Konoha's Mission Master

In the distance, Yakumo sealed the corpse of the Mad Rhino with the Yin-Yang Seal, preparing to extract the Devil Fruit from its body after the battle; he estimated that at the very least, it would be an Ancient Zoan-type Devil Fruit.

This is a very important resource and cannot be neglected in any way.

When he used all his life energy to build this crimson forest, the battle strategy for the next stage was already determined.

To everyone's astonishment, the crimson forest collided with the thick, solid ice domain. The impact produced a tremendous sound, and countless ice shards shattered instantly.

As they broke, frost gradually appeared on the surface of the trees in the blood-red forest, and Yakumo's progress slowed down slightly due to Aokiji's all-out efforts to stop him.

"The Eight-Foot Jade Curved Jewel".

Kizaru's coat fluttered in the gale, and countless waves of light crashed into the blood-red forest, but the behemoth continued to advance slowly, carrying an imposing pressure.

Click, click.

Countless icicles shattered, and the pale blue, low-temperature mist attempted to halt the advance of the Crimson Forest. Under the combined effect of these two forces, the Crimson Forest was subjected to an attack of both ice and fire.

"broken!"

Yakumo waved his hand, and the tree roots converged into a triangular cone that rotated rapidly against the Ice Fortress. The temperature at the point of contact between the two gradually increased, but of course, these were just feints.

In the shadows, he gripped the Demon-Subduing Sword tightly in his hand.

While everyone's attention was focused on the Crimson Forest and the Frost Barrier, Yakumo made a completely new move.

It instantly transformed into golden light on the spot, appearing in front of Garp in a flash, and swung its sword, striking the target directly.

Blood splattered as Garp clutched his chest and retreated. Aokiji and Kizaru were immediately distracted, and it was in this moment of distraction that the giant rotating triangular cone broke through the ice barrier's defenses.

Aokiji's last defensive measure collapsed, and blood-red vines crossed the ice barrier through the cracks, attacking the three of them. Countless pale purple flowers bloomed at the edge of the forest, emitting a faint fragrance.

Blood splattered in the air and splashed on the ice, making a dripping sound. Garp retreated, clutching his chest, and quickly manipulated his muscles to seal the wound.

In a matter of seconds, the entire battlefield was filled with all sorts of plants, and everyone secretly blamed themselves for their oversight.

Even though Yakumo just openly pushed forward his domain to launch a full-scale attack, in essence... the nickname "Thousand-Faced Demon Emperor" comes from his unpredictable and ever-changing attack methods.

They overlooked the most important thing!

This also hastened their defeat.

Garp clutched his chest, blood gushing from the wound staining his pristine white shirt. The enemy's slash had left no room for error, its target aimed directly at his heart.

If Garp hadn't reacted quickly, he would have been disemboweled by now.

However, the large amount of blood flowing out proved that Garp had been severely injured and might even have lost his fighting ability.

"Teacher, you go first, I'll cover your retreat!"

With a wave of his hand, Qingzhi unleashed a large amount of cold air, temporarily freezing the blood-red vines that were constantly attacking and encroaching on the area around them.

"Ahem, how could a teacher let his apprentice be left behind?"

Garp coughed and slowly straightened his back, looking somewhat strained, as if he were in his twilight years.

But as he took deep breaths, the wound on your chest was quickly and completely healed, and your upright body radiated an incomparably terrifying pressure, with red and black lightning crackling in the surrounding void.

"Is this a power surge?"

Yakumo instinctively created distance and used the Crimson Tree Roots to deplete Garp's stamina. The enemy's sudden burst of power made Yakumo feel its immense strength.

According to his speculation, after withstanding countless soul-slaying attacks, Garp's spirit was already in a state of extreme exhaustion, but now he has unleashed an even higher level of Conqueror's Haki.

"A strange will, a strange physique."

Yakumo was somewhat puzzled. After suffering a fatal attack, his physical condition did not decline. Instead, he quickly recovered to his peak condition.

This is unreasonable; it's like playing a cheater.

"Kizaru, take Fujitora, Aokiji, you two leave!"

Garp turned around and gave the two orders. His boiling aura reminded Aokiji of Garp decades ago, when he was still a trainee Marine, while Garp was already a renowned hero of the sea.

"But...teacher, what's wrong with you?"

Qingzhi hesitated. He knew clearly what it meant to cover the rear at this moment, and he also had a warm heart.

Kizaru, who was in mid-air, had already turned around and left, using his Devil Fruit ability to escape through the gaps in the forest and rush to another battlefield. He directly used the Yasakani no Magatama to force back Masako Mori and Chiyuki Yukotsu.

A golden mirror appeared in the void, and after several reflections, it carried Fujitora on its back and transformed into light to escape quickly into the distance.

Yakumo had to admit that in terms of absolute speed, he was inferior to Kizaru, who had swallowed the Glint-Glint Fruit. Even his flight speed was slightly different. He truly deserved to be called the fastest man in the pirate world, and he left in a very elegant manner.

"Go quickly!" Garp ordered.

The surrounding crimson tree trunks gradually gathered and diverged, eventually forming a sphere resembling the Colosseum in ancient Rome, with the roots spreading out and compressing the two people's last remaining space to survive.

Qingzhi was still hesitant. The person about to die in front of him was his teacher, but their relationship was like that of father and son. How could he give up now?

However, their living space had been greatly restricted, and the surrounding tree roots and vines were like countless venomous snakes.

The two were like travelers who had stumbled into a snake's lair. They yielded to each other because of their last chance to survive. After losing Fujitora's target, Mori Masako and Yukotsu Chiyuki had already moved closer to Yakumo.

With the three of them working together, there is no chance of survival.

