Blood poured from Danzo's body. This shinobi of the old era finally closed his eyes for the last time.
His downfall didn't stir any emotion in anyone.
Whether it was Shisui, Orochimaru, Kabuto, or Kakashi, they all understood one thing—the new era was unstoppable.
Not even Shanks himself could change that.
Wealth, fame, power… Everything people chased after was within this new era.
"It wasn't the times that chose him. He chose this era himself."
Shisui gazed into the distance.
Up in the sky, two figures were flying toward them.
This wasn't over yet.
The surviving Root shinobi had already scattered in all directions.
Now, only a few people remained standing on the battlefield.
Orochimaru, however, let out a bitter smile when he saw who was coming.
He had swindled quite a lot of money from the Akatsuki—not just money, either.
For a while, it was like the entire Akatsuki had been working for him.
Before long, Konan and Nagato descended from the sky.
Seeing Nagato, a hint of surprise flashed across everyone's faces.
That unmistakable red hair—without a doubt, the signature trait of the Uzumaki clan.
"An Uzumaki… and those clothes… You're with the Revolutionary Army."
Kakashi stood to the side, watching Konan and Nagato cautiously.
From what had been revealed, the Revolutionary Army wasn't weak at all.
And the things they had been doing weren't exactly good either.
Their true motives weren't clear.
"An Uzumaki?"
Shisui frowned, unsure why they had shown up here.
"To be precise, those two are the leaders of the Revolutionary Army."
Orochimaru spoke up from the side.
The moment Konan saw Orochimaru's face, a crack appeared in her usual cold expression.
That man had humiliated her in front of the entire Akatsuki.
And even worse—he had scammed all of Amegakure's money.
The entire village's funds.
"Orochimaru…"
Konan gritted her teeth in anger.
Her fury was so intense that cracks appeared on her forehead, and even her clothes began to peel away, turning into sheets of paper.
Seeing Konan's body undergo such a transformation, the others were just as shocked. This was a Kekkei Genkai unlike anything ever seen in the ninja world. In fact, this power seemed more like something out of a fantasy—almost like the abilities of a Devil Fruit.
As expected, not a single member of the Revolutionary Army was ordinary. If this Kekkei Genkai were to become a Devil Fruit ability, who knew how powerful it could become?
"Konan, it's been a long time."
Orochimaru's face twisted into a sinister smile, his mocking tone no less than Gato's.
"You're asking for death."
"That's enough, Konan. Now's not the time."
Nagato's weak voice came from the side. If he weren't so furious himself, he wouldn't have come here at all.
But the thought of the Gedo Statue being chopped up filled him with just as much anger as Konan felt toward Orochimaru.
"You two didn't come all this way just for Gato or Danzo, did you?"
Kakashi had already sealed Danzo's corpse into a scroll. Of course, he left behind the man's arm.
Instead, he handed it to Shisui.
"Danzo? Who's that? We were just passing through."
Konan's excuse was flimsy at best. She wasn't even looking at Orochimaru, the mere sight of him making her even angrier.
But seeing Nagato this frustrated actually made her feel a little better.
At that moment, a ship docked at the port, and Shanks completely retracted his Conqueror's Haki.
Contrary to what everyone expected, Shanks made his entrance without leaking even a trace of his Haki. Instead, he wore a slightly awkward expression.
"Hahaha, what a crowd."
The moment he stepped onto the Land of Waves, he could feel Nagato's hostility—a strong urge to beat him to a pulp.
It wasn't hard to figure out why.
His ship was right there in the harbor, and honestly, Shanks himself didn't have a good explanation for it.
What was he supposed to say? That Madara, the old man, had promised him a piece of Divine Wood, only to turn around and chop off a huge chunk of the Gedo Statue?
The worst part?
Nagato had always believed the Gedo Statue belonged to him.
And now Madara had dug a pit, buried Shanks in it, and then died, leaving Nagato to come looking for answers.
To make matters worse, Nagato assumed that Shanks had only sold off a small part of the Divine Wood.
After all, such a large piece couldn't have been used up so quickly.
