Chapter 368: Truly Beyond Expectation
Sakazuki launched a fatal strike against Uchiha Dali's clone.
The blazing magma fist smashed him into the sea, where he vanished without a trace.
This scene was witnessed not only by countless Marines and pirates at Marineford but also by viewers around the world through the live broadcast.
For a moment, everyone was utterly shocked.
Cheers erupted one after another—mostly from the Marines at headquarters.
Just moments ago, they had thought Uchiha Dali's clone was acting so arrogantly because he had some kind of extraordinary trump card.
Who would have thought that a single punch from Sakazuki was all it took to finish him?
Boast the loudest, take the hardest hit.
With the mysterious enemy defeated, the Marines naturally felt elated.
At the same time, countless others felt a sense of pity for the fate of Uchiha Dali's clone.
"Just a fleeting bloom after all," Mihawk muttered to himself.
"So that's it? He's gone already? Fufufufufu… I thought he'd put on a much better show!" Doflamingo laughed menacingly.
Deep down, he had actually been hoping that mysterious man would deal a heavy blow to Marine Headquarters.
After all, he was a pirate—why would he sympathize with the Marines?
If it weren't for the advantages of his title as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, a position he could exploit for personal gain, he would have turned on the Marines long ago.
"Damn it, Sakazuki! Are you trying to make me lose face?"
"I told you not to destroy him, and yet you punched him straight into the sea!"
Moria was furious.
Now he couldn't even make the enemy into a zombie.
The Marines and the Warlords reacted differently, but most of them were either gloating or celebrating.
In contrast, the Whitebeard Pirates' reaction was far more subdued.
"So he's been taken care of…"
Whitebeard looked up at the sky, where Uchiha Dali and Ōtsutsuki Kyōshiki still hovered calmly above, watching.
His instincts told him things were not that simple.
But judging by what he saw, that mysterious man did appear to have been destroyed.
The boiling seawater didn't lie.
Besides, among all the Logia Devil Fruits, the Magma-Magma Fruit possessed the strongest offensive power. Even Whitebeard himself wasn't confident he could withstand such a strike head-on.
That mysterious man had clearly been hit squarely.
Unless he was immortal…
"It seems the odds aren't in his favor," Marco sighed.
"He was too arrogant. No one could survive that kind of attack," added Vista, shaking his head.
Meanwhile, on the execution platform, Sengoku finally let out a long breath of relief.
He had expected a fierce battle to break out.
But unexpectedly, Sakazuki had taken down that mysterious man so easily.
It seemed the opponent's strength was all appearance and no substance.
"But why can't we gauge their true power at all? Is it because they're just ordinary humans…?" Sengoku couldn't help but wonder.
Still, that hardly seemed important now.
"The two in the sky—they don't look quite right. They don't seem even the least bit affected by their comrade's death," Vice Admiral Tsuru remarked.
Her words made Sengoku tense up again.
Instinctively, he looked up at Uchiha Dali—and immediately noticed the playful smile on his face.
The same smile was mirrored by the other mysterious man.
Judging by their calm, almost amused expressions, it was clear things weren't nearly that simple.
"They're really impossible to read…" Garp sighed.
…
At the Holy Land, Mary Geoise—
The Five Elders, who were also watching events unfold, could not reach a firm conclusion.
They stared intently at the image of the boiling sea on the screen.
They, too, had thought the mysterious young man was dead when Sakazuki's fist shattered the ice and hurled him into the ocean.
But now, it didn't seem so certain.
"Even if he's dead, there are still two others. They're clearly the real threat," the bald Elder said calmly, analyzing the situation.
The live broadcast camera happened to be focused on Uchiha Dali and Ōtsutsuki Kyōshiki floating in the air.
The other Elders nodded in agreement.
As top-level experts themselves, they trusted their instincts—they could tell those two were no ordinary opponents.
"In that case, the one in the water might not be dead either. But if he's a Devil Fruit user, he won't be able to resurface," the short, stocky Elder said gravely.
No one else spoke.
For now, any judgment was mere speculation. Everything would depend on what they saw next.
And just like them, the whole world was waiting for the outcome.
After a while—
The turbulent sea gradually calmed. The frozen surface once again emitted faint wisps of cold vapor.
Almost everyone kept their eyes fixed on the gaping hole in the vast sheet of ice.
Whether to confirm the result or to hope for a miracle, none dared to blink.
Then, just as everyone had assumed Uchiha Dali's clone had sunk into the sea for good—when all were waiting for any sign of him resurfacing—
A mocking voice suddenly echoed from above.
"Were you looking for me?"
The words made everyone's face change as they snapped their heads upward.
And what they saw instantly sent Marineford into an uproar.
Uchiha Dali's clone was hovering right above them—less than a hundred meters in the air.
Like the other two mysterious men, he stood with his arms crossed, suspended effortlessly in the sky.
That mocking grin on his face made everyone below feel like fools.
"He—he's unharmed?!"
"When did he get up there? I didn't notice a thing!"
"Did he dodge the attack? Or… is that another clone?"
"How is this possible?! I clearly saw him take Admiral Sakazuki's blow head-on!"
The sudden reappearance of Uchiha Dali's clone in the sky threw the entire battlefield into chaos.
Moments ago, everyone had believed he was dead.
But against all expectations, he had returned completely unscathed.
In an instant, the relief that had washed over the crowd vanished, replaced once again by a suffocating sense of dread—like a heavy weight pressing down on their chests.
"I underestimated you," Sakazuki said coldly, glaring up at the clone.
"No rush. You still have eight minutes," the clone replied with a faint, teasing smile, raising a finger as if to mark the time.
Sakazuki's pupils narrowed sharply.
He squinted slightly. "Fine. Let's see how you handle what comes next!"