Yakumo was like a patient hunter, quietly watching the two fight like cornered beasts. Neither Garp's iron fist wrapped in Conqueror's Haki nor Aokiji's extremely low chill could pose a real threat to the Crimson Forest.

"Hurry up!" Garp urged Aokiji.

"Teacher, let me cover the rear this time!"

Garp glared at Aokiji with a hint of disappointment, but his gaze softened quickly. To him, Aokiji was the most worthy successor.

He was pondering how to persuade... Aokiji to leave. Suddenly, a series of past events flashed before Garp's eyes, and the timeline returned to the day he first took Aokiji on a mission at sea.

Garp brandished his iron fist, but a smile appeared on his face, as if he had found a way to persuade Aokiji instantly.

"Recruit, obey orders!!"

Aokiji was slightly taken aback, recalling his memories from back then. After glancing at Garp's back one last time, he began to actively break out of the encirclement.

The same thing happened back then, but Garp came back alive that time, and he hopes that this time will be no different.

When he and Garp exert their strength in two different directions, the Crimson Forest will be unable to stop him.

Of course, the price of doing so is that Garp will become increasingly trapped in the Scarlet Forest until he completely loses the possibility of breaking out. Just as Yakumo guessed, only one of the two can leave.

Yakumo intensified his encirclement of Garp, but deliberately opened a gap to let Aokiji leave, since he had allies outside.

Outside the Crimson Forest, Aokiji and Mori Masako were locked in a fierce battle. He had just left the Forest Hell, only to fall into a new sea of ​​suffering.

The vines spread out to form a passage, and Yakumo came to a position a dozen meters in front of Garp, sighing softly.

"You two really have a deep father-son bond."

Garp did not respond, his body tense and wary of Yakumo, clearly traumatized by the sneak attack he had just suffered.

"Before I came here, I had contacted Long. He said, 'If you stand in the way of the great cause, please make sure I take care of you.'"

Yakumo spoke to himself, trying to find a loophole in Garp's mind, but Garp stripped away all his glitz and glamour, standing quietly on the ice like an unmoving mountain.

"You don't believe me? That's exactly what he said."

"I believe."

Don't you feel sorry for him?

"Of course it's a pity, but if he tries to destroy the justice I believe in, I will not hesitate to take action."

Yakumo Ryouko realized that the father and son loved each other, but they loved their responsibilities or missions even more. Perhaps this is what it means to be a person who does great things.

"understood."

With a flash of golden light, Yakumo took the initiative to attack, and blood-red vines condensed into armor on his body. In the blink of an eye, he re-entered the Blood Soul Armor state. This was the peak battle between the two.

Golden light flashed continuously, and the two weapons seemed to leave endless layers of golden threads in the air. Due to the shrinking of the blood-red forest, an excessively complex energy converged within a space of more than ten meters.

Armed, Conqueror's Haki.

Golden arcs of electricity, pale blue gales.

Numerous energies converged into gales and torrential rain, making the space extremely unstable, as if the space itself was emitting mournful cries, completely altering the environment of the surrounding sea. In this extremely humid environment, the two fought at the cost of their lives.

Their clothes were soaked by the damp air, and the impact of each clash was incredibly terrifying. However, the fluctuations of the battle were perfectly suppressed by the Crimson Forest, like the relationship between an egg yolk and an eggshell, or like a pressure cooker that was gradually pressurized.

In just two minutes, Yakumo dealt Garp several heavy blows, but Garp continued to fight as if nothing had happened. The speed at which his wounds healed was beyond Yakumo's imagination.

Garp's body is strange.

The two separated and then collided at high speed.

Red and black, gold and blue—the energies of various colors intertwine.

Both Yakumo and Garp possess formidable fighting skills, and at this moment, they are both fully focused on their battle, pushing their skills and energy to their most perfect state.

Thanks to the unpredictable nature of the Flying Thunder God Technique, Yakumo seized upon a fleeting opening, a weakness exposed during Garp's attack.

"Eightfold Strike - Soul Slash - Extreme Blade Slash!"

Boom! It was a deafening roar.

In that area where many energies were mixed, an energy explosion was immediately triggered, and scattered energy particles spread outwards like a tide.

Under the impact of the explosion and Yakumo's attack, Garp, who was severely injured, finally collapsed. His body was charred black, most of his skin was burned into charcoal, and a huge gash appeared on his chest.

The crimson forest gradually dissipated, transforming into life energy that was re-infused into Yakumo's body, and sunlight once again shone into this small space.

Yakumo looked up and saw Kizaru standing on a cloud, while his gaze was fixed on Garp, who had been reduced to charcoal. Their eyes met, and half a second later, Kizaru vanished in a beam of light.

A few minutes earlier, Aokiji had also broken through the encirclement. For safety reasons, Masako and Aokiji did not pursue him, but instead kept watch for any possible enemies that might appear.

Kizaru returned intending to take Garp away, but it was too late.

Yakumo detached himself from the tattered Blood Soul Armor, his face slightly pale. The warm sunlight fell on him, gradually making his complexion rosy, and he expelled a few mouthfuls of stagnant blood from his body.

This great battle has finally come to an end.

…………

PS: Update 5700, thanks to Carrot Rabbit for the donation!

Chapter 351 Proof of Hegemony: Plans Changed

As Yakumo gradually withdrew his life energy, the area of ​​the Crimson Forest began to change and its volume gradually decreased, but it still formed a sea forest with a diameter of nearly ten kilometers. The tree roots bound huge ice blocks, like a dreamlike island.

The surrounding climate has been permanently altered, and it is believed that it will not be long before the Crimson Forest binds all the ice floes floating on the sea and continues to spread outwards, covering an area of ​​its own.