Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 492 Xia Zuo: Why am I ranked third?

Colonel Faye, the deputy commander of the 77th branch, couldn't help but ask, "Commander Xia Zuo?"

Xia Zuo nodded: "Faya, you'll be in charge from now on."

He looked up and said, "We're the Navy, and the Navy's duty is to attack pirates!"

Colonel Faye stood at attention and received the order: "Yes, sir! Attack the pirates!!"

The officers and soldiers of the 77th Detachment responded in unison: "Attack!!"

Xia Zuo reached his hand behind him.

His former adjutant, now Navy Lieutenant Commander Borg, took two long swords from his bag and respectfully handed them to Xia Zuo.

The moment Xia Zuo took the two knives, he disappeared in front of the soldiers of the 77th branch, and the next moment he appeared at the gap in the iron wall.

[Instant Flash]

Relying on the divine technique developed by Hokage Natsuzo by combining [Moonwalk], [Flashstep], and [Body Flicker Technique], Natsuzo is able to push his speed to a level close to teleportation.

Therefore, his appearance was so sudden that even Whitebeard was taken aback.

When Whitebeard took a closer look at Xia Zuo, he was even more surprised, not because Xia Zuo held the rank of brigadier general, but because of the two knives he was holding.

These two swords are named Sakuragi and Tokugawa, both renowned great swords that are famous throughout the sea.

But for Whitebeard, the fame of these two knives was far less than that of their owner.

The white-bearded man frowned and asked, "These two swords belong to Sakuragi and Juku. Is Shiki the Golden Lion dead?"

Xia Zuo raised his two swords and answered seriously, "Yes, the Golden Lion wanted to destroy the East Blue when the floating islands crashed. As the garrison commander of the East Blue, of course I had to kill him."

The white-bearded man sighed, "So Shiki is dead too. There are fewer and fewer of us remnants from the previous generation."

Xia Zuo sneered: "Since you feel you can't go on anymore, you should find a way to retire and hide away to live out your remaining years. You're so old, and you're full of illnesses, yet you insist on going to the battlefield like a young person—"

"If you ask me, you should have died in Marineford."

The white-bearded man spat out a mouthful of blood and laughed heartily, "Gulalalalalalala, there are too many people on the high seas who want to kill me. If you have such thoughts, then come and try."

Xia Zuo didn't say anything more. He had already given the "strongest man on the sea" enough face. The greatest respect he could show him now was to cut off his head.

Heroes should not die at the hands of villains, but should perish at the hands of the stronger.

Xia Zuo swung his twin swords and casually unleashed two [Flying Slashes], a probing attack as a greeting.

Whitebeard didn't overestimate himself; he raised his large naginata and slashed down fiercely, retaliating with an even larger and more powerful sword aura.

The three sword energies collided in mid-air, canceling each other out perfectly. However, the fierce sword energy did not disappear; instead, it shattered into countless fragmented wind blades, sweeping away everything around it.

The first to be affected are Aokiji, Borsalino, Marco, and Jozu, who are closest to them.

The four of them were fighting fiercely. Although they had noticed Xia Zuo's appearance long ago, they did not take any action.

The two admirals thought: "Although Xia Zuo is not as good as Sakazuki, he is still quite strong. He can at least buy us a few minutes. I'll kill this pirate in front of me first, and then fight Whitebeard."

The two pirates thought: "A mere commodore dares to fight against my father? He's just asking for death. He'll be killed in ten seconds at most, and then my father will come to save me."

As a result, Xia Zuo's combat power exceeded expectations, and the aftershocks of Whitebeard's probing attack made the four of them feel extremely threatened, forcing them to dodge.

Before they could react, Xia Zuo once again swung his twin swords, slashing repeatedly at the white-bearded man.

The longsword was wreathed in a terrifyingly powerful aura, so much so that it even showed signs of spatial distortion due to its excessive condensation.

Whitebeard's eyes widened. In that instant, he thought of Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, and the first time they met.

That final strike between them, both at their peak.

"Gurararara!" The white-bearded man suddenly burst into a deafening laugh: "Navy kid, if you're not dead, tell me your name!"

He raised the large naginata in his hand, and terrifying Conqueror's Haki burst forth from his body, sweeping across the entire battlefield like a storm. It then condensed into red and black Haki, which wrapped around the blade.

