A profound silence hung over the small island, mirrored by the glass-like stillness of the surrounding sea.
Suddenly, the ruins of a massive city materialized out of thin air. It crashed into the center of the island with a deafening roar, sending plumes of dust billowing into the sky.
Within the city walls, a crowd of people looked around in a daze, gripped by a collective existential crisis: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
Their last coherent memories were of the Nightmare Mother Tree launching a devastating assault on the Holy Land of Mariejois. Faced with the tree's overwhelming power, they had been utterly defenseless. Then, in the blink of an eye, they were here.
What was this place? And where had that monstrous tree gone?
"Are we dead? Is this... Heaven?" someone whispered into the bewildered silence.
As the crowd descended into a panic of uncertainty, a figure flickered into existence before them.
"Relax. You're all very much alive," the newcomer said. It was Minato Namikaze.
"Mr. Minato? What's going on?" Roger asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
Minato glanced at him, paused for a thoughtful beat, and then added, "Actually, I take that back. You're definitely still dead."
Roger: "..."
The crowd: "..."
Cough.
Seeing that his dry humor had missed the mark and left the atmosphere even more awkward, Minato cleared his throat.
"Once the Nightmare Mother Tree appeared, the Guild Master instructed me to prepare in secret. Just moments ago, the Second Hokage and I combined our efforts to trigger the Super Flying Thunder God Formation. We managed to warp the entirety of Mariejois here just in time."
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd as Minato's calm explanation sank in.
Moving an entire colossal city across the world in an instant? The sheer scale of such a feat was terrifying to contemplate.
Seeing their shocked expressions, Minato felt a small spark of pride. The Super Flying Thunder God Formation was the culmination of his recent research. Originally, the Flying Thunder God Formation was a technique he had taught to his guards—Genma, Raido, and Iwashi—allowing three people to teleport objects or individuals within their array.
This "Super" version, however, was a joint effort between Minato and Tobirama Senju, both masters of space-time ninjutsu. It covered a vastly larger area and boasted significantly greater range and speed.
As the explanation settled their nerves, the weight of the situation began to lift. Simultaneously, those who had been enslaved by the Mother Tree began to stir. With the distance between them and the tree significantly increased, the mental shackles were finally breaking.
"Ugh... my head is splitting..."
"Where are we? Everything is a blur. I can't remember a thing."
"What the hell? Who tied me up?!"
As consciousness returned, many found themselves bound or restrained by various means, leading to a wave of indignant confusion. But as the others explained what had transpired, the victims began to undergo their own existential crises.
Who am I? What did I do? And who gave me this black eye?
"Nami, my head hurts. Was I being controlled too?" Luffy asked, looking unusually bewildered.
Nami and the others nodded, their expressions a mix of relief and lingering annoyance. To their surprise, Luffy suddenly broke into a wide, toothy grin.
"Shishishi! I don't remember a thing! Sounds like it was pretty fun!"
"Fun, your head!" Nami and Usopp barked in unison, their tempers flaring. This idiot truly was heartless.
"To think that I, Whitebeard, would be so useless as to cause you all such trouble," Newgate sighed, his face etched with regret.
The members of the Whitebeard Pirates rushed to comfort him. "Pops, don't beat yourself up. There was nothing we could do. No one expected that tree to have such underhanded tricks."
Elsewhere, Killer approached a newly conscious Eustass Kid. "Captain, we were really worried about you. We were afraid someone would actually manage to beat you to death while you were out of it."
The first half of the sentence touched Kid's heart, but the second half made his face turn thunderous. "Piss off!" he roared.
"Fourth Hokage, where is the Guild Master and the others?" Itachi Uchiha asked, stepping forward.
He had scanned the area and noticed that only the refugees and the teleported fighters were present. There was no sign of Lin Xuan or Uchiha Madara, and even Tobirama Senju, whom Minato had mentioned, was nowhere to be found.
"The Guild Master and the others are still back at the site of the Mother Tree. They didn't come with us. The Second Hokage went back to assist them as soon as the jump was complete," Minato explained with a faint smile.
"Then we should head back immediately to support them!" Shisui Uchiha urged.
However, Minato shook his head. "The Guild Master gave specific orders. He said the battle ahead has reached a level that we simply cannot interfere with. He told us to stay here and just... 'shout 666' for him."
"Shout... 666?" The group stared at him, utterly blank.
Minato gave a wry, helpless smile. "Those were his exact words. I'm not entirely sure what it means myself, but the Guild Master seems to have a particular fondness for people cheering that phrase."
The crowd was left speechless.
"However, before we do anything else, we need to secure the area. We can't afford any chaos while the main battle is raging."
Minato's gaze shifted toward the perimeter where Rocks, Kaido, and their ilk were beginning to recover. The rest of the group followed his gaze, their eyes narrowing.
Boom!
Without another word, Minato and the other ninja moved. Roger and the rest of the heavy hitters reacted instantly, launching a coordinated strike to suppress the potential threats.
The skirmish was over almost as soon as it began. Though Rocks and his companions had regained their senses, they were physically and mentally drained from the previous battles. Exhausted and outnumbered, they were quickly subdued and restrained.
As for the remnants of the World Government, Kong and the other high-ranking officials chose not to resist. They huddled together, watched closely by members of the Ninja Guild who monitored their every move.
Suddenly, a massive shimmering screen manifested in the sky above the island, visible to everyone.
Lin Xuan had gone live.
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T/N:
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