The moment Spandam and his group set foot on the island, several sensory ninjas in a room somewhere on the archipelago detected them.
"Intruders on the island!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi received the report quickly, frowning as he thought to himself: The president led a team to attack Impel Down, and now someone's trespassing on the Sabaody Archipelago. Could it be those from the World Government?
Damn!
Right now, there weren't many people left on the island—it was at its most vulnerable. The enemy must be trying to take advantage and "attack the Ninja Guild."
Hiruzen had initially wanted to handle it personally and deal with the intruders, but he soon hesitated.
According to the barrier team's intel, there were only ten of them. Could they just be a scouting party from the World Government?
At this point, Hiruzen worried it might be a diversion. If he went out himself, he could get tied down, making the situation even more precarious.
He couldn't leave; he had to stay here to oversee everything!
In the end, Hiruzen decided to send someone to the lab to notify Orochimaru. In the current circumstances, it was most fitting for him to handle it.
"Intruders, huh?"
When Orochimaru heard the news, he raised an eyebrow, then licked his lips with his long tongue, ready for action.
But just then, the door beside him swung open, and Konan, clad in a black robe, stepped out with a smile. "Let me handle it. It'll be a good chance to test my current strength!"
Orochimaru chuckled. "Fine by me. You've fully recovered now, and you're even stronger than before!"
Before he could finish, Konan had already vanished.
"What an impatient one," Orochimaru muttered, shaking his head without much concern as he returned to his work.
As for the intruders, with Konan's current power, there shouldn't be any issues.
Meanwhile, Spandam and the CP9 agents had just landed on the Sabaody Archipelago and were stunned by the drastic changes to the landscape before them.
"What's happened to the Sabaody Archipelago?"
The group stared in shock. They'd been here before, but now it looked completely different—they could barely recognize it.
What used to be a cluster of islands roughly the same size now resembled a ring of smaller landmasses surrounding one massive central island.
Kalifa peered closely at the huge central island and suddenly exclaimed, "What kind of tree is that? It looks so majestic!"
The others turned to look and were quickly drawn to the towering tree that pierced the clouds. It was indeed impressive.
Spandam, however, ignored it and urged them toward Ohara Island.
Clearly, Spandam had come prepared.
Ever since learning that Nico Robin had joined the forces on the Sabaody Archipelago, he'd been keeping a close eye on the matter. Through the World Government's investigations, he'd learned that Ohara Island had merged with the Sabaody Archipelago.
So, Spandam's plan was to capture Nico Robin first.
"Bruno, Lucci, you two go ahead. You must bring back Nico Robin!" Spandam ordered.
However, he noticed that Lucci and Bruno weren't moving as instructed; instead, they looked puzzled.
Spandam grew irritated and snapped, "Damn it, didn't you hear my order?"
Lucci's expression was grave as he said, "Sir, something feels off."
"What do you mean, off?" Spandam asked impatiently.
This time, Bruno spoke up: "I feel like my Devil Fruit powers have vanished!"
"What?" Spandam's face paled as he turned to the others.
"Me too—I can't use my Devil Fruit abilities!"
Lucci and the rest looked serious; they were in the same boat, unable to access their powers.
"Damn, how is this possible? Is there Seastone here?" Spandam scratched his head.
Lucci shook his head. "No, it's not like Seastone. With Seastone, we'd feel drained all over. Now, it's just the powers we can't use—it feels like something's absorbed our energy!"
In an instant, they were all horrified.
The Sabaody Archipelago was this bizarre? It had rendered their Devil Fruit powers unusable?
This was unheard of!
What on earth had the Ninja Guild done?!
"Forget it. Even without your powers, you're still strong. Don't worry about it—move out!"
Spandam felt increasingly uneasy and wanted to grab Nico Robin quickly and get out of there. As for attacking the Ninja Guild's headquarters, he decided to scrap that idea!
The group soon reached the vicinity of Ohara Island. They hadn't encountered any Ninja Guild members along the way, which eased their minds a bit.
It seemed the defenses were indeed thin right now.
"Go! Capture the Demon Child Nico Robin as fast as you can, and check out the situation on Ohara while you're at it!" Spandam commanded.
"Yes, sir!"
Lucci and the others acknowledged and charged toward the nearby Ohara Island.
But at that moment—"Paper Rain!"
The ground around them rippled like waves, then transformed, turning into countless sheets of paper that shot toward them like sharp arrows.
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T/N:
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