Ren's calm voice rang out. Kaido nodded his massive dragon head, a hint of acknowledgement appearing on his ferocious face.
The fact that the enemy could defend against successive attacks from him and Linlin nearly unscathed proved they possessed considerable skill.
Facing an enemy in this massive dragon form was too cumbersome; it left too many openings for someone to exploit.
"Roar!"
A draconic cry escaped his mouth as Kaido's feet slammed heavily onto the ground, shattering the rocks beneath him.
*Thump!*
The long, winding dragon body rapidly shrank, transforming into a humanoid shape. In the blink of an eye, the transformation was complete.
Now, Kaido was covered in azure scales, his mouth filled with fangs. Four sharp horns protruded from his head, and a thick, long tail swayed behind him.
He pulled a pitch-black mace from beneath his cape and hoisted it onto his shoulder. His brownish-yellow vertical pupils remained fixed on the distant enemy.
On the side of the Sage of the Six Paths, the two men were also staring intently at their opponent, looks of shock flashing across their solemn faces.
"The Azure Dragon actually turned into a human!"
"The folktales and myths probably don't even compare to this."
Under the cold moonlight, the Soul Society faction held their weapons, their ferocious auras filling the air with an intense pressure.
To the left was the woman floating on a thundercloud, accompanied by the long-tongued man on the ground holding a candy staff.
To the right was the brute who had just shifted from dragon to human form, alongside a mammoth radiating savage bloodlust.
The Shinigami himself stood at the very center, his expression remaining calm and solemn.
Among all these beings, the Shinigami was the shortest, yet his dense aura radiated power and confidence, asserting his dominant position at every moment.
The Sage of the Six Paths' grave voice echoed in Hamura's mind.
'Hamura, we'll stick to the plan. I'll stall the Shinigami while you take the opportunity to deal with his guards first.'
'Understood, Brother.'
Having made up their minds, the two advanced toward the Shinigami with their shakujo in hand.
*Rumble!*
The moment they stepped out of the crater, the energy accumulated in the ground erupted, and a stone wall rose to block their path.
Their eyes instinctively turned back. The eyes on the mountain were weeping, yet they held a glimmer of resolve.
"I won't let Mother down!"
A massive mouth emerged from the stone wall, opening wide like a dark abyss as it lunged at the two Sages, intending to swallow them whole once more.
Naturally, the two would not sit idly by. A mere stone wall could not provide any real hindrance.
Hamura simply waved his hand, and a violent repulsive force erupted, instantly destroying the wall.
As the debris rained down, two massive figures suddenly flashed before them.
One stepped on clouds, azure-scaled and fanged, his face filled with battle intent.
The other rode a thundercloud, wreathed in flames, appearing exceptionally vicious.
A greatsword and a mace swung down toward them with all their might.
"Ocean Sovereignty!"
*Boom!*
Two attacks erupted from their respective weapons, merging into a single shockwave of staggering power that slammed into the two Sages.
This was a combined technique executed by Big Mom and Kaido. Having charged it for a long time, the sheer power of the strike exceeded all imagination.
Furthermore, this attack landed almost point-blank.
At such close range, the two Sages couldn't possibly dodge.
Even using their Truth-Seeking Balls for defense was too slow.
"Hah!"
Since they couldn't dodge, they simply wouldn't!
The two let out a furious cry as the chakra within them erupted. The Tenseigan grew brighter, while the Rinnegan turned colder.
A powerful repulsive force surged from both of them simultaneously. Before it could even expand, the impact from Big Mom and Kaido's combined strike reached them.
The hastily summoned repulsion hadn't reached its peak and couldn't hold out against such a massive shockwave.
Without resisting for even a fraction of a second, the two were sent flying along with their repulsive force by the shockwave.
*Pfft!*
Both spat out blood. The brutal impact felt like being struck by a meteorite; every inch of bone and flesh struggled to stay intact under the immense pressure.
The chakra making up their bodies scattered on the spot, nearly causing their forms to collapse.
Fortunately, their chakra reserves were vast. As parts of their bodies shattered, they were instantly repaired.
However, in this state, they couldn't divert enough chakra to launch an effective counterattack and could only endure the onslaught.
In this cycle, their bodies were restored five or six times before the powerful impact was finally exhausted.
The two instinctively breathed a sigh of relief, hovering in the air as they looked ahead.
The debris on the ground before them had been swept away, exposing the soil beneath.
The two massive enemy figures stood at the edge of the barren ground, roughly a thousand meters away.
Despite using gravity manipulation to resist, they had been blown back over a kilometer!
