Chapter 1591 The Warring States Period: A Bit Discomfortable Time
The sounds of battle on the main battlefield of Marineford were deafening, but a strange unease, like a silent plague, was quietly spreading among the naval high command.
Some of the seriously wounded soldiers who were fortunate enough to be evacuated from rear field hospitals did not show relief on their faces, but rather extreme fear and bewilderment.
They kept their mouths tightly shut, not daring to make any extra noise, and were moved away with the help of their colleagues. That suppressed silence was more unsettling than any cry or shout.
Drake, covered in blood, endured the excruciating pain and staggered up the central tower of the Marine Headquarters.
He didn't even have time to salute before he moved close to Marshal Sengoku and, in a voice only the two of them could hear, quickly reported the unbelievable bad news from the rear.
"Marshal Steelbone was killed by General Zephyr!"
"Zeff is the Night Demon!"
"Lord Garp is currently engaged in a fierce battle with Night Demon in the ruins of the field hospital!"
Each word was like a cold, heavy hammer, striking Zhan Guo's heart hard. His usually calm and steady body suddenly trembled violently.
His pupils contracted to the size of pinpoints in an instant, and the color drained from his face at a visible speed. Cyborg was dead, Zephyr was Nightmare, and Garp and Zephyr fought to the death.
Any one of these three pieces of news would be enough to cause a major upheaval in the Navy!
When they strike simultaneously, the impact is devastating, like the sky collapsing and the earth sinking.
Even the solemn-looking Knight King Artoria, who had been standing quietly beside Sengoku, couldn't help but show a hint of extreme disbelief in her emerald green eyes after clearly catching Drake's whisper.
She gripped the invisible holy sword in her hand tightly, her gaze turning incredibly solemn as she looked back. Could Garp hold on?!
"Is it someone else's retelling or did you see it with your own eyes?" Sengoku's voice was hoarse, as if it had been sanded by sandpaper, and his fingers were digging deeply into his palms from excessive force.
"I saw it with my own eyes. Zephyr's strange appearance suggests he might be a Devil Fruit user. Marshal Kong's body is still in the rear," Drake said, his voice filled with pain and certainty.
Silence, dead silence.
Sengoku slowly closed his eyes, his chest heaving violently. A few seconds later, he suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze now filled with a cold, resolute determination.
He cannot afford to lose his composure; he is the Admiral of the Navy, the last pillar of support on this battlefield.
Sengoku turned to Vice Admiral Tsuru, whose face was also deathly pale, and said in a deep, unquestionable voice: “Tsuru, you go to the rear with Drake immediately and find out everything. If Garp needs help, you know what to do.”
"Yes, Marshal!" Crane answered without hesitation, fully aware of the gravity of the matter.
She and Drake exchanged a glance, then immediately turned around and disappeared beneath the city walls in a few leaps, speeding towards the ominous area far behind them.
Watching their departing figures, Sengoku suddenly turned around, facing the chaotic battlefield outside the city, his fists trembling violently with extreme anger.
The next instant, he threw a punch, slamming it hard into the sturdy crenellation of the city wall beside him, boom—!
Debris flew everywhere, and half of the wall was blasted down by his angry blow.
"So that's how it is! So it was him!"
The Warring States period squeezed out these words through gritted teeth, and at that moment all the clues and all the inconsistencies connected.
Why can Nightmare move freely within the Navy? Why is the self-investigation fruitless? Because that demon has always been hiding in their deepest recesses, hidden right beside them.
This will be the biggest scandal in the history of the Navy!
A former naval admiral, a hero symbolizing non-violence, turns out to be a cannibalistic monster who feeds on living beings!
Once this news gets out, the damage to the Navy's reputation will be devastating, and it may even shake the very foundation of the Navy's justice.
The news must be blocked!
We must eliminate Zephyr before things become irreversible, even if it means sacrificing Garp or more. Sengoku's eyes turned icy cold. For the sake of the Navy's justice, some sacrifices are necessary.
Meanwhile, off the coast of Marineford, in the Devil's Triangle, shrouded in thick fog.
"Water Release: Great Shark Bullet Technique!"
A triumphant smile appeared on Kisame Hoshigaki's ferocious face. He quickly formed hand seals and slammed them onto the surface of the sea.
The seawater beneath their feet instantly boiled, and a giant shark, over a hundred meters long and formed by a powerful ocean current, roared and leaped into the sky.
With its gaping maw wide enough to swallow a warship, it pounced on Kakuzu, who was not far away, with a terrifying aura that could crush everything.
"Fire Release: Head Carving"!
Kakuzu dared not be negligent. A heart within his body, corresponding to the fire-attribute Earth Grudge Mask, instantly appeared on his shoulder. He opened his mouth and spewed out a wave of scorching flames, as turbulent as the ocean, attempting to evaporate the water shark completely.
The enormous water shark, instead of being vaporized by the oncoming sea of fire, opened its massive jaws and inhaled sharply, swallowing the immense fire-escape power as if all rivers were flowing into the sea.
Instead of shrinking, the water shark expanded again at a visible speed, emitting even more terrifying energy fluctuations.
"What?! It can absorb ninjutsu?"
Kakuzu's heart sank. He immediately realized that he had made a fatal mistake. This water-style technique contained such a strange property.
"I wonder what your physical skills are like. Swallow it." Kisame stood in the water prison, watching the show he had created, a very satisfied expression on his face.
The next moment, the giant water shark, which had become even larger after absorbing the fire jutsu, let out a silent roar and chased after Kakuzu at an even faster speed.
Kakuzu could only dodge and weave on the surface of the sea. He tried to use wind release and lightning release, but all his ninjutsu attacks were like stones sinking into the sea when they hit the water shark. Instead, they became its nourishment.
For a moment, this bounty hunter, who had lived for over a hundred years, was being chased by a shark made of water, leaping and bounding on the surface of the sea, looking quite comical and pathetic.
"Damn it, we can't keep going like this..." Kisame frowned slightly as he looked at Kakuzu, who had been temporarily forced back.
His gaze passed over Kakuzu and landed on the distant, war-torn Marineford. Shiki, that madman, had unleashed his Devil Fruit power; Borsalino alone probably couldn't handle such a great pirate.
Kisame didn't want to continue playing the game of ninjutsu with Kakuzu. He wanted to use his water jutsu in a more appropriate way. He wondered if Shiki, in his current state, had evolved to the point where he could break free from the weakness of being restricted by seawater.
If seawater and Seastone have no effect on Shiki, then Shiki's Float-Float Fruit truly is like the power chain Buggy trained in—a genuine liberation of the nation, not a sham.
