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

Chapter 496 The Suicidal Blackbeard

"No!! No! Stop it!!"

Blackbeard went berserk as he watched Whitebeard's body gradually disappear.

An even larger black mist erupted from his body. This time, the black mist did not rise upwards at all, but instead spread rapidly to both sides.

The black-bearded man's eyes widened in fury as he frantically shouted the name of his technique: "Dark Acupoint Strike!!"

"Die, Xia Zuo!!"

The black mist enveloped the bodies of Xia Zuo and Whitebeard, and a strong gravitational force emanated from beneath their feet. Everything above the black mist, including Whitebeard's corpse, was captured by the immense gravity and slowly swallowed up.

Xia Zuo turned around as if nothing had happened, looked at the black-bearded man, and said, "You bastard, you were hiding your strength all along. Were you just putting on an act, trying to ambush me?"

"I must say, Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach, although you are despicable, vicious, and have no bottom line, you are even more patient and ruthless, and even more ruthless to yourself. You are indeed qualified to stand on the sea and to become the new generation of pirate king."

"But you're unlucky."

"You waited 30 years for the Dark-Dark Fruit, and as soon as you got it, you had to kill the wrong people, turning from Whitebeard's son into Whitebeard's mortal enemy."

"As a result, you used Ace's identity to scheme against our Navy and used the World Government to force the Navy and the Whitebeard Pirates to fight to the death."

"You succeeded, but you also completely enraged me, which led to you getting this beating."

"But do you feel your misfortune has come to an end?"

Blackbeard sensed the Dark-Dark Fruit's ability to capture Xia Zuo and Whitebeard, and laughed confidently, "Tsk, hahaha, what nonsense are you talking about?"

"I've got you. Do you think you can escape this gravity that's a hundred times stronger than normal?"

Xia Zuo chuckled coldly: "Heh, sorry, but a hundred times the gravity is really within my tolerance range."

He raised his hand and quickly performed a few moves, demonstrating his agility: "This feeling of gravity is really nice. If I use it for training, it will give me a good boost."

The man with the black beard was dumbfounded.

Oh my god!

This is a hundred times the force of gravity, a force capable of crushing a person into pieces. Even if the bones can withstand it, the internal organs will rupture through the abdomen, causing terrifying gravity to flow out of the body.

How could anyone use such an environment as a training environment?

Xia Zuo shook his head and continued, "Blackbeard Teach, didn't you see the phoenix that appeared when I launched my attack?"

"The radiance in her eyes was not something I inspired, but rather the will of a great being who descended upon him, acknowledging the Whitebeard's spirit of self-sacrifice, and specially using purifying flames to cremate him."

"And you, an ignorant fool, dared to interrupt her cremation ceremony! You're asking for death!"

The black-bearded man's eyes widened: "You, what did you say?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a ball of flame erupted from the black-bearded man's tree-like legs, instantly engulfing his large body and turning him into a human torch.

"Ouch!! That hurts!"

Blackbeard began rolling on the ground again, a large amount of black mist surging from his body, and vortexes appeared in his hands, trying to extinguish the flames.

This time, however, the flames displayed a variety of colors, completely unaffected by the Dark-Dark Fruit's power. They even used the approaching black mist as fuel, burning even more fiercely.

Xia Zuo chuckled coldly, "This is the Phoenix's purifying fire. If you can survive the flames, I won't kill you."

"Hmph, since even the phoenix couldn't kill you, it proves the world is still favoring you. With my power, I can't possibly find you."

"Killing you."

Xia Zuo raised his head and looked at the great pirates of the Blackbeard Pirates. They had already escaped to the location of the iron wall that Xia Zuo had destroyed, and were just one step away from escaping.

"Fighting Champion" Zishas Bazars, "Devil Sheriff" Lafitte, "Death" Doc Q, "Big Barrel" Bacchus Jot and Shiryu of the Rain, all five are present.

They were all powerful pirates, and at the same time they felt Shazo's gaze and an indescribable threat of death.

The five great pirates simultaneously had the same thought: Take one more step, and you'll die!

With a death knell looming at their throats, the five stopped in their tracks and turned to look at Xia Zuo, meeting the gaze of this previously unknown naval commodore.

They stopped not because they were afraid; how could someone who's afraid of death become a great pirate?

