At this moment, within Konoha, inside the interrogation room, a towering old man was tightly bound.
His golden hair and beard resembled a lion's mane.
He had no legs—beneath his pant legs were two sharp swords.
A ninja was pressing a hand against the old man's head, eyes closed as he performed a technique.
The process had lasted a long time.
Finally, the ninja slowly opened his eyes.
He let out a deep breath and looked to the side. "Lord Itachi, I found it!"
"Let's go. Time to see His Majesty!"
...............
On Lightmarker Island, the Cruising Destroyer pulled the blade out of the dragon's body.
The massive blue dragon rapidly shrank, eventually reverting to Kaido's human form.
The high-ranking officers of the Beasts Pirates all rushed over to check on their captain, only to see a horrific wound torn open in Kaido's abdomen, with blood continuously gushing out.
Witnessing this, the onlookers turned their gazes back toward the giant in the sky, their hearts filled with fear.
Big Mom stared at the weakened Kaido in a daze for a moment before suddenly shouting, "Hey, Kaido! What's going on?! How could you be defeated?!"
Her voice was deep, as if suppressing her anger.
"Get up, Kaido!"
"Kaido!"
Only then did the surrounding people turn their attention to the massive, terrifying-looking woman.
She seemed to have a deep connection with Kaido, which explained her strong reaction.
The other two Emperors of the Sea, having witnessed Kaido's swift defeat, immediately realized that this mechanical giant's power far surpassed theirs.
For warriors of their caliber, determining victory or defeat was never easy—if they truly fought, a battle could last an entire day and night without a clear winner.
Yet, this mechanical giant had displayed overwhelming, crushing power in an instant!
The Empire's strength had indeed far surpassed theirs, even stronger than the World Government of their original world!
Kaido lay on the ground, Big Mom shouts echoing in his ears.
Shisui turned his gaze to Big Mom and said, "Charlotte Linlin, do you also wish to experience the power of the Empire?"
The plaza fell into a dead silence.
Big Mom expression suddenly twisted into a terrifying, monstrous grin.
She showed not the slightest hint of fear despite Kaido's defeat.
Instead, a cold and dreadful aura radiated from her entire being.
This was a pressure no weaker than Kaido's.
As one of the Four Emperors, Big Mom's renown was in no way inferior to his.
The Cruising Destroyer shifted its attention to the giantess below, as if yet another fierce battle was about to erupt.
In the hearts of the pirates on Lightmarker Island, they desperately hoped the Four Emperors would win rather than submit to this so-called Empire that had suddenly appeared, trying to impose its rule upon them.
Of course, they wouldn't dare voice such thoughts aloud.
Just then, the supposedly defeated Kaido suddenly stood up.
Even with a gaping wound in his abdomen, his aura hadn't diminished in the slightest.
Gripping his Hassaikai, he planted it firmly on the ground to support himself, while the high-ranking officers of the Beasts Pirates gathered behind him.
Seeing this, Big Mom couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Kaido! I thought you were dead!"
Kaido's face remained cold. "Linlin, are you mocking me?"
Big Mom's laughter only grew wilder.
On the high platform, Shisui and Kakashi both narrowed their eyes as they observed the scene.
Shisui muttered, "Kakashi-senpai, it seems this won't be as easy as we thought."
They had initially assumed that demonstrating overwhelming power would be enough to subjugate these sea-faring bandits.
But these people… they carried themselves like true warriors.
If they had such strength and spirit, why were they living as pirates?
After a brief pause, Kakashi replied, "Well… it's not exactly unexpected."
He had seen Whitebeard and Red-Haired Shanks in action, so he could roughly guess what kind of people the other two Emperors were—they were not the type to be easily subdued by sheer force.
What troubled Shisui was that while he could use his Mangekyo Sharingan to completely control an individual, there were four Emperors in total.
Controlling all of them at once would be far from easy.
His Kotoamatsukami originally had a major drawback—it could only be used once every several years.
However, after he had implanted cells from the First Hokage, that limitation no longer existed.
Even so, using it four times in quick succession was still an incredibly difficult feat.
Shisui shifted his gaze toward the Cruising Destroyer hovering high in the sky.
He knew that Hakumen was the one piloting it.
At that moment, Kaido also turned his attention toward Shisui and spoke in a cold tone.
"Why didn't you kill me?"
Despite his horrifying injuries, he showed no sign of weakness.
Raising his Hassaikai, he continued, "Do you really think letting me live will make me submit?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a loud, hearty laugh rang out—it was Whitebeard.
