Resurrection

The terrifying pillar of energy completely erased Imu, then tore through the sky and blasted toward Mary Geoise below.

Golden light suddenly flared around Mary Geoise, forming a hemispherical barrier. Clearly, the holy city was not entirely defenseless.

But the moment it made slight contact with the energy pillar, which had already been deflected for the most part, the barrier let out a crashing sound and shattered into pieces.

Fortunately, the barrier deflected the beam a little further, so it ultimately struck the ground while merely grazing the edge of Mary Geoise.

The thunderous roar went on without end. The ground had been blasted into an incomparably smooth hole over a hundred meters wide, its edges gleaming like glass, clearly vitrified by the intense heat. The bottom was unfathomably deep, and the faint sound of waves could even be heard from within.

Yet the beam’s effects were only the beginning. The entire Red Line began to rumble and quake. Moments later, all of Mary Geoise had sunk dozens of meters. A massive rift had been torn through the Red Line, stretching from the sea all the way to Mary Geoise at its summit.

The rift looked like a sloping passage. From then on, the Red Line was no longer an unreachable place. Following that inclined slope, anyone in the Pirate World could climb up to Mary Geoise.

In fact, it was not just the Red Line. Fish-Man Island on the seafloor below was also shaking continuously. A crowd of fish-men cried out in alarm. After a long while, the tremors finally stopped. Neptune picked up the crown that had fallen to the ground, blew on it twice, and put it back on his head.

"What in the world is going on? Why has it gotten dark?"

"Y-Your Majesty!" A fish-man guard with a panicked expression rushed in. "Your Majesty, this is bad!"

"I’m perfectly fine!" Neptune said, rolling his eyes. "What is it? Speak slowly."

"Sunlight Tree Eve! Half of Sunlight Tree Eve’s roots have stopped glowing!"

"What?!" Neptune’s face went pale with alarm as he hurried outside.

For the moment, setting aside the impact Yota’s punch had on Fish-Man Island’s Sunlight Tree Eve, let us return our gaze to Mary Geoise.

Yota stood in midair, gasping for breath. The blood in his body was still burning, and that world-destroying power had yet to fade.

But Yota had no mind to pay attention to anyone else. His gaze remained fixed on the spot in the void where Imu had been completely reduced to nothing.

Countless tiny particles, nearly invisible to the naked eye, slowly gathered within Yota’s perception. They eventually formed an outline, and as though time were reversing, Imu gradually reappeared in the air.

However, her aura had fallen sharply. Clearly, Yota’s earlier attack had not left her unscathed.

"I nearly… died." Imu looked coldly at Yota. "You are the strongest opponent I have ever faced."

"Unfortunately, since that attack failed, you are the one who will die."

With Imu’s discernment, she could naturally see that Yota’s body was already on the verge of collapse. Even if she did nothing, he was doomed to die.

Still, out of respect for this opponent, Imu raised her hand. Terrifying Armament Haki and Conqueror’s Haki merged into one as she struck out with her palm.

Yota’s blood was nearly burned dry, and he could no longer even maintain his half-dragon form. He merely gave a bitter smile. His blood flames and Chakra instantly dissipated, and his entire body was completely shattered into black ash that scattered across the sky.

Imu slowly let out a breath, cast a cold glance at the black ash in the sky, then turned and left.

No one knew how much time had passed when the black ash in the sky suddenly gathered together. Just like Imu’s earlier resurrection, it reformed into Yota’s body.

"You have an immortal body, but I have eight lives!" Yota grinned. "Just wait. I’ll definitely settle this score!"

The moment he finished speaking, Yota used the space-time ninjutsu he had only recently learned from the Naruto World and vanished from the sky.

A short while later, Imu reappeared in the air and looked around in confusion. Finding nothing after investigating, she eventually returned with a frown.

The reason Yota had not shown his half-dragon form at the very end was not because he lacked stamina, but because he had switched the Azure Dragon Fruit for the Eight-Headed Serpent Fruit.

Long ago, Yota had considered using the Eight-Headed Serpent Fruit to perform ninjutsu such as the Eight Gates Formation, Reincarnation Jutsu, and the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

It was hard to say whether the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, which involved the soul, would work. It was also difficult to tell whether Reincarnation Jutsu had anything to do with the Pure Land. But using the Eight-Headed Serpent Fruit to repeatedly activate the Eight Gates was absolutely no problem.

After all, when Might Guy had used the Eight Gates Formation, Uzumaki Naruto had saved him with Yang Release alone. Clearly, it did not involve damage to the soul.

If Yang Release could save him, then how much more so the Eight-Headed Serpent Fruit, which could resurrect him after death?

However, this resurrection was different from his previous battle with Kaido. Perhaps because reviving after being reduced entirely to ash was too difficult, Yota felt that after his resurrection, only twenty to thirty percent of his stamina and Chakra remained. He had not returned to his peak condition.

That was why he had left so quickly. Otherwise, he truly would have wanted to see whether he could use the Eight Gates Formation to wear Imu to death.

Inside Pangea Castle.

Imu slowly walked inside. The Five Elders were already kneeling there respectfully.

She casually took a towel from a servant beside her and wiped the blood from her hands and face before asking, "What were the casualties at Mary Geoise? And who exactly was that intruder?"

It was rather amusing. After fighting Yota in a climactic battle, Imu still did not know Yota’s name.

"The losses were not severe. Although the slaves were all taken away, there were not many casualties. Most of the casualties were caused by the earthquakes triggered during the battle," one of the Five Elders said with his head lowered.

"As for that intruder, he should be the recently renowned Marauder Yota. It is said that he possesses multiple Devil Fruit abilities and can even plunder Devil Fruits directly from other people’s bodies."

"Multiple Devil Fruit abilities? I see." Imu nodded, finally understanding why Yota had displayed so many abilities in the battle just now.

In truth, Yota could only possess the powers of three Devil Fruits. Most of the abilities he had displayed were merely ninjutsu, not Devil Fruit powers.

Imu did not know that. Of course, she did not care.

"Pass down the order. From now on, the World Government is to closely monitor his movements. But do not waste combat power on him. You are no match for him."

"Of course, if an opportunity arises, you can try to exploit his status as a Devil Fruit user and ambush him… Forget it. With his physique, even Sea Stone could suppress at most a portion of his strength. Do not provoke him for now."