Despite their numerous evil deeds, the great pirates still possessed their own pride and never wanted to die with their backs to their enemies.

If the situation allows for escape, they naturally wouldn't mind fleeing in panic.

But if there is no way to escape, they will face the enemy head-on and fight to the death with all their might.

Xia Zuo nodded and said, "Not bad, none of them are cowards, but it's a pity they're all ugly Bo Yi."

"Since I gave Hebeard a chance to gamble with his life, I should give you the same chance."

"Take one of my punches, and if you die, it's for nothing. If you survive, you can leave."

Xia Zuo had no intention of listening to them and immediately punched them.

【Nan Dou · Bing Luan Bai Li】

As the fist unleashed freezing energy, frosty feathers spread out, forming a pair of enormous blue-white wings. In the center of the wings, a mass of icy coldness brewed and spread, quickly forming a giant blue phoenix.

Once the phoenix's head had evolved, the frost-covered phoenix let out a clear, melodious cry and then pounced on the five great pirates who were waiting in ambush.

When the moment came, Bashas remained calm. He burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, I'll see just how powerful you monster really are!"

He has a forthright personality, is confident and bold, is full of confidence in his own strength, and is also very combative.

Once its fighting spirit was fully ignited, it took a step forward and stood in front of everyone, using its massive body to block the others.

Lafitte and Shiliu drew their swords, charging up their strength to unleash their attacks.

The chubby Bacchus chuckled, "So this monster is also skilled in the power of frost. I'll take care of him then."

o

He took a deep breath, then exhaled a high concentration of alcohol, simultaneously drawing a heart shape with his index fingers and flicking out a flame to ignite the alcohol.

【Drinker's Fire】

The ignited alcohol exploded instantly, forming a huge fireball that, under Bacchus's control, charged towards the Frost Phoenix.

Doc Q suddenly appeared behind Bazars, placed his hand on him, and said, "You know what?"

"Some diseases are designed to combat other threats or extreme environments."

Under Doc Q's control, Bazars fell ill.

His heart was racing, his breathing was heavy, his blood flow was faster, and his skin was producing a lot of oil, forming a temporary insulating layer to resist the cold.

Moreover, Basas experienced an increase in adrenaline and an overproduction of dopamine, which caused him to lose his sense of pain and reach new heights in strength and explosiveness.

The fighting champion felt full of fighting spirit, with no fear in his heart, only an eager urge to fight.

The large fireball from the wine-gathering furnace was first shattered by the Frost Phoenix, while Si Ping was completely unharmed.

Next came the determined Bashas, ​​who roared and bent down to lift a room-sized piece of broken iron wall from the ground.

The blade was hurled at the Frost Phoenix.

The anticipated collision did not occur. The massive metal object was split in two by a sword aura emitted by the phoenix, which did not hinder the phoenix's flight at all.

The next second, Bashas was struck by the Frost Phoenix, his body instantly slashed with dozens of sword wounds. Blood spurted out, only to be frozen by the ensuing frost.

Poison Q, standing behind him, was also frozen in place, unable to use any of his abilities, and turned into an ice sculpture.

Bacchus violently exhaled more alcohol, which ignited into a raging fire, but the flames were extinguished instantly when the Frost Phoenix swooped down in front of him. Bacchus remained frozen in his fiery pose, turning into an ice sculpture.

Lafitte and Shiliu, being the two strongest, launched simultaneous attacks, accurately striking the base of the Frost Phoenix's wings.

The powerful sword energy stripped away the frost from the phoenix's body, scattering ice shards everywhere, but also revealing the phoenix's true form.

Shiryu, whose swordsmanship was the highest, sighed: "So what's hidden beneath the frost is sword energy—"

As they spoke, Shiliu and Lafitte were pounced on by the weakened sword-wielding phoenix, their bodies nearly shattered, and finally frozen in place by falling ice shards.

Xia Zuo's lips curled slightly: "I never expected that you wicked pirates could actually trust each other and cooperate to take down my Frost Phoenix."

"You did a very good job. You have a chance to survive."

By this time, the white-bearded man's body had been completely burned away in the multicolored flames, leaving only a handful of snow-white ashes and a strong fragrance.