"Kaido—"
His massive, muscular frame rose, and he firmly grasped his massive naginata, Murakumogiri, standing tall at the front of the Whitebeard Pirates.
"You're still the same as ever."
Kaido's face twisted with fury. "Who do you think I am?!"
He roared at the top of his lungs, and behind him, the Beasts Pirates erupted into thunderous cheers.
BOOM!
Whitebeard slammed his naginata's long handle into the ground, and an overwhelming pressure surged outward, causing the entire island to tremble.
His gaze locked onto the high platform where Crocodile stood.
"Crocodile... You really are a filthy mutt who can't change his ways!"
That one sentence instantly made Crocodile's expression darken to the extreme.
Whitebeard raised his arm and began to shout—not just to his crew, but to the countless pirates spread across the entire island.
"We are pirates!"
"If we bow our heads just because the enemy is strong, can we still call ourselves pirates?!"
"Remember why you first set sail into the great sea!"
"ONE PIECE—"
"IS REAL!"
The pirates' spirits surged to their peak.
Whitebeard's words ignited a fire in their hearts, rallying them together.
They raised their weapons high, shouting and roaring, unleashing their emotions.
At this moment, the Empire's forces seemed to have become the enemy of all, just like the World Government had once been—a hated oppressor.
These were men who had spent their lives fighting against the World Government.
Now, with the Four Emperors standing at the front, what did they have to fear?
If force alone could not make them submit, how else could they be ruled?
Should they simply be slaughtered?
The Empire certainly had the power to do so.
They had always been prepared for that possibility.
To Shisui, these people were nothing more than outsiders—if they died, they died.
His face turned expressionless.
Shanks watched the scene unfold before him and couldn't help but smirk.
Before arriving at Lightmarker Island, the Four Emperors had already reached an unspoken understanding—though they hadn't officially met, each had made their stance clear.
The World Government had failed to rule them.
This so-called "Sun Empire" had even less of a chance!
For those who roamed the seas, there was only one true king—the Pirate King!
The situation seemed to have reached an irreversible point.
And just then—
The head of the Cruising Destroyer opened, revealing the cockpit.
Hakumen stepped forward.
Countless eyes immediately turned toward him.
Hakumen leaped down from the sky, landing in front of Shisui and Kakashi.
"It's him."
Both Shanks and Whitebeard narrowed their eyes slightly.
They recognized him—one of the Ten Crown Guards, the man who had once stood at Kakashi's side.
"Hakumen-senpai?" Shisui couldn't help but speak.
He had thought that, with the situation escalating to this point, they could simply begin a massacre.
"His Majesty has issued new orders." Hakumen said simply.
At that moment, the sky shifted dramatically.
Just as the pirates' fighting spirit had reached its peak, the heavens roared with thunder.
Dark clouds swirled, lightning streaked across the sky, and a sense of foreboding hung over the entire island.
RIIIIIP—
A long, pitch-black rift suddenly tore open in the middle of the island.
A tear in space itself.
Every single person turned their gaze toward this unnatural phenomenon, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
Even Shisui, Kakashi, and Mei assumed it meant that His Majesty, Hyuga Makoto, had personally arrived.
They were already prepared to kneel in reverence.
But—
It wasn't him.
From the spatial rift, two figures emerged.
They were unfamiliar to the Empire—but to the pirates?
To the pirates, these faces were unforgettable.
One of them…
Was etched into the very soul of every pirate who had ever sailed the seas.
"That's…"
"Impossible!"
The Four Emperors and the Seven Warlords of the Sea all widened their eyes in utter disbelief.
None of them could remain calm.
Because before them stood a man who had been dead for decades.
The Pirate King—Gol D. Roger!
And beside him…
A man few had ever seen with their own eyes—but those who had never forgot.
Rocks D. Xebec!
Among the Four Emperors, three of them had once been his crew members!
Roger's gaze swept over the Four Emperors and the Seven Warlords of the Sea, his face breaking into an enigmatic smile.
"Yo... So many familiar faces."
"..."
The once high-spirited pirates instantly fell into silence.
It was as if they had just seen a ghost.
Their eyes were filled with pure shock as they stared at the man who had just walked out of the spatial rift.
"Whitebeard, you've gotten old."
"And you've grown up, Shanks."
Both Whitebeard and Shanks were so stunned that they couldn't utter a single word.
They couldn't believe what they were seeing.
A man dead for so long… standing before them.
