"That person, could he be...!" Someone in the onlooking crowd exclaimed in shock.
"Yes! One of the Five Elders! I've seen his face in newspapers from years ago!"
"How can that be... one of the Five Elders came personally?!"
"What are they even doing?"
"Shh… keep your voice down! Can't you see? Those kids are trading the Roger Pirates with the Marines!"
"Kids? You call them kids? They captured the Roger Pirates! Their strength is nothing to scoff at! Do you want to die?"
Whispers exploded in the crowd, but quickly turned into suppressed murmurs, like chickens being choked.
Saint Nusjuro, Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, one of the Five Elders, the highest authority in the World Government.
Standing before a group of agents, he squinted, his gaze slowly sweeping over Makoto's group, finally resting on the face of the young man at the front.
"Are you willing to join the World Government?"
"To serve us?"
At these words, the onlooking crowd erupted again.
This was an open recruitment!
Although most people present didn't know the reputation of Makoto's group, nor how strong they actually were… the fact that they could defeat the Roger Pirates alone was enough.
If all these people joined the World Government...
Then the days ahead for pirates and bounty hunters like them would probably not be easy.
Countless gazes focused on Makoto.
The World Government' agents remained expressionless, but their hands were already on their weapons.
Nusjuro squinted, waiting for an answer.
Then—
"Heh."
Makoto laughed.
It wasn't loud.
But everyone present heard it.
Then, Yu laughed too.
Beam laughed too.
The Four Gay Bros, the Teddy, Gorilla, Dolphin, Rabbit Devils, laughed one after another.
"Hehehehe..."
"Hahaha..."
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
The laughter spread through Makoto's camp like an infectious disease.
Each one louder than the last.
Each one more unrestrained than the last.
As if they had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
Nusjuro's expression visibly reddened.
Having ruled under Imu, at the top of the World Government pyramid for so many years, he was long accustomed to everyone's reverence, flattery, and fear.
No one had ever dared to laugh in his face like this.
Makoto finally managed to stop laughing, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand.
He looked up again at Nusjuro.
"Well, it seems the deal is off."
Nusjuro across from him didn't speak.
Kong didn't speak either.
Sengoku, Tsuru, and all the Marines and agents present remained silent.
Makoto's smile deepened.
"I knew you mother**ckers wouldn't keep your word."
As his words fell, Makoto's gaze once again swept over the group of Marines and World Government's agents opposite.
Finally, he locked onto Nusjuro.
"It's fine," He said.
"Picking it up from next to your corpse later is fine too."
Boom—
Two waves of astonishing killing intent exploded simultaneously, clashing violently.
The Marines raised their weapons in unison.
The World Government' agents assumed combat stances.
The air seemed to freeze.
Behind Kong, Sengoku and Tsuru's pupils contracted simultaneously.
Before coming, they truly hadn't expected anyone to dare speak to a Five Elder like that.
The moment the killing intent exploded, the entire Grove 66 seemed to fall into an ice cellar.
The pirates, bounty hunters, and braver local residents who had been following the prison cart to gawk stared wide-eyed at the two confronting sides, their hearts nearly leaping out of their throats.
"Run!" Someone turned first, and the crowd erupted like a disturbed hornet's nest.
But it was too late.
Grove 66 wasn't very spacious to begin with. The Marines and World Government' agents already occupied nearly half the space. The rest of the entrance was taken up by Makoto's group and the prison cart.
And those watching were all crowded into the outermost corners.
There were too many people.
Hundreds of people surged towards the same exit at once, instantly blocking the narrow passage completely.
"Move! Move!"
"Don't push me! Who the fuck is pushing me?!"
"I don't want to die—"
Screams, curses, and cries mixed together. Those in front were pushed against the walls by those behind. Those behind were crushed and suffocated by those even further back.
Someone fell and was trampled before they could get up.
Someone desperately climbed the wall, trying to escape, but slipped down again and again because their hands were shaking too badly.
However—
No one paid them any attention.
The battle had already begun.
Click.
The crisp sound of metal was particularly piercing in the chaos.
Yu's body began to deform.
The skin on his arms seemed to grow something, splitting open to reveal the cold metallic bones beneath.
Muscles and bones reorganized, folded, extended… in an instant, his arms transformed into two heavy machine guns.
In the center of his forehead, his skin split open, and a long, thick gun barrel emerged.
Gun Devil Mode.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang!
No unnecessary words.
