On the island of Ohara, the colossal Tree of Knowledge was engulfed in a raging sea of flames. Though Jaguar D. Saul resisted the Marines with every fiber of his being, he was ultimately powerless to alter the impending catastrophe.
With Kuzan and Sakazuki—two elite powerhouses of the Marines' new generation—anchoring the operation on site, their sole objective was to erase Ohara completely from the map.
Gazing at the burning ancient tree in the distance, Kuzan remained silent. Entrusted by Saul, he had quietly sneaked the unconscious little girl onto a vessel, preparing to send her off safely in a moment.
This child was only eight years old, yet she was forced to bear a burden far heavier than most adults ever would. The inner conflict gnawing at Kuzan made it impossible for him to raise a hand against Nico Robin.
"The Poneglyphs are unyielding stone tablets that record a hundred-year void in history. We have always wondered why the people of the past went to such great lengths to carve their words into such indestructible stone. Perhaps... they wished to pass the truth down to future generations."
Through their research into the Poneglyphs, the scholars of Ohara had discovered that during the Void Century, a vast and powerful ancient civilization once existed. Yet it was precisely their relentless pursuit of historical truth that had brought this absolute calamity upon Ohara.
"The reason they carved history onto stone that would never shatter and scattered them across the globe was because they foresaw that writing on paper or in books would lead to their destruction.
This in itself is solid proof that a hostile force existed in the world—one opposed to the people who left those stones behind. And if we assume they were destroyed by that enemy, then that enemy must have continued to exist throughout the history that followed!"
Standing in the heart of Ohara, Professor Clover, director of the library, faced the suffocating oppression of the World Government with a pale face. Eyes burning with fury as he stared down the surrounding sea of Marines, he risked his life to declare the truth to the world.
While the dramatic upheaval unfolded across Ohara, Uchiha Madara and Nico Olvia drifted slowly into the nearby waters aboard the Shukaku.
"Ohara... Oh no!"
Olvia made a move to dash forward, but Madara's gunbai fan cut across her path, blocking her: "Do you have a death wish, woman?"
"But..."
"Instead of saving doomed people, I can help you preserve those books."
Rescuing the literature of Ohara was a specific task Shiraishi had entrusted to Madara. Compared to those stubborn, unyielding scholars, the countless historical archives and literature stored inside the Tree of Knowledge were the true, irreplaceable treasures.
Olvia fell silent. She was well aware that the Sunagakure Pirates were unwilling to get dragged into this mess. In a sense, preserving those precious books was indeed far more vital than saving individual lives.
"I... I leave it to you..."
"Tch..."
Shiraishi really hit the nail on the head, Madara thought with disdain. These bookworms really do value paper higher than their own lives.
"What is the connection between the Void Century and the World Government?" Madara asked coldly.
Olvia explained quietly: "During the Void Century—eight hundred years ago—the World Government happened to be founded right at that time. If the enemy of those destroyed people was indeed the present World Government, then the Void Century must be a blank span of history wiped clean by the World Government because it exposed truths detrimental to their rule."
Meanwhile, back on the burning island of Ohara, Professor Clover coughed violently as he stepped forward: "By deciphering ancient manuscripts and several Poneglyphs, we have finally uncovered the existence of a certain kingdom!"
Hearing this through the transmission Den Den Mushi, a top-tier Five Elders figure on the other end felt his expression shift dramatically. The professor had essentially deduced the underlying truth of the Void Century in its entirety!
"What emerges from those texts is the majestic outline of a vast kingdom! It was once renowned for its immense power, yet all records of that nation have been forcibly erased from history.
Sensing their inevitable defeat at the hands of the World Government's allied nations, they carved the total truth onto stone tablets to entrust their ideals to the future—those are the Poneglyphs left behind today!"
"So whatever the Pirate King found at the Final Island was likely connected to that hundred-year history," Madara muttered indifferently. "Nothing more than a classic game of winners taking all and losers written out of history."
Madara held zero interest in political history; his primary target remained the priceless collection of books preserved within Ohara.
Listening to Professor Clover's deductions, the Five Elder on the line regained his composure, letting out a cold, dismissive sneer: "Your speculation is completely baseless. You've gone mad."
"Heh... Ancient weapons can indeed be revived from history. But what truly poses a threat to the World Government is not just those weapons, but the very existence and ideology of that ancient kingdom that might be awakened alongside history!
We must understand the true nature of this threat, and the key to unlocking it all—the name of that once-flourishing kingdom—is..."
BANG!
A sharp gunshot cut off the professor's speech. As his body collapsed to the ground, blood stained the soil of Ohara. Scores of scholars fell under the Marines' firing squad, transforming the sacred island of knowledge into a living purgatory.
Once the shore landing party withdrew, Marine warships unleashed a relentless naval bombardment upon Ohara. Under the cover of a specialized dark-fire illusion technique, Madara brought the Shukaku alongside the shoreline, ordering his men to haul the books aboard.
The surviving scholars, who had originally resigned themselves to death, grew agitated upon seeing outsiders seizing their books. But the moment Olvia stepped down from the ship, silence fell over them.
"I want to stay behind..." Olvia whispered softly, gazing at the burning ruins of Ohara.
"If you decide to stay, I'll burn every last one of these books to ashes right now."
Madara spoke with absolute, uncompromising dominance, showing zero regard for Olvia's emotional state. His domineering stance brought a flush of pure rage to Olvia's face: "You!"
After a long, tense standoff, Madara turned to walk away: "There's still space on the ship. Anyone willing to leave can come along. Aoki Shiraishi has built a new archival library on Sky Island that can support your research into the Poneglyphs."
Fewer than twenty scholars remained alive on Ohara, but they might still prove useful. With that thought, Madara decided to package both the survivors and the vast collection of books to take them away together.
Using specialized visual illusion techniques, the Shukaku remained quietly anchored behind Ohara. However, with the Marine fleet maintaining a tight blockade in the distance, someone was bound to notice the anomaly on the island.
"Vice Admiral Sakazuki, Ohara seems unusually quiet..."
"Hmm?"
Fixing his gaze on the distant island of Ohara, Sakazuki stared intently for a moment before suddenly erupting in fury. Roaring streams of molten magma burst from his body: "It's the Shukaku! That bastard Uchiha Madara is on Ohara!"
BOOM!
With a deafening blast, Sakazuki transformed into a surging torrent of lava, sweeping forward across the sea. Simultaneously, Kuzan spotted the intrusion, his body dispersing into a wave of frost as he glided alongside Sakazuki toward Ohara.
"Heh. Move faster," Madara ordered his crew calmly.
Facing two powerful Logia users head-on, Madara knew he could only stall for a limited time. Swinging his staff-blade, he unleashed a wave of razor-sharp slash-energy.
Meanwhile, in the New World, an island territory under the control of the Sunagakure Pirates came under sudden attack by a pirate fleet.
The local residents were completely massacred, and several Sunagakure subordinates stationed on the island were brutally slaughtered.
News of the atrocity sent shockwaves through the New World...
Evidently, a rising pirate faction had officially thrown down the gauntlet to challenge the Sunagakure Pirates!