Boom!!
Eric collapsed straight to the ground.
Blood dripped from the air.
A small cut had appeared on Shanks' face, but behind Eric, a faint white scar seemed to stretch across the sky, as if it had forcefully severed the power of the entire archipelago.
Shanks had cut through the power of the dragon veins with a single strike. And with the sudden disappearance of that power, Eric's final move never came to be.
His body had already reached its limit. At that moment, the abrupt loss of power made it impossible for him to complete his last attack.
Eric's swordsmanship wasn't weak—but it wasn't that strong either.
What truly made him powerful wasn't his strength—it was his will.
It was that will that had allowed him to survive past battles.
To be honest, willpower is hard to define, but one thing is undeniable—when these veteran pirates faced Shanks, their resolve was on a completely different level.
Eric had relied on that incredible will—far beyond his actual level—to channel the entire dragon vein energy of the Flower Archipelago.
Even he didn't fully understand what that power was. He only knew that it made him stronger.
As for Shanks, he had no reason to kill Eric.
Eric was worthy of being his opponent—but only just worthy.
"These guys…"
Shanks sheathed his sword, deep in thought.
On the ship by the shore, the crew looked at the dragon veins that had been suppressed in a single strike.
Their expressions were a mix of shock and disbelief.
"Shanks… he didn't just get stronger again, did he?"
Zabuza stared at the sky. The feeling was unmistakable—something was different.
Back in the Land of Wind, Shanks wasn't this strong.
But now, he looked completely at ease.
It wasn't just Zabuza who was shocked.
Beside him, Shisui's face had turned serious. He could see it clearly—
Shanks had definitely grown stronger.
And it wasn't just a little.
"Shanks doesn't seem like he trains at all."
At that moment, Shisui finally understood the shock Zabuza and Madara had felt when they first saw Shanks.
Only those who had actually seen how Shanks trained could grasp how ridiculous he really was. His training methods... well, they were nothing like a normal person's.
But what was even crazier was how fast his strength grew—it was completely different from normal people too.
And by "normal people," this wasn't referring to average folks, but geniuses. Shanks was different from the usual prodigies of the ninja world. There was no logic to his growth.
"But he's clearly gotten a lot stronger."
Zabuza nodded in agreement. Standing next to Shanks really was overwhelming.
"To be honest, I never want to see Shanks get serious."
"Same here. For people like us, it's just too discouraging."
Seeing Zabuza and Shisui like this, Haku fell silent.
Haku was self-aware. He knew he was one of the top geniuses in the ninja world today, and his future achievements would be among the greatest.
In fact, among the younger generation, he was definitely at the very top.
When it came to both strength and intelligence, Haku alone was enough to dominate his peers.
As for strength, there were only a few in his generation who could match him in battle—Naruto, Sasuke, Karin, and Kimimaro.
Naruto and Sasuke were still in the phase of building up their power. Karin had already reached her limit, but when the Dragon Vein erupted, her potential rose even further.
As for Kimimaro... he was simply a natural-born warrior, a true battle genius among the younger generation.
But among all of them, none could match Haku in intelligence. Right now, Haku had the ability to see through the big picture of the ninja world, and he was more than capable of making strategic moves that could influence it.
How should this be put?
Haku's mind wasn't on the same level as his peers anymore—he was competing with the older generation now.
He could be compared to veterans like Nara Shikaku, who had both experience and intellect, or Jiraiya, who had gone through countless real-world trials.
Even Shikamaru was nowhere near Haku's level yet.
So Haku had every reason to be proud.
But after seeing Shanks in action, he completely gave up.
"Lord Shanks is always so lazy and carefree… it's really deceiving."
"Yeah! I mean, we all knew Shanks was strong, but he usually doesn't seem *that* strong."
Hearing Haku's exhausted tone, Zabuza and Shisui also lost their spirit.
The two of them just stood there, looking completely deflated, like all the life had been drained out of them.
Look at what Shanks had done—he had crushed Haku's fighting spirit entirely. A young warrior full of ambition had just given up in an instant.
"But still…"
Zabuza, Shisui, and Haku turned their half-dead expressions toward the side, where Yahiko and the others looked even more shocked than them.
Shanks had just cut off all the life energy of the entire archipelago, completely suppressing it.
With just a single slash, the untouchable life force of the islands had vanished.
The sheer scale of this power was already beyond reason for the experienced warriors here. And yet… there was something even more absurd.
The three of them stood there, mouths wide open, jaws practically on the ground, frozen in complete disbelief.
Forget it. Let's give Yahiko and his group a little taste of the new era's shock. Who knows if sending these three here was the right decision by Nagato?
Anyway, judging by the situation, it looks like these three won't be going back to their old ways anytime soon.
The only one who remained calm was Amado. He didn't need to guide the entire ninja world with his intellect, nor did he have to prove his strength to anyone.
As the purest scholar among them, Amado was the only one whose style hadn't fallen apart.
"I remember Shanks' strength far surpasses the limits of the ninja world. He even said before that he's constantly being watched by the will of the world."
"So… on the surface, it looks like Shanks isn't training, but in reality, he's always in a state of training."
Amado spoke in a calm tone. Shanks always seemed lazy, but that was only because he was constantly resisting the will of the world.
No one knew exactly how it worked, but Shanks was always multitasking, which sometimes made him look lost in thought.
Hearing Amado's words, Shisui and the others were stunned. Now that they thought about it, it made sense. In the end, the one pushing himself the hardest was actually Shanks.
"He's making it impossible for the rest of us to keep up."