Xia Zuo collected Whitebeard's ashes, then left Blackbeard, who was rolling on the ground and gradually losing strength, along with the five ice sculptures, and followed the Marines to hunt down the Whitebeard pirates.

After scaling the collapsed iron wall, Xia Zuo remembered that the Blackbeard Pirates had another member, the "Giant Battleship" San Juan Wolf.

Surprisingly, the guy, sensing something was wrong, had already disappeared.

That enormous body, comparable to the undamaged main building of Marineford, managed to escape silently right in front of Shazo.

You really can't judge a book by its cover.

When Xia Zuo arrived at the battlefield, he saw a strange sight.

A pink-haired girl spread her arms wide, blocking Sakazuki's path, and cried out in tears, "Stop hitting him! Stop hitting him!"

"Enough people have died! Whitebeard is dead too, stop fighting, stop killing people!"

To be honest, Xia Zuo couldn't understand why Koby would say that. It was as if he had suddenly been transported into a melodramatic romance novel, where there was no logic, no responsibility, no right or wrong, only emotions.

What kind of bullshit is this? Instead of healing their comrades, they only care about chasing down pirates. Isn't that perfectly reasonable?

Doesn't the Navy Headquarters have a medical system or professional medics?

After a Marine is injured by pirates, the Marine Admiral must stop fighting and personally attend to the treatment of the injured Marines instead of pursuing the pirates.

This is a betrayal, a blatant betrayal of the Navy!

How could Admiral Sakazuki, the Red Dog General, be blocked in his path by a brain-dead lieutenant?

Without a second thought, Sakazuki raised his right fist, which transformed into lava, and struck the oblivious pink-haired naval traitor.

Just as Koby was about to be burned to death by the lava, a military knife imbued with domineering aura blocked Sakazuki's fist.

That sword is the famous sword Griffin, and its wielder is Shanks, one of the Four Emperors.

As the strongest user of the "Face Fruit" ability, Shanks blocked Sakazuki's magma fist and said with a smile, "Give me some face, let's call a truce."

Not far away on the sea, a large ship with a dragon's head slowly approached the shore and stopped next to the Whitebeard Pirates' many warships, clearly expressing its stance.

Upon seeing the ship appear, the naval officers and soldiers all changed their expressions drastically.

"It's the Red Voss, the ship of one of the Four Emperors, Red-Haired Shanks!"

Why is he here?

"Could it be—we're going to have to fight another one of the Four Emperors?"

The commotion spread throughout the area as more and more sailors spotted the Red Fosse and Shanks confronting Sakazuki.

Sengoku and Garp, with their Observation Haki, naturally noticed the anomaly and rushed over to check the situation.

When they saw Shanks, their expressions immediately turned grim.

Sengoku felt a headache coming on at the thought of possibly going to war with another Yonko: "That bastard Shanks, is he here to rescue Whitebeard?"

Garp's expression darkened further, and he gritted his teeth as he said, "Red-haired Shanks—the man who led Luffy down the path of pirates!"

In his mind, if this bastard hadn't appeared in the East Blue, Luffy would have become a glorious Marine.

As the ship docked, Shanks' first mate, Ben Beckman, and a group of officers appeared on the ship's side, standing neatly in a row to cheer on their captain.

Sengoku quickly arrived in front of the Marines, his eyes fixed on Shanks with a sinister glint, and asked in a deep voice, "Shanks, what are you doing in Marineford, the Pirate Emperor?"

"I've come to stop the war!"

Shanks walked up to Sengoku, Garp, Sakazuki, Aokiji, and Borsalino and said, "Continuing to fight will only increase your casualties—"

Hearing the same words as the pink-haired man, Admiral Akainu became enraged and interrupted him, saying, "Marineford is the Marine Headquarters; it's none of your business, you pirate!"

The red-haired man, instead of being angry at being interrupted, chuckled and said, "Admiral Sakazuki, you're as annoying as ever!"

Immediately, Shanks unleashed his Conqueror's Haki, which roared out like a raging storm, making all the Marines feel dizzy but not to the point of losing consciousness.

After stunning everyone present, Shanks fixed his sharp eyes on Sakazuki and said to Sengoku, "If the Navy insists on continuing this war, then the Red-Haired Pirates will have to join the battle!"

The threat in the redhead's words was obvious.