New World, Wano Country.
Above Onigashima.
Dark clouds churned as thunder split the sky. Lightning danced across the heavens.
This was the stronghold of the Beasts Pirates—an impregnable fortress of war.
And now, it was collapsing.
"Kill them!! Drive these invaders out!!"
"For Governor-General Kaido!!"
Tens of thousands of Gifters and Pleasures charged forward, their grotesque limbs twisted by artificial Devil Fruits, roaring as they rushed the black-armored army descending from the sky.
What met them was a merciless slaughter.
"Too weak."
Senju Hashirama stood atop Onigashima's giant skull, red armor gleaming beneath the lightning. Arms crossed, he showed no interest in acting personally.
"This level of rabble isn't worth my time."
He turned slightly, issuing a calm order to those behind him.
"I'll leave them to you."
"Yes, Lord Hashirama!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three figures streaked into the battlefield like bolts of lightning, black Karma curse marks coiling around their bodies.
The Third Raikage—the "Strongest Spear."
The Fourth Raikage, Ay—peerless in speed.
And the Third Kazekage—the master of the strongest Magnet Release.
Revived with immortal Edo Tensei bodies and enhanced by Amado's black technology, these three legendary Kage had long surpassed their living limits, stepping into the threshold of Six Paths power.
"Hell Stab: Thousand-Generation Dance!"
The Third Raikage roared, Lightning Release chakra erupting as his fingers hardened into an indestructible spear.
Splat!
Jack the Drought—boasting the pride of an Ancient Zoan Mammoth—was pierced straight through. Man and beast fell together, his defense no sturdier than tofu.
"Too slow! Far too slow!!"
The Fourth Raikage became a blue flash, body-flickering behind Queen in an instant.
"Lightning Oppression: Horizontal Chop!"
Crack!
Queen's massive cyborg neck was severed cleanly, mechanical parts scattering across the battlefield.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method!"
The Third Kazekage formed seals. Black iron sand flooded the sky, transforming into countless spikes that rained down like a storm.
Even King the Conflagration, with all his racial advantages, was skewered instantly—reduced to a hedgehog by the all-encompassing attack.
"H-How is this possible?!"
"The All-Stars… wiped out?!"
The remaining Tobi Roppo were terrified beyond reason.
"Leave those two women."
Hashirama's voice carried across the battlefield.
"Tobirama—no, His Majesty—seems to favor this type."
The Third Raikage halted, shifting his strike into a grab.
"Understood!"
Bang! Bang!
Black Maria's tall, voluptuous figure and Ulti's fiery form were paralyzed instantly by Lightning Release. They had no chance to resist before being seized like chicks.
Their chakra was sealed on the spot and they were thrown into the prisoner camp at the rear.
"Bastards!!!!"
A moment later—
A dragon's roar shook heaven and earth!
Rumble!!!
Onigashima Castle exploded apart as a towering figure charged out, wielding the massive kanabo Hassaikai. Purple-black Conqueror's Haki wrapped his body like a raging storm.
Kaido of the Beasts.
The strongest creature on land, sea, and air.
"You dare touch my subordinates?!"
"You outsiders—I'll smash you all!!"
His eyes burned crimson. With Big Mom dead and his crew annihilated, everything he possessed was gone.
"Thunder Bagua!!!"
Stepping on the air itself, Kaido vanished, reappearing before Hashirama as if teleporting. The kanabo, coated in supreme Conqueror's Haki, descended with power enough to shatter space.
This was the blow that had once one-shot the Fifth Emperor.
Yet—
Hashirama did not move.
He looked up at the descending weapon, an honest smile forming on his face.
"What tremendous strength."
"However…"
He clapped his hands together.
"Sage Art: Wood Release — Many Wood-Clamped Hands!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless gigantic wooden arms burst forth from the skull beneath his feet. Like overlapping palms of titans, they caught Kaido's kanabo mid-strike.
Thud!
Shockwaves rippled outward as Onigashima trembled.
The island-shattering blow… was stopped dead.
"What?!"
Kaido's pupils shrank violently.
"Wood?! My Haki can't break this rotten wood?!"
"This isn't ordinary wood," Hashirama replied calmly.
