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"Damn itā¦ we should've declared full war the moment Ayr set foot in the Holy Land, Mariejois!" Zephyr clenched his fists, veins bulging with regret. If only they had struck when Ayr was still clashing with the Five Elders. Back then, all four of themāhe, Garp, Sengoku, and Kongācould have reinforced the Five Elders. With their might combined, even if Ayr wielded the Ten Tails, the Rinnegan, and the power of Conqueror's Haki, he wouldn't have gained the overwhelming advantage he now had. But it was too late. The battle had already progressed, and three of the Five Eldersāguardians of the World Government for centuriesāhad been slain. Only the blade-wielding elder survived, clinging to life and kneeling on shattered ground.
Now, even if the remaining veterans stood united against Ayr, the outcome was far from certain. "Todayā¦ we must kill Ayr in Mariejois! No matter the cost!" Zephyr said, his voice low but steely with resolve. They had seen Ayr's power firsthandāthe way he harnessed his Eternal MangekyÅ Rinnegan to pull a Tengai Shinsei from the sky, the way he forced even Garp, the Hero of the Marines, into a defensive stance. If he walked away from this battle aliveāCrane shudderedāthen the destruction he would bring to this sea would spiral further out of control.
"That's right!" Garp snarled, Conqueror's Haki crackling violently. "A monster like himā¦ we must not fear death. We have to stop him!"
"Together, now!" Kong commanded, and the battlefield flared with energy as the five veteransāKong, Sengoku, Zephyr, Garp, and Craneālaunched toward Ayr.
But then, a woman's voice rang out from above. "Stop."
It was only a single word, calm yet commanding, but enough to arrest the momentum of every soul on the field. Ayr, Kong, Sengoku, Zephyr, Garp, Crane, the scarred elder, the knife-wielding elder, Whitebeard, Akainu, Kizaru, Aokijiāevery last one turned their gaze upward. There, suspended in the air, was a figure cloaked in black robes. Her face was veiled by shadow, her aura unreadable yet suffocating.
"L-Lord Imā¦!!!" The knife-wielding elder gasped, blood dripping from his wounds as he collapsed to one knee without hesitation. Murmurs rippled through the battlefield. Sheā¦ who is she? Even the Five Elders revere her? I've never even heard of herā¦ Does the World Government have a ruler above the Five Elders? Noā¦ the Five Elders are the supreme council! If someone like her existsā¦ then who the hell is Im?!
The high-ranking officials and CP0 agents nearby were visibly shaken. Not a single one of them had ever heard the name "Im" in any government record. And yet here she wasāappearing above them all like a divine specter. Even the Elders knelt.
"Kong and the others halted mid-charge, their instincts and battle senses colliding with a sensation far more ancientāsubmission. Sengoku narrowed his eyes, golden light reflecting off his glasses. "I don't know who she isā¦ but for the Five Elders to kneel to her, her power must be beyond imagination." Sengoku was no fool. The Five Eldersāthough secretiveāhad displayed terrifying power in this very battle: one wielded black flames reminiscent of Amaterasu, one could tear space like Law's Ope Ope no Mi, and another mirrored the gravity of Fujitora's orbs. Yet they knelt before this woman. There was only one conclusion: Im wasn't a leader. She was a god.
"If she's on our sideā¦ why did she stop us?" Garp asked, still burning with frustration. If she was truly allied with the World Government, she should've helped finish off Ayr. Why interfere now? "Don't worry," Kong said firmly, though doubt flickered across his face. "Someone who commands the Five Eldersā¦ she must have a plan. Let's wait. But no matter whatā¦ Ayr must die today."
On the opposite end of the battlefield, Ayr hovered, his tattered cloak whipping in the distorted wind as he studied Im silently. For centuries, the Five Elders had been considered the apex of the World Government's hierarchy, yet deep down he had always suspected that something greater lurked in the shadowsāthe one who created the World Government 800 years ago, the same era when Joy Boy fell, the one the Void Century tried to erase: Im, the ghost behind the throne. No records existed, not even within the Poneglyphs. Only the Five Elders knew of her existence. She had survived for centuries, ruling the world from the shadows longer than any mortal had lived.
Ayr didn't know her power, but if she had endured 800 years, it had to be close to immortality. She was the antithesis of freedom, and heāthe fire born from Ashura's will and Naruto's soulāstood in rebellion against her.
"Your name is Ayr, correct?" she asked calmly, hands folded behind her back as she floated through the air.
"So what?" Ayr replied, arms crossed, his body glowing faintly with the dying embers of Ten Tails' chakra.
"You've used a forbidden power," Im said coolly. "The strain is consuming your body. Even now, you're fraying."
"Even so," Ayr answered without blinking, "if I die, I won't let you or your world get away unscathed." He didn't know her strength, but he had defeated three of the Five Elders alone. Even if Im was stronger, how much stronger could she be? Could she truly crush him in a single move? If she could, then so be itāhe would die, but he'd make her pay the price.
"Is that so?" Im said lightly, and then she attacked. She didn't roar, didn't posture, didn't monologue. In an instant, she shot forward, splitting the air itself, space screaming around her movement.
"She's fast!" Ayr narrowed his eyes. He had no choice. Clenching his fists, shrouded in black-and-red Armament and Conqueror's Haki twisted by Ten Tails chakra, he called on the final embers of his strength. The experience cardāNaruto's Sage of Six Paths transformationāwas near expiry. His body was already damaged from internal backlash, and the Ten Tails still clawed at his sanity. I have to end this fast.
"BOOM!" Even before they clashed, the sheer force of their aura tore across Mariejois. Wind ripped through towers as the air collapsed under thunderous pressure. Above them, the sky blackened, clouds twisting into a vortex as thunder screamed and lightning descended in a web of blue flame. Their fistsāone mortal, one ancientācollided, and for thirty seconds, the world shook.
Then they parted, hovering once more in the sky, eyeing each other through the chaos they had created. Tornadoes spiraled from the shockwaves. The Red Line trembled. And below, the world held its breath.
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