"Well, he is a man fighting against the world. That guy carries a heavy burden—it's not as easy as it looks."
Zabuza and Shisui sighed, then both turned to look at the young Haku.
Haku shivered. Even with his gentle personality, he couldn't stand how shameless these two were.
"Why are you looking at me? I'm already working really hard.
And Shisui, you should've dragged Karin and that Sasuke guy into this instead."
Haku was speechless. He was the only junior here, so whenever something came up, everyone just looked at him—
As if saying, "The future is in your hands."
"Haha, don't worry about it."
"Yeah, yeah, Haku, you're already amazing."
Zabuza and Shisui laughed awkwardly. As seniors, they were starting to realize just how shameless they were being.
Amado, on the other hand, continued explaining.
"It's not just about effort.
The power of the Dragon Vein is making the entire world grow stronger. That means it's not just the living beings in this world—it's the world itself that is getting stronger."
"This is the same thing we talked about before. Everyone is getting stronger, and as the overall strength of the world rises, the gap between regular people and ninjas is shrinking.
The difference in power between individuals won't be as obvious anymore."
"But Shanks is a special case because he isn't competing against regular people. He's competing against… the world itself.
As the world gets stronger, Shanks' basic abilities also improve, which means the gap between his power and the world's power is getting smaller."
Amado explained that Shanks' growth was different from everyone else's in the ninja world.
"Hmm… So does that mean that once we reach a level where we can interact with the will of the world, we'll be able to do what Shanks does?"
"Not even close."
The easiest way to touch the will of the world is by mastering Conqueror's Haki—also known as Reverse Sage Mode. But one wrong step, and you die.
Even if you succeed in training, you still won't reach Shanks' level because his strength is already beyond the limits of the ninja world."
Amado pulled out a drawing board from who knows where.
The will of the ninja world was like a sphere, and Shanks' power had already carved out a corner of that sphere.
The more power Shanks used, the stronger the world's pullback force on that corner became.
As the ninja world—or rather, this entire sphere—expanded, the force pulling everything back weakened. Because of that, even if Shanks' strength remained the same, he could still break through to an even higher level.
But the real issue was that Shanks didn't just stay the same—he got even stronger.
That's why he could now use techniques like this so easily.
"In this state, an ordinary person would probably be crushed instantly by the world's will. Even Orochimaru might not be able to pull it off."
To be fair, even though Amado had never fought Shanks before, his analysis was spot on.
Before the full activation of the Dragon Vein, Orochimaru had tried something similar—using the Dragon Vein and the world's will to fight against Shanks.
But in the end, that method of borrowing the world's will to resist Shanks was completely torn apart by Shanks himself, leaving Orochimaru half-dead.
At the same time, it had to be said—Orochimaru's willpower was absolutely insane. After all, that was his one and only chance.
His only chance, gained by any means necessary, to go all in against Shanks.
Yet despite being beaten nearly to death, Shanks held on till the very end, completely destroying both Orochimaru and the Dragon Vein of the ancient kingdom of Roran.
In the end, Orochimaru couldn't hold out and was eventually devoured by the backlash of the world's will, leaving him… not exactly in his right mind these days.
So, for a normal person to break past the limits of the ninja world like Shanks did, they might be able to hold on for a while, but if they kept it up too long, they'd just drop dead on the spot.
Shanks was well aware of his problem, but the biggest issue was that there was nothing he could do about it. From the very start, his story had already gone off track.
By the time he realized he wasn't in the pirate world anymore, it was already too late.
It was like sending a message and then realizing too late that you couldn't unsend it.
What could Shanks do? The only choice was to reshape the ninja world into something that fit him.
And as the age of pirates arrived, his strength kept climbing.
Other people might not have realized it, but it was exactly as Amado's analysis predicted.
At that moment, Shanks returned to normal, and the thunderclouds in the sky disappeared.
"Ah!! I won again, hahaha."
"As expected of me. But you're pretty good too—you can actually take my attacks now."
Shanks grinned.
He dug through his memories and finally remembered the guy standing before him. Back then, when he struck down Dark, the poor bastard in front of him had been caught in the shockwave.
And got sent straight to the bottom of the sea.
"The weakling who almost died just from getting hit by the aftershock of my attack… has finally reached a level where I actually have to fight him."
"In this era of rising legends, your name deserves to be remembered. Dying here would be a waste."
"The next time we meet, draw your sword against me again—this time, in front of the heroes of this new era, Eric."
There was admiration in Shanks' voice. To rise to this level as an ordinary person—that was exactly the kind of thing he wanted to see.
This era shouldn't have just one guiding light.
The sea was vast, the future stretched far ahead. If there was only one beacon to follow, wouldn't that be far too lonely?
The only pity was that, for now, the ninja world still had no one who could take the torch from his hands.
Shanks' heart was too big, his vision too far-reaching. Many things that seemed simple to him were things this era would still need to catch up to.
That's why, when facing someone like Eric, Shanks had no desire to kill—only admiration.
That was Shanks' spirit—the spirit that made him recognized across the ninja world as one of the Four Emperors, Red-Haired Shanks!
Hearing Shanks' words, a relieved smile slowly appeared on Eric's lips.
So… he had already been recognized by Shanks as a true warrior.
So that guy… even remembered a small fry like him.
The next moment, Erik's consciousness sank into complete darkness.
Shanks let out a sigh and stepped forward, ready to lift Erik up.
"Don't move!!"
An old man's voice rang out, and the barrel of a black gun was aimed right at Shanks' head.
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