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Chapter 407: Domain of Despair, Limbo Manifests!
In the distant ruins, Aokiji braced himself against a broken wall and struggled to stand. Half of his body had been blown away, and he was barely maintaining his form using solid ice. Akainu crawled out of a pool of magma, his face covered in blood, staring fixedly at the deep crater.
Kizaru lay on a slab of rubble, the wound on his chest where a black rod had pierced him still smoking. Sengoku's golden Buddha form had lost its luster, and he was panting heavily.
Everyone's eyes were focused on that cloud of dust. That man who was like a god or demon... Had he really been taken down by Garp's punch?
"Cough... cough, cough..."
Just then, a bout of coughing echoed from the depths of the crater. The hearts of the Marines fiercely clenched. A despair-inducing wave of chakra flared up from underground once again.
Whoosh— A violent gust of wind blew away the dust. At the bottom of the crater, Madara Uchiha slowly stood up. His current state was downright miserable.
Half of his torso had been obliterated by Garp's punch, exposing pale, squirming tendrils of flesh. Even half of his head was gone.
Yet, bizarrely, the wounds weren't bleeding. Instead, countless paper-like scraps swirled around the injuries, mending his body at a visible rate. This was the immortal trait of the Edo Tensei body! Coupled with the enhancement of the Six Paths Power, such a catastrophic injury was completely healed in just a few seconds!
"Haha... hahahahahaha!!!"
Madara Uchiha suddenly threw his head back and burst into laughter. There was no anger in his laugh. No humiliation. Instead, it was filled with utter excitement and fanaticism!
He jerked his head up, his Rinnegan staring dead at Garp in the sky. The fighting spirit in his eyes practically burned into something tangible.
"Exhilarating!"
"That was absolutely exhilarating!"
Madara reached out and wiped the dirt from his mouth. He looked as if he had just discovered a priceless treasure.
"I, Madara Uchiha, declare you the strongest!"
"Of everyone I have ever fought, no one surpasses you in Taijutsu!"
"Even Hashirama Senju is inferior to you when it comes to pure physical explosive power!"
Madara slowly floated upward. The nine Truth-Seeking Orbs behind him began to rotate once more. His wounds were fully healed, and even his clothing was restored to its original state. That suffocating oppressive aura hadn't weakened in the slightest; it had only grown even more terrifying.
"As a reward for your efforts..."
"I will get a little serious and play with you all."
The moment he spoke, Madara fiercely clapped his hands together.
"God: Nativity of a World of Trees!!!"
Rumble—— The earth began to quake violently. Countless tree roots, as thick and massive as dragons, furiously burst from underground. In an instant, they blanketed a battlefield spanning dozens of kilometers.
Each branch moved like a living creature, madly grasping at Garp in the sky and the Marine Admirals on the ground. Moreover, these trees were constantly absorbing all energy from their surroundings.
"Is this... the power of a God?"
Sengoku looked at the world-altering sight before him, a deep sense of powerlessness flashing through his eyes. He couldn't be killed. He simply couldn't be killed. No matter what they threw at him, the enemy could heal instantly. And a casual wave of his hand was a landscape-altering ultimate technique. How were they supposed to fight this?
"It's not over yet, Sengoku!"
High above, though swaying unsteadily, the fire in Garp's eyes hadn't dimmed in the slightest. Using his still-functioning left hand, he violently pounded his chest.
"My fists can still swing!"
"As long as we draw breath, Justice will never fall!"
"Even if he is a God, I'm going to knock his teeth out!"
Watching this scene unfold. In the corner of the Partys Bar in Foosha Village, Blake, who had remained silent the entire time, slightly curled the corners of his lips.
"It seems the stimulus is sufficient."
"The Marines' potential should be completely squeezed dry by now."
He lightly tapped his knuckles against the table.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield. The Marines, backed into a corner by the Nativity of a World of Trees, were drowning in despair. Yet from that despair, an unprecedented desire to survive and their raw combat instincts finally erupted.
Within Kizaru's body, whose Devil Fruit powers had been sealed away, a strange white glow suddenly lit up. That wasn't the glow of the Glint-Glint Fruit. It was a halo of light capable of breaking down all matter into molecules!
"Since I can't elementalize..."
Kizaru pushed up his cracked sunglasses, his tone colder than it had ever been.
"Then I'll just disintegrate these damn trees, along with this entire space."
"Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu: Light Speed Version!"