And when he heard rumors about an ancient Divine Tree site appearing in the Land of Wind, Nagato immediately suspected it was part of Shanks' scheme.
Using the Divine Tree's remains as so-called "treasures" to lure the ninja world into searching the Land of Wind…
No matter how you looked at it, this was an incredibly well-crafted and highly executable plan.
But the fact that Shanks had fooled him—and had done something this big with his own property—made Nagato furious.
He had been kept completely in the dark.
It was the same feeling Konan had when Orochimaru scammed her out of money.
How could Nagato not be angry?
But despite his anger, Nagato couldn't help but admire Shanks. To pull off something like this took incredible vision and skill.
No wonder he was Shanks.
So, even though he was mad, he still had a grudging respect for him.
But right now… what was this?
Nagato's eyes weren't even on Shanks anymore.
At this moment, his gaze was locked onto the ship docked at the port.
That feeling—it was unmistakable.
---
"..."
Seeing the strange look on Shanks' face, Shisui, Orochimaru, and Kakashi all felt a little confused.
"Captain, what's wrong?"
Shanks stopped in his tracks, his sandals dragging slightly as he stepped back.
"Shisui, we need to get back to the ship. Now."
Shanks stiffly turned around, the authority in his expression completely gone.
Who wouldn't lose their composure in a situation like this? Right? Probably? Maybe?
The next second—
"Whoosh!!"
Shanks bolted, running so fast that the air behind him let out a sharp sound.
But he had only taken two steps when a dark shadow appeared above him.
"Shanks!!!"
Nagato roared. Konan had only heard him sound this angry a few times before—mostly when he was beating up Yahiko.
"Boom!!"
Nagato's terrifying chakra exploded, surging into the sky. The sheer intensity of it cleared the clouds, distorting the air around them.
Then, with all his fury, he threw a punch straight at Shanks' head.
Both of them crashed into the sand, sending up a huge cloud of dust.
Everyone watching was completely stunned.
"Nagato!!!"
Konan called out in concern. With his condition, how could he be so reckless?
"Captain???"
Shisui also had no idea what was going on, but one thing was clear—Shanks had definitely caused some trouble.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have tried to run.
Under everyone's shocked gazes, the strongest man in the ninja world had just been punched straight into the ground, leaving behind a human-shaped crater.
As the dust settled, they finally saw Nagato, veins bulging on his forehead.
Nagato wasn't just angry—he was in pain.
He clutched his right hand, which was already broken. The mix of searing pain and rage had completely twisted his expression.
"Nagato, calm down! This isn't the time for a fight!"
Konan hurried over, her face full of concern.
Meanwhile, Shisui glared at Nagato and Konan. If they didn't give him a proper explanation, he wasn't going to let this go.
…
By noon, after everything had been dealt with, they gathered in Gato's ruined estate.
Nagato sat with his right hand wrapped in bandages, hanging from his neck. Beside him, Shanks was also covered in bandages, a huge lump on his head. Despite everything, he still had that usual carefree smile on his face.
"Hey, you two! Are you ever going to explain what happened?!"
They had all been waiting for half the day, but Shanks refused to say anything. And Nagato? He wasn't talking either.
"Nagato!!"
Konan ignored Shanks, who was standing there pretending to be clueless. This guy looked like a total fool—there was no way to have a proper conversation with him.
"The so-called strongest man in the world… actually stealing stuff?"
Nagato slammed his palm on the table in frustration. It had been a long time since he had such an emotional outburst. Just what kind of curse was plaguing the Akatsuki?
First, Orochimaru scammed them out of all their funds, and now this guy had stolen from them.
"Hah! I didn't steal anything! And how can you even prove that thing belongs to you? Have you dripped blood on it or something?"
Shanks argued confidently. And honestly, he wasn't wrong—that was exactly why neither of them had made this issue completely public.
Hearing Shanks' words, Nagato quickly understood what he meant.
If Shanks had been able to slice off a huge chunk of the Gedo Statue without him even noticing, that meant Shanks could also summon it.
And Shanks had even gone out of his way to point out that he had never signed any summoning contract with the Gedo Statue.
At least, Nagato had no memory of such a thing.