The great naginata met the heavy twin swords with a seemingly slow but actually swift slash.

The three swords could no longer get any closer when they were only half a foot apart. They were all blocked by the space controlled by each other's weapons, and a black energy ball even appeared at the center of the blades.

No, that's not an energy ball, but a gravitational anomaly caused by a spatial rupture.

Xia Zuo never expected that the white-bearded man's broken body could still unleash such terrifying power, as if he had not aged at all.

He smiled at the pirates for the first time: "Whitebeard Edward Newgate, my name is: Shazo!"

As Xia Zuo spoke, the muscles in his arms bulged, and the power attached to his twin blades doubled, causing the two longswords to emit a squeaking, metallic clanging sound.

They seemed to sense their own impending death, and thus let out terrified screams.

Suddenly, the gravity at the center of the three swords erupted abnormally, unleashing a terrifying white light that startled everyone on the battlefield.

They had no choice but to turn and avoid it.

Immediately following, an even more terrifying shockwave swept across the entire battlefield.

The first to be swept away were two admirals and two pirate captains. These four powerful fighters were completely powerless to resist and were blown away like light leaves.

Next came the pirates near the gap, followed by the marines further out.

Even more terrifying, the wide and thick iron wall could not withstand the impact of the shock wave, and it snapped off at the base with a crash, slowly falling backward.

The Warring States Marshal's eyes widened. He remained in his Buddha-like posture, staring blankly at the erupting battlefield, sensing the terrifying atmosphere, and muttered, "How could this be?"

"How can Xia Zuo be so strong?"

"If I had known this earlier, why would I have gathered 100,000 elite naval troops? Why would I have set up a trap? I could have just attacked openly and honestly!"

Navy hero Garp froze for a few seconds, then burst into laughter: "Hahaha, you little punk, you've been playing along with me these past two years, haven't you? Just wait, you'll get what's coming to you!"

If even the Navy's admiral and heroes were so shocked, one can only imagine how shocked ordinary pirates and Marines were.

Oh, they weren't shocked. Whitebeard's Conqueror's Haki had gone out of control during the clash, indiscriminately intimidating everyone on the battlefield.

Some people, pirates and marines alike, have almost all lost consciousness.

Only vice admirals and above, as well as pirate captains and commanders, remained conscious, but they were all stunned and at a loss for what to do.

The most shocked were of course Marco and Joz, as well as Kuzan and Borsalino.

Because they are closest to the point of attack, they feel the strongest impact and have enough strength to withstand the damage.

Everyone was thinking the same thing: Xia Zuo is actually that strong!?

At this moment, Ace and Luffy, who were completely dazed and confused after being beaten by Sengoku, with the help of Luffy's new crew and under Garp's deliberate cover, escaped Sengoku's sight and quickly ran towards the gap in the iron wall.

They weren't foolish enough to rush towards the most terrifying battleground; instead, they headed towards the iron wall that had been knocked down by the shockwave.

"A burst of laughter came from the center of the battle, followed by two coughs, before the white-bearded man finally spoke: 'Shazo! Heh, what a pity. If only I had met you when I was 30 years younger.'"

Xia Zuo said, "30 years ago? Back then, there was still a living Pirate King. Didn't you enjoy fighting him?"

The white-bearded man shook his head regretfully and said, "It's not pleasant."

"Roger is a very goal-oriented guy. He would never fight me with all his might. We would always end up testing each other before he gave up."

Xia Zuo shook his head regretfully and said, "There's nothing I can do about it. It's just that I was born too late. You can only blame your bad luck."

The white-bearded man laughed heartily: "Yes, I guess I'm just unlucky—"

As the dust and smoke from the shockwave gradually dissipated, the white-bearded man's figure came into view.

Marco, with his sharpest eyes, was the first to recognize his father and exclaimed in surprise, "Dad!?"

His voice was filled with fear, and Joz was so frightened when he saw it that he was speechless.

The white-bearded man's clothes were torn, and his bare upper body was covered with wounds of all sizes, bleeding profusely and staining his entire body red.

The white-bearded man said weakly, "Son, don't be afraid. This wasn't a recent cut. I used too much force and reopened all my old wounds."

