the World Government after him, but even people from the Land of Waves were chasing him down.
They accused him of disrespecting Shanks, saying he had the nerve to reject Shanks' invitation, and that he had embarrassed the people of the Land of Waves and even all of East Blue.
Gato was speechless. He just didn't want to die, and since when did that mob of people count as citizens of the Land of Waves?
Lately, everything had gone wrong for Gato. Bad luck kept finding him. Luckily, after staying in the Land of Waves for so long, his connections were still strong.
As long as the World Government didn't send its main force, Gato could use his ties to slip away. On the other hand, the World Government's troops had no time to waste on him anyway.
Even if Gato was tied to Shanks, the battlefield in East Blue was clearly more important.
As for the New World, by now people had already appeared on the Red Line. Led by Mifune, a group of samurai brought others across using a summoning technique, arriving on the Red Line in a short time.
At first glance, they looked unorganized and all followed Mifune's lead. But in reality, each one had their own power behind them. They were just borrowing the "samurai" title for now. With that identity, if trouble came, Mifune could be pushed out as the one to take responsibility.
No matter how big the fallout, it wouldn't touch the forces backing them.
"Didn't expect so many people to come. But if we want even more to get here, relying on the Summoning Technique for transport just won't work."
Shisui looked at Mifune and the others and sighed.
Jiraiya also sighed, but not at Shanks' influence. Instead, he was amazed that Kumogakure really dared to pull something like this.
The guts on them were huge.
Then again, Kumogakure had always been bold.
They once sent ninjas straight into Konoha to kidnap the Hyuga clan's princess. When they failed, they even tried to threaten Konoha with war.
To be honest, even Jiraiya thought that was shameless beyond belief. How could there be such an immoral, brazen village in the ninja world?
And Konoha had actually given in to their threats. That didn't surprise Jiraiya though—otherwise why would he have ended up unable to stay in the village himself?
Still, Jiraiya had underestimated Kumogakure. What they were doing now was straight-up stabbing the World Government in the back.
Even if it wasn't to help Shanks, this move was holding the World Government back, and the fallout could be huge.
"Shanks has been gone for a day already. Haven't they found the target yet?"
Jiraiya turned his head, looking deep into the Red Line.
Two days ago, tremors had shaken the Red Line. Then, golden clouds had spread across the red sky, releasing a power so absurd that even Jiraiya was shocked.
He knew exactly whose power that was—and also knew it still wasn't their full strength.
What held back the Golden Lion wasn't his power, but his body.
But judging from the strength he showed this time, it seemed like his body had broken some kind of limit and become even stronger.
"Is that guy called the Golden Lion really that strong?"
Shisui found it hard to believe. Jiraiya's evaluation of the Golden Lion, Jigen, was very high.
"He's very strong. His Armament Haki can be said to be the strongest in the world. The thing holding him back was his body—he couldn't fully use his power in that body.
I even wonder if he's from that ancient country tied to the Grail Stone. A normal person couldn't possibly build up that much strength."
"And the way he developed his Devil Fruit ability is also very different."
Jiraiya recalled Jigen's ability. On the surface, it looked simple—just floating.
In fact, Jigen's ability really was simple.
But from the start, Jigen understood the true nature of Devil Fruits. Yes, there are strong and weak fruits, but that difference only exists to limit ordinary people.
For someone like him, no matter what fruit you give him, he can fully bring out its ultimate power, which is—Fruit Awakening.
And it's been proven that Jigen really does have that ability.
That's exactly why Jiraiya is so suspicious of Jigen's origin.
"When we were in the Land of Wind, we captured a few strange people. The powers they had looked a lot like Devil Fruit abilities, but they weren't Devil Fruit powers—they were special abilities taken from the Grail Stone."
"But their technique was incomplete. Compared to Devil Fruits, the ceiling of that power was almost locked. There was no way to develop it further.
The perfected version of that technique is the Devil Fruit."
"Shanks' Observation Haki lets him see a bit of the future and even cut off others' predictions, but the power of the Devil Fruits doesn't come from the future—it's hidden within the Poneglyphs.
Shanks used the Poneglyphs to perfect the technique."
"For someone like Jigen, from that ancient nation, he can use Shanks' perfected technique and his own understanding of this power to grow even stronger."
Jiraiya sighed. Jigen was truly an outrageous opponent.