Hum—! A white beam of light, as thin as a strand of hair but moving fast enough to transcend time, instantly sliced through the endless sea of trees, aiming straight for Madara Uchiha's glabella!
Madara's pupils slightly contracted.
"Oh?"
"That's Onoki's Dust Release? He actually fused it with the speed of light?"
"Interesting."
Madara sidestepped, avoiding a fatal hit. Yet, the beam still grazed past his cheek.
In this moment, it wasn't just Garp. Standing before this true "God," the entire highest echelon of Marine fighting force had shattered their own limits!
Rumble—! The wails of the earth drowned out even the thunder. Tens of thousands of massive tree roots rose up like demonic claws reaching from hell. They twisted wildly, intent on completely strangling these five mortals who dared challenge a deity. Every single branch possessed the terrifying property of devouring chakra and life force.
"Don't get cocky, you bastard!!!"
Akainu let out a beastly roar. His tattered red suit instantly turned to ash. Boiling magma erupted from his body like a volcanic eruption.
"Meteor Volcano: Dark Hound Barrage!!"
Boom, boom, boom! Countless giant magma fists crashed into the surrounding sea of trees like a meteor shower. The extreme heat clashed wildly against the life force of the Nativity of a World of Trees. Although Wood Release could absorb energy, Akainu's magma, capable of burning through the earth's crust, was pure, physical high temperature!
Sizzle— Countless roots were incinerated into charcoal the second they touched the magma. Thick black smoke instantly blotted out the sky.
"Arara... it won't do for things to get this hot."
Aokiji's shattered icy torso had fully reassembled. He exhaled a breath of frost cold enough to freeze souls.
"Ice Age: Absolute Zero!"
Crack, crack— The other half of the tree sea that the magma failed to burn was instantly coated in a pale layer of frost. Those wildly dancing giant trees became crystal-clear ice sculptures in an instant. Then, with a crisp explosion, they shattered into a sky full of ice chips!
"I'm still here, too..."
Kizaru's figure materialized in a flash of golden light. The glow at his fingertips was no longer pure; it carried a heart-palpitating grayish-white vibration.
"Ama no Murakumo: Dust Release Slash!"
Slash—! A sword of light, stretching over a thousand meters long, swept outward. But wherever this blade of light passed, it didn't cut. It annihilated!
All the trees blocking the blade's path, along with the microscopic dust in the air, were instantly broken down into atoms. The formerly despair-inducing God: Nativity of a World of Trees had actually been forcefully cleared out into a vacuum zone by the reckless outbursts of the three Marine Admirals!
"Nicely done, you brats!"
Garp roared with laughter as he charged out from under their cover. The blue-green steam around him burned even more fiercely. The toll from the Seventh Gate: Gate of Wonder turned his skin completely red, even causing beads of blood to seep through.
But he didn't care in the slightest!
"As long as I get in close, this guy is finished!"
Garp fiercely kicked off the empty air.
Boom! A visible white sonic boom cloud formed where his feet struck the air. His speed was so immense that not even an afterimage remained. Instant movement! This was the effect of teleportation achieved through nothing but pure physical strength!
In the blink of an eye... Garp's savage, laughing old face was pressed right in front of Madara Uchiha. The distance was less than half a meter! For a Taijutsu master, this range was an absolute killing zone!
"Lie... down!!!"
The veins on Garp's right arm bulged. Wrapped in Sage Art Lightning Release and the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, his fist drove savagely toward Madara's chest. This punch was faster and more ruthless than the one that had shattered the Susanoo!
However, facing this surefire killing blow, Madara's purple Rinnegan showed not a single trace of panic. In fact, it held a hint of mockery.
"Your Taijutsu is indeed impressive."
"But did you really think you could touch the domain of the Gods with brute strength alone?"
Madara didn't even make a hand seal. He simply kept his hands clasped behind his back, floating quietly in the air, as if he hadn't even seen Garp's fist.
"Die!!"
Garp's fist crashed down with apocalyptic momentum. But the instant his knuckles were about to brush Madara's nose...
Thud!!! An incredibly dull impact resounded between the two men without any warning. Garp's pupils contracted to pinpricks. His fist had stopped. No. It had been blocked!
Ten centimeters away from Madara, there seemed to be an invisible wall. Yet, he clearly saw nothing at all! His Observation Haki scanned frantically, but the only feedback he received was empty, formless air!
"What the hell... is this?!"
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