At that moment, a figure suddenly rushed forward from the crowd.
He had white hair and a white beard, glasses perched on his face.
His speed was incredibly fast, almost as if he had teleported right in front of Roger.
Roger looked at him and grinned.
"Rayleigh, huh? You've gotten old too."
"..."
This man was none other than Silvers Rayleigh, former first mate of the Roger Pirates—someone who had been hiding among the crowd until now.
Hakumen glanced at Shisui.
Shisui immediately understood.
His eyes shifted—the black tomoe in his Sharingan began to spin, transforming into a four-pointed windmill pattern.
Rayleigh frowned, staring at Roger.
Just as he was about to speak—
His body froze.
"Roger... It's really you."
The moment those words left his lips, the faces of the Four Emperors and the Seven Warlords changed dramatically.
Roger smiled faintly as his gaze swept across the gathered pirates.
"Do you think anyone would dare to impersonate me?"
Then— A crushing wave of Conqueror's Haki erupted from him.
In that instant, it was as if a giant invisible hand had wrapped around everyone's throats, squeezing tight—stealing the very air from their lungs.
This pressure was far beyond what Kaido and Big Mom had unleashed earlier.
There was no doubt about it— The true king of the sea had returned.
At that moment, countless minds came to the same realization.
Many had only seen Roger's face in newspaper clippings.
But now—faced with a pressure greater than even the Four Emperors'—
They knew.
This was no imposter.
This was the Pirate King himself!
The Pirate King is alive!
The overwhelming pressure suddenly vanished, as if it had never existed.
Hakumen calmly spoke to those around him, "Don't be afraid. This is His Majesty's power."
Crocodile, still shocked, had almost believed that the man before them was truly Gol D. Roger—
But Hakumen's words snapped him back to reality.
Was this Roger... fake?
Beside Roger, Rocks D. Xebec took a step forward, grinning as he looked at Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom.
"Do you still remember me?"
The three Emperors of the Sea fell into a deep silence.
There were very few people in this world who could make them submit.
But the two men standing before them were undeniably the strongest of their era.
At that moment, another figure suddenly rushed out from the crowd.
He sprinted toward Rayleigh's side, staring at Roger with overwhelming emotion—
"Is it really you, Captain?!"
His most distinctive feature was his comically large red nose—
Buggy the Clown.
"Ah, Buggy, long time no see." Roger smiled as he recognized him.
Then, he turned his gaze to everyone present.
"That execution back then—I never truly died. I simply arrived in this world before all of you."
The entire battlefield fell into absolute silence.
Everyone was still trapped in indescribable shock.
Roger continued:
"Here, I was welcomed by the Emperor of the Empire. This world is different from the one we once knew. The Sun Empire is not the World Government."
"You all are adventurers, lovers of freedom. The Empire will not restrict that. The Maritime Guild is not a means of control—
It simply asks that you do not harm the lives of Imperial citizens. The innocent should not suffer."
"By joining the Maritime Guild, you will no longer be pirates. You will become explorers of the vast sea—true navigators of adventure.
And the Empire will even offer you support."
These words finally broke through to the countless pirates present.
They realized something shocking—
The Pirate King... was standing with the Empire.
Ordinary pirates began to consider the credibility of Roger's words.
Because when these words came from the mouth of the Pirate King—
They carried far more weight than if they had come from Uchiha Shisui.
Whitebeard frowned deeply, his gaze locked onto Roger.
"Are you really Roger?!"
Roger remained silent, but before he could speak, Rayleigh stepped forward.
"He is my captain! I would never mistake him!"
Dark King Rayleigh, the man known as the "Right Hand of the Pirate King", the former first mate of the Roger Pirates—
His words carried an undeniable weight.
This only made Whitebeard and the others even more uncertain.
Was Roger... truly standing with the Empire?
No matter how reasonable his explanations sounded, Whitebeard and the others still found it inconceivable.
Then— Gol D. Roger suddenly took a step forward.
He spread his arms wide, his passionate voice echoing across the entire island:
"Oi! All of you who dream of freedom and treasure upon this vast sea!"
"Welcome to a brand-new world! This ocean has never been explored before. Who knows what mysteries it holds?"
"Here, I am no longer the Pirate King. Just like you, I am an adventurer, starting from nothing once again!"
"This is a new era for navigators! Let us set sail together and uncover the treasures of this world!"
"Whoever wins this grand race... will become the new king of the seas in this world!"
"Come! Join the Maritime Guild!"
--------------
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