The Sage of the Six Paths wiped the blood from his mouth and looked at his brother with concern.
"Hamura, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I just consumed some chakra."
Chakra surged within Hamura, healing all his injuries.
Their current forms were aggregates of chakra; since their physical appearance was condensed from chakra, temporary damage was of little concern.
No matter how severe the injury or how many times their bodies were pulverized, they could recover instantly as long as they had enough chakra.
*Rumble!*
While the two were being attacked, Gaia had completed her move.
Earth walls rose high from all directions like a mountain range, linking together to form a massive enclosure that trapped the entire battlefield.
A pair of giant eyes slowly opened on one of the mountain walls, revealing a mouth beneath.
"Mother, the battlefield has been set."
"Well done, Gaia."
Big Mom praised her before turning to look into the distance.
She saw the condition of the two brothers a kilometer away clearly.
When she saw their injuries vanish in the blink of an eye, her beautiful face darkened, her eyes clouded by a shadow.
"To think they could act like nothing happened after taking 'Ocean Sovereignty'."
"Worororo! That's for the best. Now we can fight to our hearts' content!"
Unlike Big Mom's gloom, Kaido was filled with fighting spirit, looking forward to the coming battle with great anticipation.
Big Mom warned, "Kaido, don't let your bloodlust cloud your judgment. Don't forget our objective!"
"Of course I know," Kaido laughed. "We're just testing their hidden abilities. It would be best to separate the two."
Pausing, Kaido continued, "From what I can see, other than being durable and having those displayed abilities, there's nothing else worth noting about them."
Hearing Kaido's words, Big Mom nodded slightly, her gloom dissipating into a cruel grin.
"As for their weaknesses... Ma-ma-ma-ma! There are far too many!"
"Their attacks are one-dimensional, their intentions are obvious, and they have zero combat awareness. It's like children brawling—they practically don't know how to fight at all."
"Not to mention, those two old men fell for the same trick twice. A thousand years of life truly was a waste."
"Ma-ma-ma-ma! It's hard to believe that people like this are at the peak of this world."
Kaido sneered, "Worororo! Opponents like this are nothing more than sandbags waiting to be hit!"
With that, they looked at each other, both seeing the savage smiles in the other's eyes.
Their clouds sped forward, rushing toward the location of the two brothers.
The problems Big Mom and Kaido saw were, naturally, apparent to Ren as well.
'It seems I overestimated these two progenitors of the shinobi world.'
He stood atop the high earth wall, looking down at the battlefield below.
Big Mom and Kaido charged toward the brothers at high speed, and the battle erupted once more.
Thunder roared, and flames surged.
Violent explosions rang out continuously, and the battle caused the ground to shake.
Seeing this, Ren's brow quirked slightly, a sense of ease filling his heart.
If nothing else, after receiving a portion of his power, Kaido and Linlin's destructive capabilities had significantly improved.
Working together, they could even briefly suppress the two brothers.
Ren had originally planned to proceed with caution, letting Big Mom and Kaido test the brothers' trump cards before separating and defeating them one by one.
But he hadn't expected the Sage of the Six Paths and Hamura to be so inexperienced in combat.
They understood neither combat logic nor tactical finesse.
They hadn't developed a combat style of their own; they simply relied on their massive chakra to throw out skills at random.
They were the type who relied purely on overwhelming force.
Now it seemed that Big Mom and Kaido alone might be enough to defeat the two brothers.
The pathetic performance of the two brothers didn't match their immense chakra at all.
After some thought, Ren found it unsurprising.
Back then, the two brothers fought a naive Kaguya-hime for so many days before barely managing to seal her.
It was clear that their tactical intelligence was abysmal.
Only through life-and-death struggle can one gain a deeper understanding of combat.
The two brothers were born powerful and had no rivals in the shinobi world except for Kaguya-hime.
After death, they styled themselves as the guardians of the shinobi world, so they naturally hadn't experienced repeated battles to the death.
Compared to Big Mom and Kaido, who had survived countless bloodbaths, the two brothers' weak combat experience was no different from children who didn't know how to fight.
Beside Ren, Perospero licked his staff and looked at the battlefield below with a grin.
"It looks like Mother and Mr. Kaido can defeat these legendary figures without our King even needing to step in."
The mammoth had already transformed into his human shape, revealing Jack's true appearance as he stood on Ren's other side.
Hearing Perospero's words, Jack nodded repeatedly. His voice sounded muffled through his mask.
"Exactly. With Mr. Kaido there, no one is a threat!"
Ren looked at the two beside him and asked, "Aren't you two going down to help Linlin and Kaido?"