"Dad chopped his knife to pieces too, so we didn't lose out—"

Xia Zuo also emerged from the smoke and dust, carrying two famous swords in his hands. As expected, both were destroyed. Sakuragi was left with only the hilt, and Shiku was left with only half of the blade, which was also covered with cracks.

He casually tossed the two knives aside: "Whitebeard, you're going to die in the next move."

"You won't hurt Daddy, I'll kill you!"

The flames on Marco's body soared high into the air, and he instantly transformed into a phoenix, charging fiercely towards Shazo.

Xia Zuo sneered, "You thought you could fight me just because you played around with me before?"

"You're courting death!"

Xia Zuo clenched his fist and threw a punch at the blue phoenix.

The powerful fist wind, mixed with freezing air and domineering aura, transformed into a dazzling phoenix. With just a peck, it shattered the phoenix enveloped in blue flames.

The blue flames were extinguished by the frost, and the powerful phoenix was shattered by the terrifying aura, instantly transforming back into Marco's appearance.

Jozu quickly stepped in front of his brother, turning his body into diamond to try and block Shazo's second punch.

Bang! !

Shazo's fist struck Jozu's diamond body with a dull thud, followed by a series of crackling sounds that continued incessantly.

Countless cracks appeared on Joz's diamond body, and diamonds of all sizes fell to the ground.

Jozu rolled his eyes and fell backward, automatically reverting to diamond form.

Shazo knocked out Marco and Joz with a single punch each!

Borsalino clicked his tongue in amazement: "It's really terrifying. Brigadier General Shazo is too powerful. He makes us look so weak, so weak."

"Honestly, this is a bit embarrassing."

Kuzan hummed in agreement, then added after a moment of silence, "It was indeed shameful."

But the sacrifice of the two top pirates was not in vain; they bought Whitebeard time to recover.

After taking a few deep breaths, the white-bearded man recovered somewhat, strode up to Xia Zuo, and shielded his two sons behind him.

He gripped the large naginata tightly with both hands, which was his greatest advantage at the moment, and once again unleashed his Conqueror's Haki.

This time, the power of the Haki wasn't great, but it was enough to wake up the pirates who had just been stunned, and of course, the marines were also awakened.

Whitebeard's eyes were fixed on Xia Zuo as he shouted, "All members of the Whitebeard Pirates, listen up!" His booming voice filled the entire area as he looked up to the sky and roared, "Our purpose here has been achieved. Now I give my final captain's order: I must bid you farewell!"

"All of you must return to the New World alive." This was a very clear dying wish, which struck the pirates, who had just regained their senses, like a thunderbolt.

When they woke up, they saw Ace and Luffy retreating to the gap in the iron wall. The joy of rescuing Ace had just welled up in their hearts when they heard this order that meant bad news.

For a time, no pirate could obey Whitebeard's orders.

"Dad! How could you leave us behind?"

"Didn't we agree to return to the new world together?"

"Even if we die, we won't leave you behind!"

Especially foolish Squard, who stabbed the white-bearded man, cried out, begging only to atone with his death: "Please let me die, then I won't suffer so much!"

"Please, Dad!!"

Whitebeard gripped his naginata with both hands, forcefully sweeping away the pirates who surrounded him, and roared, "You don't even obey Father's orders anymore?"

"Go, take Marco and Jozu, take all your surviving brothers, and get out of here!!"

"I will hold off all the enemies for you. Move forward and do not look back!"

The pirates cried out, "Dad—!"

The white-bearded man smiled nostalgically and said with a carefree air, "Go forth, my sons!"

"I am a remnant of the old era; there is no ship for me in the new world!"

"I've been traveling for too long, it's time to come ashore!"

The white-bearded man has no shortage of fame, wealth, or status, and none of these things are important. What matters is family and kinship!

Being able to protect his family before his death meant he had no regrets in his life.

Whitebeard raised his great naginata, unleashing a terrifying aura once more, along with countless wounds on his body, from which blood gushed forth like a fountain.

"Go, boys, your time has just begun!"

"Kuzan! Borsalino! Shazo! This is Whitebeard's last strike!!"

Kuzan conjured ice into blades, Borsalino grew lightsabers, and only Shazor was empty-handed, forced to clench his fists in response.

Of course, what frustrated him even more was: "Why is my name third in the list?"

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