Yu raised both gun-arms, their muzzles erupting with blazing tongues of flame.
Armor-piercing rounds poured out like a rainstorm, howling towards the group of black-suited World Government' agents.
Each bullet carried the screech of tearing air.
But this was not the end.
Whoosh—
Makoto's right eye, the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, spun rapidly.
The overlapping pattern of three triangles and three circles spun wildly in the crimson iris. Black flames, as if summoned from the depths of hell, quietly ignited on the surface of every armor-piercing bullet.
Each one was coated in a layer of inextinguishable black flame.
Amaterasu!
Inside the prison cart, enduring the intermittent pain from their rears, the Roger Pirates' faces changed simultaneously at the sight of the black flames.
They had seen this move before.
On Malad Island, they had watched with their own eyes as these black flames consumed everything.
Those flames...
They did not go out.
"Here it comes," Roger said quietly.
Gaban said nothing, just instinctively shrank back into the corner of the prison cart.
'Damn, it still hurt!'
The next second, the black rain of bullets fell upon the World Government' agents.
The first wave of agents had no time to react.
The armor-piercing rounds accurately pierced their bodies… chests, abdomens, heads. Bloody holes bloomed on the black suits. Before the blood could even spurt out, the edges of the wounds were already being licked by the black flames.
"Arrgghhh!"
"Arrggghhh!"
"Arggghhh!"
"Argghhh—"
Screams rose and fell.
Those hit in vital areas died instantly. Their bodies were engulfed in black flames before they even hit the ground, rolling, convulsing, eventually turning into charred remains.
But there were also those with better skills.
Several agents dodged at the moment the bullets came… turning sideways, bending down, even flipping in mid-air, barely avoiding fatal wounds.
The bullets grazed their arms, thighs, ribs, leaving deep bloody grooves.
However—
The black flames had already attached themselves.
"Damn! What kind of fire is this?!" An agent looked at the black flame burning on his forearm, desperately slapping at it.
His palm not only failed to extinguish the flame but also became coated in black flame.
He frantically rubbed his arm against the ground, leaving bloody scrapes on the stone pavement, but the black flame didn't budge.
"Water! Give me water!" Someone rushed to a nearby fire bucket and poured the water over himself.
The moment the water hit, there was a 'pfft' sound—
But the black flame still burned.
It even burned brighter.
"Impossible..." That agent looked at the black flame growing on his body, his eyes filled with despair.
Among all the World Government's personnel, one person was particularly special.
Nusjuro.
He stood at the very front, a small cluster of black flame on his left shoulder.
The flame wasn't big, only the size of a fingernail, climbing up the fabric of his kimono.
The watching Marines gasped… that was one of the Five Elders!
However, Nusjuro's expression didn't change at all.
He drew his sword.
Shing—
The moment the Shodai Kitetsu left its scabbard, a sharp, cold light sliced through the air.
Everyone only saw a silver-white arc flash, and Nusjuro's left shoulder, along with the burning sleeve of his kimono, was neatly severed from his body.
Thud.
The severed arm fell to the ground, not a single drop of blood spilling from the cut.
On that severed arm, the black flame continued to burn, consuming the kimono and flesh together.
Before anyone could be surprised, the next second, new flesh began to grow.
In just a few seconds, a brand new arm had grown.
Yu narrowed his eyes, staring at Nusjuro's newly grown arm.
The four members of the Four Gay Bros also stopped their grinning, looking at each other.
Beam's shark face showed a flash of surprise. He leaned close to Makoto and whispered, "Chainsaw-sama, is that...?"
Makoto looked at Nusjuro for a few seconds, then chuckled.
"Isn't this interesting?" Makoto's tone held a near-joyful lightness.
"We're all immortal here. Let's see who kills who."
Boom—
Grey-black energy flames suddenly ignited from Makoto's body surface.
Not the black flames of Amaterasu, but a deeper, more solid energy… with a metallic texture, with the contours of bones.
The energy rapidly coalesced and took shape around Makoto's body.
First, the ribs.
Then, the arms.
Finally, the head.
A skeletal energy head took shape above the ribs.
Susanoo, Second Form!
The grey-black giant skeleton stood in the center of Grove 66, protecting Makoto in its core.
Makoto suddenly raised his right hand.
Susanoo's giant arm raised with him. The grey-black energy palm slowly opened, spawning a chainsaw that screamed madly.
"Then." Makoto stretched his neck.
"Let's begin."