Kuma was confused. "Captain, you..."
Setsuna's voice was unusually calm. "Storming Mary Geoise was my decision. I can't let the whole world pay the price for it. I will stop Uranus."
Kuma's pupils contracted violently. "That's too dangerous! Uranus's power..."
"Go!" Setsuna's voice carried an unquestionable authority. "If you distract me and cause the interception to fail, you'll be a sinner against this world!"
Kuma's lips trembled. Finally, he nodded heavily, a glimmer of something crystalline flashing in the corner of his eye.
With a final crisp pat sound, the Revolutionary Army's [Tyrant] vanished from the spot.
The ruined Mary Geoise was left with only two living souls, Setsuna and Imu, and the world-annihilating weapon poised to fire overhead.
"How noble..." Imu mocked with a smile.
Setsuna was a bit surprised. "You don't plan to escape?"
Imu's expression was cold. "Imu should have told you. Imu cannot leave Mary Geoise."
Setsuna raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't it Queen Lili's body that couldn't leave Mary Geoise?"
Imu's face stiffened. An expression of shock appeared. "Imu actually forgot..."
Thinking of this, her six wings suddenly flapped violently, speeding towards the edge of the Red Line.
But before she could fly far, she was kicked back by a whip-like kick from Setsuna.
"What? Didn't you say you wanted the world to accompany you in death?" Setsuna taunted.
"Get out of the way, or we'll both die!" Imu roared.
"Perfect!" Setsuna said righteously. "Even if I die, I'll drag you, this demon, down with me!"
This was a lie. When he couldn't hold on any longer, he would end the crossing and directly return to the Naruto World.
Uranus's cannon muzzle was now bright as day. The blinding light even scorched the surrounding space.
When the light finally erupted, the air ionized, space tore, and even time itself seemed to stand still at that moment.
Simultaneously, the Spirit Bomb between Setsuna's upraised hands had been refined to its utmost limit.
This sphere of light, condensed from the wishes of living beings across the world, emitted a warm, sacred radiance.
"Go!"
With Setsuna's low shout, the Spirit Bomb left his hands.
Two diametrically opposed energies collided in mid-air.
In that moment, it seemed all sound vanished from the world.
The energy storm generated by the collision instantly swept across hundreds of kilometers.
Setsuna's skin rapidly charred under the high temperature. His bones groaned under unbearable strain.
His vision filled with white light. Only a sharp ringing remained in his ears.
At the moment his body was about to collapse, Setsuna decisively returned to his original world.
Imu, also enduring the tearing force of the energy storm, was utterly dumbfounded, 'Chiaki Setsuna, where did you go?! We agreed to die together!'
In the One Piece World, the aftershocks of the explosion continued.
The energies of the Spirit Bomb and the Planet-Destroying Cannon neutralized each other, transforming into an energy storm that swept across the globe.
The Red Line trembled violently. Countless fissures spread along the continental shelf, but ultimately, it did not sink.
The seas surged with kilometer-high waves. Volcanoes in the New World erupted collectively. The Grand Line's climate was thrown into complete chaos. But the world was, in the end, saved.
Two days later, explosive news spread across the world via the World Economic News Paper:
[The Great Sage, The Great Prophet, His Excellency Chiaki Setsuna, Perishes Together with the Greatest Evil in History]
[...In the final battle against the [Master of the Empty Throne], His Excellency Chiaki Setsuna gave his life to prevent the crisis of world annihilation. Although the Red Line suffered severe damage, the flame of civilization was preserved...]
Morgans's writing, for once, carried genuine respect. [He was the greatest hero of this era!]
…
Meanwhile, back in the Naruto World, Setsuna had finally recovered.
To conserve Senzu Beans, he hadn't used one directly this time. Instead, he released his Food Honor, so recovery took a bit longer.
"The recovery from that near-fatal injury this time was indeed minuscule again." Setsuna shook his head slightly. He had been a bit too greedy, hoping to get one last free level-up from a near-death experience before leaving the One Piece World.
"Titan..." Setsuna pondered briefly, deciding to let Titan stay in the One Piece World.
Given Titan's current size, few worlds could sustain him.
Moreover, with Titan there, at least he wouldn't have to worry about his people being bullied.
'I can't waste time in the Naruto World either. It'd be best to find another gold-medal sparring partner. But with my current strength, even if Hashirama and Madara were resurrected, they wouldn't be my opponents. Do I have to dig out the Sage of Six Paths to be my sparring partner?'
While pondering his plans for the Naruto World, Setsuna headed back to Konoha.
But when he neared Konoha, he saw from afar the Nine-Tails rampaging and destroying the village.
"Is the Nine-Tails having a fit?" Setsuna was surprised. The Nine-Tails had been subdued by him long ago. Obito hadn't turned evil. Madara had been killed by him early on. How could there still be a Nine-Tails Attack?
'Could it be that Black Zetsu had reanimated Uchiha Madara with Edo Tensei?'
"But it doesn't matter. I can just kill him again." Setsuna was very calm, accelerating towards the Nine-Tails' location.
…
Konoha Village was brightly lit.
Dense chains of Chakra were wrapped around the Nine-Tails, temporarily suppressing the Tailed Beast.
It must be said, Konoha at this stage was far more powerful than in the original timeline.
Not only because Konoha's high-level combatants were all still there (except Danzo), but also because Konoha had become the center of the world.
It was currently during the annual Continental Conference. Powerhouses from all major Ninja Villages were gathered here.
Yet even so, with so many experts joining forces, they still couldn't completely suppress the Nine-Tails.
"Lightning Release: Liger Bomb!"
The Fourth Raikage, A, covered in Lightning Release Chakra, charged towards the Nine-Tails at incredible speed.
This strike was powerful enough to split mountains, but the Nine-Tails swatted him away with a swipe of its claw.
"Damn it!" The Raikage adjusted his posture mid-air, landing steadily, his expression extremely grim. "If it were that idiot B, I could suppress it alone... The gap between the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails is actually this big?"
But what truly irked him was that Setsuna had been able to suppress the Nine-Tails a year ago.
And after a year of intense training, he still couldn't do it.
Not far away, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, hovered in mid-air, his hands forming seals. "Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
A white cubic beam shot towards the Nine-Tails. A large chunk of the Nine-Tails' head was sheared off, but it quickly regenerated from nothing.
"No good. The Nine-Tails is an aggregate of Chakra. Dust Release can annihilate matter, but it can't annihilate Chakra itself." Onoki shook his head, looking at the equally disheveled Minato.
"Vice-Hokage Namikaze, where is the Hokage? Only he can suppress this monster."
Minato showed a pained expression. "The Hokage said he was going into seclusion for training some time ago... and we haven't heard from him since..."
He was deeply anxious. Although Kushina's life force was far stronger than an ordinary Jinchuriki, if the Nine-Tails couldn't be resealed quickly, even Kushina would find it difficult to last long with the Tailed Beast extracted.