So technically, Shanks had a valid argument.
"You think that's what I'm mad about?"
But Nagato's anger had nothing to do with that—it was about the fact that this guy had taken a giant piece of the Divine Tree… to build a ship.
He had actually used a piece of the godly tree—the very source of Devil Fruits—to make a damn boat.
Orochimaru, sitting nearby, was watching the scene like it was entertainment. He hadn't expected Shanks to be so well-connected with the leader of the Revolutionary Army.
Then again, they were both from the Uzumaki clan, so it wasn't that surprising.
"Kabuto, have a seat. No need to stand."
"Yes, sir."
Kabuto sat down as well, also looking like he was just here to watch the drama unfold.
Not far away, in the corner, Gato, Naruto, and Sasuke were watching too.
"What exactly did Shanks steal?"
"No idea. Must've been something important from the Uzumaki clan."
"Stop guessing. If I'm not wrong, it was the Divine Tree."
Orochimaru spoke, and Naruto and Sasuke immediately understood.
As for Gato, he was still busy stuffing his face—he'd been starving for the past three days.
After Orochimaru's comment, everyone turned their attention back to Shanks and Nagato.
Shanks wasn't backing down either.
"I am Four Emperors Shanks! A great man of the sea! And for pirates, a ship is one of the most important things!"
Hearing Shanks say this, everyone nodded. He wasn't wrong.
Especially Orochimaru—after all, he was also one of the Four Emperors. Using a bit of the Divine Tree to enhance his ship didn't seem like a big deal.
These ninjas really lacked the boldness of pirates.
"Important? You took a massive chunk of the Divine Tree and used it all to build a ship. Now tell me, what exactly is so important about it?"
"Hey, there's still some left…"
Before Shanks could finish speaking, he suddenly noticed that the temperature around him had dropped several degrees.
Even Konan, who stood before him, was now radiating killing intent.
Shisui, who had been planning to stand up for his captain, quietly stepped back.
His captain had stolen so much Divine Wood from the Uzumaki clan… just to build a ship??
No wonder he always felt like something was off whenever he was on that ship. Now it all made sense—was the entire ship made from Divine Wood?
This wasn't just wasteful—it was ridiculous. Shisui knew his captain could be careless sometimes, but this was on another level.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru, who had been watching from the sidelines, was completely stunned.
In that moment, he remembered all the painstaking research he had done in his lab—how carefully he had handled even the tiniest piece of Divine Wood for cloning experiments.
Every small sample required an immense amount of effort and energy to cultivate, but Orochimaru had been thrilled by the challenge.
After all, this was the most precious resource of the new era.
And now…
Now you're telling me that Shanks used Divine Wood to build a ship? A ship?!
He didn't just use a little—he used a massive amount to build a whole ship?!
It wasn't just Orochimaru—Kabuto, Kakashi… everyone who heard this was completely dumbfounded.
They all understood the value of Divine Wood. It was a treasure capable of throwing the entire ninja world into chaos.
And Shanks… used it to build a ship?
"Shanks!!!"
At that moment, even Orochimaru couldn't keep his composure anymore. He roared in anger.
"Wait, Nagato, what nonsense are you talking about?"
"Why would I use Divine Wood to build a ship? That stuff isn't even good enough for that."
Shanks stood up, straightening his back confidently.
Hearing Shanks' words, everyone finally snapped out of their shock.
Right, Divine Wood was an incredibly rare material—how could Shanks possibly have so much of it?
Realizing this, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
Everyone except Shisui, who remained silent outside.
Because he had been on that ship.
And on that ship… there really might be that much Divine Wood.
"You must have seen wrong. My ship only has a keel made of Divine Wood—the rest isn't."
Shanks said this with absolute confidence.
Seeing the expression on his face, Orochimaru, who had been watching from the sidelines, finally felt a little better.
"Hmm, so only the keel is made of Divine Wood… Just the keel…"
"Only…"
"The keel?!?!"
The next second, Orochimaru's vision went black, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Shanks!!!"
His furious roar echoed from Gato's mansion, shaking the entire Land of Waves.
---
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