"These are branches of the God Tree, infused with Sage Chakra."
"Even a Tailed Beast Ball can't pierce them."
"Don't look down on me!!"
Kaido roared, his body transforming instantly.
Roar——!!!
A blue dragon thousands of meters long coiled above Wano, blotting out the sun. Its overwhelming pressure crushed the world below.
"Bolo Breath!!!"
A beam of scorching flame capable of melting mountains erupted toward Hashirama.
"Fire?"
Hashirama shook his head.
"Even Madara's flames are useless against me."
"Wood Release: Wood Barrier!"
Rumble!
A massive wooden shield shaped like a fanged demon's face rose instantly, sealing Hashirama within.
Sizzle…
The Bolo Breath slammed into it, but aside from a trace of black smoke, it left not a scratch.
"A dragon, huh…"
Hashirama gazed at the massive blue dragon winding through the sky.
"It's been a long time since I fought something this big."
"Since you're a dragon—"
"I'll answer you with a dragon."
He clasped his hands once more. Sage markings flared across his face.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
Boom!!!
The earth split apart.
A colossal wooden Arhat, hundreds of meters tall, rose from the ground. Coiled around its shoulders was an equally enormous wooden dragon, golden light gleaming in its eyes.
"Go!"
Standing atop the Wood Human's head, Hashirama pointed forward.
Roar!!!
The Wood Dragon surged into the clouds, colliding head-on with Kaido's blue dragon. The two titans tore at each other in the sky.
Soon, Kaido realized—horrified—
This Wood Dragon was not only impossibly durable, it was draining his stamina.
"What… what kind of monster is this?! My Haki—it's disappearing?!"
"It's not over yet."
The Wood Human reached out, gripping the blue dragon's tail.
"Get… down here!!"
Boom!!!
With godlike force, Hashirama yanked Kaido from the sky, slamming him into Onigashima like a cracked whip.
Thud!!!
The island split cleanly in two.
"Ugh—!"
Kaido reverted to human form amid the ruins, vomiting blood, bones nearly shattered.
The strongest creature?
Before this Wood Release colossus, he was nothing more than prey.
"Your vitality is impressive," Hashirama said as he landed before him.
"Simple attacks won't kill you."
"But Tobirama wants you alive."
"So sealing it is."
He formed hand seals.
Sacred crimson chakra descended from the heavens.
"Sage Art: Gate of the Great God — Seal Ten!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Ten massive red torii gates crashed down, pinning Kaido's neck, limbs, torso, and tail to the ground.
"GRAAAHHH!!"
Kaido struggled wildly, trying to shatter them with Haki—only to realize his power was completely cut off.
This was a sealing technique designed to suppress the Ten-Tails.
How could a mere blue dragon escape it?
"It's over."
Hashirama clapped his hands, looking down at Kaido like a sealed specimen.
"Minato."
He bit his finger and summoned a communication toad.
"Inform His Majesty."
"Wano Country is pacified."
"Kaido has been sealed."
"And the two Tobi Roppo women are captured."
"Ready for pickup at any time."
…
Meanwhile.
Elsewhere in the New World, within seas churned into tsunamis by the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
The Moby Dick drifted alone.
All escort ships had withdrawn.
At the bow stood Edward Newgate—Whitebeard—holding the Supreme Grade blade Murakumogiri.
No IV. No chair.
His towering body stood straight, like an unbreakable monument.
Old. Scarred. Worn.
Yet the light in his eyes burned brighter than ever.
"It's here…"
He looked toward the distant sky, where the clouds were being torn apart by a wildly destructive aura.
This pressure was different from Hashirama's overwhelming solidity.
It was madness—pure, annihilating madness.
"Gurararara…"
Whitebeard gripped his blade, Conqueror's Haki erupting and shattering the surrounding waves.
"This feeling that makes the hair stand on end…"
"It's that even more dangerous guy…"
A blue meteor plummeted from the heavens.
Along with it came arrogant, unrestrained laughter that echoed across the sea.
"Whitebeard!!"
"I hear you're the strongest man!"
"I hope you can entertain me!"
Uchiha Madara—
descends!