"Mr. Kaido entrusted me to serve as the King's guard. I won't move an inch," Jack said. "If anyone tries to get close to the King, they'll have to go over my dead body."
If nothing else, he had never feared anyone when it came to physical resilience.
Staying by King Ren's side, he could at least act as a meat shield to buy time for Ren to counterattack.
Perospero said, "Mother told me the same thing."
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Ren nodded slightly and smiled inwardly, dismissive of the concern.
With his current power, there were very few beings in the shinobi world who could truly threaten him.
Perospero watched the fight for a while before suddenly turning to look at Ren.
"King, at this rate, defeating the Sage of the Six Paths and his lot is a sure thing."
"Once we take the shinobi world, we should celebrate properly. How about a banquet?"
Hearing this, Ren turned to Perospero with a hint of confusion.
"It is worth celebrating. Why? Do you have something in mind?"
Perospero nodded quickly, his expression growing excited.
"King, what better way to boost morale than a wedding?"
"I know an incredibly beautiful and powerful lady. If the King doesn't mind, I'll introduce her to you. We can hold the wedding as soon as this war ends!"
"Perospero, don't raise death flags during a battle." Ren glanced sideways at him. "And I'm already married. I have a formal wife."
"I know, it's Lady Yoruichi."
Perospero waved his hand dismissively, puffing out his chest with high spirits.
"No matter. That lady doesn't care about such trivialities."
Seeing his excited state, Ren's heart stirred. He immediately realized what was happening, and his solemn face was replaced by an expression of speechlessness.
"Perospero, let me ask just in case... is the name of this lady Charlotte Linlin?"
"Exactly! It's Mother."
"...A son acting as a pimp for his own mother. I won't even comment on your filial piety."
"It is Mother's wish as well."
"Then I must respectfully refuse," Ren said flatly.
With Linlin's eight-meter-tall physique, she could swallow him whole without a problem.
He had no such fetishes!
Jack chuckled from the side. "Hmph. Perospero, your plans have failed again. How many times has it been now?"
"Shut up, Jack! What does a blockhead like you know!" Perospero shouted.
Ren turned his gaze back to the battlefield below. The combat between the two sides was intensifying.
After such a long battle, Big Mom and Kaido were beginning to pant, whereas the two brothers appeared almost unscathed.
He had to admit, the chakra of these two Sages was incredibly dense.
Despite being worn down by Big Mom and Kaido's combined efforts for so long, they only looked slightly tired. Their overall state was not far from their peak.
'If this continues, Linlin and Kaido might eventually win, but it will take far too much time.'
"Perospero, Jack, come down with me."
With that, Ren jumped down.
Jack and Perospero looked at each other, their expressions gradually turning grave.
Their King was planning to join the fray personally!
They both knew their King was powerful—after all, the strength they possessed was a gift from a portion of his power.
Yet neither of them had any real concept of the King's actual strength.
Could it be that they were about to witness the King's true power with their own eyes?
Thinking of this, the two followed closely behind, leaping toward the battlefield below.
On the battlefield.
Another combined attack from Kaido and Big Mom concluded, and both stopped their movements.
Looking at the recovering Sage of the Six Paths and his brother, a trace of fatigue appeared in their eyes.
"These two old farts have been dead forever, yet they're so damn tanky!"
"To endure this long under our combined assault... they don't act like old men at all!"
While Kaido and Big Mom took the chance to recover their strength, the Sage of the Six Paths and Hamura also circulated their chakra to restore their bodies.
On the Sage of the Six Paths' calm, elderly face, a trace of impatience finally began to surface.
"I didn't expect these two massive beings to be so troublesome. And we still have the Shinigami to deal with."
If just two subordinates were this difficult to handle, there was no telling how powerful that Shinigami actually was.
"Brother, we still have plenty of chakra in reserve. We can keep fighting indefinitely."
Hamura's face showed a look of determination.
During this brief truce, Big Mom and Kaido had also recovered some energy and were preparing to launch another offensive.
The two brothers also prepared their counter-offensive.
Just as the fight was about to erupt, a heavy voice rang out.
"Linlin, Kaido, fall back."
Hearing the familiar voice, Kaido and Big Mom stepped aside and looked back.
Three figures of varying heights slowly emerged from the shadows.
*Schwing—*
The man in the center slowly drew the treasured blade from his waist. The blade reflected the clear moonlight, emitting a chilling radiance and a bone-deep coldness.
The bright moonlight also illuminated the newcomer's appearance.
Dressed in black robes, he had a steady gaze and a solemn expression. His thick eyebrows swept upward like rising flames.
It was none other than Ren.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]