Jiraiya might not look that strong—his ultimate techniques are more about stalling and survival—but in reality, his current fighting power is on the same level as the Third Tsuchikage, one of the top sages.
You can't say he's the strongest, but he's definitely among the world's best.
Even with that level of strength, when facing Jigen, he was completely crushed.
Sure, if he could die a few more times and come back, maybe things would be different, but it already shows how strong Jigen was back then—and that was when Jigen was still held back by his body.
From that alone, you can imagine how powerful the "Otsutsuki Isshiki" inside Jigen really is.
Just talking about raw strength, he's absolutely at the top sage level. Add in the secret techniques of the Otsutsuki clan, and his power is insane.
And yet, someone that insane actually got tricked by Kaguya.
What level is Kaguya at? The one who got chased and beaten by a bunch of people—and even she managed to trick and kill him.
And don't even mention Kaguya being hunted down.
Look at the Fourth Great Ninja War. She had already eaten the chakra fruit, and what happened? The Sage of Six Paths didn't even show up—Naruto and Sasuke sealed her away by themselves.
Do you think Isshiki didn't know what level Kaguya was at? He knew.
It's exactly because he knew that it's embarrassing.
But can he admit that? No.
So what else could he do? Just act tough. Fine, I'm done with the Otsutsuki clan. Forget the chakra fruit—I'll just eat Devil Fruits instead.
The Otsutsuki clan? To hell with it.
Honestly, if the Otsutsuki clan ever found out he was tricked to death by Kaguya, the shame from that would be even worse than betraying the clan.
"That's why that guy is targeting Shanks."
"After living so long, it's normal to have a few screws loose." Jiraiya sighed.
Shanks had also mentioned the Otsutsuki clan to him, but Jigen didn't look anything like one of them, so he dismissed the idea right away.
"Didn't think anyone could live that long. But I guess living too long isn't always a good thing." Shisui also sighed.
Targeting Shanks… that's not something a normal person would do.
And Jigen? He's definitely not normal.
If nothing else, just look at all the buffs on him.
First, this guy is a mix of an alien and someone from the ninja world. And second, he really does have two personalities.
In the current version of the ninja world, you won't find anyone more "politically correct" than Jigen.
But Jigen himself doesn't see it that way. The only thing he knows about himself is that he's "super unlucky."
He had just arrived in the ninja world when he got betrayed by his own men, forcing him to start looking for a way to revive himself.
The body he took over had insanely strong willpower and kept him suppressed for over a thousand years.
After more than a thousand years, he finally got out. He wanted to challenge Shanks and even turned another Ten Tails he had stolen into a God Tree, planning to eat it.
But while raising that tree, the whole thing—and his home—got wiped out.
At that point, Jigen didn't care anymore. He just went to find Shanks to test his strength.
He gathered a group and flew straight toward the Red Earth Continent, planning to cross it completely.
Of course, he didn't make it—because he didn't dare.
It was only when he got close to the center of the Red Earth Continent and saw those writhing mountains and the red light glowing from beneath them that Jigen truly felt fear.
Something extremely dangerous was hidden beneath the Red Earth Continent.
And in that moment, Jigen understood—he could sense Shanks' will pressing down on all that writhing land and those mountains.
That tightly wound will had been keeping everything under control.
He didn't know why, but Jigen realized this was Shanks' moment of weakness.
So he decided to wait for Shanks to arrive.
At the center of the Red Earth Continent, Jigen sat on a grand golden ship, all alone in that area.
No one else, not even Dark, could enter.
The power at the heart of the Red Earth Continent was too strong—ordinary people couldn't withstand the pressure of that will.
But Jigen could remain calm in that environment, even keeping his ship floating in midair.
As a few ripples shimmered in the air, a figure appeared on the far end of the deck.
Shanks stood there in a pair of worn-out slippers, faded pants revealing legs covered with messy hair.
He looked a bit sloppy, but his fiery red hair made the magnificent ship seem dull in comparison.
"Long time no see, Daimyo, Golden Lion!"
A smile spread across Shanks' face, and for the first time, his right hand instinctively rested on the hilt of his sword. The man before him was a formidable opponent.
Jigen, sitting at the bow of the ship, turned around. His body was covered in a layer of golden Armament Haki, making him shine like gold, and his presence felt extraordinary.
He also reached out his right hand, and a huge blade came cutting through the sky, landing firmly in his grip. The blade trembled, sending golden ripples through the air.
"I've been wanting to meet you for a long time too, Shanks."
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